Samsung’s New Android XR Headset Shows Everyone Underestimated the Apple Vision Pro

Everybody copies Apple, even the tech giant’s missteps. Samsung is working on its own VR/AR helmet dubbed “Project Moohan,” along with a pair of AR glasses. The first video to finally show off its capabilities in full seems to cement Samsung and Google’s biggest inspiration for its new headset, which was the too-often maligned and too-expensive Vision Pro. While some select journalists and industry insiders had some hands-on time with the headset last year, this is the first time the rest of us have seen it in person. Tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee shared the first footage of the inside and outside of the helmet. It gives us a first look at the hyped AndroidXR ecosystem and its controls. If you have seen or used a Vision Pro or even a Meta Quest 3 or Quest 3S, you’ll get a thick sense of deja vu. ven from pictures, the device strongly resembles Apple’s $3,500 headset. The device even has an external battery pack that can slip into your pocket. Samsung’s device has made some improvements to Apple’s design. For one, the cable to the battery pack is a simple USB-C that can plug into any external battery if you run low on the base unit. The front screen is glass, though there’s no EyeSight feature trying to resemble people’s eyes on the goggles’ front. The headset is also much more comfortable, according to Brownlee. The device includes a shield that puts the weight on the brow rather than the nose, like the Vision Pro. The similarities don’t end there. The headset includes hand and eye tracking with AR passthrough. Like Vision Pro and the Meta Quest 3, after recent updates, you can use a pinch gesture to move windows around your environment and prop them up where it’s most convenient for you. There’s even an open-palm gesture to open an app list that scrolls left and right with pinch gestures, just like Apple’s “spatial computer.” According to Brownlee, Google will modify some of its most popular apps, like YouTube, to work on AndroidXR, but the rest of the app list should also be compatible. The headset has automatic IPD adjustment and a UI closer to the HTC Vive or Meta Quest than the Vision Pro’s long eye-tracking setup. The big difference between Vision Pro and Moohan is that the latter has access to AI. Gemini exists on the top bar of the app menu and is accessible with a pinch. This grants you a version of Gemini Live for continuous conversation with Google’s chatbot. The AI is meant to be the kind of cross-app AI assistant we saw first-hand with the Samsung Galaxy S25 phones. This version, however, also works directly with the headset’s passthrough capabilities. Brownlee looked at an image of a magazine cover from Dubai, then asked the headset to “take me there.” The device loaded up Google Maps centered on the UAE and then dropped into street view. The other addition is a vision-capable version of Google’s Circle to Search. This lets you search for an object based on what you see in front of you, though the cameras also tended to take a picture of Brownlee’s hand while he circled the object in front of him. Brownlee said Moohan is a “deep collaboration” between Samsung and Google, which isn’t big news considering the two companies’ buddy-buddy relationship with Samsung Galaxy phones. Google would want AndroidXR to be as prolific as Android is on phones. However, Meta has already tried to tip the scales in its direction with HorizonOS. Meta made its operating system (ironically built on Android Open Source Project or AOSP) available to outside OEMs. Meta tipped that companies, including Asus, had their own headsets on the way. Recent leaks suggest the Asus “Tarius” headset could arrive sometime this year. As somebody who used both visionOS and HorizonOS extensively last year, I think AndroidXR seems like—at most—an evolution. The one missing element with Vision Pro is controller support, though Samsung has yet to confirm Moohan will offer controller configurations. Brownlee speculated controller support is in the cards, but their usefulness will depend on how many AR or VR games and apps will be available. While there are relatively few VR games worth playing on the Play Store, we’ll hopefully be able to connect with the Steam Link app or another app like Virtual Desktop to connect with PCVR titLes. Both Samsung and Apple are reportedly working on AR glasses. Compared to big, bulky headsets, these devices will be easier to transport and wear in public without looking like a space alien who has lost their way. The holy grail is a device with vision and displays as capable as Moohan or the Vision Pro, but the current slate of glasses launching this year is comparatively limited. We’ll see how Meta’s Orion glasses shake out. Still, we’ll be pleasantly surprised if Samsung can somehow crack the ceiling on power and capabilities with its upcoming smart glasses with Android XR.