We got to see smart glasses at Google’s big developer conference. They were the result of an initiative and collaboration that Samsung, Google and Qualcomm announced back in September 2024. It was three years after Meta, you know the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, introduced its glasses, the Ray Bans that have since been released in several updates and dominate the smart glasses market.
Since the presentation in 2024, the collaboration between the tech giants Samsung, Qualcomm and Google has been expanded with two glasses manufacturers, Gentle Monster and Warby Parker. The first of these two, Gentle Monster, already makes smart glasses with Huawei and has released several generations of them.
I had almost forgotten that Samsung launched a headset called Galaxy XR in October 2025. We know that Apple’s Vision Pro headset has seen very limited success, but the Galaxy XR has barely been noticed. It is clear that the manufacturers have realized that they have a greater chance of success if they scale back their ambitions.
We got to see smart glasses at Google’s big developer conference. They were the result of an initiative and collaboration that Samsung, Google and Qualcomm announced back in September 2024. It was three years after Meta, you know the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, introduced its glasses, the Ray Bans that have since been released in several updates and dominate the smart glasses market.
Since the presentation in 2024, the collaboration between the tech giants Samsung, Qualcomm and Google has been expanded with two glasses manufacturers, Gentle Monster and Warby Parker. The first of these two, Gentle Monster, already makes smart glasses with Huawei and has released several generations of them.
I had almost forgotten that Samsung launched a headset called Galaxy XR in October 2025. We know that Apple’s Vision Pro headset has seen very limited success, but the Galaxy XR has barely been noticed. It is clear that the manufacturers have realized that they have a greater chance of success if they scale back their ambitions.
The two different pairs of glasses that Samsung and Google showed off this week, amid much fanfare, are due to go on sale later this year. They are designed by the two glasses brands, they have components from Qualcomm and the Android XR software from Google. I wonder a little then what Samsung contributed. Anyway. The glasses have a built-in headset so you can listen to music, make regular calls via mobile, get direct translation and access to Gemini. About what you can do with a regular headset you have in your ears?
Well, the glasses have a camera too, so you can ask Gemini what you’re seeing in front of you, but it’s not exactly a game-changing technological development.
Considering just the slow development, I wonder if Google and Samsung ran into any problems while working on the glasses. This year we got to see two pairs of glasses where the interaction takes place via voice and sound. It’s a step back. Already a year ago, Google did a similar demo of glasses at its developer conference that year, but then with a screen integrated so that you saw and not just heard.
If development continues at this rate and direction, we may be back next year to a pair of regular headphones like Google Pixel Buds or Apple’s Airpods, which are rumored to come with integrated cameras.