covering Android XR since it launched in December 2024<\/a>; Galaxy XR is the first commercially available XR device to implement the OS, and the partner companies will want it to demonstrate how AI and XR can create an entirely new user experience when they are brought together. Google even says that Android XR is the first Android platform built entirely for what it calls \u201cthe Gemini era,\u201d named after its own AI. In my limited experience with Android XR, much of what sets it apart from other operating systems is the unique set of capabilities that Gemini enables, which also improve the user experience and enable applications of XR.<\/p>\nThe Samsung Galaxy XR Headset<\/p>\n
The Samsung Galaxy XR headset was teased as early as January 2024, announced as Project Moohan in December 2024 and demonstrated in person at the Galaxy Unpacked event in January 2025. At the heart of the headset is a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 processor, which has been a known quantity since the beginning of this year. This is the same chip that Sony uses in its enterprise XR mixed-reality headset, which runs exclusively on Siemens NX software. This chip was specifically designed for mixed-reality applications and driving higher-resolution outputs like the 4K Micro-OLED 90 hertz per eye displays inside the Samsung headset. This resolution is across a 109-degree horizontal field of view, which is pretty standard for VR and mixed-reality headsets, but much wider than most AR headsets.<\/p>\n
The Galaxy XR headset also has eye-tracking. This is an important feature because it enables easier authentication via the user\u2019s unique iris patterns, as well as automatic calibration of the user\u2019s inter-pupillary distance to enable the best visual acuity. While all these benefits seem great, the most valuable one is that eye-tracking enables foveated rendering, which allows the GPU to render in full resolution only the small area of the display that your fovea (in the center of your field of vision) is looking at. This saves on power consumption at the same time it improves frame rates. I have experienced Galaxy XR\u2019s eye-tracking firsthand; what might not be immediately obvious is that, when paired with an AI like Gemini, the headset can understand your intent because it knows very precisely what you\u2019re looking at. Gemini also learns which things you\u2019ve seen, even if you don\u2019t remember them, which in turn enables some impressive user experiences.<\/p>\n
The headset also has a ton of sensors and cameras to enable top-notch XR experiences, including two high-resolution passthrough cameras, six world-facing tracking cameras for 6-DoF tracking, four eye-tracking cameras, five inertial management units, one depth sensor and one flicker sensor. There are also six microphones, which should enable some very high-quality audio experiences with minimal noise.<\/p>\n
Because this device will run Gemini, it needs an ample amount of RAM, so it makes sense that the headset is shipping with 16GB of RAM. That said, while I do think the 256GB of storage is acceptable, I\u2019d like to see more than that to accommodate more high-resolution spatial video content, whether the user is capturing it or watching it. The 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage is the same default configuration as the Apple Vision Pro, although Apple does offer the option of up to 1TB of storage. I think Samsung should offer more storage options in the future if it wants this to be a platform that people use daily.<\/p>\n
The video passthrough on the Galaxy XR is among the highest-quality I have ever seen in a headset, and I have tried nearly every mixed-reality headset there is. I have a Vision Pro that I\u2019ve used extensively, and I found that the Galaxy XR\u2019s passthrough is easily at that level or better. I did try the Samsung headset in a controlled environment, so I will need to wait until I receive an evaluation unit to fully validate this feature. Samsung also claims two hours of use from a single charge using the external battery, which seems to take a cue from Apple\u2019s design, down to the proprietary power connector \u2014 which makes it harder to use any kind of third-party power solution.<\/p>\n
The headset also weighs around 545g (about 19 ounces), with the external battery coming in at 302g. This is considerably lighter than the Apple Vision Pro, but also not light enough to be considered lightweight. That said, removing the battery like Apple did with the Vision Pro does considerably reduce the weight, plus it reduces the challenges when the battery heats up during use and charging. The ergonomics of the Samsung headset were better than I expected, and all in all the weight of the headset was not as apparent as it was with the first-generation Vision Pro.<\/p>\n
If controlling the headset based on your hand movements is not enough for you, Samsung has also created a pair of controllers for the Galaxy XR. These are most likely to be used for enterprise applications and gaming. Samsung sells them separately for $250 but is currently discounting them to $175 if you buy them with the headset. I think these controllers will be useful, but not necessary for all users. But I do believe that if you use this headset\u2019s ability to connect to a PC, you will probably want to use a controller or a keyboard, which is also supported.<\/p>\n
