I have the XV1's with Eyezoom magnification. I might be biased since the Navy covered most of their high cost (total before Navy paid was $2,400 with student discount if I remember correctly), but I think they were a great investment. We use our loupes throughout our career.
I like not having to deal with a battery pack, and the heavy frame balances well with the heavy loupes. They do feel a bit heavy overall after wearing them for 4 or more hours, so I'll take them off occasionally when grabbing supplies or whatever. I actually do use the 4x and 5x magnifications when I check my retentive grooves and surface smoothness on preps, or for instances of flash on my restorations. I've found you can catch some defects with 5x that you can't easily catch with 3x.
Either way, my classmates score higher than I do on some practicals with much less expensive loupes, and I've failed a few practicals myself. I could definitely practice more though, so I can see a dental student who makes use of high magnification and practices a ton doing really well in pre-clinic.
