The search for the next transformative technology after smartphones has companies turning their gaze towards headsets. A new mixed-reality headset, developed jointly by Samsung Electronics and Alphabet’s Google, has been launched in select markets — and at roughly half the price of Apple’s Vision Pro. The Samsung Galaxy XR bears some resemblance to Apple’s device, with the two now poised to compete head-to-head.
Announced last year under the codename Project Moohan, the Galaxy XR is the first headset powered by Android XR — a new platform for smart glasses and mixed-reality devices built from the ground up around Google’s Gemini assistant. The headset will debut in the US and South Korea for $1,799, compared to the Apple Vision Pro’s $3,499.
Headsets are increasingly being imagined as the next frontier in entertainment, live sports, tourism, healthcare and even culinary education. Consider Google Maps, which already lets users explore cities from afar. What if one could now step inside the map — take a virtual tour of a city, explore its museums and restaurants, and gain a more authentic sense of place before ever booking a flight? A digital walk through London might reveal not just red telephone boxes, but the reality — many now covered in graffiti.
The promise of viewing apps on a vast virtual screen while assisted by an AI companion may soon define how we interact with technology.
Users can use Gemini as a guide to navigate to any place on Google Maps and ask for personalised suggestions about nearby places while exploring the world in immersive 3D maps.
Samsung’s strategic edge
The Galaxy XR is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chip, arriving just as Apple updates the Vision Pro with its new M5 processor. The headset performs most of the tasks one might expect: Once worn, it allows users to see their surroundings through the lenses, overlaying virtual elements onto the real world. A fully immersive environment is just a gesture away.
Users can navigate with their hands, though separate controllers are also available. Eye-tracking allows intuitive selection, and all Android apps remain accessible via the Google Play Store, with XR-compatible ones carrying a ‘Made for XR’ label.
Samsung enters a sector currently dominated by Meta Platforms, which controlled about 71 per cent of the global mixed-reality market in the second quarter, according to Counterpoint Research. Meta has long invested in headsets and smart glasses — many produced in collaboration with brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley — but Apple and Samsung now appear to be redefining the category through tighter integration, higher-resolution displays, and refined industrial design.
Samsung’s greatest advantage may lie in its collaboration with Google. The deep integration of Gemini, Google’s conversational assistant, could prove to be a differentiator, offering users a more seamless and context-aware experience. The assistant is embedded throughout the headset’s operating system and can respond to questions related to whatever the user is viewing — from a film to a 3D map.
Users can stream their favourite shows on a 4K Micro-OLED screen that feels like a personal theatre. Picture: Samsung
A feature-rich experience
The Galaxy XR offers 4K micro-OLED displays with a 90Hz refresh rate per eye and supports magnetic prescription inserts. The package includes a detachable light blocker to prevent ambient light seepage. According to Wired, the headset can automatically calibrate a user’s interpupillary distance; selecting an icon is as simple as looking at it and pinching one’s fingers — a navigation experience reminiscent of Apple’s Vision Pro.
The headset can spatialise standard video content, adding depth and dimension to even basic clips. Users can disable the feature to view videos in traditional 2D. A new YouTube “spatial multi-view” option allows users to watch up to four sports streams simultaneously, hinting at how mixed reality might redefine multitasking.
When joining video calls or virtual fitness sessions, users can choose between a colourful Galaxy Avatar or a more realistic digital self via Android XR. Paired with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, the headset allows full virtual workspaces. It also supports PCVR, enabling users to connect a gaming PC and play immersive titles. Samsung devices, such as the Galaxy Book laptop, can cast screens, transfer files, or even answer calls through the headset — a glimpse of the company’s growing ecosystem strategy.
Each micro-OLED display delivers a resolution of 3,552x3,840 pixels per eye at up to 90Hz, compared with the Vision Pro’s 120Hz refresh rate. The field of view spans 109 degrees horizontally and 100 degrees vertically. Under the hood are 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, with buttons for volume, power, and launching Gemini Live, along with a side touchpad for quick navigation.
Gemini at the core
Gemini is the heart of the Galaxy XR experience. It organises apps, arranges virtual screens, and can answer questions about any content being viewed... in real time. Because many features depend on cloud processing, a stable Internet connection is essential.
One particularly novel application involves reading from a physical page while wearing the headset: Users can employ Circle to Search to highlight text and instantly view related information in a virtual Chrome window. Within Google Maps, Gemini can respond to spoken questions about nearby landmarks while the user explores a 3D model of a city.
Battery life stands at around two and a half hours — roughly on par with Apple’s Vision Pro — enough for most feature-length films, including Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.
Co-developed with Google and Qualcomm, Android XR is a powerful platform that puts AI at the center of the experience. Samsung
Just the beginning
Samsung and Google’s collaboration signals the start of a wider ecosystem built on Android XR. The two are also developing smart glasses powered by Gemini, alongside other partners such as Warby Parker and Gentle Monster.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Kihwan Kim, executive vice-president of immersive solutions at Samsung Electronics, said the forthcoming glasses from the two companies are arriving “pretty soon.” He added: “We’re building the foundation for a roadmap where Google and Samsung can innovate together.”
Early adopters of the Galaxy XR will receive a free “Explorer Pack” that includes a 12-month Google AI Pro subscription, a year of YouTube Premium, a discounted YouTube TV trial, access to the 2025–26 NBA League Pass in the US or the Coupang Play Sports Pass in Korea, and complimentary content such as Adobe’s Project Pulsar and Calm.
For now, AI-powered glasses remain a niche market. Meta, the current leader, has sold roughly two million pairs of its Ray-Ban smart glasses over two years, a figure dwarfed by Apple’s annual iPhone shipments, which exceed 200 million.
The Galaxy XR will be available exclusively through Samsung stores and online in the US and South Korea for now. But in an industry seeking the next paradigm shift, it may be one of the first devices to hint at what life after the smartphone could look like.
Galaxy XR opens new dimensions of discovery
- Travel and search with Google Maps: Users can use Gemini as a guide to navigate to any place on Google Maps and ask for personalized suggestions about nearby places while exploring the world in immersive 3D maps.
- Deep-dive into content with AI: Users can naturally ask Gemini to find content they want to see in YouTube and get more information about the video they are watching, unlocking richer learning and entertainment experiences.
- See more with video pass through and Circle to Search: In pass through mode, users can see the physical world around them and draw a circle with their hand to instantly search for information about anything in front of them.
- Auto-spatialise videos and photos into 3D: Bring photos and videos to life by converting 2D images into 3D, turning memories into immersive experiences or reimagining them in entirely new ways.