Samsung's Android XR headset: is this the future of VR?

We’ve had our first look at Samsung’s upcoming Android XR headset, courtesy of techy YouTuber Marques Brownlee.

This is Google's stab at taking on both the Meta Quest series — which is pretty popular — and the Apple Vision Pro, which hasn't sold all that well, despite being a bit of a technical masterpiece.

The headset itself doesn’t have an official name yet, but it looks a fair bit like the Vision Pro.

It has a shiny front panel, bulk similar to today’s VR headsets and a familiar-looking clamp-like head strap.

The Samsung XR headset can use eye tracking and hand tracking alone to control the interface (controller support inbound too). And you can even talk to it to navigate the UI and open apps.

Brownlee describes the screen quality as “fine… not remarkable,” that it has “pretty good sharpness… just a notch behind Vision Pro.” But the key part here is the Android XR software the headset runs, not just the headset itself.

Here’s the odd part. The Meta Quest and Pico VR headsets use a customised version of Android, and have done since 2018's Oculus Go. But it has taken this long for Google to get remotely serious about VR.

How does Android XR work?

Android XR, the software seen here, is the version of Android made for mixed reality. And that includes virtual reality and augmented reality headset experiences too.

It will let you run Android apps from Google Play, including those not made for VR at all. Much like the Apple Vision Pro, “normal” apps will open in screens that appear to hang in the air.

There are also some spatial versions of apps made for the platform, including YouTube, which might fill your view or take up virtual multiple windows — not really possible with a tablet or phone.

We’d bet there’d be plenty of scope for Meta Quest games and apps to be ported over to headsets like this too. They are basically Android apps already, after all.

Brownlee spends a good while talking about how you use Google's Gemini AI with the headset — which is no doubt what Google wanted him to talk about.

This allows for voice control of the headset, which is pretty neat. It also lets the headset do the usual AI image recognition thing, and identify objects in your vision.

Brownlee uses this to seemingly jump to a spot in Jordan in Google Maps using just a photo printed in a book. But then again the page does have the exact place name written on the page too, so let’s not assume Gemini AI in Android XR is now a geoguessr master.

And do you really need a headset able to identify objects in your home, or want to wear this thing out on the street? We sure don’t.

However, Android XR is probably good news for VR in general, and means headset makers without the clout of Meta will be able to produce standalone headsets without (fingers crossed) forever being unfavourably compared to Meta Quest on the software side. Assuming Google doesn’t leave Android XR to fester in the way it has its WearOS wearables platform over the years, anyway.

Samsung’s Android XR headset is — according to Samsung — going to be released later this year. We don't have any price details yet, but with eye tracking involved and, per Brownlee's commentary, a potentially part-metal design, it may well cost a fair bit more than the Meta Quest 3.

Main image credit: Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future Publishing

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