

Which firm do you think of when somebody mentions VR? Sony with the imminent PSVR 2? Meta, the new owner of Oculus, with its Meta Quest Pro? HTC, with its amazing VIVE XR Elite? Apple, whose AR/VR headset isn't actually out yet but whose headset still generates thousands of words of speculation?
One name you probably didn't think of was Samsung. And that's odd, because it was here first. The Gear VR, developed in collaboration with the then-independent Oculus, came out in 2014. And since Samsung killed it off, there's been nothing since other than a vague hint that Samsung might be possibly maybe thinking about perhaps making a VR headset at some point in the near future.
Has Samsung missed the VR bus it used to drive?
Is Samsung making a VR headset?
Reports say that it is. According to news portal Naver News in South Korea, Samsung Display, Samsung Electro-Mechanics and key partners have been making several prototypes and are currently testing them. The goal isn't just to make a headset, but an entire ecosystem to rival the one Apple is developing.
According to the report, the first version should launch for developers in 2023 before a later consumer release: Samsung wants to create "killer content" in education, entertainment, healthcare and defence. That latter one probably sounds odd until you remember that Samsung is also in the weapons business.
The focus on content is important, and it's no coincidence that Apple is pushing that side of AR/VR very strongly too: with AR and VR the hardware is only important to a point, so for example I didn't get on with the original PSVR because it was too low-res for me and a bit fiddly to connect; the new PSVR 2 doesn't have those issues.
But provided it's not an actual obstacle, the hardware fades away in favour of what you can actually do with it – and that's all about the content. It's why Sony has lined up so many big-money launch titles for PSVR 2, a lesson learnt the hard way from the original PSVR that lacked killer titles for a very long time (and arguably still does; my PSVR is gathering dust).
Sign up to the T3 newsletter for smarter living straight to your inbox
Get all the latest news, reviews, deals and buying guides on gorgeous tech, home and active products from the T3 experts
I think it's a safe bet that Samsung hasn't given up on VR; the market is potentially too big for Samsung to ignore, and it has the resources to invest in products that may not become mass-market for a while yet – just as it did with folding phones, a bet that's now clearly paying off. Whatever Samsung's working on, I think it'll have been worth waiting for.
Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).
-
I must admit, if the iPhone 17 Air is this thin I'd never stop worrying
Newly leaked images show an iPhone that's so slim I'd be concerned about breaking it
-
Apple's new content curation service is about as Apple as it gets
The new Snapshot section is very pretty, but it's also missing something pretty important
-
Samsung's flagship phones will reportedly maintain one key advantage over iPhone
Apple is said to be struggling to match Samsung in a specific tech area
-
I tested Sony's newest earbuds – the price pleasantly surprised me
Sony's WF-C710N do it all – and for not all your money
-
New Apple Vision Pro tipped for early 2026, but might not be what you expect
The second generation Vision Pro may not be the game-changing model you're hoping for
-
If the iPhone 17 Pro adds these 4 new features I'm already sold
Apple needs to make a big swing
-
I swapped my PS5 Pro for a top-end Nvidia RTX 5070 rig – and I'm not sure I can go back
PC gaming has its claws back in me
-
Apple's Severance computer may have been a joke, but the keyboard is coming for real
Tell us where we can sign up!