Another Galaxy Unpacked event has come and gone, bringing with it the new Galaxy S26 series and the novel privacy display on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Though the event itself was decent — the Galaxy S26 Ultra video features were a very welcome reveal — there was something missing, something that I believe is very important.
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Samsung spent a lot of time talking about Galaxy AI and all the cool new things that it can do, but the company didn’t even once mention another product that it’s working on. A product that, according to Samsung, Apple, Google, and Meta, will one day replace smartphones entirely.
Where are the smart glasses?
Meta has already shown off its AR smart glasses. | Image by Meta
Samsung, in addition to the other three companies named above, is working on AR smart glasses. These glasses, like the company’s Galaxy XR headset, will run on Google’s Android XR.
Much like the Apple Vision Pro, the Galaxy XR headset isn’t really the end product. It’s an experiment by Samsung to gauge interest for its XR (Extended Reality) products. Both companies, like Google and Meta, want to design consumer-grade AR smart glasses at affordable prices, as each of them is aware that this could very well be the smartphone killer.
According to previous leaks, the AR smart glasses that Samsung is working on have a display and will directly compete with the Meta Orion glasses. Samsung’s glasses also have an alleged release window for this year.
This year! And yet, Samsung did not once even hint at its glasses, as if they don’t exist at all. Yes, there is the possibility that this year’s release might have been postponed. There is also the possibility that Samsung might have designed a pair of glasses without a display for launch later this year, like the popular Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses.
But Samsung should have at least mentioned them! The company showed off the Galaxy XR headset at Galaxy Unpacked last year, so why not at least tease its glasses? I get it, the Galaxy S26 series is important, but so is the product that you and your competitors think might one day make said Galaxy S26 series irrelevant. It’s so weird to me.
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Pre-order the Galaxy S26 for up to $500 off
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The “vanilla” Galaxy S26 has finally been announced. With a next-gen Galaxy AI and a powerful chip, this phone checks all the boxes. Right now, you can pre-order the phone for up to $500 with trade-ins.
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Pre-order the Galaxy S26+ for up to $700 off
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Trade-in
Pre-order the Galaxy S26 Ultra for up to $900 off
$399
99
$1299
99
$900 off (69%)
The Galaxy S26 Ultra has been announced, bringing a Privacy Screen feature, insanely fast processor, and multiple Galaxy AI enhancements. Right now, you can pre-order the flagship for up to $900 off with eligible trade-ins.
Pre-order at Samsung
Samsung is wasting crucial marketing time
Meta has over a decade of experience in the XR industry. | Image by Meta
If AR smart glasses really are the future of computing — and, personally, I really hope that they are — then Samsung is wasting very valuable time. XR is still a niche market, if these companies don’t start marketing it now, then customers will take a painfully long time to adopt this new tech. That slow adoption itself might kill the AR smart glasses market before it even takes off.
Meta has already shown off the Orion glasses mentioned above and has even promised to get a consumer-grade version ready by 2027. Google has also at least shown off glasses running its AI model Gemini in demo videos, even if the company hasn’t directly marketed a specific model.
Apple, meanwhile, is also keeping things under wraps for the moment, but it’s full steam ahead inside the company. Some Apple employees have allegedly already gotten their hands on working prototypes for testing purposes. Samsung, however, is still quiet on this front, perhaps wanting to wait and see how other glasses perform in the market.
But if the company doesn’t start marketing its glasses soon, then the only people who will even know about them when they come out will be advocates of XR like myself. The Galaxy S25 Edge saw a lot more marketing than any glasses Samsung is working on, yet no one I know was even aware of such a phone existing.
If that’s the case for a new flagship phone from one of the biggest smartphone manufacturers in the world, then it’s even more imperative that Samsung start marketing its glasses heavily. And now.
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