Extended Reality (XR)

Samsung has unveiled its competitor to Apple's Vision Pro mixed reality headset, and it's about half of the price of the Vision Pro, while also powered by Google and Qualcomm.

The new Galaxy XR headset was developed through a collaborative effort among Google, Qualcomm, and Samsung, with Samsung contributing its hardware expertise, Qualcomm providing its Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 processor, and Google's Android platform enabling interoperability with a wide range of apps and software features. The Galaxy XR headset is lighter than the Vision Pro at 545 grams, versus Apple's 600-gram Vision Pro, but slightly heavier than Meta's 515-gram Quest 3.

The Galaxy XR boasts 2 hours of continuous battery life per charge and comes with a similar battery pack that provides extra charging capacity. As for software services, the Galaxy XR comes with a variety of Google services, including Maps, Photos, and YouTube, along with sports experiences through 50 new experiences created for XR by Adobe, Calm, Fox Sports, MLB, and more.

Apple has just announced a refreshed, more powerful version of its Vision Pro headset, now powered by its new M5 processor, and more. Check it out:

In the days leading up to Samsung's big launch of its new Galaxy XR headset, Apple has announced its new M5 processor that powers its new Vision Pro headset. The new Vision Pro powered by the M5 processor features more CPU, GPU, and AI performance, with a new Dual Knit Band, and so much more.

Starting with the new in-house M5 processor, which features up to 10 CPU cores and 10 GPU cores, that Apple says enable "hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading, enabling developers to add remarkable detail to lighting, shadows, and reflections in games like Control". The 16-core Neural Engine handles AI workloads, running up to 50% faster for system experiences, and up to 2x faster for third-party apps over the M4 chip inside of the original Vision Pro.

Samsung's new Galaxy XR headset has had some juicy leaks ahead of its reveal, with details on the design, specifications, launch details, and more for the Apple Vision Pro competitor.

In a new report from Android Headlines, they've got the scoop on Samsung's new Galaxy XR "Project Moohan" headset ahead of its reveal later this month. Starting with the design of the headset, Samsung's new Galaxy XR looks pretty futuristic and similar to the Apple Vision Pro headset, with a curved front visor, matte metallic frame, and soft-touch interior padding.

The Galaxy XR weighs in at 545g, which makes it lighter than the Vision Pro, and it sports a rear strap dial to adjust the tension for your personal liking. Samsung has also added ventilation slots and detachable light shields, meaning that Samsung has made comfort one of its key highlights of the Galaxy XR.

Samsung will be releasing its new Galaxy XR headset on October 22, but the company is reportedly so confident in its new XR headset that it will be showcasing it in Korea ahead of its launch.

In new reports from FNNnews picked up by @Jukanrosleve on X, Samsung will be unveiling the new Galaxy XR headset ahead of its launch in Korea, signaling confidence in its completeness of the XR headset. According to industry sources, Samsung will accept pre-purchase notifications from October 15-21, with the official launch of the new Galaxy XR headset taking place on October 22.

Before the launch, Samsung will be exhibiting its new XR headset, where starting on October 20 the company will have its new Galaxy XR headset on display at seven Samsung Stores across South Korea. Until now, the company has displayed its Galaxy XR at overseas events including Galaxy Unpacked and Mobile World Congress (MWC), but it hasn't been publicly displayed on Samsung's home turf.

Apple has reportedly halted development on its new Vision Pro headset to handle something more important: making its new AR smart glasses to compete against Meta, which has been making inroads into the market with release after release.

In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg writer Mark Gurman says that even with Apple's (expensive) attempts to interest consumers in the Vision Pro have "fallen flat", so the company is "increasingly trying to pivot its marketing of the device towards businesses".

Gurman says that Apple has "hit pause" on its planned overhaul to its new Vision Pro headset in order to direct resources to a "more urgent effort: developing smart glasses that can rival products from Meta". Apple was reportedly preparing a cheaper, lighter variant of its AR headset codenamed "N100" for a 2027 release, but now Apple has internally announced that it's moving staff from that project to accelerate work on glasses.

Meta is reportedly accelerating the development of its smart glasses project -- codenamed Hypernova -- seeking suppliers throughout South Korea to reduce its heavy dependence on China.

In a new report from Korean outlet MK picked up by @Jukanlosreve on X and their electronics industry source, Meta plans to contract DB HiTek, an SK foundry to manufacture power management integrated circuits (PMICs) for charging its upcoming AR smart glasses.

This source said that Meta representatives visited DB HiTek last month and that discussions were underway for final delivery and if that contract is finalized, production of its next-gen Hypernova AR smart glasses would begin in 2026 with a release window for 2027.

Pimax has just unveiled three new VR headsets using Sony's next-gen micro-OLED technology, with ultra-high pixel density, near-infinite contrast, beautiful blacks, and more.

