Samsung XR may become the industry standard Apple must follow

It all looks very promising and, in some ways, better than most people expected. More importantly, the Samsung XR headset, powered by Google and Qualcomm, has a real fighting chance against the Apple Vision Pro.

One of the few people in the industry who have had early access to the Samsung XR headset and the Android XR platform is Mark Gurman (@markgurman) of Bloomberg. In an X post earlier today, Mark wrote:

• “Hands-on with Samsung and Google’s first mixed-reality headset and Android XR. I’m impressed. This headset shows the Vision Pro hardware needs to evolve – fast.”

The XR headset is developed by Samsung and Qualcomm on the hardware side and Google on the software side. It's been in the works for at least two years. The trio first revealed their plans for a new XR experience during Galaxy Unpacked 2023 nearly two years ago.

As far as the software experience goes, Android XR seems to borrow a lot of ideas from Apple's visionOS. Mark Gurman followed up with another post on X, saying:

• “Android XR worked well in my tests on the Samsung headset, but the interface is essentially an Android-ified version of visionOS. […] Can also run phone/tablet apps from Google Play.”

One last thing for Samsung XR to beat Apple

Aside from a solid marriage between beautifully crafted hardware and reliable XR software, Samsung and Google might hold one final piece of the puzzle that could give Apple and the Vision Pro a run for their money.

Pricing details for the next-gen Samsung XR headset are unknown, but Samsung and Google seem to be putting a lot of thought and effort into finding the sweet spot.

Pricing has always been a high barrier to entry in the VR and XR fields, and according to Mark Gurman, Samsung is “Fully aware” of this fact. The high cost is one of the reasons why we have not yet experienced a boom in this emerging market. For reference, Apple's Vision Pro has a starting price of $3,499.

• However, Samsung confirmed it is doing “A lot of research on what price point customers will feel comfortable paying.”

The company is likely trying to undercut Apple, and that could very well be the final piece of the puzzle that may give Samsung and Google a win over the Cupertino giant in the emerging XR market.

Samsung is expected to release the XR headset next year. We might see more of it at CES 2025 next month.