Season 9 of the famous Netflix reality TV series ended in heartbreak for basically everyone. Here’s where the couples are now as we await the reunion episode.
Season 9 of the famous Netflix reality TV series ended in heartbreak for basically everyone. Here’s where the couples are now as we await the reunion episode.
I came into this review thinking of Private Internet Access (PIA) as one of the better VPNs. It’s in the Kape Technologies portfolio, along with the top-tier ExpressVPN and the generally reliable CyberGhost. It’s one of the cheapest VPNs out there, its interfaces hold together and it boasts plenty of server locations.
Sadly, I was either misremembering PIA, or it used to be better until someone at Kape fell asleep at the switch. The more I tested this VPN, the more I came to terms with the fact that it’s much harder to recommend these days, especially compared to the entries in our best VPN guide. The biggest culprit is unmoored download speeds that swing wildly from acceptable to unusable, but I also encountered dropped connections, high latencies and dead ends in the UI.
I want to make it very clear that this PIA review is a snapshot of a moment in time. I don’t think this is an inherently bad service, but it needs to do a lot of work to right the ship. As I go through my usual 11-point testing plan, I’ll make a (hopefully) cogent case for why you should give PIA a miss as of now.
Editor’s note (10/20/25): We’ve overhauled our VPN coverage to provide more detailed, actionable buying advice. Going forward, we’ll continue to update both our best VPN list and individual reviews (like this one) as circumstances change. Most recently, we added official scores to all of our VPN reviews. Check out how we test VPNs to learn more about the new standards we’re using.
Installing, configuring and using Private Internet Access
Private Internet Access speed test
Private Internet Access security test
How much does Private Internet Access cost?
Private Internet Access side apps and bundles
Close-reading Private Internet Access’s privacy policy
Can Private Internet Access change your virtual location?
Investigating Private Internet Access’s server network
Extra features of Private Internet Access
Private Internet Access customer support options
Private Internet Access background check
Here’s a quick overview of everything I learned from testing Private Internet Access. For details on the bullets, check out the relevant section.
Category
Notes
Installation and UI
Desktop apps work well but are limited to mobile proportions
Android app has some confusing design choices and often gets stuck on screens that prompt setting changes
iOS app is the best, but lacks dark mode
Browser extension has several unique features
Speed
Major swings in speed and latency, even on the same server minutes apart
Average download speed drop of 34 percent conceals a lot of outliers in both directions
Latency was the most inconsistent measure of all, swinging by over 1000 milliseconds
Security
OpenVPN and WireGuard, the two universally available protocols, are secure
IKEv2/IPSec only available on iOS
Passed all leak tests, including while switching locations
Encrypts all data packets
Pricing
$11.95 per month
Best plan costs $79 for 39 months, or $2.03 per month
Unlimited connections on any plan
Bundles
Antivirus and dedicated IP addresses available at checkout for an extra fee
Privacy policy
Free of loopholes, with no basis for logging user identities or activities
RAM-only servers make long-term logging impossible
Parent company Kape Technologies is bound to the same rules
Passed two audits by Deloitte, but reports are only available to subscribers
Virtual location change
Never blocked by Netflix
Canada and UK servers failed to change content three times each
Tests were successful in Australia, Japan and Italy, but speeds remained a problem
Server network
155 locations in 91 countries
59 percent of servers are virtual
Features
Two levels of kill switch — stronger setting prevents all internet access before you connect to the VPN
PIA MACE is good at blocking banner ads
Controlling maximum download unit size can improve speeds
App and IP-based split tunneling with normal and inverse options
Automation generally doesn’t work
Multi-hop uses ShadowSocks or SOCKS5 obfuscation
Port forwarding supported
Customer support
Written knowledgebase is not easy to use
Live chat is attentive but slow and not always expert
Support team answers email tickets quickly
Background check
Owned by Kape Technologies
No serious hacks or breaches
Former CTO came with some controversy, but no longer works there
Two court cases have confirmed PIA doesn’t store logs
Private Internet Access downloads and installs with very little friction across all the platforms that support its apps. Since I have basically no complaints about the experience of setting it up, I’ll spend this section focusing on how it feels to use PIA on each platform.
I have a number of issues with how PIA structures its apps on each OS, but I want to preface them by saying that this VPN generally works fine. It connects quickly, its settings are easy to toggle and it never puts active obstacles in the user’s path. Each app except iOS has a soothingly dark aesthetic that’s always readable. Keep that baseline in mind when I start describing what PIA could have done better.
There’s no good way to describe PIA on Windows or Mac except as a mobile app dragged kicking and screaming onto desktop. This VPN app never misses an opportunity to remind you that it would rather be on your phone. By default, it’s attached to your lower toolbar and cannot be moved or resized. You can change the settings to have it launch in a movable window instead, but you still can’t change its size.
The main window is cluttered, but once you figure it out, there’s a much higher degree of customization than most VPNs offer. Clicking the arrow at the bottom opens a long panel of additional widgets, including quick-connect links, usage stats, a snooze option and buttons for some of the settings you’ll use most commonly. You can drag these elements around to reorder them, or click the ribbon icon to move each to the default launch display. It’s quite cool — just not especially intuitive.
