I just used the Galaxy XR to watch NFL Sunday Ticket — and it's a game changer

Hands-On
By last updated

You'll never watch football the same way again

Samsung Galaxy XR with NFL Sunday Ticket
(Image credit: Future)

I’m sitting back on my sofa staring at a 60-inch Samsung TV. It’s good, but it’s nowhere near as good as the Galaxy XR I’m wearing. And that’s because I can do something with this mixed reality headset you simply can’t do with a TV.

I have four NFL games playing at the same time through NFL Sunday Ticket, and I can blow up the view to the equivalent of a 100-inch TV right in front of my face. It gets better. I can take the windows for those four games and explode the grid view, moving them anywhere I want in the room.

NFL Sunday Ticket to the Max

NFL Sunday Ticket on Galaxy XR

(Image credit: Future)

If you happen to subscribe to Sunday Ticket, the Galaxy XR takes that experience to the next level. You can access Sunday Ticket both through the YouTube TV app the YouTube app on the headset, but the YouTube app is way better because it lets you explode the grid view and place the games where you want in your virtual space.

You can watch a grid of four games at once using both YouTube TV and YouTube, and you can easily switch between them using eye and hand tracking. And from there you can decide to blow up one of the games to full screen if you find one of them particularly engaging.

I did that with the New York Giants vs. San Francisco 49ers, and it almost felt like I was in the huddle. Just note that the resolution is capped at 1080p through the Galaxy XR for NFL Sunday Ticket. This is despite me signing up 4K through YouTube TV.

Galaxy XR NFL highlights on YouTube

(Image credit: Future)

The reason why YouTube app is superior is the freedom it gives you with the grid. For example, I could put one game front and center and make it larger, and then move the windows for the other games and put them off to the side. It’s like Minority Report cool for sports nerds.

It’s worth noting that YouTube didn’t have all the games I wanted to watch due to blackout rules. For example, I couldn’t watch the Chiefs vs Bills games through the YouTube app. I had to jump over to the YouTube TV app instead. But overall, this is a pretty amazing experience the Apple Vision Pro can’t touch.

Samsung Galaxy XR
Samsung Galaxy XR: $1,799 at Samsung

The Samsung Galaxy XR is more comfortable and affordable than Apple's headset and it runs the Android XR platform. It features a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR Plus Gen 2 chipset, which features a 3,552 x 3,840 microLED display that supports refresh rates of up to 90Hz. You have a 109-degree horizontal field of view and a 100-degree vertical field of view. With the help of Google's AI assistant (Gemini), the headset runs Android XR optimized apps, VR games, and more. In our Samsung Galaxy XR hands-on review, we called it a solid evolutionary step forward for spatial computing.

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Other Galaxy XR sports experiences: NBA and MLB

NBA app on Galaxy XR

(Image credit: Future)

If you’re not big into football, there’s lots of other sports apps to try that support Android XR. The NBA app is a close second for me, because you can watch immersive highlights, as well as stream up to three live games at the same time.

I enjoyed watching a highlight of Jericho Sims flying above the basket for an emphatic two-handed slam. It felt like I was watching a 3D movie of the game.

MLB app on Galaxy XR

(Image credit: MLB)

I had trouble logging into the MLB app on Galaxy XR, and I think it has to do with the eye and hand tracking. Each time I tried to log in I had trouble hitting the login button. But I’ll keep trying and report back. When the app does work, you can see a 3D visualization of games as you watch and follow the trajectory of every home run. Plus, you can see real-time status for the players.

MLB.TV lets you watch up to five live games at the same time with the multi-view feature, and it offers Spatial video highlights.

Outlook

If you’re a sports fan, I would definitely check out the Galaxy XR. NFL fans in particular who subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket will have a blast with this headset. I know because I gave the headset to my 17-year-old son and he gave it the highest praise he can give. “It’s pretty cool,” he said.

The rated battery life of 2 hours is not enough to get you through a typical 3-hour NFL game. So you'll want to make sure you stay next to an outlet while you're kicking back to watch the big game(s).

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Mark Spoonauer
Mark Spoonauer

Mark Spoonauer is the global editor in chief of Tom's Guide and has covered technology for over 20 years. In addition to overseeing the direction of Tom's Guide, Mark specializes in covering all things mobile, having reviewed dozens of smartphones and other gadgets. He has spoken at key industry events and appears regularly on TV to discuss the latest trends, including Cheddar, Fox Business and other outlets. Mark was previously editor in chief of Laptop Mag, and his work has appeared in Wired, Popular Science and Inc. Follow him on Twitter at @mspoonauer.

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