New report says Google and Samsung’s AR glasses are coming in 2026

New details have emerged regarding the Android XR smart glasses Google has shown off recently. According to a report from The Korea Economic Daily, the prototype device demonstrated by Google is actually being developed jointly with Samsung and is slated for a commercial release under the Samsung brand sometime in 2026.

Google has provided glimpses of its vision for Android AR using these glasses, first spotted back in December 2024 at an XR Unlocked event held at a Google Campus. The most recent public viewing occurred earlier this week when Google VP Shahram Izadi demoed some capabilities using the prototype at the TED2025 conference in Vancouver. Despite these appearances, Google itself hasn’t made any public commitments to launching this specific hardware under its own name.

The focus for the hardware release has generally been on Samsung, which has previously teased its own entry into the smart glasses market powered by Android XR through prior reports and company statements. This new report aligns neatly with those expectations, confirming Samsung as the hardware partner for the device Google has been using for demonstrations.

The Korea Economic Daily, citing sources familiar with the matter, explicitly states: “…the two tech firms are jointly working to develop new smart glasses, slated for release next year.” The report directly connects the prototype worn by Izadi at TED2025 to this joint Samsung project, solidifying the link between Google’s software demos and Samsung’s hardware pipeline.

The 2026 launch window is a bit later than some earlier indicators suggested. A previous report had floated the possibility that Samsung might unveil, or perhaps even launch, a pair of smart glasses before the end of 2025. While an unveiling could theoretically still occur late this year, this latest information pushes the expected commercial availability into 2026.

It’s important to differentiate these upcoming smart glasses from Samsung’s other significant XR venture, the ‘Project Moohan’ headset. That more immersive device, which has been shown off in person on a couple of occasions, is still widely anticipated to launch later in 2025.

The partnership structure mirrors the successful Google-Samsung collaboration on Wear OS: Google develops the underlying platform (Android XR), while Samsung leverages its hardware expertise to bring the first major consumer devices to market. While we’ve had intriguing previews (and maybe more to come at Google I/O 2025 next month), this new report indicates we’ll need a bit more patience than we first thought. At this point, I’d rather them take the time to get it right out of the gate – and if that means 2026, then so be it.