The server list is another example of PIA’s mobile fixation. Despite having an entire screen to work with, PIA on Windows does not let you view the main display and the server list at the same time — you have to click the arrow by the name of the current server to swap in the list of locations. This list can be organized by country name or by live latency test, though the buttons to change this are not clearly marked as such.
Though the search bar works quickly, the streaming-optimized servers are not sorted out from the rest. You have to type “streaming optimized” into search to see if your chosen country has a streaming server.
You can click the three dots at top-right to go to the settings menu, which is a breath of fresh air after the clunky main UI. Settings are arranged in tabs, and each tab’s design makes it easy to tell what its feature does and how to control it. PIA’s launch window feels over-engineered to make a distinct first impression, but the settings menu is free from that hangup.
PIA’s Mac app also feels like it was designed for mobile and then ported to desktop. Like the Windows app, it’s attached to the toolbar until you change the settings to let it move independently. After that, it has the same problem of being crammed into a mobile-sized window, with the server list and the main UI not visible at the same time.
The Mac version also has the unique problem of not showing up in the system dock, instead working entirely from the toolbar. That said, right-clicking the toolbar does let you connect to the VPN and even choose a location, which is awesome and provides some justification for this design choice (though I’ll point out that this could also be done from a dock icon).
The main window of the Mac app can be reordered or expanded through clicking and dragging just like the Windows UI. The settings panel is accessed the same way and is just as seamless to use. In fact, one big point in PIA’s favor is that its two desktop apps are almost identical — water in the desert after the wild swings of Norton VPN.
Having already complained twice about PIA’s desktop interfaces feeling like mobile apps, I had high hopes for it on Android. While it functions just as smoothly here as everywhere else, it comes with a set of design decisions that are weird in a whole new way.
First of all, you can’t sort the server list alphabetically anymore; it’s arranged by current latency instead, which means the list is constantly shifting in real time. Customizing the main window is now done by clicking a button at the top-right of the screen. This flips the entire look in a way that’s likely to startle first-time users. It’s ultimately the same interface as on desktop — drag widgets around and toggle whether or not they’re seen — but it could be handled better.
The preferences list is not nearly as user-friendly as on the two desktop apps. Most of the important features are buried two menus deep under the tab marked “Settings,” except for split tunneling, which is called “Per App Settings” for some reason (and barely explained).
The larger issue, though, is that PIA on Android is extremely dependent on making you change system settings outside the app — which would be fine, except that it hasn’t figured out a working interface for actually doing that. Almost every time I was prompted to change something in the settings, I got stuck on a prompt page with a useless button. Going into Settings and making the changes manually did nothing to unstick these pages.
Of all PIA’s VPN apps, iOS is the closest to a home run, save for the inexplicable decision to lock the interface in light mode. I gather PIA was just trying to keep its iOS and Android apps visually distinct, but throwing out one of its best aesthetic choices isn’t the way to do that.
That gripe aside, everything else is nearly ideal, pointing to iPhone and iPad as PIA’s natural home. The option to toggle what appears on the main page is finally done right — you still have to tap a button that causes a bit of whiplash, but it’s much clearer what you’re meant to do in order to shift, add and remove widgets.
PIA’s browser extensions are available for Chrome and Firefox. They look fairly similar to the desktop app, but with some distinct features for the web. The best is the ability to instantly add the website you’re currently on to the bypass list, which is incredibly handy if you’re doing something non-sensitive and the VPN is actively slowing it down.
The extra features are organized into three categories: security, privacy and tracking. Security blocks WebRTC leaks and automatically connects unsecured websites through HTTPS. Privacy blocks websites from accessing your camera, microphone or real location and can prevent you from connecting to websites with known security concerns. Tracking, as you might guess, blocks various forms of activity trackers.
It’s both very thorough and surprisingly different from any of PIA’s other apps — there’s reason to use this extension even if you’re already using a PIA app on the same device. However, its explanations of each feature rely a bit too much on technical jargon, so casual users might not find many of them helpful.
Private Internet Access can also be installed on Linux and has native apps for Apple TV and Android TV. To protect any other internet-capable device, including game consoles, you can install PIA on your router, which automatically protects any device connecting through your home WiFi.
I used Speedtest by Ookla to test how much Private Internet Access impacted my browsing speeds. Running a VPN inevitably reduces download speed (how fast web pages display), upload speed (for posting and torrenting) and latency (the gap in real-time communications, such as during games and live chats. The real question, then, is whether PIA can keep those reductions as minimal as possible — like my current speed champion, Surfshark.
