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If you’ve been waiting to get your hands on a Samsung Galaxy XR virtual reality headset, now’s your moment: The device is available to order now on Samsung’s or Google’s website for $1,799 and orders are scheduled to arrive Nov. 4. To offset the price, the Galaxy XR comes with a free year of Google AI Pro, YouTube Premium, and Google Play Pass.
Built in partnership with Google and Qualcomm, the Galaxy XR features dual, 4K micro-OLED screens delivering 27 million pixels total and 100-degree horizontal field of view, all powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chip and packed into a lightweight (1.2 pounds) form factor.
The birth of Android XR
The headset will be powered by the new Android XR platform, which will allow users to run standard Android apps as 2D windows. The new ecosystem is designed around system-level integration of Gemini AI and is planned as an infrastructure for future AR and VR devices, including smart glasses. A couple highlights from the operating system: the ability to circle things in the real world and search for them online, and the AI conversion of 2D photos and videos into immersive 3D presentations.
Samsung’s Galaxy XR is stepping into a fairly crowded marketplace, given the public’s relatively tepid reaction to virtual reality. Its main competitors are Meta’s Quest line of headsets and the Apple Vision Pro, although both Meta and Apple are putting much of their AR/VR resources into smart glasses instead of headsets.
The Galaxy XR’s $1,799 price tag is almost exactly half the cost of an Apple Vision Pro and more than three times as expensive as a Meta Quest 3. Samsung seems to be aiming at a tech middle ground: Not prohibitively expense to nearly everyone, but well above the Quest’s “game console” price. The target seems to be pro-level consumers interested in a headset with better hardware than a Quest, but who balk at a $3,500 device. In other words: Samsung is chasing Apple’s polish and Meta’s accessibility, hoping to find a sweet spot between them.
What do you think so far?
In terms of specs, the Apple Vision Pro’s M5 chip and dedicated R1 spatial processor put it in the lead in terms of raw processing power, though the Galaxy displays 27 million pixels compared to Apple’s 24 million. The Quest 3 displays around 9 million pixels. The Galaxy has a slower top refresh rate compared with Apple, too: 90Hz vs. 12Hz. Ultimately the more expensive headsets are roughly comparable, assuming everything works the way it should; I haven’t tried the Galaxy XR yet, so I can’t say. As for the Quest 3, its very low price isn’t the only advantage to the cheaper system: The Quest’s software library is orders of magnitude larger than the competition.
If Samsung can back up its impressive specs with software and comfort, the XR could give both Apple and Meta something to worry about, but whether any VR headset could generate the kind of enthusiasm the public has for smart glasses remains to be seen.
