Samsung’s first Android XR glasses with a colour display could arrive towards the end of 2027, according to a new report. The company is already working on the tiny microdisplays needed for the glasses, although some key decisions around the design and cost still appear to be up in the air.
The Elec reports that Samsung has asked Samsung Display to develop new colour microdisplays for future smart glasses. The panels are expected to be around 0.2 inches or smaller, with Samsung still weighing up performance and price as it works out the final form factor.
Exactly how those displays will be used isn’t settled yet, either. Samsung is reportedly considering both monocular and binocular designs. The early prototypes shown by Samsung and Google have generally used a monocular setup, with a display positioned over one eye. A binocular design would put displays over both eyes and could offer an advantage for showing 3D content.
That would make these glasses quite different from Samsung’s first Android XR glasses, which aren’t expected to have a display at all. Those glasses are instead being developed more like the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses, combining a camera with open-ear audio.
Samsung has already shown designs created with eyewear brands Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, but it hasn’t confirmed when those first display-free glasses will actually launch.
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The colour-display version appears to be further down the road, with the latest report pointing towards late 2027. There are still plenty of details to work out before then, particularly whether Samsung settles on one or two displays and how it balances the performance of those tiny panels against their cost.
Still, the move would mark a more ambitious step for Samsung’s Android XR push. Rather than simply adding cameras and speakers to a familiar pair of glasses, a colour-display model could put actual visual information in front of the wearer while keeping the glasses themselves far more compact than a traditional headset.