Server location
Ping (ms)
Increase factor
Download speed (Mbps)
Percentage drop
Upload speed (Mbps)
Percentage drop
Portland, USA (unprotected)
13
—
57.92
—
5.64
—
Las Vegas, USA
105
8x
40.33
30.4
4.55
19.3
Montreal, Canada
512
39x
48.14
16.9
5.61
0.5
Chile
413
32x
44.63
22.9
5.60
0.7
Milan, Italy
672
52x
41.55
28.3
3.69
34.6
South Africa
1120
86x
26.88
53.6
4.36
22.7
Sydney, Australia
350
27x
28.08
51.5
5.26
6.7
Average
529
40.7x
38.26
33.9
4.85
10.9
This speed test was a marked disappointment. PIA had some of the most inconsistent readings I’ve seen on a VPN in some time — so bad I initially assumed there was something wrong with the speed tester. I ran more speed tests on more days than I usually do, just to make sure a fluke outlier didn’t permanently taint PIA’s score. Speeds were often good, but occasional sharp drops suppressed them.
This problem was especially pronounced with latency. In practically every test, the three pings swung wildly, sometimes ending up above 2000 milliseconds (or, as we call it in the business, two seconds). I can’t say what the problem is, but until PIA fixes it, I don’t suggest using this VPN for any split-second gaming.
Additionally, on my first day of testing, the server location PIA chose as the fastest gave me four-digit pings, download speeds below 2 Mbps and no upload speeds at all. Other servers worked, so the problem wasn’t on my end. This didn’t happen in every location by any means, nor on every test — but it repeated in Montreal, implying an issue with more than one PIA server.
Due to several low outliers, PIA’s worldwide averages don’t look good at all compared to other VPNs. The best news in the table above is that upload speed only dropped by about 11 percent, and download speed by about 34 percent, retaining two-thirds of my unprotected speed. But the inconsistency is a serious problem; PIA might be quite fast at times, but it’s unpredictable. I’ve reached out to PIA for comment on its speeds and will update this when I receive a reply.
Since most websites today use HTTPS encryption, it’s very difficult for third parties to see precisely what you do online — but motivated people can still see your real location and the sites you visit. The purpose of a VPN is not to keep you completely anonymous or safe online, but to prevent your IP address and DNS requests from being visible to your internet service provider or anyone else.
I looked from three different angles to see whether Private Internet Access is actually capable of doing what its name promises. First, I checked to make sure it uses VPN protocols considered to be secure. I next used an IP address checker to see if any locations leaked my IP address, and finally ran a WireShark test to ensure all protocols applied encryption evenly.
PIA uses three VPN protocols to mediate between your device and its servers — OpenVPN (over TCP or UDP), WireGuard and IKEv2/IPSec. OpenVPN has provided reliable VPN security for many years now; it’s open-source and constantly updated by volunteers to stay current. TCP is slower but more stable, while UDP is faster but more likely to drop connections. OpenVPN is available on all PIA apps.
WireGuard is a newer protocol that PIA contributed to the development of. It’s leaner and often faster than OpenVPN, and uses a stream cipher that’s harder to crack (though in practice, both WireGuard and OpenVPN use cryptography unbeatable by existing technology). WireGuard is available on all PIA apps.
WireGuard’s one downside is that it stores user IP addresses to keep the tunnel open — but that’s no issue if a VPN is following its no-logging policy, which I believe PIA is. See “Close-reading PIA’s privacy policy” for more details.
IKEv2/IPSec is only present on PIA’s iOS app. Its ability to stay connected through rapid network changes makes it great for mobile, so it’s disappointing not to see it on Android as well. IKEv2 isn’t open-source like OpenVPN and WireGuard, but when paired with the IPSec suite, it’s just as secure.
To run this test, I wrote down my IP address without VPN protection. Then I connected to several PIA servers and checked whether ipleak.net showed me a different IP address, ideally in a wholly different location. PIA passed the first round of tests easily, as you can see in the screenshot below — I never once saw my real location, which means neither DNS nor WebRTC was leaking it. PIA also blocks IPv6 on all apps to prevent it from leaking (this can’t be disabled).
However, since reviewing Norton VPN, I’ve gotten paranoid about VPNs letting security drop during server switches. So I added another test in which I changed servers several times while watching the IP leak test. PIA passed this test as well, always jumping seamlessly from one VPN location to the next without ever revealing my real IP address.
The last step in testing VPN security is to use a packet sniffer like WireShark to make sure the traffic you send is actually getting encrypted. It’s pretty rare for even the jankiest of VPNs to fail this part, but any VPN that does fail gets an automatic blanket no. Luckily, PIA passed on all three protocols, as WireShark showed data packets with clear encryption.
Cost is one of the biggest reasons to pick Private Internet Access as your main VPN. At the monthly level, it costs $11.95 — not that much cheaper than its competitors and more expensive than some of the best, including Proton VPN.
The long-term plans change all of that. One year of PIA costs just under $40, or $3.33 per month. The three-year plan is an even heavier discount, costing just $79 and including three bonus months in the first period. That works out to $2.03 per month for the first three years and $2.19 per month after that.
A single PIA subscription can be used on an unlimited number of devices. This could potentially stretch your money further still, covering an entire family, friend group or small business. Having said that, as with Surfshark, you can still be restricted for using an excessive number of devices. PIA’s terms of service document states that it may contact users who appear to be abusing the privilege and can restrict access to the VPN if the abuse persists.
