Hololens and MagicLeap AR glass are both advanced augmented reality devices with their unique features and capabilities. The best one for you would depend on your specific needs and preferences. It's essential to research and compare the two to determine which device aligns better with your requirements.
For reference, we're working with the Magic Leap. I haven't had hands-on experience with HoloLens yet, but I've had extensive conversations with people who have.
I'm not sure you can definitively say one is better than the other, as they both have significant issues and weaknesses . Here are some highlights:
The Price: Magic Leap is slightly cheaper.
The Form Factor: HoloLens is all-in-one with no cables or "puck". The Magic Leap "puck" isn't a huge issue, but an all-in-one design is preferable.
The Design: While you might look like a dork wearing a HoloLens, you look like a bug-eyed dork wearing a Magic Leap 1. In my opinion, neither design is a clear winner, but I personally don't favor the Hololens design. I can felt the Hololens is so heavy. It can't wear for long terms.
User Experience: From everything I've heard and seen, the user experience on Magic Leap has several issues. The HoloLens user experience is very "Microsoft", but it's consistent and well thought out. Magic Leap is still tethered but allows for larger FOV which leads to higher quality immersive AR experience.
Developer Stack: Microsoft’s developer stack is well-designed, making it challenging for anyone to compete. HoloLens excels in this aspect.
Field of View: This is the #1 complaint with HoloLens. However, the stated field of view for Magic Leap is not dramatically different — certainly not different enough to make a meaningful difference. This aspect is probably a tie, with Magic Leap maybe slightly ahead.
The Tracking: By all accounts, HoloLens has an advantage here.
Hype: For those of us working in AR, VR, and related fields, hype is toxic. Expectations get set too high, and the backlash is swift and merciless. Microsoft took a fairly low-key approach to HoloLens and was clear that it was a developer-only device not ready for prime time. In contrast, I'm not sure I will ever be able to forgive Magic Leap for their excessive, blatant, and uncalled-for hyperbole. Their early videos were carefully post-produced CGI, not through-the-lens live-action, and they deliberately let people misinterpret what they were seeing. This does the entire industry a disservice and makes all of our jobs harder.
The Elephant in the Room…
Finally, there is one critical metric that I believe Magic Leap catastrophically fails at: Usability. Getting the HoloLens positioned correctly on your head is sometimes tricky, while Magic Leap has to be customized by a technician before the wearer can have an optimal experience. I believe this is an absolute deal breaker. A critical part of adoption for any bleeding-edge technology is getting people to try it out. I've personally convinced many people of the potential value of AR and VR just by letting them try a relevant experience. Not being able to easily share experiences, or having those experiences be sub-optimal, is just shooting yourself in the foot. I understand some of the technical limitations that made Magic Leap make this decision, but in my opinion, it's an unacceptable compromise.
Conclusion
As you can see, both devices have their weaknesses. However, while I am no Microsoft fanboy, I think HoloLens still comes out ahead when you consider the product, ecosystem, and company supporting it , This represents a more advanced approach to mixed reality that eliminates the inconvenience of physically placing objects in scale and ensuring they stay in place. It uses AR containers seamlessly integrated into your environment. Although it's not perfect yet, we'll likely need to continue working on it before achieving the quality of devices like Hololens or MagicLeap 2. However, I believe Magic Leap will be a successful device in the long term. We might need at least one more iteration, such as a Hololens-style dev kit launch, to iron out these issues.