South Korea’s Newsworks released a report claiming to reveal the launch dates and rough target price for Samsung’s upcoming Android XR headset.
According to the report, Samsung is targeting a price somewhere between 2.5 million and 4 million South Korean won, around $1800 to $3000. That compares to 5 million won for Apple Vision Pro, which has been sold in South Korea since November.
The report also echoes NewsPim’s June claim that preorders for the headset will open on September 29, and that it will ship to South Korea first in October, followed by a global launch.
Samsung’s Android XR Headset Will Reportedly Ship In October
Samsung’s Android XR headset will launch in South Korea on October 13, NewsPim reports, with a “sequential” global rollout.
If true, the price and Korea-first rollout would suggest Samsung plans only a very limited rollout this year. As with Apple Vision Pro, this is likely due to the cost and supply limits of the 4K micro-OLED displays. To be clear, though, Samsung hasn’t yet confirmed what displays are in the headset.
Specific Details Remain Sparse
Samsung’s headset was first announced well over two years ago, with the company saying from the start that Google would handle the software and Qualcomm would provide the chipset.
That chipset was revealed at the start of last year to be the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2, a higher-end variant of the chip in Quest 3 and Quest 3S, which has already shipped in Play For Dream MR.
The actual design of Samsung’s headset was finally revealed at the end of last year, alongside Google formally naming Android XR, and Samsung said it would ship it as a product in 2025 as it gave UploadVR’s Ian Hamilton a hands-on demo.
During that demo, Samsung confirmed that it was working on controllers, but did not disclose whether they will be included in the box, or sold as an optional accessory.
Hands-On With Samsung’s Android XR Headset, Shipping In 2025
Samsung’s first standalone headset is coming in 2025, running Google’s new Android XR operating system and powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset.
While Samsung hasn’t confirmed any further details since then, in March we saw multiple South Korean reports with claims about the headset’s displays, production scale, and launch window.
The Elec reported that Samsung’s headset will use Sony’s new 1.35-inch 3552×3840 micro-OLED display, with higher resolution and wider color gamut than the one in Apple Vision Pro.
Meanwhile, Business Post claimed that Samsung will launch the headset in Q3 (July, August, or September), but also that it plans to produce just 100,000 headsets per year.
Xreal Project Aura Supports Android XR Via Tethered Puck
Xreal’s Project Aura will support Google’s Android XR via a tethered compute puck with a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip.
We had expected either Google or Samsung to share more about the headset at I/O in May, but the focus there was far more on smart glasses, as well as the announcement of the second officially confirmed Android XR headset, Xreal’s Project Aura.
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