Samsung's upcoming headset could be delayed again.
What's Officially Known
In early 2023 Samsung officially announced it was working on an XR device, with Google handling the system software via a new variant of Android, now known to be called Android XR, and Qualcomm providing the chipset, which it later announced as Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2, a higher-end variant of the base XR2 Gen 2 used in Meta Quest 3.
In July 2024 Samsung publicly announced its XR
"platform" is coming "this year", and Google confirmed it's still involved.
Previous reports paint Samsung's headset as an Apple Vision Pro competitor, and Daily Korea reports that Samsung no longer feels an urgency to release it soon given LG withdrawing from its plan to release a high-end Meta Horizon OS headset in 2025 and Apple reportedly suspending work on Vision Pro 2 to focus on a cheaper headset first.
Daily Korea's report comes two months after Business Insider's Hugh Langley, who previously revealed the existence of the Android XR operating system before it was publicly known, reported that the headset had been delayed to March 2025, with developer kit distribution planned for October. Daily Korea references this early reporting and suggests the headset is now delayed even further.
Just a few days before Langley's report, Samsung publicly announced its XR "platform" was coming "this year" and Google confirmed it's still involved.
David Heaney
This would be far from the first time Samsung delayed its headset.
Last year South Korean outlet SBS Biz reported Samsung initiated a full redesign right after the reveal of Vision Pro, which seemingly exceeded its expectations, and Langley's report referenced fears by Google and Samsung of the headset not being good enough yet to "dazzle users".
While Samsung will be the first hardware maker to use Android XR, The Information reported that Google has also been pitching it to other hardware makers - though there have been no reports of other companies yet accepting.
