It has been 5 years since Samsung and Google stopped supporting their respective cellular virtual reality headsets. For a second strive, the businesses have partnered up with a bolder imaginative and prescient within the mixed reality space, beginning with the brand new Galaxy XR. Introduced final 12 months as Project Moohan, it is the primary headset powered by Android XR, a brand new platform for good glasses and headsets built on Android and Google’s Gemini assistant from the bottom up.
The Galaxy XR is accessible at the moment within the US and South Korea for $1,800. (You’ll be able to finance it for $149 per 30 days for 12 months.) That is a leap over normal 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 Imaginative and prescient
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
I used to be capable of demo the headset once more final week at a closed-doors media occasion in New York Metropolis 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 read more about here. The official identify and worth had been the 2 massive query marks, however that has now been addressed.
The Galaxy XR purports to do practically all the things that Apple’s machine does. Pop the headset on and you’ll 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 fingers are the enter (controllers can be found as a separate buy), and it makes use of eye monitoring to see what you need to choose. You’ll be able to entry all of your favourite apps from the Google Play Retailer; XR apps may have a “Made for XR” label.
Samsung’s headset is extra plasticky and would not really feel as premium as Apple’s Imaginative and prescient Professional—I observed the tethered battery pack on a demo unit regarded well-worn with fingerprint smudges on the coating. However this normal building makes it really feel considerably lighter to put on. I wasn’t capable of strive it for a protracted interval, nevertheless it felt comfy, with the one concern being a sweaty forehead after a 25-minute bout with it on. The headset was heat on the prime, however the battery pack remained comparatively cool. Talking of, the battery lasts 2 hours or 2.5 hours if you happen to’re purely watching video. That is on par with the unique Imaginative and prescient Professional, although the M5 model extends it to 2.5 with blended use.
