Samsung Project Moohan vs. Meta Quest 3: Battle for the future of XR

Samsung Project Moohan made waves when Samsung announced it alongside Android XR, a new and exciting version of Android built specifically for XR devices like AR glasses, VR headsets, and mixed reality headsets. It's an upcoming mixed reality headset that will blend the virtual and real worlds into games and productivity, just like the Meta Quest 3.

Project Moohan, as it's currently known, will receive a final product name sometime later this year before the expected launch. Samsung showed off the hardware for the first time publicly at Samsung Unpacked 2025 during the Galaxy S25 unveiling.

Samsung Project Moohan is said to sport higher-end hardware than the Meta Quest 3 and promises to be the best VR hardware to date, merging quality hardware with a more affordable price tag than the Apple Vision Pro. But does that mean it will be a better headset? Let's find out.

Samsung Project Moohan vs. Meta Quest 3: Looks and basics

While both Samsung Project Moohan and the Meta Quest 3 are mixed reality headsets, they each look and fit quite differently. The Meta Quest 3 is designed mostly to fit cost restraints so it can be under $500. That includes shipping with a relatively uncomfortable cloth strap for your head and an all-plastic design.

Samsung Project Moohan has a far more premium look and feel, and while some parts are plastic to keep weight down, it looks a lot more like a Meta Quest Pro than a Meta Quest 3. This includes rigid side straps with a wheel on the back for quickly adjusting size, a large, plush pad for the back of your head, and another large plush pad for your forehead.

Unlike the Meta Quest 3, Project Moohan doesn't put any weight on your face at all. The rubber light blockers are magnetically removable — Samsung hasn't even shown off these parts of the headset yet — so you'll feel no pressure on your face while wearing the headset for long periods of time.

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The Meta Quest 3's default cloth strap distributes weight on your face and around the sides and back of your head. Some people, like me, find this to be uncomfortable and end up buying a third-party head strap along with several other Meta Quest 3 accessories to make it more comfortable to wear.

While this sounds like a negative at first, Meta's "modular" design of the Quest 3 means you can take all the important parts off — the head strap, the face pad, etc — and replace them with ones you find more comfortable.

When I work while wearing a Quest 3, I tend to use a Kiwi Design H4 Boost head strap and I take the face pad off completely so the headset's weight isn't resting on my face. Otherwise, when I'm gaming with a Quest 3, I keep the face pad on to provide maximum immersion.

It's not clear yet if Project Moohan will be a modular headset. One of the biggest problems with the Meta Quest Pro was that its head strap and battery couldn't be easily removed, so you had to add things to the headset instead of easily replacing them with something more comfortable. We're hoping Samsung learned from Meta's design mistake on its Pro headset.

Samsung Project Moohan has automatic IPD adjustment thanks to its eye tracking capabilities which ensures that each user has the exact right eye distance calibration the moment they put the headset on. That's a huge advantage for Samsung over every other VR headset on the market which all require manual IPD adjustment.

Some headsets, like the PlayStation VR2, will help you choose the right IPD by using eye tracking to display an image you can line up. The Meta Quest 3, like most other VR headsets, requires you to know your IPD ahead of time. Adjusting it on a Quest 3 is easy and can be done via the IPD wheel on the underside of the headset, but you still need to know the right number before using it.

The Meta Quest 3 ships with two motion controllers — one is held in each hand — and also supports controller-free hand tracking for more effortless interactions. Each of these controllers features a joystick, three face buttons, a trigger, and a grip button.

Samsung Project Moohan will also have controller and hand tracking support, but Samsung hasn't confirmed if the headset will ship with controllers included or if they'll be a separate purchase. Apple Vision Pro famously shipped with no controllers and no support for motion-tracked controllers. Apple later added support for controllers due to feedback, as they're simply required for some experiences and types of games.

Samsung Project Moohan vs. Meta Quest 3: Software and OS

Meta Horizon OS, the operating system that powers Meta Quest Headsets, is built upon Android and always has been. Similarly, Android XR, which powers Samsung Project Moohan, is also a specific version of Android built for XR devices. While they sound similar on the surface, there are some significant key differences to consider.