The Galaxy XR still has room for improvement. For example, Apple just announced the M5 Vision Pro with 120-hertz refresh rate, up from 90-hertz, which should create a smoother viewing experience; I think Samsung should consider implementing 120-hertz, too. I would also like to see Samsung and Google work on deeper integrations between the Galaxy XR and Samsung\u2019s smartphones and watches \u2014 something that was missing from Apple\u2019s XR platform at launch but has since been remedied.<\/p>\n
Google\u2019s Shahram Izadi, Samsung\u2019s Kihwan Kim and Qualcomm\u2019s Ziad Asghar on stage at the Galaxy XR launch event<\/p>\n
SamsungHow Google And Gemini Fit Into The Galaxy XR Launch<\/p>\n
It seems clear that Galaxy XR is being used by both Samsung and Google as the tip of the spear for the implementation of Android XR and Gemini. Google has certainly made it clear that Gemini and Android XR are inextricably tied to one another. The Galaxy XR headset is only the first of what are sure to be many Android XR headsets, glasses and other XR devices that will leverage the operating system \u2014 paired with Gemini \u2014 to drive more powerful, productive and natural user experiences. Considering its first-mover status, I see the Galaxy XR as a development vehicle for developers wanting to deploy Android XR apps and, increasingly, Gemini-capable apps. Samsung and Google are even teasing some enterprise applications for visualization of virtual shipbuilding through a partnership with Samsung Heavy Industries.<\/p>\n
During the launch event for Galaxy XR, the depth of Google\u2019s partnership with Samsung was apparent when executives from the companies talked about multimodal AI and the \u201cscalable Android XR ecosystem.\u201d Part of the efficacy of Android XR comes from Google\u2019s acceptance of open industry standards including OpenXR and WebXR to improve compatibility and cross-platform apps.<\/p>\n
This is important, because Google\u2019s absence from the XR market after it shut down its Daydream headset project in 2019 has, I believe, hurt growth and innovation marketwide. For the past several years, there have effectively been three walled gardens: Meta, Sony and Apple. Taking a page from its own Android playbook for the smartphone market, Google is now the first company to potentially enable OEMs to not worry so much about app marketplaces and app compatibility so they can focus more on great product design and software. For evidence that this is happening, I would point to Google already shipping Google Maps, YouTube, Google Photos and Circle to Search on the Galaxy XR headset, with a clear focus on enhancing the user experience.<\/p>\n
More specifically, the new Google Maps in Android XR allows you to go into a Streetview mode and walk around places at ground level in VR using Gaussian splats created from Google Maps images of that place. It feels like you\u2019re able to virtually transport yourself anywhere and level up from 2-D Streetview. For another example, I personally think being able to use Circle to Search for objects in the real world with the wave of a finger is borderline magical and will delight many people about the power of Gemini on an XR headset.<\/p>\n
For buyers of the Galaxy XR, Google is also throwing in an Explorer Pack worth $1,000 that includes 12 months of Google AI Pro and a bunch of specialized XR content. This should ensure that Galaxy XR users will get the best of what Google has to offer, including the top end of Gemini AI alongside YouTube Premium.<\/p>\n
The Coming Wave Of Android XR Devices<\/p>\n
Samsung\u2019s Galaxy XR is just the first ripple of a coming deluge of devices that will leverage Android XR. While I don\u2019t believe that all those headsets or glasses will look like the Galaxy XR headset, I do believe we will see a long series of devices that span the XR continuum to fill gaps in the existing XR ecosystem. In particular, I think we will see more glasses and goggles from across the industry. In sum, I\u2019m glad to see Samsung coming out with a premium headset at half the price ($1,799) of the first Vision Pro, all while delivering many similar XR experiences \u2014 and even some better ones enabled by Gemini.<\/p>\n
Moor Insights & Strategy provides or has provided paid services to technology companies, like all tech industry research and analyst firms. These services include research, analysis, advising, consulting, benchmarking, acquisition matchmaking and video and speaking sponsorships. Of the companies mentioned in this article, Moor Insights & Strategy currently has (or has had) a paid business relationship with Google, Meta, Qualcomm, Samsung and Sony.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Samsung Galaxy XR headset, formerly known as Project Moohan Samsung Samsung has just announced Galaxy XR, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[74253,4796,49,48,192,42653,848,61,262,16349],"class_list":["post-233551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-android-xr","tag-ar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-google","tag-headset","tag-samsung","tag-technology","tag-vr","tag-xr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Samsung](\"https:\/\/specials-images.forbesimg.com\/imageserve\/68f90687107d3cc1da3796b7\/Samsung-Galaxy-XR-headset\/960x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=1000&cropY1=149&cropY2=617\")
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