Android XR – Halo Device

More fun at half the price

• Samsung, Google and Qualcomm have launched their offering for the Metaverse, and even though they are unlikely to sell many units, it demonstrates their ability to provide more fun and utility than Apple at half the price.
• The Galaxy XR is a direct answer to the Apple Vision Pro and is lighter, less front-heavy and crucially half the price.
• Furthermore, the device comes with a series of services such as Google AI Pro for a year included ($20.00 per month), YouTube Premium for a year included ($14.99 per month), and in the USA, YouTube TV for $1 per month for the first three months as well as NBA League pass for the entirety of the 2025 season.
• Similar content is also being made available in Korea, which is a clear attempt to show users how good the device can be with the right content, and it is here where it really shines as Google is leveraging the entire Android ecosystem to provide a wealth of content.
• Pretty much all of the Android apps in Google Play will work, and a number of them have been optimised for the Galaxy XR, which are clearly labelled in the Google Play store.
• Google has also optimised a number of its Digital Life services, such as maps, which now offers an immersive 3D tour of the world and YouTube, where 3D immersive videos are also available.
• However, where the device differs from the Vision Pro is Gemini, which has been built into the device to enhance the user experience, and if the demos are accurate, it does a pretty good job of it.
• However, almost all of the Gemini assistant is running in the cloud, as after every command, Gemini says “One sec, while I work on that” which is an automated response to try and smooth over the fact that the latency of the assistant remains poor.
• As the technology evolves, more and more of the assistant will run on the device, and the latency issue will become less apparent, but at the moment, it sticks out like a sore thumb.
• However, compared to the hopeless Siri, this is immeasurably better and in all of the demos, Gemini performed reasonably well, establishing a solid base from which to improve.
• Gemini’s presence enables the voice-based user experience to be good enough to greatly enhance the user experience, which is predominantly gesture-based, like the Apple Vision Pro.
• Samsung made clear at the start of the presentation that this was just the first of a range of devices that span all the way from high-end VR to smart glasses and announced two partnerships with glasses makers to make future smart glasses products.
• Even though this was thrown in at the end, this was probably the most important part of the whole presentation.
• This is because smart glasses are where all of the action is in this space at the moment, and if partners are to be believed, Qualcomm currently has more demand for smart glasses chips than it can handle.
• Consequently, this is a halo device that demonstrates the best of what is possible (pretty good given the price) and aims to launch the Android XR brand such that there is healthy demand for the smart glasses products when they launch.
• However, Samsung needs to hurry up, as Meta is already running away with this segment thanks to its partnership with Luxottica, which owns 30% of the glasses market, and I don’t think that the announced partnerships with Warby Parker (USA) and Gentle Monster (Korea) are enough.
• Consequently, I expect that two smart glasses products will soon be launched on this platform, one without a display and one with.
• I don’t think that Samsung and Qualcomm are expecting to ship large volumes of Galaxy XR, but are merely putting down their marker for the Metaverse should it really take off.
• This is precisely the same strategy employed by Apple, where the Vision Pro is an insurance policy against the possibility of the smartphone becoming obsolete.
• Google is in a fairly strong position as it is leveraging its existing services and its app store into the Metaverse, giving it an edge over Meta, while its Gemini assistant is streets ahead of Siri.
• At $1,799, I suspect that no one is making any money, but given the size of the three partners, this is not going to have a meaningful impact on their reported margins.
• However, given its potential strategic importance, this is (like the Vision Pro) an investment worth making.
• I think that it is in the smart glasses where the impact is really going to be made, as these could prove to be precursors to the Metaverse, meaning that a strong position here will be important.
• Samsung and Google are miles behind, but this is a demonstration of intent, and I think that this is Samsung and Google throwing down the gauntlet to Meta.
• It will be an interesting fight.