PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing.

Magic Leap: Our Product Is Not Over-Hyped

The company's CEO responded to criticism that it is abandoning technologies it originally promised.

 & Tom Brant Managing Editor

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

Our Expert
LOOK INSIDE PC LABS HOW WE TEST
65 EXPERTS
43 YEARS
41,500+ REVIEWS

Rony Abovitz, CEO of the secretive virtual reality startup Magic Leap, took to Twitter on Thursday to defend claims that his company is overhyping its flagship product, a powerful VR headset indistinguishable from everyday sunglasses.

In a series of often-humorous tweets, Abovitz hinted that his company had experienced issues with early prototypes, but refuted a report from The Information this week that claimed Magic Leap may have "oversold" what its headset can do.

Abovitz is a biomedical engineer who co-founded a company manufacturing surgical robots before starting Magic Leap. He wrote on Twitter that Magic Leap's factory is currently churning out limited test runs of its first VR system, which he described as "small, sleek, cool."

"For our launch: everyone - skeptics and friends alike - will be able to try Magic Leap for themselves," Abovitz wrote. He also retweeted a glowing report from Benedict Evans, a venture capitalist at the Silicon Valley firm Andreessen Horowitz, who likened Magic Leap's wow factor to the first iPhone.

The Information, meanwhile, obtained a rare demonstration from Magic Leap, which along with interviews with former employees was the basis for a story published on Thursday claiming the company might not be able to deliver on its promises. The Information cited former employees who said that much of the technology that Magic Leap initially promised investors won't be in the product it plans for commercial release.

Magic Leap has raised half a billion dollars in funding from tech giants like Google and Qualcomm, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai sits on the startup's board of directors.

In a March 2015 video that displays jaw-dropping realism, Magic Leap offered a tease of the first augmented-reality game that it plans to release for its headset. The game, called Dr. Grordborts Invaders, will be among the first experiences in Magic Leap's public demonstration, Abovitz tweeted, although he did not hint at when that might occur.

About Our Expert

Tom Brant

Tom Brant

Managing Editor

I’m a managing editor at PCMag.com focused on PC hardware. Reading this during the day? Then you've caught me testing gear and editing reviews of Wi-Fi routers, printers, laptops, and tons of other personal tech. (Reading this at night? Then I’m probably dreaming about all those cool products.) I’ve covered the consumer tech world as an editor, reporter, and analyst since 2015.

I've covered most major consumer tech events, including CES, Computex, Google I/O, and IFA. I've also appeared on CBS News, in USA Today, and at many other outlets to offer analysis on breaking technology news.

Before I joined the tech-journalism ranks, I wrote on topics as diverse as Borneo's rainforests, Middle Eastern airlines, and Big Data's role in presidential elections. A graduate of Middlebury College, I also have a master's degree in journalism and French Studies from New York University.

The Technology I Use

While most people buy a phone or laptop and stick with it for years, I’m lucky enough to use devices based on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows daily as part of my job. As a result, I cycle through lots of tech in addition to my IT-issue work laptop. (Yes, that's a ThinkPad.) Personally, I’ve also owned a lot of tech products both cutting-edge and cringeworthy, from the Nintendo GameCube and the original MacBook to the Palm m105 and the CueCat.

Read full bio