If you’re getting bored of your smartphone, tablet and laptop and fancy a new gadget in your life, you could be in luck come January. Android giant Samsung is said to be unveiling its Galaxy S25 smartphone series sometime next month at one of its Unpacked launch events, but a new report suggests it won’t just be new handsets on show from the technology firm.
According to Yonhap News (via TechRadar) Samsung is planning to show off a brand new extended reality (XR) prototype at Unpacked in January. XR devices are usually in the form of smart glasses worn on the face, and this is an area Samsung has previously been heavily rumoured to be pushing into.
Samsung already has a strong wearable division thanks to its popular Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Ring smart ring. XR smart glasses are still relatively niche, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see the company release smart glasses before any of its main competitors
XR glasses mix tech smarts with regular eyewear, so are different to mixed reality (MR) headsets such as the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3S.
The Samsung smart glasses are expected to be able to make payments, recognise gestures for controls on what could possibly be a heads-up display the viewer can wear, plus facial recognition and artificial intelligence (AI) features.
The rumoured product sounds like a mix of augmented reality (AR), the tech that overlays information over the real world, and the camera and headphones combination found in the excellent Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which have regular lenses but can use AI thanks to voice controls.
“Samsung Electronics has been working with Google and Qualcomm to develop this product since February of last year,” Yonhap News reports.
“Ahead of the prototype release, the XR platform, the software to be installed on the AR glasses, is scheduled to be unveiled first this month.”
That means we could see Samsung show off the software at some point in December before it chooses to tease the glasses – Galaxy Glass, anyone? – at the Galaxy S25 Unpacked event in January. This would follow a pattern, as Samsung ran a teaser trailer for its Galaxy Ring in January 2024 at the launch of the Galaxy S24. The Ring was not available to buy until July.
With Apple and Meta already dabbling in smart glasses and headsets it’s only a matter of time before other large tech firms join the race. We hope Samsung offers something a bit different and more akin to the Ray-Ban Meta, which is technology subtle enough to wear in public without drawing attention to yourself.
Rumours also suggest Samsung could release four Galaxy S25 models, which would include a new, ‘slim’ version with updated design alongside the S25, S25 Plus and S25 Ultra.