I preordered the new Samsung Galaxy XR Headset. My primary reason for wanting this device was seeing the pass through ability and native Google play store apps so knowing Google Translate would be part of this, I envisioned being able to translate my Japanese Otome games into English with a larger screen and with less wrist pain (previously I would hold my phone up running Google Translate).
There really wasn’t much info on if this would even be possible but with a 14 day return policy I thought why not, why not test it out and just see? And I’m so excited to share that it works!!!
ChatGPT and even Samsung support could not confirm is TEXT translation would work. We know audio translation has worked on numerous virtual reality headsets including Meta and Apple. But many Otome games are not fully voiced and even if so the menus etc are not being translated just with voice translation.
Samsung Galaxy XR solves this!!! It’s sooo awesome to play Tokimeki Memorial Girls Side and Angelique and really any game ever translated in real time OCR right before my eyes just by opening Google Translate on my headset.
But it’s not all roses. The headset only weighs one pound but that one pound gets heavy and hurts after awhile. I also find when sitting instead of lying down gravity pulls the headset forward so it’s more on my nose or cheeks which Samsung says do not do this at risk of injury. I’ve tried tightening and repositioning it and all that but to no avail. It’s not horrendous but overtime does slip. I solved this by lying down instead of sitting.
Unlike most headsets, the battery is a separate piece and can sit on my desk or nightstand which does take that weight off. Meta headsets are still lighter even with built in batteries but their pass through technology and App Store features are not as good as this Google XR headset.
I also watched YouTube, Netflix and even Crunchyroll which has a dynamic XR mode already in the app! I played some LADS (Love and Deep Space) hot anime men looking like 30 feet tall lol. I tried to do infinity Nikki but it was hard because the game requires more twitchy movements than say LADS or Life Makeover.
The vision is less blurry than Meta (I’ve not tried Apple so no comment.) The last Meta I tried was 4 years ago or so and may be better now too. Also last meta I tried was uncomfortable and while I won’t say this new headset is comfortable it seems a little better than the old meta I tested a long time ago.
The touch controls are good unless you have an object even partially blocking you like even a blanket not over your hand but just slightly raised. Also hand controls get really weird if you’ve made the window too big then you can’t grab the window to resize it smaller because the edges are out of your vision and reach. They do sell controllers for the XR headset. I’m probably going to buy because it will help with games like Infinity Nikki that don’t work as well with hand gestures and eye tracking.
When it comes to audio you can use buds or similar but it may not be necessary. When I was watching Netflix I asked my husband if he could hear it and I couldn’t hear his reply so I asked again and he frustratedly replied again that no he couldn’t hear anything and I was like wow ok cuz to me it was perfectly like not loud but audible and it doesn’t sit in or over the ears so I was surprised by that. I always try to game with headphones so I don’t disturb others. And I typically prefer over the ear or on the ear headphones over in the ear styles which obviously my preferred ones wouldn’t fit with the headset so good to know they’re not needed.
Visually you can turn on or off pass through mode. Pass through mode will need to be turned on for translation of your console or computer games, and pass through mode also allows you to see your real environment like my husband or my dog. When pass through mode is disabled there is a computer style wallpaper which you can change but by default it’s a beautiful ocean and stars and changes from night to day modes and is just awesome and relaxing and beautiful in its own right and a testament to how immersive the headset really is. The pop up menus and icons are familiar to anyone with android phone or tablet. And again can be customized and arranged to your liking.
Final verdict, a little heavy due to headset tending to pull forward due to gravity even when tightened and complicated at times with finicky touch controls but well worth it, especially if you want English Otome games without waiting for fan translations or localizations and without killing your wrist holding your phone or looking at your tiny phone screen.
