Samsung unveils $1800 competitor to Apple Vision Pro

The South Korean company has announced Galaxy XR, featuring 4K micro-OLED displays and running Android XR.

Priced at $1800, Samsung Galaxy XR is significantly cheaper than the $3500 Apple Vision Pro, which was recently upgraded with an M5 chip and up to 120Hz display rendering.

However, it remains much more expensive than Meta Quest. There is a reason for that: Samsung is not using cheap, low-quality HD-quality LCD panels as found in all Meta's Quest headsets.

- "With Galaxy XR, Samsung is introducing a brand-new ecosystem of mobile devices," said Won-Joon Choi, COO of MX Business, Samsung. "Built on Android XR, Galaxy XR expands the vision for mobile AI into a new frontier of immersive and meaningful possibilities, allowing XR to move from concept to everyday reality, for both the industry and users."

4K micro-OLED displays
Galaxy XR is equipped with two micro-OLED panels at 3552x3840 resolution for a total of over 27 million pixels (+3800ppi). For comparison, Apple Vision Pro offers over 23 million pixels.

These micro-OLED displays are a major reason why Vision Pro delivers an exceptional immersive experience – far beyond Meta Quest – so we look forward to testing Galaxy XR. We suspects that the micro-OLED panels may come from Samsung Display.

 Also read: First look at Apple Vision Pro: A video revolution

Samsung confirmed that Galaxy XR supports 60Hz and 72Hz refresh rates, which are notably lower than Vision Pro's 120Hz. However, it can boost to 90Hz "upon service request," said Samsung, whatever that means. This limitation likely stems from the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chip, which is powerful for a mobile device but far less capable than Apple's M5.

The headset supports HDR10 and HLG, but not Dolby Vision. The displays deliver 95% DCI-P3 color. It can decode video up to 8K60. Dolby Atmos audio is also supported. In addition, it supports both AV1 and MV-HEVC video decoding. MV-HEVC is what Apple uses for its incredible 180-degree 8K 3D 90fps immersive videos.

Samsung said watching movies "feels like a personal theater" but revealed few details about the experience for video, gaming, or sports beyond that.


Android XR with Gemini
Galaxy XR is the first product built on Google's new Android XR platform, designed to power headsets, AI glasses and more.

- "Android XR is the first Android platform built entirely for the Gemini era, and we are incredibly excited to take a significant leap forward today with the launch of Galaxy XR," said Sameer Samat, President of Android Ecosystem at Google. "Through our partnership with Samsung, Android XR will unlock entirely new ways to explore, connect and create, building an open, unified platform for the next evolution of computing."

All existing Android mobile apps run on Galaxy XR on a virtual flat screen, but developers will need to create XR-optimized apps to fully utilize its capabilities. These can be developed using OpenXR, WebXR or Unity.

Google's Gemini AI assistant is deeply integrated at the system level "seeing what they see and hearing what they hear". Users can, for example, draw a circle around an object in passthrough mode to identify it or get information. Gemini can also provide suggestions and answer questions.


Is Android XR ready?
After two failed attempts with Google Glass and Daydream, Google announced Android XR in December 2024 to compete with Apple's visionOS and Meta's Horizon OS (based on Android Open Source Project).

Is Android XR ready for prime time? How many apps have been optimized and what can users expect beyond wild marketing claims about virtual worlds? Google and Samsung did not say much, only mentioning "over 50 new experiences made for XR from Adobe, Calm, Fox Sports, MLB and more". This will include 180- and 360-degree videos on YouTube, but much of the presentation centered around Gemini, Google Search and shopping (ads). We look forward to learning more.

There is also a feature that can "spatialize" videos and photos into 3D. Everything can be controlled using hands gestures or controllers.

Galaxy XR requires an external battery pack which weighs 302g in addition to the headset's 545g (with forehead cushion). The battery pack provides up to 2.5 hours of video playback – not quite enough for The Lord of the Rings.

Galaxy XR launches October 31 in the US and South Korea for $1800 with 256GB of storage. No larger storage option is available at launch.

Samsung Galaxy XR – specifications
Memory
16GB Memory 
256GB Storage  
Display
3,552 x 3,840, 27 million pixels Micro-OLED 6.3‑micron pixel pitch 
95% DCI‑P3   
Refresh rates: 60Hz, 72Hz (Default), 90Hz (Up to, upon service request)   
Field of View 109 degrees horizontal and 100 degrees vertical  
Chip
Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 Platform  
Camera
Supports 3D Photo & video capture   
18mm / F2.0 
6.5MP*   
*Resolution may vary depending on use case  
Sensors
Two High-resolution Pass-through cameras 
Six World-facing tracking cameras 
Four Eye-tracking Cameras 
Five Inertial Measurement Units(IMUs) 
One Depth sensor One Flicker sensor  
Optic (Iris)
Supports iris recognition
– Use iris recognition to unlock the device and to enter passwords in certain apps.  
Audio and Video
Two, 2 Way speaker(Woofer + Tweeter)   
Six Microphones array 
– Multiple microphones among the six microphones support beamforming feature depending on the use case   
Audio Playback 
– Codec : MP3, AMR-NB/WB, AAC/ AAC+/ eAAC+, Vorbis, FLAC, Opus, Dolby Digital (AC3), Dolby Digital Plus(E-AC3) , Dolby ATMOS(E-AC3 JOC, AC4)   
Video Playing Resolution 
UHD 8K(7680 x 4320)@60fps   
Video Playback (Supports HDR10 and HLG) – Codec : H.263, H.264, HEVC, MV-HEVC, MPEG-4, VC-1, VP8, VP9, AV1  
Battery
Up to 2 hours of general use* 
Video watching up to 2.5 hours** 
Galaxy XR can be used while charging the battery. *Actual battery life varies by network environment, features and apps used, and many other factors. General usage tested with Wi-Fi connection turned on, video playback from YouTube playing in a virtual environment, Google Chrome internet browser with three websites open and Google Meet with Avatar setting turned on. **Video playback tested in a virtual environment using 2D video content from YouTube.  
Connectivity
Wi-Fi 7(802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) 
BT 5.4 (Up to)  
Interpupillary Distance (IPD)
54~70mm   
Vision Correction Galaxy XR supports vision correction through separately purchasable optical-inserts.*   
*Prescription lenses are sold separately.  
Weight
545g* (w/ forehead cushion) Weight may vary depending on whether light shield is attached or not   
Separate battery weighs 302g.   
*The weight of the product specified above includes the weight of the device with the Forehead cushion only. The weight of the product was measured without other attachments such as Cushion size adjusters and Light shields.  
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