Alongside the basic Private Internet Access VPN service, there are a couple of add-ons worth noting. You can select one or both of these on the checkout page after choosing your plan.
PIA Antivirus runs continuous malware scans and sends you alerts whenever any activity matches its database of known viruses. You can schedule system-wide scans to catch malware that might have made it through the net. There’s also a quarantine box for storing malicious files. The main thing you won’t get is the kind of actively learning antivirus system that can catch new threats based on their behavior — for that, I still recommend a dedicated AV app. Adding antivirus costs $4.50 per month, $24 for a year or $36 for three years.
A dedicated IP address ensures you’ll have the same IP address every time you connect to the VPN. A constantly fluctuating IP can trigger CAPTCHAs on some pages, so if you’re sick of having to identify crosswalks just to use Google, this extra fee might be worth it. You can also add your dedicated IP to allowlists for remote access services. A dedicated IP address through PIA costs $5 a month, $51 for a year or $90 for three years.
A VPN’s privacy policy is a legal document that lays out the terms of its relationship with its users. It’s easy to assume it’s all hollow words, but directly contradicting its own policy can get a provider in trouble. Looking closely at PIA’s privacy policy can tell us what its priorities are, what your rights are as a user and how much you can trust it not to exploit its access to your secrets.
PIA is a Kape Technologies property, like ExpressVPN and CyberGhost. I’ll get into that more in the background check, but for this section, my overriding question was whether any loopholes in the privacy policy might allow PIA to share user data with its parent company, and from there to its other properties.
Fortunately for me (and everyone who cares about this stuff and isn’t a lawyer), PIA has a very succinct and transparent privacy policy, mostly made up of bullet points. At the top, the policy states that PIA always handles customer data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), even outside of the EU. Further down, we get this key statement:
That’s pretty definitive, leaving very little wiggle room. It doesn’t include device fingerprints, which can be used in place of IP addresses and activity logs, but lower down, the policy states that device identifiers can only be gathered from users who opt in — and thankfully, PIA’s apps do not send that information by default.
The next section discusses what PIA can do with the information it does collect. It’s permitted to share customer support data with Deskpro, which powers its live chat assistance. It also uses Stripe, PayPal, Amazon Pay and BitPay for payments, but sharing email addresses and payment methods with financial processors is standard even for the most private VPNs (Mullvad has this same carve-out, to name one).
PIA ends the privacy policy by addressing the question of its parent company, Kape Technologies, stating: “neither PIA nor anyone at Kape Technologies logs or stores any kind of substantiative [sic] Personal Data, user browsing data, or individual connection data other than what has been outlined here, nor do we share any personal or usage information with third parties for marketing purposes.”
Misspelling aside, I’m perfectly satisfied with the policy. Combined with PIA’s use of RAM-only servers without long-term information storage, this document all but eliminates the potential for abuse. A PIA representative confirmed for me that while some user data is handled by “cross-group employees,” none of it is sensitive or identifiable.
Third-party audits are one more critical piece of evidence we can use to decide whether a VPN is trustworthy. PIA passed an audit of its systems by Deloitte Romania in April 2024, which found that it was adhering to its no-logs policy.
The report itself is only available to subscribers, which is a bit annoying, but at least not unique. After downloading it through my account portal, I was able to confirm that Deloitte’s investigation found nothing in PIA’s systems that went against its privacy statements.
Chances are good that you found this review because you need a VPN to mask your virtual location, whether that’s to get around age verification or to see what’s streaming on your favorite platforms in other countries. This section’s test is designed to see if Private Internet Access is able to change your virtual location convincingly enough for Netflix.
I tried connecting three times in each in five different locations and recorded my results in the table. I used the streaming-optimized servers whenever possible, and the WireGuard protocol for the best speeds. “Unblocked Netflix” shows whether I got to Netflix without being caught using a VPN, and “Changed content” shows whether I actually saw a new library.
Server location
Unblocked Netflix?
Changed content?
Canada
3/3
0/3
United Kingdom
3/3
0/3
Japan
3/3
3/3
Australia
3/3
3/3
Italy
3/3
3/3
My findings continued the trend of PIA being just good enough that I’m frustrated by the ways it fails to be better. PIA never got caught, which indicates that it’s taking care to not use IP addresses Netflix has blocked. Three of the five locations — in Japan, Australia and Italy — managed to change the contest I saw.
However, with all nine tests in each of those three virtual locations, PIA’s speeds dragged so much that I waited several minutes to see if it had actually worked. The other two server locations, Canada and the UK, didn’t change Netflix at all, no matter how many times I disconnected and reconnected.
The bigger problem, though, is that PIA’s fluctuating speeds meant Netflix took ages to load and often froze until I refreshed it. Shows stuttered and lagged even when I could watch them. Until it fixes whatever is going on with its speeds, PIA won’t be a good choice for streaming in any location.
