Samsung just quietly teased its Galaxy Glasses – and almost no one noticed

It’s well known that Samsung, Google, and Qualcomm are joining forces to release wearable devices powered by Android XR. After all, the three companies have been talking about it for two and a half years and they’ve made it clear that Project Moohan — their XR headset to compete with Apple Vision Pro — will launch before the end of 2025. 

But there’s another product that they’ve been working on, but not talking about as much — only dropping a few hints and winks here and there. 

And they just dropped another big tease.

I’m talking about AI smart glasses — the audio-only kind that will compete with Meta Ray-Bans. Korean news outlets have said they will be announced at a September 29 Samsung Unpacked event in Korea, as ZDNET has reported. Google quietly mentioned at its I/O event in May that it was working on both “Headsets and Glasses” with Samsung. 

Also: Samsung ‘Galaxy Glasses’ powered by Android XR are reportedly on track to be unveiled this month

And then last Thursday, September 4, Samsung Executive Vice President Jay Kim ended the livestream of their Galaxy Event that announced the S25 FE phone and the Galaxy Tab S11 Series tablets by issuing a clear nod to the new device likely to be called Galaxy Glasses. 

“We’re leading the way in mobile AI, but we’re still in the early stages,” said Kim. “By collaborating with companies that share our vision we’re creating entirely new products and reimagining what everyday experiences can be.” 

Samsung had just announced that it was putting all of its Galaxy AI features into its $649 mid-range phone — and no longer reserving the best AI features for premium smartphones. But “entirely new products” was a clear pointer toward something not previously mentioned.

Also: I tried the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE, and it got big upgrades in several ways

And then Kim added, “We’re also working together to create a device that understands context and supports you seamlessly in the background, enhancing your everyday life. We can’t wait to share more exciting news with you as our journey continues. So stay tuned.”

That does not sound like a phone, or an XR headset. A device that understands your context would be one that’s with you all the time and likely has cameras and microphones. And one that is seamlessly in the background would be with you most of the day and not necessarily be constantly demanding your attention. That sounds a lot like a pair of smart glasses.

Kim ended by saying, “I’m happy to share that Galaxy AI is already on over 200 million devices around the world… and we expect to double that this year.”

Getting to 400 million devices with Galaxy AI is certainly heavily dependent on selling a lot more of those mid-range $649 phones, but Kim also said thst right after mentioning the launch of new products and new experiences — clearly connecting that with doubling the number of sold devices. That puts all eyes on that September 29 event, which hasn’t been officially announced yet. 

Also: 5 Meta Ray-Ban upgrades that have me excited for September 17

When we think about a product that could lock horns with Meta Ray-Bans, it’s not very hard to see where Samsung — with an assist from Google — could produce a very competitive product. Samsung has a lot of expertise in miniaturizing technology in the ways that’s desperately needed in smart glasses. And one of the biggest weaknesses of the Meta Ray-Bans is the fact that their AI is powered by Meta’s limited Llama AI models. A pair of smart glasses powered by Google Gemini is likely to be a lot more useful. And it’s looking more and more likely that the product could be announced later this month — although it’s unclear when the product would actually be available to buy.

ZDNET reached out to Samsung for comment and will update this article as we learn more.