Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Samsung launches extended reality device Galaxy XR
Models promote the Galaxy XR extended reality headset during a press event at Samsung Electronics' office in Seocho District, Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics
By Nam Hyun-woo
Samsung Electronics on Wednesday unveiled its latest extended reality (XR) headset, the Galaxy XR, previously known by its codename Moohan, challenging Meta, Apple and other existing players in the market.
The device is now available in Korea and the United States at a retail price of 2.69 million won ($1,880).
The Galaxy XR is a new form factor, or hardware design, optimized for multimodal artificial intelligence (AI), a technology that enables natural communication between users and devices by processing text, images, voice and video.
“The Galaxy XR will establish a new mobile ecosystem,” said Choi Won-joon, chief operating officer of Samsung Electronics’ Mobile Experience Division. “Based on Android XR, the Galaxy XR will elevate the company’s mobile AI vision to limitless possibilities, becoming an everyday device embraced by both the industry and consumers.”
The device has been drawing keen attention from the global tech community, as it is the first device to use Google’s new Android XR operating system — a platform co-developed by Samsung, Google and Qualcomm to integrate XR and multimodal AI technologies.
Galaxy XR is designed to maximize new user experiences enabled by this combination. By pressing a button on the upper right side of the device, users can instantly summon Google’s Gemini AI and control it through a multimodal interface that integrates eye, hand and voice input.
For example, users can ask Gemini by voice to find specific video content on YouTube, select from the search results by moving their eyes and execute the command with a simple finger-tap gesture.
This clip shows a demonstration of navigating a way to a restaurant in New York using the Galaxy XR. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics
To enable this, the headset is equipped with six sensors and cameras on the front and bottom for precise hand tracking, while four internal cameras and infrared LEDs accurately capture eye movements. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chip will power those functions.
“Android XR will build an open and integrated platform for the next generation of computing, enabling entirely new ways to explore, connect and create,” said Sameer Samat, president of Google’s Android ecosystem.
Alex Katouzian, general manager of Qualcomm’s Mobile, Compute and XR Business Unit, noted that Galaxy XR embodies the vision of expanding possibilities of personal computing through synergy between AI and XR, adding that it will “create new use cases across a wide range of industries.”
The Galaxy XR / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics
The Galaxy XR weighs 545 grams, making it lighter than Apple’s Vision Pro M5, which weighs between 750 and 800 grams, but heavier than Meta’s Quest 3 at 513 grams.
Its battery lasts about two and a half hours, similar to other competing models.
The Galaxy XR’s price also sits between Apple’s Vision Pro ($3,499) and Meta’s Quest ($499).
To expand the XR content base, Samsung said it will expand partnerships with various global partners such as Adobe, MLB, NBA, Calm and AMAZE.
Along with general consumers, Samsung said it will expand business-to-business applications of the new device. For this, Samsung Electronics signed a memorandum of understanding with Samsung Heavy Industries to develop a virtual shipbuilding training solution, allowing new engineers to practice tasks such as ship engine inspections in a virtual environment before entering the field.