Samsung’s idea for an AR headset that goes toe-to-toe with the Apple Vision Pro was revealed in an allegedly leaked image, but the Korean giant underestimated the capabilities and aesthetics of its rival’s product. Here is how different the headset looks.
Unsurprisingly, Samsung stopped development on this prototype, company now rumored to be working on a more capable AR headset
The Chinese media outlet ‘VR陀螺’ reported on Samsung’s unnamed AR headset, which also included a leaked image of the prototype. Though the images were deleted, Brad Lynch put out a post on X showing Samsung’s progress, and our first impression is that the company has a mountain to climb in matching the design of the Apple Vision Pro. Even if the design could not compete with Apple’s mixed-reality headset, at least the internals would do justice to the device, but not on this occasion.
Where the Apple Vision Pro is powered by the M2 and R2 pairing, Samsung’s AR headset prototype features an Exynos 2200, the same SoC found in the Galaxy S22 series, and was notorious for its lack of power efficiency and performance-related issues. Compare this chipset to the M2, and the Apple Vision Pro would be miles ahead of a competing product. Additionally, the device touted dual RGB cameras, a depth sensor for passthrough, and eye-tracking sensors.
VR陀螺 published information on a Samsung XR HMD prototype that was once the basis for what they wanted to make to compete with Apple
It included:
•Micro-OLED displays/Pancake optics
•Exynos 2200 chip w/ AMD RDNA2 architecture
•Inside Out tracking with dual RGB camera… pic.twitter.com/xTFV8uiSvz— Brad Lynch (@SadlyItsBradley) August 10, 2023
The only saving grace of Samsung’s AR headset was that it featured microLED panels, a rear-mounted battery that seemingly does not have a cable tethered to it, and the ability to function without any controller. Likely after checking out the Apple Vision Pro announcement, Samsung canned development on this prototype to work on something that puts it on par with Apple’s first-generation head-mounted wearable.
This rumored decision suggests that the official launch date of the AR headset will be pushed back, so there is potential for Samsung to improve the design while also using better hardware. Then again, since Samsung does not make its own M-series-like chips, it will either have to continue using an Exynos version, or source from Qualcomm, unless it comes up with a miracle chipset, which seems doubtful at this stage.
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