00:00Tilt planet up. Ah! I feel like I was just dropped out of a plane.
00:05Today we're talking about Samsung's brand new Galaxy XR headset. Yeah, it looks a lot like the
00:10Apple Vision Pro, but it also does a few things better. It's lighter, cheaper, and smarter,
00:15at least on paper. But do I think you should go out and spend $17.99 on Galaxy XR?
00:21After testing it for the past week, I'd say the answer isn't so simple.
00:25I want to start off with the good. First off, the Galaxy XR is way more comfortable
00:29than the Vision Pro. It weighs just 545 grams, and that's about 200 grams lighter than Apple's
00:35headset. And I'm telling you, it makes a big difference with how long this thing is on my
00:39head. There's also no strap digging in across the top of my head, so I was able to wear the
00:42headset for hours without wanting to rip it off. Some parts feel cheaper. We've got plastic arms
00:47and a plastic battery, and the buttons aren't anything special either. But no question for
00:51the price, I'll take those trade-offs any day. Looking a little bit closer, the Galaxy XR packs
00:57dual 4K micro-OLED displays. They're crisp and colorful, and watching Netflix flipping through
01:02Google Photos or exploring 3D spaces, it all looks fantastic. The pass-through video isn't quite as
01:07bright or clean as the Vision Pro's, especially in low light. But overall, the visual experience on
01:12Galaxy XR is solid. Now let's talk about controls, because that's where the Galaxy XR
01:17starts really showing its rougher edges. The hand and eye tracking work mostly fine,
01:21but it's not nearly as seamless as the Vision Pro. Sometimes I'd look at the bottom of an app
01:26to move it, and nothing. Or I'd overshoot what I was trying to click. I found that I had to be
01:31pretty deliberate, especially with my eyes, in order to navigate to whatever app or menu I wanted.
01:37But just like Vision Pro, you can pair a controller. I'd say that's a good idea,
01:41especially if you plan to use this for playing games. Yeah, so the eye tracking is definitely
01:48annoying me. So I'm trying to aim with my eyes at a specific item, and I keep having to look down,
01:55and I feel like after calibrating, I shouldn't have to do that. The good news is that you can
02:00recalibrate at any time. The bad news is that I feel like I need to. If eye tracking isn't working the
02:06way it should, you do have the option of hand control, which is basically turns your hand into a mouse,
02:11and there's a line that goes from your hand to the screen to select that what you want. But I feel
02:15like you shouldn't have to do that, and it's not something that you ever have to do on the Vision Pro.
02:20One big selling point of Galaxy XR and the Android XR operating system is Gemini Live,
02:25the built-in AI companion. This is where the Galaxy XR starts to feel genuinely smart.
02:30Can you pull up information on this flower and open up a separate window in Chrome?
02:34I've opened a Chrome window with information about light purple hibiscus flowers.
02:38Gemini can answer questions or carry out actions based on pretty much anything I have open on my
02:43screens. Things like identifying flowers in Google Photos or giving in-game advice in Diablo Immortal.
02:49It's not perfect, though. DRM-protected stuff like YouTube TV? Gemini can't see it,
02:54so it's basically blind there. But either way, it still leaps and bounds ahead of Siri and Apple
02:59Intelligence and Vision Pro.
03:00There are a few things you could try. You could check your quest log or map for clues,
03:05or look for any quest markers or highlighted areas in your current location. You could also
03:10try talking to the villager you just freed. They might have some information for you.
03:13I feel like Gemini on something like this is not as attractive or compelling as it will be once it
03:19comes to smart glasses, but this gives you a taste of that future. I mentioned YouTube TV. That's a good
03:25segue to the Galaxy XR's app selection. It's okay, I guess. You do notably get YouTube with 180 and 360
03:32videos, which are really compelling, and a native Netflix app, which the Vision Pro still doesn't have.
03:38Movies, okay, so House of Dynamite, right? So if I click on that, and then I go into Gemini.
03:44Can you pull up movie reviews of this in a separate window?
03:48So that's actually useful because I didn't need to tell it what movie this is, right? And then so I
03:59could just scroll through and I could see all the reviews here, and I could have said Rotten Tomatoes,
04:04but in this case I could see the ratings on this side, and then I can decide if I want to watch it
04:07or not. There's also Google Maps with immersive mode, which lets you fly through cities. It's genuinely
04:13awesome once you get the hang of it. You can game with XR titles like Demio or play regular
04:25Android games from Google Play, but I wish there were more native apps. There's about 70 to start
04:30and more to come. One of my favorite apps on the Galaxy XR is Asteroid, which thrusts you in the
04:34middle of a 3D movie where you're mining an asteroid for riches, and you can talk with the AI version of
04:40the main character. Powered by the Snapdragon XR2 Plus Gen 2 chip, the Galaxy XR runs most of these
04:49apps and tasks smoothly, but I did run into some bugs. I had apps freeze, menus lag, and that fan?
