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

It has been 5 years since Samsung and Google stopped supporting their respective cellular digital actuality headsets. For a second strive, the businesses have partnered up with a bolder imaginative and prescient within the blended actuality house, beginning with the brand new Galaxy XR. Announced final 12 months as Project Moohan, it is the primary headset powered by Android XR, a brand new platform for sensible glasses and headsets constructed on Android and Google’s Gemini assistant from the bottom up.

The Galaxy XR is out there in the present day within the US and South Korea for $1,800. (You can finance it for $149 monthly for 12 months.) That’s a leap over commonplace VR headsets just like the Meta Quest 3, however a considerably cheaper price than the $3,499 Vision Pro, which Apple is refreshing this week with the brand new M5 processor.

Galactic Vision

I used to be in a position to demo the headset once more final week at a closed-doors media occasion in New York City held by Samsung, Google, and Qualcomm—the Galaxy XR is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chip—however not a lot was totally different from my unique hands-on expertise final 12 months, which you’ll be able to learn extra about right here. The official identify and worth have been the 2 massive query marks, however that has now been addressed.

The Galaxy XR purports to do almost every little thing that Apple’s system does. Pop the headset on and you can see the room you are in by way of the pancake lenses and layer digital content material over it, or whisk your self off to a different world. Your palms are the enter (controllers can be found as a separate buy), and it makes use of eye monitoring to see what you wish to choose. You can entry all of your favourite apps from the Google Play Store; XR apps may have a “Made for XR” label.

Samsung’s headset is extra plasticky and does not really feel as premium as Apple’s Vision Pro—I seen the tethered battery pack on a demo unit seemed well-worn with fingerprint smudges on the coating. But this normal development makes it really feel considerably lighter to put on. I wasn’t in a position to strive it for a protracted interval, but it surely felt comfy, with the one subject being a sweaty forehead after a 25-minute bout with it on. The headset was heat on the high, however the battery pack remained comparatively cool. Speaking of, the battery lasts 2 hours or 2.5 hours should you’re purely watching video. That’s on par with the unique Vision Pro, although the M5 model extends it to 2.5 with blended use.