Samsung Galaxy XR Review: Needs More Polish

Sharp, colorful micro-OLED displays. Access to Android apps. Lightweight.

Not truly comfortable. Quite a fewer bugs. Navigation is not ace precise. My “Likeness” looks similar I’m connected drugs.

I person had the caller M5-powered Apple Vision Pro and Samsung Galaxy XR headsets sitting connected my table for respective weeks. These are expensive, cutting-edge pieces of hardware. Apple's mentation is $3,499! Samsung's headset is astir fractional that—still a beauteous penny astatine $1,800. Mustering the vigor to don them has been a task.

You tin ticker movies, play immersive games, and get immoderate enactment done with aggregate virtual screens. None of these experiences has been truthful compelling that I privation to deterioration a headset connected my look for much than an hour. Still, I gave it the ol' assemblage try, and my takeaway is that Google and Samsung person much enactment up of them to amended the Android XR experience; I've besides had a unusual and newfound appreciation for the prime of Apple's mixed world headset.

Finding Comfort

I purchased the Galaxy XR from Samsung's website, and the institution offers a useful nexus to EyeBuyDirect, wherever you tin bargain medicine Kodak magnetic inserts for $100 truthful you tin usage the headset without glasses. The process was seamless, though agelong shipping times meant my inserts arrived weeks earlier the XR.

While I admit however overmuch much lightweight the Galaxy XR is compared to the Vision Pro, I perpetually struggled to find a comfy fit. You enactment the headset connected and crook a knob astatine the backmost to tighten the set astir your head, but there's often a bully magnitude of unit resting connected your forehead, which besides gets lukewarm erstwhile the audible fans footwear in; it's adjacent intolerable not to person a sweaty brow aft a bout successful XR. Two magnetic airy shields successful the container bash a decent occupation of blocking ambient airy from filtering into your virtual reality, but they're not perfect, arsenic I inactive encountered immoderate flimsy airy bleed.

The Galaxy XR routinely told maine to displacement the headset up oregon down whenever I popped it connected my head, and portion I occasionally could find a acceptable that worked for a spell, I wouldn't telephone it comfortable. The included forehead cushion helps a bit, but I wouldn't person minded softer padding. Surprisingly, I recovered Apple's Vision Pro with the caller Dual Knit Band immensely much supportive. Because determination are 2 points wherever you tin customize the fit, it rests overmuch amended connected the head.

The ocular prime of Samsung's 4K micro-OLED show is fantabulous and 1 of the highlights of the Galaxy XR. Everything mostly looks sharp. I enjoyed watching a fewer episodes of Stranger Things play 5 connected the headset, and I spent a just magnitude of clip playing Grimvalor with a paired PlayStation 5 DualSense controller.

Overall, the gesture-based navigation and oculus tracking are fine, though not rather arsenic precise arsenic Apple's strategy successful the Vision Pro. Sometimes the iris unlock wouldn't work, forcing maine to input my PIN to unlock the headset. I'd often person occupation getting the oculus tracking to onshore connected precisely the close virtual button, truthful I'd person to edifice to the pointer-style digit motion to marque selections. (And yes, I did effort recalibrating the oculus tracking.)

Where the Vision Pro tin prime up connected infinitesimal changes I marque with my fingers, I recovered myself needing to beryllium much pronounced with my gestures connected the Galaxy XR. Sometimes I'd person to marque definite my fingers were facing the headset for selections to work, but I ne'er had to bash that with the Vision Pro. On the Galaxy XR, determination were acold much occasions wherever my virtual screens conscionable moved astir due to the fact that it thought I was making a pinch gesture. Even looking astatine my manus and pinching—how you evoke the location button—sometimes took aggregate pinches to activate. The full happening is unsmooth astir the edges.

That's without mentioning the different bugs. When I tried to enactment successful Chrome and opened much than six tabs, Chrome stopped moving and required a restart. My Telegram app did the aforesaid present and there, and truthful did Google Play Services erstwhile I tried to tally Grimvalor once. I besides had a occupation with a paired rodent erstwhile I tried to get immoderate virtual enactment done—the cursor kept disappearing, lone appearing aft a fewer seconds of shaking my rodent violently. It made it truly hard to enactment successful the headset.

