Last week saw Samsung unveil our first look at its upcoming XR headset, currently known only as Project Moohan. The Apple Vision Pro-looking device was on display at Galaxy Unpacked, but at the time nobody was allowed to actually demo the headset for themselves. Since then YouTuber Marques Brownlee, aka MKBHD, has been given some hands-on time with the headset.
Brownlee confirmed that the headset really is quite similar to the Vision Pro in terms of its outward design — even down to the glass panel at the front of the goggles. Thankfully they don’t seem to show off your eyes, like Apple’s EyeSight feature, which I’m certainly very grateful for.
The YouTuber also noted that the head strap was more similar to the one on the Meta Quest Pro, as were the removable light blockers. Plus Brownlee realised Moohan’s external battery pack uses a standard USB-C connector. So while the battery may not be part of the headset, the connector should give you more flexibility in where your power comes from. Considering you can easily buy USB-C batteries over 8 times larger than the Vision Pro’s 3,166 mAh, this could prove to be a very big deal.
That said, judging from Brownlee’s breakdown of Moohan, the hardware is only part of the equation. In fact, it sounds like the headset’s AI functionality may be the killer feature that sets Android XR apart from all its rivals.
Moohan and Gemini are joined together
While AI has infiltrated more or less every other device on the market right now, the Apple Vision Pro is currently AI-free. Even while Meta adds its own AI assistants to the Quest headsets, the Vision Pro lacks any kind of support for Apple Intelligence. Being an Android headset, Moohan has been built around Gemini functionality, with the headset letting you and Gemini interact in a way that you just can’t do on a phone.
Such features include having Gemini Live running in the background, letting you ask questions and give commands no matter what you’re doing at the time. Since Gemini Live is multimodal, it’s also able to recognize what you’re looking at, utilizing Moohan’s many sensors to see and analyze that. A bit like Apple’s Visual Intelligence or Meta’s AI Vision. It even has Circle to Search, which is arguably one of the most useful AI features Google has come up with so far.
Gemini is also able to operate inside apps, though it isn’t clear whether that ability extends to all Android apps or just the XR-optimized ones. This allows you to get stuff done in the headset without necessarily having to use hand gestures all the time. Which is helpful considering Moohan currently doesn’t support external controllers — just gestures and the classic keyboard/mouse combo.
Oh and the apps side of things, it sounds like users will be very well taken care of. Android XR apparently gives users access to Google Play’s entire catalogue of Android apps — plus a selection of apps that have been optimized for XR and spatial computing.
Bringing more XR to more people
We will just have to wait and see how this all plays out, though. Brownlee pointed out that the Moohan headset is a prototype at multiple times, and that things could easily change between now and release. However he did say that the display quality available right now was quite sharp, and that this wasn’t going to be the total sum of what Android XR will offer.
Instead he noted that Moohan would be the Pixel or Nexus Phone or XR, showing other manufacturers what can be done and giving them a reason to adopt and build upon it. It even allows for those companies to produce cheaper and more expensive options, and provide for a wider range of people. A bit like how the Meta Quest 3 isn’t made for the same people as the Meta Quest Pro — but potentially on a much larger scale.
Which is good because Samsung never said how much Moohan will cost, which has me worried that it’s going to be pretty pricey. But while Apple drags its heels figuring out what to do with future Vision headsets, the nature of Android means there is an opportunity for cheaper and varying options to arrive in a much shorter space of time.
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