@afterlife2
The Xpand x105-rf-x1 glasses retail online for around $59.99-$69.99 depending on where you look, however Best Buy has them for $39.99 seemingly undercutting even Amazon on this one. As far as 3D glasses go, they're on par price wise with Monoprice and other 3D glasses I've looked at that have similar features and positive reviews. The other reason I've looked at them is because they are (as far as I could find) the official supplier of 3D glasses to JVC, which is useful since my projector is a JVC X55R. I've been skeptical about investing in the emitter and glasses because the JVC is rated at 1200 lumens and after calibration I'm estimating I have around 400-600. In 3D mode I'm probably only approaching 700-900 lumens, which is based on some internet searching of what other stuff looks like at that lumen range (like candles, flashlights, etc). In any case, I broke out my Samsung 3D glasses and picked up two pairs of the Xpand 3D glasses to see what the JVC could do as far as 3D images.
The Xpand glasses come in a cardboard box and are wrapped in bubble wrap. They come with a small directions packet and a USB to Micro USB charging cord. No wall plug adapter is provided, so you need to either plug them into a computer, already have a wall adapter, or most receivers have at least one USB port to charge them with. The Xpand's need a full charge before their first use which takes about 2 hours and then claim to last somewhere in the 40-100 hour range depending on use.
After a full charge and figuring out the best PJ settings to use while testing with the Samsung glasses I finally got to test the Xpand glasses out. Connecting to the JVC emitter was a breeze and took all of 30 seconds, if that. On the face, they're reasonably comfortable, but tend to hug the face and pull the glasses towards you a little bit. I have a wider face/head so this may be more of a problem for some since my GF was wearing the other pair and didn't have any issues. They did become a touch uncomfortable after 3 hours on the face, but it could have also had something to do with me wanting to get my contacts out after a long day. I'll reserve a final comfort rating until after I've had a little more time with them.
In terms of performance, one of the biggest advantages the Xpand glasses have over the Samsung's is that they nearly fully cover the field of view. This is extremely important to me since I have a 135" screen and I'm only about 9ft away from it. The screen pretty much fills my peripherals, so trying to watch a 3D movie without ~30% of the screen being covered by the glasses is distracting at best. In this sense the Xpand's were a huge winner over the stock Samsung glasses, although most after market glasses will fit similarly judging by appearance.
In terms of weight, the Samsung glasses are extremely lightweight and are comfortable to wear for hours. The Xpands add a few grams due to the rechargeable battery and larger frame, but are still light weight and sit easily on the face.
When it comes to actual 3D performance, the Samsung's are interesting because when you turn them on they get noticeably darker. With the Xpand's, when off they look a little darker, but then don't seem to have much of a change when switched on. Looking a little insane, I put both glasses on my face one pair above the other so I could quickly switch back and forth in order to compare them. 3D performance is similar, I couldn't say one out performs the other. The main difference being that the Xpand's do let in a little more light, I'd say about 10-15% more than the Samsung's. I was watching Jurrasic World and the 3D was very good.
Overall if you don't have 3D glasses, the Xpand's are a good choice. I'm not sure they're the best, but they are very good. My biggest complaint is still how much light passes through the glasses and after more research, the X1 isn't the official JVC glasses. The X3 would be the exact JVC glasses, just unbranded and would supposedly give me about 30% more light. I'll keep looking, watch a few more movies and make a decision when I have the motivation to get off the couch.
