South Korean reports suggest that Samsung is poised to debut a pair of XR glasses at its upcoming annual Unpacked event, slated for later this month.
Samsung reaffirmed its pledge in July that we would hear more about its upcoming “XR platform” by year’s end, a collaboration with Google and Qualcomm underway.
While the specifics of Apple’s “XR platform” remain unclear, previous whispers hinted at a potential Apple Imagination Pro rival and a Meta-inspired Ray-Ban smart glasses competitor, as noted in October.
Samsung is reportedly set to unveil its latest smart glasses on stage, which will take the form of “common glasses or sunglasses” and weigh approximately 50 grams.
The report forecasts that the system will feature competitive operating costs, advanced gesture recognition capabilities, and sophisticated facial recognition technology, with industry experts predicting its launch around Q3 2025. The highly anticipated Android-powered XR software program is expected to make its debut sometime this month.
While reportedly dubbed “AR glasses” by its manufacturer, the device’s alleged lightness and lack of information on built-in displays hint at a closer kinship with the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses rather than the Meta Orion AR glasses prototype.
While we delve deeper into the distinction between AR glasses and regular glasses in our informative primer, here’s the crux: traditional glasses don’t superimpose immersive visuals; instead, they provide users with access to information typically accessed on a smartphone or smartwatch – be it a visual heads-up display or audio output, as exemplified by Ray-Ban Meta. While AR headsets, such as those found in HoloLens 2 or Meta Orion, offer immersive experiences through overlays of virtual imagery, their more complex nature renders them pricier and challenging to manufacture.
Samsung’s upcoming release of a pair of smart glasses does not signal the introduction of a full-fledged augmented reality (AR) system, but rather a strategic move into the growing wearables market. According to Meta, their successful partnership with Ray-Ban has proven highly lucrative since the initial product launch in 2021, leading them to extend their collaboration with parent company EssilorLuxottica through 2030. Xiaomi is reportedly poised to launch an augmented reality (AR) smart glasses device in collaboration with established original design manufacturer (ODM) Goertek, whose prototype is said to closely mirror the features of Facebook’s Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.
Indeed, this move follows a sequence of Samsung logos reportedly tailored to signify the forthcoming era of XR units. In mid-2023, Samsung, a leading South Korean technology company, reportedly filed for the trademark “Samsung Glasses” with the United Kingdom’s Intellectual Property Office. In January 2024, Samsung submitted a trademark application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for “Galaxy Glasses”, mirroring an earlier filing.
Samsung has remained mum on the exact date for its annual Unpacked event, typically held between January and February. According to a report, the allegedly leaked date was January 23rd in San Francisco, California.
