and Thursday
in your weekly columnNick Sutrich, Senior Content Producer at Android Central, dives into all things VR, from new hardware to new games, upcoming technologies, and more.
This week, I connected a pair of Viture Beast smart glasses to my Motorola Razr Fold 2026 to see what it would do. Most phones simply mirror the phone’s screen onto a pair of smart glasses like this one, but Motorola does something totally different. A special menu appears on the glasses, giving you a way to quickly launch games, movies, video chats, or even turn your phone into a full laptop replacement.
As smartphones have become more capable over the years, I’ve found that my travel bag is getting lighter and lighter. Smartphones have largely replaced dedicated cameras for the vast majority of people (I’ve even attended more than one event without a large camera) and laptops may soon be on their way out, if my experience with the Razr Fold is anything to go by.
Using a phone as a laptop isn’t new in itself, but Motorola makes the transition easy with Motorola Smart Connecta software that they have been improving in recent years and that links all your devices. The brilliant thing is that this works on more than just Motorola devices, as it’s designed to let you carry all your digital belongings and information, no matter what platforms you use.
Fulfilling the XR dream
Over the past few years, we’ve seen new virtual reality headsets launched with the idea that they were a “wearable computer for your face.” Apple I did it with Vision Pro. Samsung did it with the Galaxy XR. Both companies were successful in their own ways with these releases, but the price was prohibitive for most people.
But a pair of XR smart glasses like Xreal 1S or Viture Beast They are a completely different story. While still a bit pricey, these glasses are a fraction of the cost of bulkier VR headsets and offer a much sleeker hardware profile, easily fit into a travel bag, and look much less cumbersome when worn in public.
Possibly even better is the fact that the glasses connect to your phone, meaning you don’t have to remember to install all your favorite apps or copy your most important files to another device. On top of that, Motorola’s excellent Smart Connect software gives you a completely different user interface when the glasses are connected and looks just like your desktop or laptop.
For maximum productivity, I recommend carrying a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse in your travel bag. This brilliant Logitech keyboard ($24 as of this writing) has a built-in laptop-style trackpad, so you can get all the conveniences of a laptop’s controls without having to pack extra gear. Simply open your Razr Fold’s Bluetooth settings and pair the keyboard with your phone, no additional setup needed!
When you connect your favorite pair of smart glasses to your Razr Fold, a menu will appear allowing you to quickly launch desktop, TV, video call, or game modes. The Razr Fold’s screen will automatically become a trackpad for navigation, so if you don’t want to go the keyboard and mouse route, this is an extremely convenient alternative.
Now, all you have to do is use your thumb (or any finger, really) to slide the mouse cursor on the screen to the mode of your choice and then tap the screen to perform a click. If you boot into desktop mode, a familiar desktop user interface appears on the screen, complete with a mouse cursor.
From this point on, there is literally nothing your Razr Fold can’t do. Play a game, launch your favorite browser, open Google Drive or Gmail and get some work done. Whatever floats your boat works here, and you can even scale windows, move them, minimize them, etc., just like on a Windows or Mac computer.
To make things even better, you can upload the GameHub App from Google Play Store and play Steam games natively on your Razr Fold, replacing devices like the Steam Deck. I recently reviewed the latest Viture Beast glasses. and an attached Viture controller which are perfect for this functionality, replacing another device in your travel bag.
Now, your phone does it all, and thanks to smart glasses like the Viture Beast or Xreal 1S, your neck won’t hurt looking at a portable gaming system or laptop the entire trip.