Private Internet Access has 155 server locations in 91 countries. Confusingly, I counted that it also has 91 virtual server locations, though it’s not the same 91. Its network is heavily weighted toward Europe, which accounts for 44 countries, but there’s also decent representation in Asia. Traditionally underserved South America and Africa get nine and four locations respectively, though they’re all virtual.
Region
Countries with servers
Total server locations
Virtual server locations
North America
8
64
45
South America
9
9
9
Europe
44
48
14
Africa
4
4
4
Middle East
6
6
3
Asia
18
18
16
Oceania
2
6
0
Total
91
155
91 (59 percent)
Virtual server locations aren’t necessarily a bad thing, but when used to excess, they may indicate that a VPN is more concerned with making its server network look big than ensuring it works for every user. PIA’s server network is more than half virtual worldwide. Recently, it’s added locations in every US state — again, mostly virtual, which makes it come off as more of a stunt than a genuine improvement. Given the trouble I had using PIA for this review, I find that there’s something to the claim that it’s more interested in growing than in working.
PIA’s website has a helpful page that shows where virtual servers are physically located, though it’s out of date, having been updated last in July 2023. The list shows that PIA tries to put the real locations of virtual servers as close to their displayed locations as possible. There are a couple of weird choices, like the Buenos Aires server really being in Miami, but that’s mostly kept to a minimum.
Private Internet Access doesn’t have the wealth of features you’ll see on the likes of Surfshark or NordVPN, but it’s not quite as bare-bones as ExpressVPN, either. Some of its most interesting extras are self-explanatory, while others are a little technical. I’ll explain the most important features here.
A kill switch is a must-have for a safe VPN. While active, the kill switch makes it impossible to connect outside the VPN tunnel, which keeps you from accidentally connecting to malicious fake servers. This also means that if PIA drops your connection for any reason, you won’t be able to get online at all — which can be annoying, but saves you from broadcasting any sensitive information without encryption.
PIA comes with two levels of kill switch. The basic version watches for traffic outside the tunnel when the VPN is active. The stronger “advanced kill switch” works even when you aren’t connected to the VPN, so you cannot get online at all without being protected by PIA first.
MACE is PIA’s ad blocker. It keeps a list of domains known to display ads, malware, scams or invasive trackers, and blocks them all from loading. This won’t stop all ads, since some of them come from domains considered legitimate — notably, MACE can’t do anything about YouTube video ads — but it works on most banner ads and definitely lightened the load on my browser.
MACE is available on all PIA’s apps except iOS. iPhone and iPad users instead get a content blocker that does much the same thing, but only on Safari. If you prefer to use Chrome or Firefox on your iOS device, you’re out of luck (unless of course you get another ad blocker).
MTU is a somewhat technical feature. You may not need it, unless your connection is extremely sluggish and the traditional fixes don’t work. In short, MTU limits how much data can move through PIA’s servers at a time. Large packets complete loading faster, but may struggle on shaky connections. Small packets make for slower but more stable downloads overall.
I say you probably won’t need it because it’s almost always best to leave it on the auto setting and let PIA pick MTU on its own. I ran some speed tests with both the large and small MTU options and didn’t see a noticeable difference. That indicates that PIA is pretty good at picking the best MTU, so in most cases, just let it cook.
On the automation tab in PIA’s settings, you can set up rules to save you some trouble with the VPN. On Mac and iOS, automation can respond to three types of network: protected Wi-Fi, open Wi-Fi and wired. On each of these, you can set PIA to automatically connect or disconnect. That’s it — you can only have a maximum of three rules.
Android and Windows users get the option to make rules for specific networks, but only the network they’re currently connected to. On every platform, there’s no way to determine which server PIA auto-connects to. It always picks the fastest.
The inch-deep options on their own would make for a disappointing feature, but there’s a bigger issue: it doesn’t work half the time. I spent at least an hour on four different platforms trying to make automation happen. On iOS and macOS, I could make the rules, but they never triggered. With Android, I got stuck at a prompt telling me to enable location services, which I had already done.
Windows was the only version where PIA’s automation worked the first time. On the plus side, it gave me the question I used to test PIA’s customer support.
Split tunneling — which lets you decide which apps or websites go through the VPN tunnel and which stay outside — is a common feature, but PIA surprisingly has one of the best implementations of it. To start with, it can split tunnel by app or by IP address, which lets you protect specific websites or leave them unencrypted.
In another layer of versatility, you can make your split tunnel rules in normal or inverse fashion. Either every app and website uses the VPN except the ones you designate, or only the ones you designate use the VPN. All these options give you a much finer level of control that you get over the automation feature.
Double-hop or multi-hop is when a VPN runs your requests through two servers instead of one. PIA handles multi-hop a little differently than other VPNs, as the second server will always be a Shadowsocks or SOCKS5 proxy. These two protocols are designed to obfuscate VPN traffic so it looks like a regular connection, which gets you around certain firewalls.
If you choose a SOCKS5 proxy, you’ll need to get a server address from an outside service and set it up yourself. If you pick Shadowsocks, which is the more secure option anyway, you can choose from a list of locations to use as the first node. It’s nice to have so many choices, but still a bit frustrating that you can’t get obfuscation without also using double VPN (which only works on the OpenVPN protocol).