While both are based on the Android Open Source Project, Meta Horizon OS features significant layers of customization that Meta has built over the past decade. Meta has built so much on top of Android that it actually packages it as a "separate" operating system, calling it Meta Horizon OS, and now offers it as an option for third-party companies to build their own headsets on.

Meta Horizon OS not only revolves around the "Meta Horizon experience," which includes promoting the Meta Horizon metaverse app front and center, but also ties Meta services deeply into the OS. Apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Facebook, and Instagram all have native Horizon OS apps, and while a few other apps can be downloaded on the app store, Meta Quest headsets are still mainly gaming consoles with some extra computing functionality.

Android XR is built upon the Android Open Source Project as well but, like most builds of Android, Google services are at the center. Android XR is said to be "the first version of Android built for the Gemini era" which means Google Gemini is able to operate the entire experience if you ask it to.

Google explained that Gemini can see what you see, including both the virtual and real world, and is able to answer questions and interact with virtual screens as you see fit. This could open up significant new design and interaction paradigms that we simply haven't seen before, but we'll need to wait until the full product launch to get a better idea of the actual functionality.

Both operating systems support native multitasking, giving users the ability to open multiple windows at once and float them anywhere in real 3D space. You can think of these a bit like resizable virtual monitors that you can place anywhere, all of which are able to be interacted with like a smartphone or tablet interface.

Since Android XR has the Google Play Store built in, it's expected that Samsung Project Moohan will have substantially more 2D apps at launch than the Meta Quest ever has. Conversely, the Meta Quest sports thousands of games that will take time to convert over to Android XR. Meta funded several of the best Meta Quest games, so it's not likely they'll see a release on an Android XR-powered headset.

If you want to learn more about how both operating systems compare, see our detailed Android XR vs Meta Horizon OS comparison.

Samsung Project Moohan vs. Meta Quest 3: Performance and specs

Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets power the Meta Quest 3 and Samsung Project Moohan, but Project Moohan features the more powerful Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2. This new chipset allows Samsung to include higher resolution cameras and displays on Project Moohan, all while sporting better overall performance.

Neither are "laptop-grade" chips like what's included in the Apple Vision Pro, but both chips are very capable and are roughly comparable in performance to a 2023 flagship smartphone with significant customizations to account for the extra processing needed for space tracking and motion tracking.

We know a some specs for Project Moohan but many technical specs, like amount of RAM, storage, and display resolution, are still unknown. It's said that Samsung Project Moohan features micro-OLED panels with up to 3,000 DPI resolution. The Meta Quest 3 uses LCD panels with roughly 1,200 DPI resolution.

Both headsets use pancake lenses, but Samsung Project Moohan builds eye tracking into the lenses. This will enable Samsung to have even better performance thanks to something called foveated rendering. This technology allows the headset to render the highest resolution at the center of your vision while saving processing power by lowering the resolution outside of that.

Meta supports fixed foveated rendering which attempts to recreate the same concept without eye tracking. While it is effective in enhancing performance, it creates lower resolution outside of the center of the lens and reduces visual quality in those areas.

Samsung Project Moohan vs. Meta Quest 3: Which is better?

Considering you cannot buy Samsung Project Moohan yet, this one's a bit of a no-brainer until then. The Meta Quest 3 is the best VR headset you can buy in terms of value and available software. It's got the most games of any VR headset and, since it's a standalone VR console, doesn't need a PC or external display to work. That's an amazing value for just $499.

Samsung Project Moohan will almost certainly sport better hardware than the Meta Quest 3 when it launches, but it's expected that Samsung will charge quite a bit more for its first Android XR-powered headset. Current rumors estimate the price to be around $999, although we'll need to wait until later in the year to actually find out.

If you're looking to get into XR today, though, the Meta Quest 3 is the right choice as it not only has a vast library of games and support for many streaming services, but it also supports native Windows desktop streaming for easy hookup to a PC.