Samsung smart glasses could rival Ray-Ban Meta, but are missing one thing

Samsung is no stranger to wearables: it has been one of the dominant players in smartwatches and it even dabbled in VR before with the Gear VR in 2014 – the last time people were excited about headsets. Since then, the company has gone a little quiet, but it’s already been confirmed that Samsung will be back with a head-mounted wearable in 2025.

There are a lot of rumours flying backwards and forwards surrounding Samsung’s plans, with both XR glasses and a full Apple Vision Pro-rivalling headset on the cards, if you believe the gossip. Putting a VR headset to one side, we have a little more information about Samsung’s rumoured XR glasses, thanks to 9to5Google.

The report (which originated with Maeil Business Newspaper) suggests that Samsung is preparing to launch a pair of smart glasses in collaboration with Qualcomm and Google. The glasses are said to use AI and be similar to Ray-Ban's Meta glasses.

The glasses are said to use Qualcomm’s AR1 chip, with a 155mAh battery, aiming for a weight of 50g. That’s close to the specification of the Ray-Bans, so it looks like we’re looking at glasses rather than a headset according to these leaks.

Other details suggest that there will be a 12-megapixel camera, with the ability to read QR codes and interpret the world thanks to AI. On the voice side of things you’ll be able to talk to Google’s Gemini, while the glasses will be able to understand gestures for control.

Will smart glasses work without an established brand?

While Samsung’s plans sound like a formula that replicates Ray-Ban’s success through its partnership with Meta, there’s one thing missing: the brand.

Much of the success of Ray-Ban’s offering comes from the fact that it’s Ray-Ban. It’s a trending brand, offering a range of styles, meaning that even if you’re not using any of the smart functions, you’re still wearing Ray-Bans. That can’t be said of Samsung – as much as we all love Samsung phones, who wants to wear a pair of Samsung glasses?

That could be a huge barrier to adoption outside of the tech circle. Where Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses have a high profile and get exposure through Ray-Ban’s other retail activities, Samsung might struggle to match the desirability.

Samsung, Qualcomm and Google likely hope that they can win through with technology and that Ray-Ban has opened the door to this category of devices. I’m not so sure: although smart glasses are clever, it’s Ray-Bans that are cool.

Samsung will really have to pull some must-have features out of the bag to make their own smart glasses appealing to the wider public.