Samsung's XR/VR headset has the possibility to challenge the more expensive Apple Vision Pro when it launches in 2026.
With its creative user interface and excellent technology, the current Apple Vision Pro is an amazing piece of mixed reality gear. Nevertheless, as our Apple Visio Pro review demonstrates, it’s far from flawless; add to that the headset’s $3,499 price tag and other issues facing early adopters, and most users won’t find it appealing.
Samsung’s Exynos 2200 processor from 2022 powers the gadget; it is better than the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1 chip from Qualcomm, which powers both the Quest 2 and Nano 4, but it isn’t as good as the XR2 Gen 2 chip that Quest 3 is supposed to get later this year. Additionally, it makes use of OLED micro-displays, which have higher contrast and resolution than LCD screens.
Digital companies are investing millions in the creation of extended and mixed reality, since it’s often considered the next big thing. A fresh version of Android will be running on Samsung’s XR headset, which is also expected to enter the competition. We may finally get a first glance at a headset prototype, courtesy of Chinese news source Gyro Technologies.
Despite using lighter and thinner pancake lenses in place of fresnel lenses, the prototype’s visor design is eerily similar to that of Quest 3. A depth sensor is included for environmental awareness and hand tracking, along with two cameras for color passthrough and four tracking cameras.
Apple Vision Pro may face competition from Samsung's leaked prototype XR headset.
As a result, it has been speculated that Apple is developing more advanced and maybe less expensive Vision Pro models. However, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, a well-known and reliable Apple insider, the Cupertino team will likely release a “Vision Pro 2” in around 18 months. According to their timetable, a second-generation model won’t be ready until the end of 2026.
Snapdragon, Sony, and Samsung
The massive South Korean tech company is developing an XR headset that should have some amazing specifications. These are Vision Pro-challenging screen specs for a micro-OLED display manufactured by Sony with a resolution of 3,840 x 3,552 pixels, a refresh rate of 90Hz, and a peak brightness of 1,000 nits. It is anticipated that the Samsung XR/VR headset will be powered by a Snapdragon XR2 Plus Gen 2 CPU when it launches later this year.
Samsung has become much more adept at expanding its device ecosystem in addition to having its phones, tablets, and other devices work well with Windows 11, while Apple still has a talent for designing elegantly integrated product ecosystems. Therefore, by supporting a larger variety of laptops and devices than the Vision Pro, it may offer an excellent XR headset with potentially greater flexibility than that of the latter.
This is all conjecture on my part, but Samsung has produced VR headsets in the past and has collaborated extensively with Microsoft. This might give it an advantage over the Vision Pro in terms of gaming compatibility as well as compatibility with the Microsoft MR platform and possibly Steam VR.
Working with a platform that is more extensible, such as Windows 11, may encourage more developers to create XR/MR apps and services. If potential customers could be guaranteed a large selection of apps and software compatibility, that would make the idea of switching to XR a more alluring one.
Samsung may also have better access to supply chains than Apple has, in part because it owns a display arm. As a result, it may be able to produce a premium XR headset at a lower cost than the Vision Pro.
There are other MR headsets, but they haven’t really taken off or developed a system to compete with Apple’s VisionOS; that’s not counting the likes of the Meta Quest 3. While I still need to be convinced that extended and mixed reality, which combines virtual and augmented reality, has a viable spot in the future of computing, I’m keen to see Apple establish some clear opposition in the field.
Since Samsung and Apple essentially compete in the smartphone market, I don’t see why they can’t get even in the XR space. Furthermore, given that Samsung is reportedly holding out for a next-generation Vision Pro, Samsung may be able to steal a piece of the MR market for itself.
