Samsung XR headset photos leak, and it's very different to Apple Vision Pro

Images of Samsung's answer to the Apple Vision Pro have leaked, and it looks like Samsung's legal people are on the case. An original report containing the images and specifications is no longer available online, which suggests that it and they are correct.

We're not sure why the company is worrying though – if the specs are accurate then this could be one of the most interesting mixed reality VR headsets we'll see.

Samsung previously announced that it was working on a mixed reality headset back in February, but didn't go into a great deal of detail: it said that the processor would use Qualcomm's Snapdragon XR technology and that the OS would be "provided by Google".

As the Washington Post reported at the time, that software would be a new and previously unannounced version of Android made specifically for devices such as wearable displays.

According to Samsung's mobile experience president TM Roh, the headset was "not too far away". And this latest leak indicates that if it isn't already ready for launch, it's very close to it.

What do we know about the Samsung XR display?

The original post appears to have been taken down, but UploadVR has the details.

The headset – which is still a prototype so the specifications may change before release – has four tracking cameras in similar places to those of the Meta Quest 2, but the lenses in the headset are more like the pancake lenses of the Quest 3. It also has similar dual cameras to the Quest 3 to enable passthrough, which enables you to see the environment around you.

The report suggests that the processor here is currently a Samsung Exynos 2200, which is better than current generation Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1s – the processor in the Quest 2 – but not as powerful as the second generation that' sexpected in the Quest 3 later this year. That's likely to go: the Exynos is known to be quite a power hog and prone to getting rather hot, which isn't ideal for a headset.

One of the most interesting bits of the report is the claim that the Samsung isn't being designed with hand controllers in mind. Instead it'll use similar eye and hand tracking to the Apple Vision Pro. 

The Vision Pro is clearly Samsung's target here: last month, South Korean news sites reported that Samsung had pushed its launch plans back after seeing the Vision Pro reveal, but as yet we don't know what features, if any, of the prototype Samsung now intends to change or when the actual launch will be. Price hasn't been leaked yet but the report suggests a price tag somewhere between $1,000 and $2,000.