We'll start with the flagship Pimax Crystal Super micro-OLED, with Sony's new micro-OLED panels sporting 3840 x 3552 pixels per eye with ConcaveView pancake optics, and a 116-degree FOV. This is the widest FOV achieved so far with micro-OLED panels on a VR headset. Pimax is using interchangeable optical engines that are compatible with 50 PPD, 57 PPD clarity-focused, and ultrawide QLED models.

Pimax's new high-end Crystal Super micro-OLED headset provides users with the flexibility to change between maximum immersion and maximum sharpness, with the new VR headset priced at $2199.

Samsung is expected to unveil its first XR headset -- Project "Moohan" -- on October 21, expanding its market reach into XR, AI, and content platforms.

In a new ETnews report picked up by @Jukanrosleve on X, we're hearing that the Samsung Mobile Experience (MX) division will unveil its new Moohan XR headset on October 21, with product specifications and features revealed for the first time, followed "immediately" by official sales of the new XR headset.

We're expected to see the initial shipment volume from Samsung of around 100,000 units for its new XR headsets, with adjustments to be made depending on how good the early demand is.

It's looking increasingly likely that Valve's next-generation all-in-one, Meta Quest-like VR headset is nearing an announcement and release. The headset, which we've previously referred to as Valve Deckard (its codename), will probably be called the Steam Frame when it launches sometime in Q4 2025.

Assuming there are no delays, the recent Steam Frame trademark by Valve, the renaming of SteamVR "Overlays" to "Frames," recent reports of the headset entering the manufacturing stage of its development, and finalized drivers for the Steam Link VR USB Dongle all point to the hardware being ready for launch.

Also, the updated 'Valve Roy' controllers for the Steam Frame are no longer marked as prototypes in drivers. And with the new controllers already in SteamVR, we can see a render of the left-hand controller recreated in Blender below.

Meta will be launching its new AI glasses dubbed Hypernova in 2026, reportedly priced at a not-so-crazy $800 or so, with new information on the headset leaked.

In a new post by industry insider Ming-Chi Kuo, Meta's new Hypernova AI glasses will reportedly enter mass production in the next few months (Q3 2025) with a two-year product lifecycle. Shipments are expected to be around 150,000 to 200,000 units over the next two years, and based on Qualcomm's chip shipment forecasts, global smart glasses shipments are projected to reach 13-15 million units in 2026.

This shows that Hypernova's market share will be negligible, with Kuo stating that Meta will be positioning its new AI glasses as more of an "experimental project" for the Facebook owner. AI will be Hypernova's "most important selling point" says Kuo, however, the integration with AI and AR applications is "still in its nascent stages".

Apple is expected to release its new Vision Pro 2 headset with a newer M-series processor later this year, with previous reports stating it'll feature the current M4 chip, but new reports confirm that the Vision Pro 2 headset will pack the latest M5 chip.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said that the new Vision Pro headset would feature Apple's higher-end in-house M5 processor, but Mark Gurman from Bloomberg has said that the Vision Pro successor would feature the same M4 chip found inside of the latest MacBook Air and iPad Pro models versus the newer M5.

But, in new reports from MacRumors, inside of Apple's own code, it looks like the next-gen Vision Pro 2 headset will use the new M5 processor. The new Vision Pro 2 won't have any huge design changes or hardware updates apart from the new M5 processor, but recent reports have suggested that we could see a new strap that makes the headset more comfortable to wear over longer periods of time.

Meta is showcasing new prototype VR headsets at SIGGRAPH 2025, with the company posting a new in-depth article outlining the latest technologies and breakthroughs of its new 'Tiramisu' hyperrealistic VR headset and the 'Boba 3' headset that increases the FOV (field-of-view) to get closer to how humans see than ever before.

According to the post, the teams within Meta's Reality Labs Research are working to "create virtual experiences that are indistinguishable from the physical world," and they believe that its prototype Tiramisu VR headset is a big step toward that reality. Its custom micro-OLED panels feature a resolution and pixel density that is 3.6X what is currently offered in the Meta Quest 3. It also features three times the contrast ratio and a peak brightness of up to 1,400 nits.

The brightness aspect alone is impressive, and to render real-time Unreal Engine 5-powered visuals that can be displayed on the Tiramisu headset, it needs NVIDIA DLSS to mitigate the high performance cost. It sounds impressive, but the technology is currently limited. The Tiramisu headset is bulky, and the FOV is limited to 30 degrees on either axis, so you're essentially looking at a virtual box.

Apple is reportedly set to introduce a Vision Pro successor this year, with performance improvements in the use of its newer M4 processor, improved AI functions, and a more comfortable strap.

In a new report from Mark Gurman inside his new PowerOn newsletter, we're hearing that the updated Vision Pro will sport a faster M4 processor and other components that can "better run" AI, according to the usual "people familiar with the matter". There will also be a new strap that will make it easier to wear the Vision Pro for longer periods of time.

These won't be the only upgrades Apple includes in a new Vision Pro headset, as there is a redesigned model coming in 2027 that "significantly reduces the weight of the headset" according to Gurman's sources. The initial upgrade to the Vision Pro headset will use the M4 processor that Apple has inside of its new iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, and iMac, representing a big upgrade in performance over the current Vision Pro which is powered by the M2 processor.

