At Galaxy Event in October 2025, I witnessed Samsung unveil the Galaxy XR. It seems like a smart, approachable alternative to the Vision Pro.
Samsung’s got a new mixed-reality headset, and yeah… it looks a lot like an Apple Vision Pro clone. On October 21, my birthday, they unveiled the Galaxy XR at the Galaxy Event October 2025, putting an end to a year of anticipation. Although Samsung’s wearable takes a few ideas from Apple, this could actually be to the users’ and companies’ advantage. Talking to Vision Pro owners, most say they use media in VR more for fun or social experiences. All of them focus on attending Magdalena Bay concerts (my point of view: wishing I could be there). But once the novelty wears off, does the Vision Pro still feel worth it? Here’s a look at what the Galaxy XR can do—and why it matters for the VR scene.
1. Style of the Galaxy XR
The Galaxy XR from Samsung has a more plastic-like appearance than the Vision Pro from Apple. I like that its balanced frame should spread pressure across the forehead and back of the head, keeping it steady and comfortable. The headset weighs 545 grams (about 1.2 pounds), and the battery adds 302 grams (around 0.67 pounds). That is significantly lighter than the M5 Apple Vision Pro, which weighs approximately 1.65 to 1.76 pounds.
2. Multimodal AI for Galaxy XR
Samsung, Google, and Qualcomm worked together to make AI feel real. The Galaxy XR is the first headset built on the new Android XR platform that has Gemini built right into it. With Gemini running at the system level, Galaxy XR acts more like a smart companion than a tool. It helps users handle tasks and reacts naturally to voice, vision, and gestures. The headset sees what you see and hears what you hear, so it understands your surroundings.
Samsung added my favorite Galaxy AI feature, Circle to Search. With video pass-through, you can see the world around you, and Circle to Search gives instant info. Just draw a circle with your hand over anything, and you get details right away—no need to stop or leave what you’re doing.
3. Galaxy XR multitasking
The Galaxy XR opens up new ways to explore, play, and work, offers you natural, immersive experiences. Samsung also aims to cover lots of business needs, like virtual training for heavy industry and construction. They even teamed up with Samsung Heavy Industries to use the Galaxy XR for shipbuilding training, helping teams stay safe and productive.
Beyond training, the Galaxy XR lets you run multiple apps at once—your browser, documents, music app —and arrange them around you in a massive, private space. Spatial computing on the Vision Pro may have its quirks, but multitasking is a big selling point whether you’re at home, in the office, or on the road. Workhorses will love the productivity promises, but there is a catch.
The Galaxy XR’s each eye gets a 90-Hz refresh rate, a bit lower than the M5 Vision Pro’s 120 Hz. Samsung users will be disappointed by this because the M5 Vision Pro excels at multitasking. With the current M2 chip, Vision Pro can slow down when multiple apps run, so you might see similar hiccups on Galaxy XR.
Battery life keeps the Galaxy XR experience going. You can watch content uninterrupted for 2.5 hours on a single charge, which is in line with Apple’s claims for general use.
4. Galaxy XR gaming
For full PCVR support, you can connect the Galaxy XR to a gaming PC, allowing you to play VR or non-VR PC games with the headset. That’s a nice step up since the Vision Pro doesn’t handle non-VR games very well. With Apple’s headset, you’re stuck playing them in a browser window and need a Bluetooth controller.
Although I’m excited that non-VR games can be played on the Galaxy XR, I do have a few concerns. How will games that rely on touch even work? Plus, giant floating screens still feel boring compared to real VR gaming.
On the bright side, you can connect a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and play in a virtual space. Samsung and Google focused more on entertainment here, so most Galaxy Event October 2025 demos used touch controls, though optional controllers exist. You can also hook up a gamepad if you want, and there’s even an optional carry case for convenience.
5. Price
The Galaxy XR costs $1,700 less than the Vision Pro with M5 from Apple, at $1,799 That price difference could pull a lot of people toward Samsung (more on that in my final thoughts).
Today, the Samsung Galaxy XR arrives in the United States and South Korea. To attract more buyers, Samsung and Google throw in an “explorer pack” with each headset. You get a year of Google AI Pro, Google Play Pass, YouTube Premium, YouTube TV for $1 a month for three months, plus a full season of NBA League Pass.
Final thoughts
There are many issues why the Vision Pro hasn’t achieved widespread acceptance, from the device’s weight to a cumbersome setup process — but those are less important. Apple’s Vision Pro headset struggles for two main reasons—the $3,499 price tag and not enough features that feel fresh or useful. To me, it’s clear the first Vision Pro hasn’t hit its stride yet. The hardware works fine, but the software still holds it back. Now with the M5 Vision Pro, Apple bumped the refresh rate from 90 Hz to 120 Hz, cut motion blur, and added a better head strap. I’d say it feels more like an update than a 2.0. So what does Samsung bring to the table with its Galaxy XR?
The headset from Samsung feels lighter and costs less. That alone puts Apple in a tight spot. The Galaxy XR could push Apple to move faster on Vision Pro updates—or whatever other Vision devices it has cooking. Some might call Samsung’s headset a copy, but I see something bigger happening. XR headsets could grow past their niche status and start reaching more people outside the tech crowd.
Global sales of virtual reality headsets decreased by 15% and 2%, respectively, in the second quarter of 2025. The drop shows how most people still don’t see much use in owning one. If your budget’s tight, spending thousands on a headset—and another hundred or more on games—feels hard to justify. It’s a stretch unless you only want free games. But with Samsung and Apple squaring off, things might finally get interesting.
Before you go
I get it, we need a few weeks to soak in all the Galaxy XR news. But Samsung isn’t standing still. They plan to show off their long-awaited trifold smartphone at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea later in October. The first smartphone from Samsung with two hinges, the Samsung trifold can be used as a regular smartphone or opened up to become a much larger tablet.
