You can now preorder the Samsung Galaxy XR ahead of its UK release on July 8, 2026.

This £1,699 headset incorporates digital elements and app windows into your real-world surroundings, known as Mixed Reality or XR (hence the name). You can also enjoy immersive entertainment, like watching a blockbuster on a virtual IMAX screen in a deserted auditorium or enjoying video games from a unique first-person viewpoint.

That's much more affordable than the Apple Vision Pro, which costs £3,199.

Both headsets rely on ridiculously high-resolution Micro-OLED displays that sit in front of each eye to incorporate apps, games, and floating windows into the real world without any tell-tale signs, like pixelation or lower contrast. Sophisticated eye tracking enables these devices to only render the portion of the screen that you're currently looking at — reducing the processing power needed inside these headsets.

Galaxy XR launched in the United States and Samsung's native South Korea back in October 2025. It's taken over 230 days for the immersive headset to make its debut on British shores.

Commenting on the launch, Samsung UK Vice President of Product and Marketing for Mobile Experience, Annika Bizon, said: "The UK launch of Galaxy XR marks a significant milestone for Samsung, introducing a new category of AI-native devices.

"Our ongoing collaboration with Google and Qualcomm Technologies reflects our long-held belief that an open ecosystem accelerates innovation and creates seamless, connected experiences across the Galaxy ecosystem.

"Consumers want technology that is intuitive and enhances their entertainment experiences, whilst organisations across sectors, from healthcare to manufacturing, are beginning to explore what immersive environments can do for productivity and collaboration. Galaxy XR is designed to meet both of those needs."

Samsung Galaxy XR is the first device built on the Android XR platform, which offers wearers the ability to interact with applications and media via voice, vision, and gestures. This is similar to what we've seen from the Apple Vision Pro, which the Californian company refers to as its first device dedicated to Spatial Computing.

You can pin widgets — like those found on the homescreen of your iPhone — to your surroundings, like adding a digital clock or slideshow of photos to the wall, where it'll stay, even if you turn off the headset or move elsewhere in the house. Apple recently refreshed its headset with a faster custom-designed chipset.

Facebook parent company Meta has also experimented with mixed reality with its Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses and its popular Meta Quest headsets, although the latter primarily focuses on Virtual Reality (VR), which occludes the world to immerse you in digital content, like video games, movies, or social networks like Meta Horizon Worlds.

As part of its collaboration with US chipmaker Qualcomm, the Galaxy-branded headset is powered by the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 system-on-a-chip. There's an incredible amount of engineering and computing power that's required to make these experiences a reality.

Miniscule cameras, depth sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and eye trackers continuously map the room and track your head, hands, and eyes at all times. Dedicated processors fuse the incoming sensor data, construct a 3D model of the environment, and render digital objects from the correct perspective and position — updating thousands of times per second — before displaying the combined real-and-virtual view with minimal latency.

It's cutting-edge stuff... and that's before you start to interact with fast-paced games, make video calls, or anythign else that requires the system-on-a-chip to kick-in.

If you become one of the first to own the Galaxy XR in the UK, what can you expect to do? Some of the digital experiences designed to link real life with the apps and services you'd expect to find on your Samsung Galaxy smartphone include...

Travel The World Inside Google Maps

With your Samsung Galaxy XR, you can visit every corner of the globe in stunning 3D with Immersive View, use Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot Gemini as a guide to navigate to any place on Google Maps and ask for personalised suggestions about nearby places while exploring the world in immersive three-dimensions.

Deep-dive into content with AI

With YouTube preinstalled on Android XR, you can dive into the world’s largest library of immersive 180 and 360-degree VR content, or check out the new spatial tab with content that creators have converted to 3D. Gemini is always on-hand to answer questions about what you're seeing in the video clip.

See more with video pass-through and Circle to Search

In pass-through mode, you will be able to see the physical world around you — as if you weren't wearing the Galaxy XR headset. Leveraging the latest multi-modal AI models, you'll be able to draw a circle with your hand to instantly search for information about anything in front of you.

Auto-spatialize videos and photos into 3D

Bring your existing library of photos and videos to life by transforming these into immersive experiences or reimagining them in entirely new ways.

Immersive viewing experiences

You can take advantage of the 4K Micro-OLED screens built into the Galaxy XR to stream your favourite television show, documentary, or Hollywood movie in a personal theatre — no need to spend money on the tickets or worry about spilt popcorn in the aisles.

Unsure if the £1,699 Galaxy XR headset is right for you? Samsung is offering hands-on demonstrations at Samsung’s London KX Experience store, in addition to Samsung Experience Stores in Westfield London, Westfield Stratford City and Manchester Trafford Centre from June 17, 2026.

If you're ready to jump in, Samsung Galaxy XR is available for preorder now, ahead of the headset arriving on store shelves nationwide on July 8, 2026.