Apple's upcoming Smart Glasses are in the headlines today, with the Ray-Bans-like smart glasses expected with no display, using a gesture recognition user interface, and expected to release in 2027.

In a new report from insider Ming-Chi Kuo, we've got a bunch of new details on Apple's Vision Pro and Smart Glasses roadmap for 2025-2028, with the new Smart Glasses being a Ray-Bans-like product that is expected to arrive in multiple frames and temple material options, with mass production expected in Q2 2027.

Apple is reportedly projecting shipments of its new Smart Glasses to be somewhere between 3 million and 5 million or more in 2027, with no display functionality and core features including audio playback, camera, video recording, and "AI environmental sensing" reports Kuo.

Samsung's upcoming XR headset is rumored with ultra-high-end displays inside, with new reports suggesting we'll see ultra-sharp 3800 PPI OLEDoS displays inside, which would beat Apple's ambitious Vision Pro headset.

In a new report from South Korean media outlet TheElec, we're hearing that Samsung's new XR headset would feature 1.3-inch OLED on Silicon (OLEDoS) microdisplays, with around 3800 PPI, up against the 1.42-inch OLEDoS displays inside of the Apple Vision Pro (which it sources from Sony) and a pixel density of 3391 PPI.

Samsung will have smaller displays inside, but the higher pixel density of 3800 PPI will make for a mighty impressive visual experience when pitted against the Apple Vision Pro. Samsung's upcoming XR headset with its 3800 PPI display will feature higher visual clarity, sharper text, and more, but they'll have a downside: a reduced field of view (FOV).

Samsung is expected to unveil its new "Project Moohan" XR headset in the months ahead, a new XR headset created in collaboration with Google and Qualcomm.

The first appearance of Samsung's new XR headset codenamed Project Moohan was teased during Galaxy Unpacked at CES 2025, and again at Mobile World Congress 2025. Samsung went as far as offering live demos to select partners and media, in order to highlight its XR headset in its final stages.

In a new report from Korean outlet Newspin, Samsung is expected to unveil its Android XR headset codenamed Project Moohan, at its Unpacked event in South Korea on September 29, with a release in South Korea on October 13, after which we'll see the global launch of Samsung's new XR headset.

After being unceremoniously turfed from Facebook in 2017 after being "outed" as a supporter of President Trump, Oculus VR creator Palmer Luckey has returned to Meta in a different way: partnering with the company to make the best XR headsets for the US military.

The big new deal was funded through private capital, without the use of any US taxpayer funds, and has been designed to save the US military billions of dollars by using high-performance components and technology that were originally created for commercial use.

Anduril explained on its website: "This partnership comes at a pivotal moment in the evolution of national defense. America's national security has benefited from U.S. technological leadership at every phase of the computing revolution, from the first microchips and PCs to today's internet and mobile devices. As a new era of computing takes shape-built atop AI and body-worn devices-Meta and Anduril are committed to maintaining America's technological edge while reinforcing our economic and national security".

Apple has reportedly "made progress" on the next-gen chip it has been developing for its new smart glasses, which once released, will compete directly against Meta's Ray-Ban spectacles.

In a new report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, we're hearing from the usual "people with knowledge of the matter" that have said Apple has "made progress on the chip that it's developing for smart glasses".

Gurman adds that the move indicates that Apple is ramping up work on its smart glasses, and that the silicon team has become a critical piece of Apple's product development engine in recent years, which really kicked off when Apple began replacing Intel processors with its in-house A-series and M-series processors in 2020.

Apple is still hard at work on its new smart glasses codenamed N50, with a new report teasing that the device "isn't close to being ready yet" but the idea is to turn glasses into an Apple Intelligence device.

In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman writes that Apple's new smart glasses will analyze the surrounding environment, feeding information to the wearer, but Gurman notes that "it will stop well short of true augmented reality". Apple's also developing camera-equipped AirPods that have been long rumored, that "will do much the same thing".

Apple's goal is to make augmented reality glasses that act similar to how the Vision Pro headset works, and it could be one of the biggest projects the company is working on right now.

Apple is said to be working on a couple of different AR headsets: a higher-end enterprise-focused headset in a successor to Vision Pro, and a cheaper and lighter version that is reportedly called Vision Air.

The new Apple Vision Air -- which is a name I totally dig, in line with the iPad AIr, MacBook Air, etc -- is a cheaper and lighter version of the Vision Pro, with an inferior chassis, A-series SoC instead of a higher-end M-series SoC, and other downsides. But, it'll play to an audience that is far wider than the $3500+ price of the Vision Pro.

In a new post on X by tiper @Kosutami_Ito, we're hearing that the new Vision lineup is "so thin" and that it features titanium to reduce weight, including the connectors and the battery. The leaker notes that this thinner and cheaper AR headset might not be called the Vision Pro, but rather the VIsion Air.