04:55Yeah, you'll hear it kick in when things heat up. Is some of this probably fixable via software updates?
05:00Sure, but if the goal was to get the best Evision Pro from the jump, these hiccups don't really help
05:05the Galaxy XR's case. Battery life hits at around 2 hours, which again is fine, but it's not better
05:11than the Vision Pro. I was getting closer to 3 hours on the new Vision Pro M5. Speaking of which,
05:16let me know if you'd want to see a video dedicated to my experience testing Apple's refreshed headset.
05:22If you did see some of my older videos here on the channel about Vision Pro, you might remember that
05:26using it as my MacBook display is pretty much my favorite feature or use case. So of course, I was
05:32really curious about how that'd work for the Galaxy XR. If you want to bring your PC desktop
05:38into the Galaxy XR, you can, but it takes some effort. You have to install Samsung's second screen
05:43app on a Galaxy Book, sign into your Samsung account, and then find the PC link option in quick settings.
05:49Once you're connected, performance is fine. I know, I feel like I keep saying that in this review,
05:54but it really is true. Again, it works, but not just quite as well as I wish it did. For Apple setup,
05:59you just look at your Mac and click connect. It's that simple, and that alone is just a classic
06:05case of all of Apple stuff working better together. Before I get to my verdict, I just have to say,
06:14mixed reality is still a developing product category. Even with companies like Samsung,
06:18Google, Meta, and Apple all in the game, these headsets still have a long way to go before they
06:24feel truly ready for the masses. With the Galaxy XR, it's the little thing that break the illusion.
06:30The occasional bugs and performance hiccups, hand and eye tracking that isn't always precise,
06:35and the app library that's still pretty limited, at least for now. If Samsung and Google really
06:40want people to buy into this vision of mixed reality and spend $1,800 to do it, all that
06:44friction needs to be addressed. This product needs to be smoother, more intuitive, and more connected
06:50to the rest of your devices. Don't get me wrong, it's been exciting to see this launch and have it
06:54undercut the Vision Pro price-wise by pretty much half, but there's no question this category is
06:59still finding its footing. That also makes you wonder, will we ever really be ready for full
07:03mixed reality headsets? Most people don't want to strap something big on their face. Instead,
07:07they want glasses that are lightweight, stylish. In a few years, the real winners might not be these
07:12bulky headsets at all. It could very well be smart glasses that do a lot of what XR does,
07:17but without taking over your whole head. And Samsung and Google have promised their take
07:21on smart glasses is on the way.
07:26For now, if you're curious about mixed reality and want to save money over the Vision Pro,
07:30buy. But only if you're okay being an early adopter. If you want something polished and
07:35stable right now, skip it. Or at least wait for Samsung and Google to iron out the bugs.
07:40That's my take on the Galaxy XR, but I want to know what you think. Would you trade the Vision Pro's
07:44polish for a headset that costs half as much, or are you waiting for the glasses version instead?
07:49Let me know in the comments, and don't forget to subscribe to the channel for more buy or skip
07:53reviews. For Tom's Guide, this is Mark Spoonhour.
08:05I would say the pass-through on the Galaxy XR is pretty good, and I can definitely walk around,
08:10but it's a little bit blurry, and there's a little bit of motion blur as you walk around,
08:13so you just have to be careful of your surroundings. But I can do simple,
08:18everyday tasks. Not that I would do this in real life, but you can.
08:29There you go. Wait, am I getting it wet?
08:34No, that's not gonna work.
08:35No, that's not gonna work.
08:36Definitely okay.
08:38But that's the whole time.
08:39Nothing better.
08:40What'll do this in real life or…
08:41Oh, whatever.
08:42Just until after the summer.
08:44What just goes off with my 이용?
08:45Someone decided by someone who has that sped me sped us this,
08:47you should go
08:47come C ogrom.
08:47Whatever, what just will happen.
08:49I thought it wasn't even better.
08:50Sorry about it.
08:51I don't want to do this in real life,
08:53you know, to do that ever.
08:55I think you guys are going for 40 seconds.
08:57I do help them, no problem.
08:59We're just serious.
09:00Why can you make it for this?
09:01I'm r Ans handle fast.
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