The final PIA feature worth noting is port forwarding, which keeps the VPN from getting in the way of any outward-facing services you might be using. This gives you a more stable connection on remote desktop protocols or torrenting clients — especially the latter, as that’s the sort of traffic you really want to keep encrypted.
When I set out to test the automation features of Private Internet Access, I found myself blocked on the Android app. A notification popped up telling me to enable background access to location services, but the button labeled “go to permissions settings” didn’t do anything. I took the long way around and made the changes myself, but the pop-up remained stubborn.
This gave me a perfect opportunity to see how PIA helps users caught in predicaments like this one. First, I went to the website and clicked “support” in the top banner to reach the PIA helpdesk. Then the trouble started. I opened up the Android guide on my Mac laptop and waited several minutes for the file to load. When it didn’t, I tried my Android phone, which also didn’t work. I checked back on the laptop, where I finally saw the guide after reloading the page.
After all that, the guide said nothing about my problem. Nor could I find it anywhere in the general FAQs, which kept splitting into smaller and smaller categories which never really explained what I’d find. However, after a few minutes of searching, I found the problem had resolved itself with no explanation.
I still had to test live chat, though, so I pivoted to a new problem: how to get the Android automation feature to recognize my home Wi-Fi network instead of calling it “unknown SSID.” I couldn’t be sure it was my own network and not a malicious duplicate. This may sound like paranoid nitpicking, but paranoid nitpicking is the bread and butter of cybersecurity.
I first had to find live chat, which confusingly can’t be accessed through the helpdesk — you have to go back to the main website. I managed to get past the AI gatekeeper fairly quickly, and sat to wait for a human agent.
In less than a minute, I was chatting with Carl, who requested screenshots and ran me through some tests. Carl was able to explain that the pop-up problem had resolved because I’d given PIA full access to location services (which is not something the window itself specified I would need to do), but the unknown SSID issue persisted.
Carl was diligent, but slow. After well over 30 minutes of back-and-forth, during which I sent over two screenshots and a debug log, he told me we’d have to escalate the problem. I got an email from the support team about a day later that suggested I try connecting to other Wi-Fi networks and see if the problem persisted; this eventually led me to discover the culprit in my router settings, so I can’t blame PIA for this one.
The final step, as always, is to look into the history of Private Internet Access as a corporation and look for any red flags I may have missed. A VPN’s biography can reveal its attitudes about critical aspects of its job and show how it might behave in the future.
PIA was launched in 2010 by Andrew Lee in Denver, Colorado, where it’s still based today. In 2019, the brand was acquired by Kape Technologies, owners of ExpressVPN, CyberGhost and the now-defunct ZenMate. I won’t relitigate the full Kape controversy here; you can find a longer summary in my ExpressVPN review. Suffice to say that while it’s come under scrutiny in the past for tacitly allowing its products to become malware vectors, there’s no evidence the acquisition changed anything substantial about how PIA operated.
Most of the usual red flags aren’t factors here. PIA has never suffered a serious hack or breach. In its 15-year record, I only found two things worth pointing out: a controversial executive and its United States headquarters.
Mark Karpeles was the CEO of Mt. Gox, the market for Magic: The Gathering trading cards that became the world’s largest crypto exchange, only to lose it all in a massive hack that’s never been fully explained. Karpeles was arrested in Japan after the heist and found guilty of falsifying records, but was sentenced to time served and released in 2019.
While the Japan trial was ongoing, Karpeles joined PIA parent company London Trust Media as its chief technical officer. PIA founder Andrew Lee defended the hiring in a statement on the PIA blog, writing that “If we, as a society, do not give second chances to those who fall, then we as a society will cease to progress,” and comparing Karpeles’s arrest to Steve Jobs being forced out of Apple.
Neither man works at PIA anymore. According to his LinkedIn, Karpeles left London Trust Media after the Kape Acquisition in 2019. Lee left at the same time, and these days seems less interested in cybersecurity than in trying to become the Prince of Korea.
Bottom line: Although hiring an executive in the middle of his malfeasance trial may be terrible optics, the whole controversy isn’t relevant to the VPN’s operations today.
The other potential sticking point with PIA is that it’s headquartered in the United States, which is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing agreement. Now, I’m on the record as not thinking Five Eyes is a big deal for a VPN — either the VPN is following its privacy policy, in which case it’ll have nothing to share with intelligence agents, or it’s not, in which case its location is the least of its problems.
As I concluded in the Privacy section, whatever PIA’s flaws, it’s not mishandling user data or violating its own privacy policy. That’s not only confirmed by two audits, but also by two separate court cases in which PIA was unable to comply with requests for logs on its customers. If the VPN doesn’t save information, there’s nothing for Five Eyes to access.
There’s plenty that does work about PIA. Its privacy and security are unimpeachable — it uses vetted protocols with strong encryption and doesn’t leak. Its iOS app is a nearly perfect mobile VPN, and the ability to customize the home screen on every app is a great touch. Split tunneling is outstanding, MACE blocks ads efficiently and I even like the automation (though I wish it was deeper).
