Samsung Galaxy XR hands-on: Just the opening act

For nearly a year, Samsung has been hyping up a new XR headset, previously known as Project Moohan. Now, finally, we know everything there is to know about the device, which is officially called the Samsung Galaxy XR. It’s the product of a massive collaboration between Samsung, Google, and Qualcomm, and it’s packed with impressive tech.

I got to spend some time with the device at Samsung’s New York City launch event last week, and I want to say something a little unexpected, something I noticed after testing it. While Samsung clearly wants to sell as many of these as possible — it is a business chasing profit, after all — it was also made clear to me at the keynote that the well-known Apple Vision Pro sales failure is hanging heavy over this launch. In fact, this is one of the few launches I’ve ever been to in which the presenters actively told us that this product is “just the beginning” and that better things are on the way.

So that leads us to the big question, which is whether or not you will actually buy this $1,799 headset. And let me tell you a secret: I think Samsung isn’t expecting you to. After my hands-on demo, it was clear that this headset is likely a foundational product designed to pave the way for the real revolution: future smart glasses powered by Android XR.

Before I get into all that, though, let me tell you about the headset.

If you’ve ever used a VR headset before, there are no real surprises here. The Galaxy XR hasn’t changed all that much from when it was first shown off as a prototype way back in December 2024. It has a glass front that protects multiple cameras and sensors. There are thick straps that connect the main headset to the back padding, which has a big dial on it for tightening or loosening the straps. There are three buttons on the headset: a multi-function button on the top right, and then a volume rocker on the top left. It was comfortable to wear, and it comes with removable light blockers that can help you be more immersed in your content by blocking off your peripheral vision. Conversely, you can remove them to keep yourself grounded in the real world (and hopefully offset any VR dizziness).

Like Apple’s Vision Pro, the battery is not built into the headset. Instead, it’s a self-contained pack (see below) that connects to the device using a proprietary pin system. You can keep the battery in your pocket or rest it on the couch next to you while you are immersed in the VR world. The reason the Galaxy XR is designed this way is to keep that hefty battery weight off your head, which should make it more comfortable to use it for extended periods. According to Samsung, you should be able to get about two hours of use based on one battery pack charge. There’s been no word on whether or not you’ll be able to buy additional battery packs.

Inside the headset are two displays (3,552 x 3,840 at 60Hz, 72Hz, or 90Hz) that automatically adjust themselves based on your face. This is made possible thanks to multiple sensors and cameras inside that perform eye-tracking functions. This means you don’t need to fiddle with knobs or move the lenses around to get the right focus — the headset does all the adjustments for you. For audio, there are small speakers above your ears that blast the sound out. This allows you to avoid wearing headphones and also lets you still hear the real world around you. Of course, if you’d prefer to use Bluetooth headphones, that’s totally fine, as the headset supports Bluetooth connections of all kinds, including earbuds, gaming controllers, mice and keyboards, and more.

Unfortunately, the Galaxy XR doesn’t come with any of that stuff. When you buy it, you just get the headset and the battery pack. Samsung has made VR-style controllers specifically for the Galaxy XR, but they are an additional purchase. The fact that the headset doesn’t come with controllers is not such a big deal, though, as Google and Samsung want you to use your hands and your voice for controls all the time.

So how do you use it without controllers? This is where the magic of the device really becomes apparent. Outside the headset, multiple cameras and sensors track everything your hands do in real-time. There are lots of downward-facing cameras on the front that capture your hand motions. Using these, you can control the operating system with hand gestures. A pinch acts as a left mouse click, and a pinch and hold acts as holding down the left mouse button, so you can drag windows around. You can use two hands to pinch to zoom in and out. Turning your hand around and pinching opens menus.

Meanwhile, the eye-tracking cameras inside are monitoring your eyes at all times. This allows you to simply look at something and the headset understands what you’re looking at, which makes controlling things faster and easier. With this combination of hand- and eye-tracking, you can manipulate things in your VR environment without needing to hold a controller or have any sort of apparatus on your hands or wrists.

The headset also offers opportunities for augmented reality experiences. The real world can be projected into the headset in full color with very low latency. Using Circle to Search, you could circle pretty much anything in the real world and do a search for it. Of course, you probably wouldn’t be caught dead wearing this around town, but it is fully wireless, so you could if you wanted to.

The Galaxy XR hardware is all Samsung, but the software — known as Android XR — is all Google. As its name suggests, this is based on Android, so it works very similarly to what you’ve been using on your phones and tablets for nearly two decades.

I expected it to come with something like One UI on board with a distinctly Samsung-ified look and feel, but instead, all I saw everywhere was Google apps in their usual stock style. There was nothing in the software that said Samsung at all, at least nothing that was shown in the keynote or demoed for me during my session. Every single thing was Google this and Google that. Where’s Galaxy AI? Where’s One UI? Where are the Samsung apps? Where’s Bixby?

