--- title: "RayNeo (TCL)" seoTitle: "RayNeo (TCL) for developers: SDK, app model & distribution (2026)" description: "RayNeo (TCL) for third-party developers — SDK access, app model, distribution, capabilities & AI, and where it sits in the 2026 smart-glasses landscape." type: reference platform: all vendor: rayneo related: - /docs/ecosystem - /docs/ecosystem/openness - /docs/ecosystem/ai - /docs/ecosystem/distribution - /docs/vendors/meta - /docs/concepts/capabilities --- > **Openness verdict.** Open, standard-based build path (MIT OpenXR Unity ARDK + a native Android ARDK, no partner/invite gate) — but there's a real developer-mode unlock and no consumer publishing surface. X-series apps run standalone on the glasses (not phone-companion), ship as sideloaded Android/Unity APKs, and reach devices only via ADB or community catalogs (TapLink/GBox); there is no public app store or submission/review pipeline. The platform assistant is first-party and closed, and region-split — Google Gemini in Western firmware, Alibaba's Qwen (Tongyi Qianwen) on China-market devices. **Covered here:** RayNeo X2 · RayNeo X3 Pro. **Not covered here:** RayNeo Air 3s / Air 3s Pro · RayNeo Air / Air 2 / Air 2s · RayNeo V3 · RayNeo earlier XR viewers. ## Overview RayNeo is the smart-glasses brand of Thunderbird Innovation, a TCL-backed venture. Its **X-series** are standalone binocular AR smart glasses with full-color micro-LED optical-waveguide displays — the in-scope class here. The [**X3 Pro**](https://www.rayneo.com/products/x3-pro-ai-display-glasses) (shipped late 2025) runs a self-contained Android-based OS on a Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 (4GB RAM / 32GB storage), with a dual-camera rig (Sony IMX681 RGB for 12MP photos / up to 4K video plus an OV monochrome camera for spatial tracking), open-ear speakers and mics, an IMU, and SLAM-based tracking (3DoF at launch — see capabilities); the co-developed waveguide runs ~3,500 nits typical / 6,000 nits peak, 30° FOV, at ~76g. Its predecessor, the [**X2**](https://www.rayneo.com/products/tcl-rayneo-x2) (shipped 2024, Snapdragon XR2, ~1,000-nit micro-LED waveguide), was billed as the first binocular full-color micro-LED waveguide consumer AR smart glasses. Pricing for the X3 Pro is ~$1,299 MSRP with a ~$1,099 early-bird ([EU store](https://eu.rayneo.com/products/x3-pro-ai-display-glasses)), sold via RayNeo's US/EU regional stores; the X2 launched on Indiegogo at ~$699 early-bird. **Out of scope:** the RayNeo **Air** line (Air 3s / Air 3s Pro etc.) are tethered birdbath micro-OLED *viewers* with no on-board compute or app runtime; separately, the display-less [**RayNeo V3**](https://www.xrom.in/post/tcl-rayneo-unveiled-rayneo-v3-ai-glasses) camera-and-audio AI glasses are a distinct Ray-Ban-Meta-class line (scoped out below, though it is the RayNeo device closest to Extentos's target class). ## Access The developer toolkit is the **RayNeo ARDK**, offered in two flavors: an **[OpenXR Unity ARDK](https://github.com/github-for-rayneo/OpenXR-Unity-ARDK)** (C#/ShaderLab, MIT-licensed on GitHub) and a native **Android ARDK**. Per [Qualcomm's X3 Pro getting-started guide](https://www.qualcomm.com/developer/project/get-started-with-rayneo-x3-pro-ar-development), the recommended stack is Unity 2022.3.36f1 (2020.3.20 LTS+ supported) with the Android SDK/NDK, OpenJDK, and ADB; you enable **OpenXR + the 'RayNeo XR feature group'** in Unity's XR Plug-in Management. Maturity is early — usable and shipping but China-first, with the full ARDK distributed via Feishu (Lark) docs and a [RayNeo Open Platform](https://open.rayneo.com/) registration portal. **Who can build:** effectively open — Qualcomm's guide targets 'AR enthusiasts to professional creators' with no stated invite/partner gate, and the Unity ARDK is public on GitHub. **Cost:** no documented developer fee; tools are free. **License:** the OpenXR Unity ARDK repo is MIT; the native Android ARDK's license terms are not clearly published. Docs live on the Open Platform and Feishu; X3 Pro hardware capabilities are also documented through Qualcomm's Snapdragon developer program. ## App model Code runs **on the glasses, standalone** — the X-series is a self-contained Android device, and an ARDK app is an ordinary Android **APK** built in Unity (or native Android) and installed onto the glasses over **ADB/USB-C**. There is no phone offload in the dev model: the AndroidManifest must set the launch activity to `com.rayneo.openxradapter.UnityOpenXrActivity` so the app is treated as a glasses (OpenXR) app rather than a phone app. On consumer firmware ADB itself must first be unlocked (see distribution). A companion **'RayNeo AR' phone app** ([iOS](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rayneo-ar/id6476358286) / [Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rayneo.mercury)) exists for pairing/management but is not the app-development target. Transport for dev is USB-C/ADB; runtime networking/AI is over the glasses' own Wi-Fi. There is effectively **one dev system** (OpenXR/Android ARDK) with two front-ends (Unity vs. native Android). **Fit with Extentos's phone-companion model: poor / n/a for the X-series** — unlike