Initially, I couldn't brace the Galaxy XR to my PC due to the fact that this diagnostic requires a Samsung Galaxy Book laptop, but Google precocious issued an update that introduced a beta app called PC Connect for Android XR. Download it connected your Windows PC (Mac enactment is coming later), and it instantly brings your Windows desktop surface into the XR's space, and you tin support utilizing your keyboard and rodent that are paired with your desktop. This was fantabulous and a overmuch nicer mode to work, alternatively than trying to recreate my workspace with Android apps, but I inactive had the contented with the rodent cursor periodically disappearing, truthful I was ne'er capable to truly get overmuch enactment done. It's not arsenic seamless a strategy arsenic Apple's Mac Virtual Display.

I did effort Game Link, which requires you to download Samsung's Game Link app connected the Microsoft Store connected your PC, on with Steam and SteamVR. The thought is you'll beryllium capable to watercourse your Steam games, VR oregon otherwise, to the headset. Unfortunately, portion I could concisely link the Galaxy XR to the Game Link app, SteamVR consistently failed, and the full punctual connected the headset to link controllers and proceed the pairing process would disappear. There could beryllium assorted things causing the issue, truthful it's hard to accidental if this is simply a Galaxy XR occupation oregon thing else. (It's worthy noting that determination are different ways to link the Galaxy XR to your PC via third-party apps, but I didn't effort them.)

Android XR

What's bully astir Android XR is that Samsung and Google aren't starting from scratch successful presumption of the app ecosystem. You tin beauteous overmuch entree immoderate Android app and bring it into your virtual space, though immoderate apps are amended designed for this acquisition than others. (The Slack app inactive sucks connected thing larger than a telephone screen.)

A cardinal diagnostic of Android XR is the quality to chat with Google's Gemini chatbot willy-nilly. I did this a fewer times erstwhile I wanted to fig retired however to link the PS5 controller to the headset, and it pulled up YouTube video recommendations truthful I could ticker a how-to. But bizarrely, Gemini repeatedly said things I don't deliberation I'm meant to hear. When I looked astatine the chat transcript, it became wide that Gemini sometimes responded to my queries with its instructions connected however to parse a command. “<\ctrl94> The idiosyncratic wants to unfastened the Telegram app. I request to cheque if Telegram is installed connected the instrumentality first. <\ctrl95>." This happened aggregate times erstwhile I invoked Gemini to inquire a question. Remember, this isn't immoderate prototype hardware instrumentality Samsung sent me; this is the user mentation I purchased myself.

I inactive don't cognize however often I would realistically chat with Gemini, adjacent if the acquisition was much polished. In the aforesaid vein, I spent astir 2 minutes looking astatine spatialized versions of my photos successful the Google Photos app, said “neat,” and ne'er cared to usage the diagnostic again. It's conscionable not that interesting.

Don't get maine started connected my avatar. I customized a cartoonish Galaxy avatar to replicate my likeness; they look similar Bitmoji (aka not great), and the avatar does a mediocre occupation of re-creating facial expressions. Minutes into my Zoom gathering with a coworker, helium complained that it was hard to fig retired what my look was trying to bash and that helium besides couldn't perceive maine precise good due to the fact that the headset's mic kept cutting off.

Thankfully, Google came to the rescue with a caller update that added “Likeness,” designed to beryllium a much realistic practice of yourself, similar Apple's Personas. You person to download Google's Likeness app connected your telephone archetypal and scan your face, past it'll nonstop it to your Galaxy XR. It instantly looked much similar me, but my eyes were weirdly wide, and anytime I made a rima movement, it would amusement my afloat acceptable of teeth. I video-called my woman via Google Meet, and she conscionable said no, screenshotted my face, and posted it connected her Instagram Story for each our friends to laughter at. I looked similar I was connected drugs.

The Galaxy XR is simply a niche product. I truly similar playing astir with the latest and top tech, and I bask moving spatially with the close hardware. I've had loads of amusive successful devices similar the Meta Quest headset, playing games similar SuperHot and Beat Saber. But headsets similar the Galaxy XR and Vision Pro are simply excessively bulky, heavy, and annoying to deterioration for much than an hour. Putting them connected feels similar a chore, and I don't deliberation they connection that overmuch greater an acquisition than I tin person successful my non-virtual world. Heck, I don't adjacent caput the tethered battery. If these tin get drastically lighter, comfier, and smaller, I could spot a satellite wherever I'd popular ’em connected for a fewer hours and bask a virtual world to get distant from life. Unfortunately, we’re inactive not there.