Smart eyeglasses are not commonplace, but wearables of all kinds are increasingly becoming mainstream. It's only a matter of time before we start seeing them on people's faces. Samsung’s long-rumored augmented reality (AR) glasses is among them, and may be announced officially at the Galaxy S25 series Unpacked event in January 2025.
The glasses are built on Samsung's Extended Reality (XR) platform, and could compete with Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses. It's expected to weigh around 50 grams, and of course, will support artificial intelligence, smart gestures, and face recognition.
Samsung’s AR Glasses may steal the show at Galaxy Unpacked 2025
According to the Korean Yonhap News Agency, Samsung could reveal a video or image of their first ever AR glasses at their next Galaxy Unpacked event. The brand hasn't sent out invitations yet, so the location, time and other details are unconfirmed.
However, rumors say that it's scheduled for early January 2025. But hopefully, we'll get spot glimpses of the Samsung Galaxy S25 rocking the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. Possibly, the Galaxy Z Flip FE will also be advertised.
As for the AR glasses, they are rumored to weigh 50g, about the size of a standard eyeglass, and will use AI to allow you make payments, recognize hand gestures, and identify faces. Although there are no specific details on its real-life use cases, you'll most likely make purchases simply by looking at a product and control the glasses or other connected devices by moving your hands.
On a more futuristic level, facial recognition could identify people around you and display relevant information about them. It could even unlock the glasses if they recognize your face. How cool is that? Samsung has been collaborating with Google and Qualcomm since February 2024 to make the product.
However, they are in no rush to release it as they first want to showcase Qualcomm's XR software powering it before the prototype itself. We should see the final product around the third quarter (Q3) of 2025.
Related: Google Wants Smart Glasses Like Meta
Samsung’s Vision was paused, not abandoned
There are rumors of a prototype allegedly developed before the launch of Apple's Vision Pro. The prototype had a micro OLED display and an Exynos 2200 chip, along with eye-tracking cameras. Meanwhile, Apple's product also featured a micro-OLED display with 23 million pixels, more clarity than a 4K TV and Spatial Audio. After Apple introduced the Vision Pro, Samsung reportedly scrapped it. Who could blame them?
If at all that is true, Samsung likely made a strategic decision to avoid rushing a product that might fall short of expectations. While Apple’s Vision Pro is a mixed-reality headset, Samsung’s rumored prototype could mean that the brand wasn’t trying to directly compete with the Vision Pro but may have reconsidered its approach after seeing the high expectations Apple set for immersive tech.
Scrapping the project might have been less about the device itself and more about rethinking how to position smart glasses in a market now influenced by the Vision Pro's advanced features.