Regardless, because Android XR is based on Android, nearly every app and game on the Play Store will automatically work with the headset. It will present the app in its native format in a 2D window, and you can use it as normal. However, we do have a lot of unanswered questions about the OS. Will it be available to any company that wants to make a headset, just like Android is available to any company that wants to make a phone? How much will companies be able to customize it? How often will devices get updates? I asked a Google rep about all this, and they said that the company would announce all that in due time.

So what is it actually like using this thing? At its core, the Galaxy XR is simply a VR headset with multiple opportunities for entertainment. The two most significant differentiators from the competition are its gaming prowess and the deep integration of Google’s Gemini.

If you’re a gamer, you should know that this headset is going to be much better for gaming than the Apple Vision Pro and maybe even the Meta Quest 3. It will support Steam VR games when connected to a VR-ready PC and will also support 2D games through existing apps like Steam Link and Moonlight. It will also support pretty much every game on the Google Play Store. Connecting a standard controller to the headset via Bluetooth is dead simple. As mentioned earlier, you’ll be able to get VR-style controllers from Samsung as an additional purchase, opening the doors to all sorts of existing VR games. Apple made a big mistake by not working hard to support these kinds of experiences with the Vision Pro, so it’s great to see Google and Samsung aren’t making the same mistake.

Even more significant than gaming, though, is Gemini. When Google announced Android XR at the end of 2024, it specifically called out that it was the first operating system designed from the ground up for what it calls the Gemini era. In other words, Android XR was built with Gemini already in mind. As such, it permeates everywhere throughout the operating system. You can activate Gemini at any time by holding down the multi-function button. This allows you to not only speak to Gemini but also easily show it your display, allowing you to ask questions about what you’re doing.

For example, you could be playing a game and pull up Gemini to help you out with it. You wouldn’t need to explain anything to it, because it would be able to see the game, what level you’re on, your character’s health, and all that. If you have a bunch of windows open within your virtual environment, you can just ask Gemini to organize them for you. The really cool thing is that you can do this conversationally using Gemini Live; you don’t need to say “Hey Gemini” all the time.

The demos I tried really hammered home how central Gemini is to the experience. The first thing I saw was Google Photos. The app looks and works just like it does on your phone, but the software can make any photo stereoscopic, which means it appears to have depth. You can easily turn this on or off with any photo in your library, and the depth effect is created on-device on the fly. Gemini works here for helping you find specific photos without needing to scroll through. Just say, “Show me my photos from our trip to France, Gemini.”

After Google Photos, we jumped into Google Maps. You start out with an aerial view of the Earth, as if you were floating in space. You can then tell Gemini to take you anywhere you like, and you’ll zoom into that area, floating above it like a bird. You can then zoom in even further to explore places in street view, so it feels like you’re walking around the destination. Here, you can have a chat with Gemini as you’re exploring. Let’s say you spot a landmark; you can simply look at it and ask Gemini about it, and the AI will tell you whatever you want to know.

The really cool thing, though, is you can actually walk inside select buildings. Google does this by using AI to stitch together existing photos and videos available on Google Maps, creating a realistic 3D environment. There are already over 1,000 locations in New York that work for this, such as the restaurant in the video below.

Finally, we tried YouTube. I viewed an immersive 360-degree video shot specifically for headsets like the Galaxy XR, as well as an interactive 3D film where I could reach out and “touch” objects. I also watched one of my own videos that was automatically converted to be stereoscopic, which was pretty cool. However, that specific feature will not work when you take the Galaxy XR out of the box. Eventually, it will work on most YouTube videos, but it will be a while before it’s active.

The Samsung Galaxy XR starts at $1,799, which is literally half the price of the Apple Vision Pro. While this definitely makes the device more affordable, $1,800 is still very, very expensive. This isn’t a tech product you just decide to buy one day. The Vision Pro has also been a well-established bomb for Apple, with sales figures estimated to be less than one million units. Samsung might be undercutting Apple on price by a wide margin, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s launching into a market that even Apple, the master of busting up existing markets, couldn’t crack.

This is why I think the Galaxy XR is just an opening act. The real revolution will be smart glasses that do most of the things the Galaxy XR can do, but do it in the real world. We know this is coming, too, because Samsung and Google are already hyping them up with partnerships with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster. If Samsung and its partners can make smart glasses that allow you to bring Android XR with you wherever you go and include an AI companion that can jump in and help you whenever needed, it could have a revolution on its hands.

The Galaxy XR seems like a terrific product, but it’s still, at its core, just another VR headset. Most people who buy this will use it to play games and watch movies in their homes, by themselves. That doesn’t add up to a device that changes your life — that adds up to a TV screen you attach to your face. The idea that you can already do that with existing devices— and have been able to for a decade — makes this feel less like a revolutionary new product and more like a way-too-late entry into a plateaued market.

So, will you buy the Galaxy XR? Or will you wait for the real revolution, which will be future smart glasses with Android XR on board? Based on what I saw, this is a very impressive tech demo that serves as a foundation for something much greater. It’s a device that feels designed to get developers and early adopters hooked on the Android XR ecosystem. But, in the end, all it’s doing is preparing them for the main event that’s still to come.