Samsung Launches Galaxy XR Headset to Challenge Apple

At the 2023 WWDC, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated candidly, “Just as the Mac ushered us into the era of personal computing and the iPhone brought us into the era of mobile computing, Apple Vision Pro will lead us into the era of spatial computing.” However, two years have passed, and the Apple Vision Pro still hasn’t become a revolutionary product on the scale of the iPhone—at least, not yet.

Nonetheless, this doesn’t mean spatial computing lacks a future. After Apple’s entry, numerous startups and tech giants accelerated their efforts, including Samsung and Google. Not long ago, vivo launched its first MR headset, and Apple also rolled out updates for the Apple Vision Pro.

Samsung Galaxy XR

Samsung Electronics unveiled its long-awaited Galaxy XR extended reality headset on Tuesday, marking its official entry into the next generation of wearable computing.

Developed in collaboration with Google and Qualcomm, the new device represents Samsung’s most ambitious attempt yet to redefine how users interact with both digital and physical environments — and to take on rivals Apple and Meta in the fast-evolving XR space.

The Galaxy XR headset, priced at $1,799, undercuts Apple’s Vision Pro by roughly half, while offering similar virtual and mixed reality capabilities. It combines Samsung’s hardware engineering, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset, and Google’s latest Gemini AI multimodal technology, which can interpret the user’s surroundings in real time and provide contextual information, navigation, or assistance.

“This is just the beginning,” said Google’s vice president of AR/XR, Sharham Izadi, in an interview ahead of the launch. “There’s a whole journey ahead of us — other devices, other form factors — all connected through Android XR and AI.”

Samsung executives revealed that the company had studied the extended reality market for nearly ten years before deciding to move forward with a commercial product. The initiative, internally codenamed “Moohan” — meaning “infinite” in Korean — began about four years ago when Samsung partnered with Google to co-develop a next-generation XR ecosystem built around artificial intelligence.

“We have been agonizing over when to bring this product to market,” said Jay Kim, executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile division, at a briefing in Seoul. “Considering technology maturity and market timing, we believe now is the right moment to lead the AI-driven XR transformation.”

The Galaxy XR blends virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) capabilities. It allows users to immerse themselves in 3D video, games, and photos, while also maintaining awareness of real-world surroundings through high-resolution external cameras. Google’s AI-powered Gemini service enhances this experience by recognizing and interpreting visual input — for example, analyzing landmarks, objects, or directions that users point to — effectively merging the digital and physical worlds.

Samsung and Google executives emphasized that AI is the differentiating force behind the Galaxy XR. Google’s Gemini model, capable of processing multimodal data across text, images, and video, powers the headset’s intelligent assistant, contextual overlays, and interactive functions.

“Google entering the fray again changes the dynamic in the ecosystem,” said Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. “Some estimates suggest Google’s software alone adds over $1,000 in value to the device.”

Consumers purchasing the Galaxy XR this year will also receive a 12-month bundle of premium Google services — including Google AI Pro, YouTube Premium, and Google Play Pass — as well as exclusive access to specialized XR content.

The Galaxy XR marks the beginning of a broader “Android XR” family of products. Google and Samsung executives confirmed plans to release lighter, eyeglass-style devices in the coming years, though they declined to provide details. Samsung has already forged partnerships with eyewear brands Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, hinting at a move toward fashion-oriented smartglasses.

The XR market has become one of the most competitive frontiers in consumer tech. Meta, owner of Instagram and Facebook, currently dominates the VR segment with roughly 80% market share, while Apple trails with its premium Vision Pro headset. Meanwhile, OpenAI has signaled interest in hardware by acquiring Jony Ive’s design firm, io Products, for $6.5 billion earlier this year, aiming to explore AI-native devices.

Despite the excitement, the extended reality industry remains small and volatile. Research firm Gartner forecasts that the global head-mounted display market will reach $7.27 billion next year, up just 2.6% from 2024. New AI-powered smartglasses — such as Meta’s Ray-Ban collaboration with EssilorLuxottica — are expected to drive most of that growth.

Even so, the broader VR and MR market has seen three consecutive years of shipment declines, and is projected to fall another 20% in 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. But analysts believe Samsung’s aggressive pricing and cross-industry partnerships could change that dynamic.

“With a more competitive price point than Apple’s Vision Pro, Samsung’s Project Moohan headset could emerge as a strong contender in the premium VR segment, particularly within enterprise markets,” said Flora Tang, senior analyst at Counterpoint.

Samsung is no stranger to face-mounted computing. The company first experimented with virtual reality through its Gear VR headset nearly a decade ago — a product developed in partnership with Oculus, which Meta later acquired in 2014. The Galaxy XR, however, marks a fundamental shift from smartphone-based VR toward fully integrated, AI-enhanced spatial computing.