But PIA is aggravating to use in too many ways. While its servers are frequently fast, you can’t trust that download speeds will hold from one moment to the next. Basic quality assurance, like assuring pop-up buttons always do something when pressed, seems to have gone by the wayside in its Android app.
In spite of it all, I still recommend Private Internet Access as a budget VPN. Its three-year plan is the cheapest subscription on the market right now. At $2.00 per month, I’m prepared to forgive a lot, especially at a time when all our wallets are squeezed.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/vpn/private-internet-access-vpn-review-both-more-and-less-than-a-budget-vpn-120033882.html?src=rss
More than 800 public figures including Steve Wozniak and Prince Harry, along with AI scientists, former military leaders and CEOs signed a statement demanding a ban on AI work that could lead to superintelligence, The Financial Times reported. “We call for a prohibition on the development of superintelligence, not lifted before there is broad scientific consensus that it will be done safely and controllably, and strong public buy-in,” it reads.
The signers include a wide mix of people across sectors and political spectrums, including AI researcher and Nobel prize winner Geoffrey Hinton, former Trump aide Steve Bannon, one time Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen and rapper Will.i.am. The statement comes from the Future of Life Institute, which said that AI developments are occurring faster than the public can comprehend.
“We’ve, at some level, had this path chosen for us by the AI companies and founders and the economic system that’s driving them, but no one’s really asked almost anybody else, ‘Is this what we want?'” the institute’s executive director, Anthony Aguirre, told NBC News.
Artificial general intelligence (AGI) refers to the ability of machines to reason and perform tasks as well as a human can, while superintelligence would enable AI to do things better than even human experts. That potential ability has been cited by critics (and the culture in general) as a grave risk to humanity. So far, though, AI has proven itself to be useful only for a narrow range of tasks and consistently fails to handle complex tasks like self-driving.
Despite the lack of recent breakthroughs, companies like OpenAI are pouring billions into new AI models and the data centers needed to run them. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently said that superintelligence was “in sight,” while X CEO Elon Musk said superintelligence “is happening in real time” (Musk has also famously warned about the potential dangers of AI). OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he expects superintelligence to happen by 2030 at the latest. None of those leaders, nor anyone notable from their companies, signed the statement.
It’s far from the only call for a slowdown in AI developement. Last month, more than 200 researchers and public officials, including 10 Nobel Prize winners and multiple artificial intelligence experts, released an urgent call for a “red line” against the risks of AI. However, that letter referred not to superintelligence, but dangers already starting to materialize like mass unemployment, climate change and human rights abuses. Other critics are sounding alarms around a potential AI bubble that could eventually pop and take the economy down with it.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/steve-wozniak-prince-harry-and-800-others-want-a-ban-on-ai-superintelligence-123040020.html?src=rss
With Galaxy XR, you can split screen between a game like Stardew Valley and a real-time video chat.
After dropping hints for over two years, Samsung, in partnership with Google, finally revealed its first-ever Android extended reality headset Tuesday night. The new device, dubbed Galaxy XR, will run you $1,800 and you can actually buy it today.
Due to its collaboration with Google, it’s not a surprise that the headset comes fully equipped with Gemini AI built in. “Android XR is the first Android platform built entirely for the Gemini era, and we are incredibly excited to take a significant leap forward today with the launch of Galaxy XR,” Sameer Samat, President of Android Ecosystem at Google, said.
What are the features of the Galaxy XR headset, and how does it differ from its main competitor, the $3,499 Apple Vision Pro? Glad you asked!
The Samsung Galaxy XR is the first-ever Android XR headset, created by Google and Samsung. If Apple’s Vision Pro is the “virtual reality iPhone,” the Samsung is basically its “virtual reality Galaxy S phone” alternative. The headset looks like a pair of snowboard goggles, but it comes with a whopping total of 12 cameras and six microphones. And because it’s 2025, AI is a big part of the Galaxy XR’s upsell: It has Google’s Gemini AI assistant built in, so while you’re wearing the headset, it can see and hear everything around you.
Google’s “XR” designation stands for “extended reality,” which is effectively an “all of the above” term encompassing augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality. That means the Galaxy XR can put a virtual overlay on the real world (thanks to all those cameras), or it can completely shut out your space to immerse you in a totally virtual environment. In other words, you can customize your own workspace or turn your room into your own personal theater, or you can transport yourself to an international locale with a first-person “you are there” viewpoint.
For watching videos on apps like YouTube, the headset offers a library of 180- and 360-degree VR content. You can also watch movies using Google TV on a large, resizable screen. Plus, if you have a question about whatever you’re watching, you can ask Gemini since it sees everything you see. And when you’re looking at your photos and videos, you can convert them to 3D so it feels like you’re back in the memory.
While using Google Maps, you can use Immersive View to go anywhere in the world (virtually, of course). Visiting somewhere historical? You can ask Gemini to tell you more information about the landmark. Spot a weird-looking plant or bug around your house? You can use Circle to Search to find out what it is while wearing the headset.
