We might not have heard much about it since it was announced in February 2023, but Samsung is apparently still working on the Samsung XR headset (XR being a catchall for VR, MR, and AR), and a new rumor suggests we’ll see it this year.
We know for certain that the Samsung headset is being made in partnership with Google – Samsung has said as much itself – and we know the device will use the Snapdragon XR2 Plus Gen 2 chipset according to a Qualcomm announcement, but that’s about it from official channels. Unofficial reports peg the headset as a cheaper Apple Vision Pro rival with high-end performance but a not-so-high-end price tag – with a rumor saying Samsung delayed the headset to help it stand up better against Apple’s device.
This not only means a solid performance but also high-end displays, with it believed the headset will boast dual OLED screens (one for each eye) likely similar to the 1.03-inch OLEDoS display (OLED on Silicon) – with a 3,500 pixel-per-inch pixel density – it showed off earlier this year.
That said these screens were created by eMagin rather than the Samsung Display team, and Samsung only acquired this company fairly recently so there’s a chance these displays will be reserved for a later headset model (assuming we even see more than one).
But given the headset was apparently delayed to give the team more time to improve its screens, there’s a chance these impressive OLED panels could make their way into the headset. We hopefully won’t be waiting long to find out if they have. A new report (translated into English) from Korean Economic Daily (nicknamed Hankyung) suggests the Samsung XR headset will drop in the second half of the year.
We should always take rumors with a pinch of salt but this isn’t the first time we’ve heard the Samsung headset will launch in late 2024 – with it previously being suggested that the Samsung VR headset might arrive alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 6 which is also due to launch in the second half of 2024.
If it is coming this year, let’s hope Samsung has had enough time to learn from its rivals’ mistakes. Mark Zuckerberg might think the Meta Quest 3 is better than the Vision Pro but it has some issues of its own, and the Vision Pro isn’t perfect either according to all the people sending it back to Apple for a refund.