Samsung’s Galaxy XR Mixed Reality Headset Is Here: Price, Release Date, Features

has been Samsung and Google stopped support after five years their respective mobile Virtual reality headset. For a second try, the companies partnered with a bold vision Mixed reality spaceStarting with the new Galaxy XR. It was announced last year Project MohanIt is the first headset powered by Android XR, a new platform for smart glasses and headsets Built on Android And Google’s Gemini Assistant from the ground up.

The Galaxy XR is available today in the US and South Korea for $1,800. (You can finance it for $149 per month for 12 months.) That’s a leap from standard VR headsets. Meta Quest 3But compared to a significantly lower price $3,499 Vision Prowhich Apple is refreshing this week With the new M5 processor.

Galactic Vision

Photo: Julian Chokkattu

I was able to demo the headset again at a closed-door media event hosted by Samsung, Google and Qualcomm in New York City last week—the Galaxy XR is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chip—but it wasn’t too different from my actual hands-on experience last year, which you can Read more about here. The official name and price were two big question marks, but that has now been addressed.

The Galaxy XR can do almost everything Apple’s devices do. Turn on the headset and you can see the room you’re in through pancake lenses and place virtual content on top of it or transport yourself to another world. Your hand is the input (the controller is available as a separate purchase), and it uses eye tracking to see what you want to select. You can access all your favorite apps from Google Play Store; XR apps will have a “Made for XR” label.

Samsung’s headset is more plasticky and doesn’t feel as premium as Apple’s Vision Pro—I noticed the tethered battery pack on a demo unit looked well-worn with fingerprint smudges on the casing. But this simple construction makes it feel remarkably light to wear. I wasn’t able to try it for a long time, but it felt comfortable, a sweaty brow after 25 minutes of fighting with it was the only issue. The headset was warm at the top, but the battery pack was relatively cool. That being said, the battery lasts for 2 hours or 2.5 hours if you are watching videos entirely This is on par with the original Vision Pro, although the M5 version extends it to 2.5 with mixed use.