5 Samsung gadgets you should buy instead of the $1,800 Galaxy XR headset

If you’re a Samsung fan and have $1,800 burning a hole in your pocket, the South Korean tech giant just announced a brand new way for you to spend that money. On Tuesday, Samsung announced the Galaxy XR as its long-awaited XR headset to rival the Apple Vision Pro.

As a VR/XR headset in the current market, the Galaxy XR does look promising. It’s got impressive hardware, capable specs, and powerful software with Android XR. But at the end of the day, the Galaxy XR is still very expensive. The headset itself costs $1,800, and if you buy the controllers and carrying case, you’re looking at an additional $500.

That’s a heap of money to spend on a first-gen XR headset, even for the biggest of Samsung fans. Before you commit to the Galaxy XR, here are a few other Samsung gadgets that I’d recommend instead.

One of the main pitches for the Galaxy XR is being able to use all of your Android apps in a large, immersive XR view. And as cool as that sounds, it comes with compromise. As comfortable as we found the Galaxy XR to be, wearing a big headset isn’t for everyone. The 2.5 hours of reported battery life mean you can only use the Galaxy XR for short bursts, and it’s not a device you’ll want to take out and use in public.

If you want a big-screen Android device that lasts all day and can easily slip in your pocket, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is a much better choice than Samsung’s new headset. While the Fold’s 8-inch inner display isn’t as jaw-dropping as the room-scale experiences you can get from Galaxy XR, it still looks incredible and works exceptionally well for multitasking and gaming. Unlike the bulky nature of the Galaxy XR, the Fold 7’s slim and light body gives you that tablet-like experience in a design that feels like a regular slab phone when it’s folded shut.

Battery life is another big advantage for the Z Fold 7, as it easily gets through a full day of use before needing a charge. And then there are the other perks that come with the Fold 7 being a smartphone, such as a reliable camera system and its ability to handle phone calls and text messages.

At $2,000, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is slightly more expensive than the standalone Galaxy XR. But when you consider that the Fold 7 is a big, immersive screen that can also function as a “normal” Android phone, it’s infinitely more practical in a way the Galaxy XR will never be.

Speaking of smartphones, I’d also recommend the Galaxy S25 Ultra over the Galaxy XR. At first, that might sound crazy. Where the Galaxy XR is a glimpse at the future, the S25 Ultra is a pretty by-the-numbers Android phone.

While that may be true, there’s a reason for this recommendation. For one thing, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is one of the most capable smartphones you can buy. It has excellent battery life, great cameras, top-tier performance, good software, and — of course — the S Pen. You also get all of that for $1,300, which leaves you with $500 leftover compared to buying the Galaxy XR.

You could save that $500, or you could put it toward another Samsung device to go along with your new S25 Ultra. You could buy a Galaxy Watch 8 Classic for that amount of money, or get the regular Galaxy Watch 8 plus a pair of Galaxy Buds 3 FE. It’s also worth noting that all of these products are regularly on sale, so you could very well end up spending even less.

Are a phone, a smartwatch, and a pair of earbuds as exciting as an XR headset? Maybe not, but they sure do get you a lot more for your money, and for anyone who wants to stretch their dollars as far as possible, this is a far better use of money than the Galaxy XR.

The Z Fold 7 and S25 Ultra are both excellent devices, but maybe you don’t need a new phone. If not, another Samsung gadget you might want to consider buying instead of the Galaxy XR is the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra.

Announced last month, the Tab S11 Ultra is Samsung’s latest flagship tablet. And what a tablet it is. The 14.6-inch AMOLED display, while overkill, is one of the best you’ll find. Whether you’re watching a movie, playing a game, or just browsing the web, this is one of the best screens you can do it on. The Tab S11 Ultra is also thinner and lighter than its predecessor, making it a little easier to hold and transport its gargantuan display.

The internal specs are great, too. Inside the tablet is a MediaTek Dimensity 9400+ chipset, an 11,6000mAh battery, and 256GB of storage with 12GB of RAM by default. And with a price tag of $1,200, you’re spending $600 less than the cost of the Galaxy XR.

Similar to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, this puts you in a position to either A) keep more cash in your wallet, or B) put that money towards other Samsung gadgets.

While we might one day do all of our computing from devices like the Galaxy XR headset, you still can’t beat the practicality of a good old laptop. If you need a mobile workstation for work, school, or whatever else, it’s hard to justify spending $1,800 on the Galaxy XR when, instead, you could buy a laptop like the Galaxy Book 5 Pro.

If you’re looking for a thin and light Windows laptop, the Galaxy Book 5 Pro is a really compelling option. The Intel Core Ultra 7 processor offers ample performance, and the “up to 25 hours of battery life” promise blows the Galaxy XR battery life out of the water. You also get a 3K AMOLED touchscreen display, plus a tried-and-true physical keyboard — something that obviously doesn’t come with the Galaxy XR.

There are a few configurations of the Galaxy Book 5 Pro, and even the highest-end one — which includes 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD — still costs less than the Galaxy XR at $1,750. More than almost anything else on this list, that really puts into perspective how much more you can get for your money with a more “traditional” Samsung device compared to a flashy XR headset.

Whether it’s the Galaxy XR or Apple Vision Pro, companies like Samsung and Apple tout XR headsets as being incredible devices for watching TV shows and movies. And they are! But that’s only true if you’re watching something by yourself. If you want to watch a movie or TV show with a friend, partner, or anyone else, the best way to do that is still with a TV.

The S90F is one of Samsung’s higher-end OLED TVs available in 2025, featuring the company’s HDR+ technology, 4K resolution, and a 144Hz refresh rate. It may not be as immersive as watching a movie on the Galaxy XR, but anything you watch on the S90F will look damn good, and you can share the experience with others, too. Plus, if you have a gaming PC or a console, you can use the S90F with that, too — unlike the Galaxy XR.

The 65-inch S90F typically retails for $2,500, but for the next few days, you can buy it for just $1,600 — $200 cheaper than the Galaxy XR. If that doesn’t sound like a better use of money to you, I don’t know what will.