It was 10 years in the past throughout IFA that Samsung unveiled the Gear VR, a VR headset that used a Galaxy cellphone as its show and mind. A sequel adopted and the corporate discovered nice success – analysts reported that Samsung was the dominant VR headset maker in 2016. Of the 6.3 million headsets offered that 12 months, 4.5 million had been Gear VRs. The corporate additionally labored with Microsoft and constructed a Combined Actuality AR headset in 2017, nevertheless it wasn’t lengthy earlier than Samsung pulled the plug on its VR efforts.
That’s a whole lot of historical past, nevertheless it was vital to clarify why Samsung could also be cautious to get again within the recreation. And it’s being fairly cautious. Throughout MWC 2022, Samsung Electronics CEO Han Jong-hee hinted that the corporate is engaged on a brand new headset. Then in 2023, Samsung reportedly delayed its headset due to the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional. In the course of the July 2024 Unpacked for the brand new Galaxy Z foldables, Samsung talked about its upcoming XR product once more, saying that it’s slated for launch this 12 months. However now 2024 is sort of over – is the mission nonetheless alive?
It’s! Bryan Ma, an analyst at IDC, noticed a clue throughout Samsung’s latest presentation for traders. Below the 2025 Outlook heading, a paragraph reads “Enhance connectivity amongst merchandise, together with upcoming XR gadgets, to additional elevate consumer experiences within the Galaxy ecosystem”. Sure, gadgets, plural. And this simply after explaining the plans to spice up Galaxy S25 sequence gross sales.
A slide from Samsung’s Q3 monetary report
This means that the early 2025 Galaxy Unpacked occasion that can introduce the S25 sequence may even exhibit Samsung’s XR headset. However given the variety of delays we’ve had to date, it’s not a certain factor.
Samsung isn’t engaged on this alone, by the best way. This can be a partnership between Samsung, Google and Qualcomm (as talked about throughout a 2023 Unpacked occasion). Google will probably present the bottom software program, whereas Qualcomm will contribute the chipset. The Meta Quest 3, for instance, runs a customized construct of Android on a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset, so it is a identified, profitable recipe.
There was discuss that the headset will use micro-OLED shows with a better pixel rely and better brightness than the LCDs utilized in Quest headsets. It’s not clear whether or not this shall be a Samsung-made show or not. Anyway, Samsung has different elements it might contribute too. For instance, late final 12 months it unveiled an ISOCELL sensor with an built-in depth-sensing ISP that can be utilized in XR headsets for monitoring.
Samsung Galaxy S25 rumors have been making the rounds for a number of months now and can solely get extra detailed as January approaches, the probably time-frame for launch. We are going to maintain our ears to the bottom for any mentions of XR gadgets which may arrive alongside the flagship telephones.