Meta's DAT (where the app lives on the phone and the glasses are a Bluetooth peripheral), RayNeo X apps execute standalone on the headset, so a phone-hosted-app abstraction doesn't map onto this platform. State this plainly to developers rather than implying parity. ## Distribution An app reaches a device today by **sideload**: build the APK and `adb install` it over USB-C; sideloaded apps then surface in the on-device **'App Lab'** launcher (the name reviewers use — third-party installs also appear via the RayNeo phone app's install list, and RayNeo hasn't authoritatively named the surface). The developer gate is real: the consumer ('user version') firmware [does not permit third-party installs by default](https://skarredghost.com/2025/12/17/rayneo-x3-pro-review/), so you must unlock ADB via a hidden gesture (tapping a settings entry ~10 times, which repeating turns back off), and Windows sideload can require an ADB driver downgrade. There is **no open public app store or submission/review pipeline** for third-party apps — the on-device menu had no third-party apps at launch. In practice the live distribution surface is community-run: [**TapLink**](https://biggthed.substack.com/p/rayneo-x3pro-sideload-apps-using), a browsable third-party catalog being built for the X3 Pro, and **GBox**, a compatibility layer that runs the Google Play Store, Chrome, and similar Android apps on the glasses — neither is a RayNeo channel. RayNeo's own 'Creator Mode' (which unlocks 6DoF SLAM) is not a publishing path. **Public publishing status: not available** as a self-serve store push — distribution is sideload/community-grade, likely gated toward partner or curated onboarding via the Open Platform. Content review: no public policy documented. Preview→GA gating/timeline for a store: not published. ## Capabilities, limits & AI **Camera:** dual — Sony IMX681 RGB (12MP photo / up to 4K video) plus an OV monochrome camera for positioning/SLAM; the ARDK exposes camera and sensor data access, though per-frame gating/permission specifics aren't publicly detailed. **Microphone / audio capture:** on-board mic array (used for 'Hey RayNeo' and the platform assistant) — third-party raw-audio API surface not clearly documented. **Audio output / TTS:** open-ear speakers; TTS available through the assistant path. **On-lens display/UI:** yes — binocular full-color micro-LED waveguide (X3 Pro ~3,500 nits typ., 30° FOV); you render via **Unity dual-screen rendering** through the OpenXR/RayNeo feature group. **Tracking/sensors:** IMU plus SLAM, but at launch AR tracking is **3DoF only** — a [hands-on review](https://skarredghost.com/2025/12/17/rayneo-x3-pro-review/) found 3D apps 'couldn't keep a stable position in the world' and that 'you can not build proper AR applications with it' today; 6DoF SLAM is Creator-Mode-gated/aspirational, and eye- and hand-tracking are unsupported. Plane and face detection are exposed. **Input:** temple **5-way touchpad**, voice, **phone-as-air-mouse**, and announced **Apple Watch gesture control** delivered via OTA. **AI & the assistant:** the platform assistant is a reserved, **first-party closed** surface invoked by the **'Hey RayNeo'** wake word — and it is **region-split**: Western-market firmware runs **Google Gemini** ('Gemini Live', Gemini 2.5), while China-market devices run **Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen (Qwen)** ([the V3 was explicitly co-developed with Alibaba](https://www.xrom.in/post/tcl-rayneo-unveiled-rayneo-v3-ai-glasses)). Either way there is **no documented third-party hook** into the system assistant or the reserved wake word, and a developer cannot assume Gemini everywhere. **Bring-your-own-AI is possible but only inside your own ARDK app** — call any cloud model from your APK; it does not integrate with the system assistant. On-device AI: the AR1 Gen 1 can run local inference, but the shipping assistant is cloud-based and no on-device third-party AI API is documented. ## Roadmap **Shipped:** X2 (2024, Indiegogo → global); X3 Pro (launched 2025, shipping late 2025 into 2026, US/EU regional stores); the display-less V3 AI glasses (pre-sale Jan 2025). The ARDK (OpenXR Unity + Android) is public and versioned against Unity 2022.3.36f1 for X3 Pro. **Announced-but-unshipped / in flight:** reliable **6DoF SLAM** (3DoF-only at launch, Creator-Mode-gated); **Apple Watch gesture control** via OTA; broader 'AR app ecosystem'/App Lab expansion; deeper assistant features. **Publishing timeline:** no public third-party app-store submission path or dated GA for one — distribution remains sideload/community-run (TapLink/GBox). **Momentum:** active — TCL/RayNeo iterates hardware yearly (X2→X3 Pro, plus the V3 line) and courts developers via the Qualcomm Snapdragon program and a public GitHub ARDK, but the software/publishing side is early and China-first, with the consumer app-store surface still thin. ## In the landscape RayNeo (TCL) is one platform in the third-party [smart-glasses landscape](/docs/ecosystem). See [how open it is](/docs/ecosystem/openness) relative to other platforms, [how AI works](/docs/ecosystem/ai) across them, and the full [platform comparison](/docs/ecosystem).