Meta’s first VR glasses rival Galaxy XR with a lighter design

Besides four new smart glasses, Meta also unveiled its first virtual reality (VR) glasses. They are called Meta VR Glasses, and they rival Apple’s Vision Pro and Samsung’s Galaxy XR headsets but in a glasses form factor. Meta has priced its VR glasses at $1,299 and will launch them in Spring 2027.

The Meta VR Glasses weigh just 100g, which is more than 7x lighter than the Apple Vision Pro (750-800 grams) and 5x lighter than the Galaxy XR (545g). Meta achieved this weight reduction by moving the processing unit to the external battery pack that powers the glasses.

It has dual-micro-OLED screens with a 120Hz refresh rate and a combined 5K resolution (2,412 × 2,288 pixels per eye). It is capable of displaying Dolby Vision HDR and IMAX Enhanced content. It has a field of view of 70° horizontal by 66° vertical and a pixel density of 37 pixels per degree.

The VR glasses support Dolby Atmos for spatial audio. It can be controlled with your hands using gestures, which are tracked by six outward-facing cameras, while your eyes are tracked through 4 inward-facing cameras. You can even type text through a virtual desk keyboard.

The device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon Reality Elite processor. It has 12GB RAM and 128GB storage. You can expand storage by up to an additional 1TB microSD card. It has biometric authentication through iris recognition.

They run Meta Horizon OS, which is based on Android Open Source Project (AOSP).

They can connect to a Mac or Windows PC to create a multi-panel extended virtual screen, allowing you to work on anything you would normally do using your computer. They also offer holographic video calling, media streaming using apps like Disney+, gaming using Meta Quest library and Xbox Cloud Gaming, and video calls through WhatsApp and Zoom.

Connectivity features include Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 6.0.

Meta claims these VR glasses can last up to 3 hours of mixed usage (high-resolution media playback). They support 45W fast charging.

The Galaxy XR runs Android XR and has access to Gemini, which is one of the world’s leading AI assistant, which is an advantage. It also has access to a lot more apps and games compared to Meta’s VR Glasses.