Apple’s Vision Pro was meant to usher in a new era of headsets. However, its high price and relatively limited usage led to what was the company’s biggest flop in years. Now it’s time for Samsung to give things a go with the Galaxy XR. It’s a new take on augmented reality goggles developed in deep partnership with Qualcomm and Google and it tries to address the major flaws of Vision Pro’s Bis.
Hardware
While both apple and samsung headsets have many similarities (such as their basic design and support for features such as hand tracking and eye tracking), there are also very important differences. First, at $1,800, the Galaxy XR is actually half the price of the Vision Pro (including the new M5-Powered model). Second, instead of the home OS of Apple, the Samsung Headset is the first to run the new platform of the new Google XR, which includes many common features from its mobile counterpart but with an emphasis on voice based on AI and Gemini. And thirdly, because Samsung has declined a lot from partners like Google and Qualcomm, the Galaxy XR feels like it’s built almost entirely natural and plays well with international devices that don’t have third-party devices and software.
The Galaxy XR basically doesn’t look too different from the Vision Pro. It features a large front visor with an assortment of 13 unique external sensors to support indoor tracking, pass vision and hand recognition. There are additional sensors inside the EYE that make SNAP. There’s also a wire connector that leads to an external clip-on battery pack and built-in speakers with Spatial Audio. The biggest departure is that unlike the Vision Pro, the Galaxy XR doesn’t have an external display, so it won’t be able to process your face without a headset, which is fine by me.
However, the Devil is in the details because while the first PRO vision weighs between 600 and 650 grams (about 1.3 to 1.4 to 1.4 kilograms for its few packs) And that’s before you consider the M5 Vision Pro, which is somewhat more backward with 750-800 grams (about 1.6 kilograms). In addition, it seems that Samsung has learned a lot from its crops by including a larger head and a larger head that helps to distribute the weight of the headset evenly. Admittedly, during a long session, I still saw pressure and felt healing after taking off the Galaxy XR, but it’s nothing like the perspective of the PRO, which my experience found uncomfortable immediately. Finally, at the back, there is a simple cord with a knot that you can twist to tighten or loosen the headband as needed. So even without the extra support running over your head, getting in and out of the Galaxy XR is much easier and smoother than the Vision Pro.
Inside, the Galaxy XR is powered by QR2’s Snapdragon XR2 + Gen 2 chip with two OLED displays that deliver 4K (3,552 x 3,840) resolution on each display at up to 90hz. I wish Samsung could go up to 120hz refresh rates like the Vision Pro, but considering the higher resolution of the Plaxy XR, I’m not that he was troubled. And I must say, the picture quality from this Headset is very sharp. It’s much better than Apple’s goggles and might be the best I’ve ever used, especially outside of the $10,000+ Enterprise-only setups. Once again, when you consider that this thing costs half the price of the Vision Pro, this headset sounds like a real achievement for Samsung until the company loses money on every unit it sells.
In terms of longevity, Samsung says that with typical use the Galaxy XR should last around two hours. If you watch only videos, that number is more like two and a half. Thankfully, if you need to be in mixed reality for an extended period of time, you can charge the headset while it’s in use. As for security, the Galaxy XR uses Iris recognition to bypass traditional passwords, which is nice.
Platform: Android XR
Sometimes, trying out a new software platform can be a little jarring. But that’s not really the case with Android XR, which shouldn’t present much of a learning curve for anyone who’s used other headsets or the Ubiquitous Mobile OS. After putting the goggles on, you can call up the home menu and application launcher by looking at your Palm and touching your Index finger and thumb. From there, you can open applications and menus by moving your icons and symbols or rearrange the visible windows by grabbing the anchor point near the bottom and placing them where you want.
Notably, while there are a growing number of new apps made specifically for the XR, you still get access to all your usual Android titles. Those include Google Photos, Google Maps and YouTube, all of which I got to play around with during the 25-minute demo. In Photos, you can browse your photos normally. However, to use the hardware of the Galaxy XR, Google created a feature that allows the application to turn ordinary photos of the apartment (with help from the cloud) into antisrives. While the result isn’t true 3D, it adds a distinct foreground, middle distance and background to images in a way that makes your image look great.
In maps, you start with a world view before using gestures to move and zoom wherever you want or voice commands to a certain location. A neat new idea in this application is that if you get bubbles over things like restaurants and shops, then Android XR will go together. But, the technology is impressive nonetheless.
Finally in the YouTube app, the Galaxy XR does a good job of making standard 360 videos look much better. While the quality will always depend on the gear that captured the content, viewing spatial clips was a good way to show its resolution and image quality. Google says it will add a new tab to the app to make finding 360 videos easier, or you can always watch billions of regular videos.
It’s interesting that you can use and navigate the Galaxy XR entirely by hand, but voice commands (via Gemini) are also a big part of the Android XR platform. Because the goggles stay on your head, unlike mobile devices, there is no need to use the wake word every time you want to do something. You just talk and Gemini listens (or you can choose to disable this behavior if you prefer), so this makes voice communication feel more natural. Because Gemini can also do things like configuration settings or organize all the applications you have open, in addition to answering questions, it sounds like Google is starting to bring some of the stars where you can make the computer do something and it just happens. Yes, it’s still early days, but as a platform, Android XR feels more like a virtual gaming platform than the Vision currently does.
Other Features
While I didn’t test this myself, there are some important features worth mentioning. In addition to apps, you can also play your usual selection of Android games such as Stardew Valley Or connect the headset to your PC (such as Steam Link) to play full desktop titles. In addition, I was told that the Galaxy XR can be plugged into a computer and used as a traditional VR headset. And while Samsung makes wireless controllers for the Galaxy XR (and a large carrying case), you may not need them at all since you’ll have the ability to pair the goggles with standard Bluetooth gamepads and wireless mice and keyboards.
Google also says it’s working on a new system called likeness that could create avatars that can be used in video calls and meetings using virtual data. Additionally, you’ll be able to use tools like Veo3 to create AI-generated videos while providing functionality using your voice. But this just scratches the surface of the Galaxy XR’s capabilities and I want to try this thing out before giving a final verdict.
Early thoughts
In many ways, the Galaxy XR looks and feels like a virtual reality headset in the same vein as the Vision Pro, but for Android (and Windows to some extent) users. On top of that, Google has done some interesting things with Android XR to make it feel like it has a much wider range and software to look at and use. In many ways, adding Gemini’s dedicated AI assistant and voice control feels like a bigger impact on goggles than on a phone because you won’t always have to rely on mouse or keyboard input. And with the Galaxy XR being half the price of the Vision Pro, Samsung and Google have done a lot to address some of the various issues that Apple’s competitors have.
In case the price drop wasn’t enough, it sounds like all the companies involved are doing their best to go green. I actually started laughing when I first heard all the discounts and free subscriptions that came to mind. That’s because in addition to the goggles themselves, every galaxy xr will come with the so-called Google AI Pro pack, 12 months of Google Play Pass, 12 months of NBA League Pass and bundles of XR bundles with apps. So on top of the slick design, top-tier optics and a new platform, Google and Samsung are basically throwing the kitchen in the kitchen of applications and membership in the headset.
My only reservation is that when it comes to mass adoption, I think smartglasses have the heads-up for the next big game. Admittedly, there is a lot of technology and software shared between both categories of devices (Google has already joined the Android XR Smartglasses) that should allow Samsung or Google to easily put the bottom down. But the idea that in the future there will be a headset in every house seems less likely every day. Still, as a showcase of the power of augmented reality and superior optics, the Galaxy XR is an exciting piece of tech.
The Samsung Galaxy XR is available now for $1,800 on Samsung.com.
