MKBHD Video Gives The First Look At Samsung’s Android XR Headset

MKBHD’s latest video gives the first real look at Samsung’s upcoming headset, and the Android XR operating system it will run.

What Is Samsung’s Headset?

Samsung’s first standalone headset is launching this year, running Google’s new Android XR operating system and powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset.

Currently known as “Project Moohan”, the headset will feature “state-of-the-art displays”, eye tracking, hand tracking, and an external tethered battery. Beyond this, Samsung isn’t yet sharing detailed specifications.

UploadVR’s Ian Hamilton went hands-on with Samsung’s headset last month, but we weren’t allowed to take photos, videos, or screen recordings, so we could only show a Samsung-provided render of the headset and Google-provided Android XR simulator footage of select apps.

Now, Samsung and Google have given YouTuber Marques Brownlee an exclusive hands-on with the headset, including permission to capture and share footage of both the hardware and software.

When it comes to the hardware, Brownlee repeatedly remarks on the headset’s distinct visual similarity to Apple Vision Pro, saying that when teasing the video before release with an image of him wearing the headset, many of his fans wondered why he was making another Vision Pro video.

He does however note four significant differences in the hardware: the face pad, the strap, the lack of EyeSight, and the open periphery (by default).

Apple Vision Pro has the same kind of ski-mask facial interface as Meta Quest and Pico headsets, where the pressure is distributed throughout your forehead, cheeks, temples, and nose. Samsung’s headset on the other hand has a soft halo strap, similar to Meta Quest Pro and PlayStation VR2, where the majority of the pressure applies to your forehead and the front of the top of your head. Another difference with the face pad is that by default, Samsung’s headset does not block out your view of the real world from the sides and below. Exactly like Quest Pro did, Samsung offers an optional light shield attachment for this.

When it comes to the strap, there are also significant differences. Both of the straps included with Apple Vision Pro are made of soft fabrics, which don’t provide much of a counterbalance to the headset’s weight. Samsung’s headset uses a padded rigid plastic strap, similar to the Elite Strap accessory for Meta Quest headsets. This provides a counterbalance, but comes with a significant tradeoff: you can’t really lay your head back on a sofa, bed, or chair to relax.

Apple Vision Pro also features a unique feature that hasn’t shipped in any other headset: EyeSight. This feature uses a curved OLED panel with a lenticular lens on the front of the headset to show a rendered view of your eyes to others in the room with parallax, mimicking transparency. But it’s relatively dim, the parallax doesn’t work vertically, and it adds cost and weight to the product. Samsung’s headset, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have any form of front display.

Samsung’s Android XR headset – in reality, not just a render.

On the software side, Brownlee had many of the same takeaways as UploadVR’s Ian Hamilton.

Both found the implementation of the Gemini AI assistant to be far beyond Meta AI on Quest headsets or Siri on Apple Vision Pro.

While it is possible to ask Meta AI about what you’re seeing, in the US & Canada at least, the assistant only responds with speech. Gemini on the other hand lets you circle real world objects, and can search the web or open Google Maps locations based on what it sees. Gemini can also perform a wide variety of tasks in the operating system and Google apps, whereas Meta AI is still quite limited

Further, Meta AI on Quest headsets simply captures an image upon your query, and currently only sees passthrough, not apps. Gemini on Android XR, on the other hand, can run a live session, continuing to see what you see while you ask questions, about both real world passthrough and the content of apps.

Siri on Apple Vision Pro offers a strange middle ground. While it can perform many visionOS tasks, it doesn’t yet have visual capabilities, so can’t see what you see.

Speaking of Google Maps, both Brownlee and Ian were highly impressed by its implementation on Android XR, with the ability to switch between the traditional flatscreen app view and immersive VR, reminiscent of Google Earth VR, at any time.

When it comes to the Android XR app launcher and system menus, Brownlee’s preview shows it to be highly reminiscent of Apple’s visionOS. Pressing the top button or opening your palm and pinching brings up a floating grid of circular app icons that can be scrolled horizontally by pinching and dragging.

Android XR – in reality, not a simulator.

Samsung says its headset is still on track to launch later this year, but there’s no word yet on a specific month.

And while Samsung’s headset will be the first to run Android XR, it won’t be the only. Sony, Lynx, and Xreal are building Android XR devices too, and other companies including Play For Dream say they want to use it in the future.

We’ll bring you any further news or reveals of Samsung’s headset and Android XR, the new operating system set to shake up the industry by offering direct competition to Meta’s Horizon OS – and perhaps eventually even direct competition to its Quest headsets.