The Immersive View feature of Google Maps lets Galaxy XR users zoom across cityscapes.
As for getting work done efficiently, you can arrange your most-needed apps all around your screen — for instance, your web browser, favorite music app, important documents and video conferencing app. And if things start to feel cluttered, you can ask Gemini to organize your windows. Even better, you can link your PC to your headset, as well as your keyboard and mouse.
The headset uses two passthrough cameras for real-time viewing, six world-facing tracking cameras and four eye-tracking cameras, as well as depth and flicker sensors. It also supports iris recognition so you can unlock the device and enter passwords within some apps.
“Almost all” Google Play Store apps will be available on the Galaxy XR headset. That means hundreds of thousands of apps should be available on the headset on day one, including basic streaming apps (for watching things like Netflix, HBO Max or Peacock on that giant virtual display) as well as “new versions” of some of Google’s key first-party software, from Photos to Chrome and YouTube. And, of course, the aforementioned Google Maps is on board, too.
Using the Galaxy XR as a PC monitor, you can stream in a game — such as this “Assassin’s Creed” tile — from an external source.
As you’d expect, Google is also focusing on gaming. In addition to the full panoply of Android games, the Galaxy XR’s PC Link also lets you use it as a monitor for PC-based games, too.
Engadget Senior Reporter Sam Rutherford wearing the Samsung Galaxy XR headset.
Engadget’s Sam Rutherford got some hands-on time with the Galaxy XR recently, and had some notable first impressions on its comfort and usability:
[I]t seems Samsung learned a lot from its rivals by including a much larger and thicker head cushion that helps distribute the weight of the headset more evenly. Granted, during a longer session, I still noticed a bit of pressure and felt relief after taking off the Galaxy XR, but it’s nothing like the Vision Pro, which in my experience gets uncomfortable almost immediately. Finally, around back, there’s a simple strap with a knob that you can twist to tighten or loosen the headband as necessary. So even without extra support running across the top of your head, getting in and out of the Galaxy XR is much easier and comfier than the Vision Pro.
While the headset may look pretty similar to the Apple Vision Pro, there are some bigger (and even better) differences.
For starters, the Galaxy’s micro-OLED display has 29 million pixels, compared to Apple’s 23 million pixels, and a resolution of 3,552 x 3,840, which offers a tad more detail than Apple’s model. Additionally, it has 96% of the DCI‑P3 color gamut, while the Vision Pro has 92%. However, Apple’s headset beats out the Samsung on refresh rate, going a full 120Hz versus the Galaxy XR’s 90Hz.
Since you’ll be wearing it on your head for an extended period, you’ll be relieved to know the Galaxy XR is a bit lighter than Apple’s XR headset by 205g (0.5lbs).
On the battery life front, Samsung is pledging up to two hours of “general use” and 2.5 hours of video playback, whereas the new M5 Vision Pro runs 30 minutes longer in both modes, per Apple.
Besides the obvious operating system differences, of course, the aforementioned price delta is perhaps the biggest advantage Samsung has over the Apple model: At $1,600, you can get almost two full Galaxy XR units for every $3,499 Apple Vision Pro.
You can order the Galaxy XR now via Samsung. While that $1,800 price tag is formidable, Samsung is offering financing options. And the headset’s price is actually less than that of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy Z Fold 7 foldable phone. Key accessories like the Travel Case and Galaxy XR Controller usually cost $250 each, though both can be bundled in for $175 apiece.
There are additional incentives, too. For anyone buying the Galaxy XR before the end of the year, Samsung is throwing in the “Explorer Pack” at no extra charge. That includes a year’s worth of Google AI Pro, YouTube Premium (including YouTube Music) and Google Play Pass; access to the new season of NBA League Pass; and access to the NFL Pro Era game, the Asteroid and Calm apps and Adobe’s Project Pulsar, a 3D compositing app.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/samsung-galaxy-xr-everything-you-need-to-know-111532664.html?src=rss
As the holiday season approaches, Sony is offering exceptional deals on two of its best full-frame mirrorless cameras. The A7R V, which offers exceptionally sharp photos thanks to the 61MP sensor, is on sale for $3,298 ($902 off), its lowest price ever. And the mainstream 33MP A7 IV, great for both video and photos, has also dropped to a new low of $1,998 or $702 off (28 percent).
Sony’s A7R V has one of our highest Engadget review scores ever thanks to its exceptional image quality, speed and versatility. With a 61-megapixel sensor, it shoots sharp and beautiful images at a very respectable speed for such a high-resolution model (10 fps). It has equally fast and reliable autofocus, the sharpest viewfinder on the market and in-body stabilization that’s much improved over the A7R IV. Video has even improved, with 8K and 10-bit options now on tap, albeit with significant rolling shutter. Even after a few years, it’s still one of the best high-resolution full-frame cameras on the market and is an exceptional steal at this price.
Though also released a few years ago, Sony’s A7 IV also received an excellent Engadget review score and is still one of the best mainstream cameras available. Resolution is up considerably from the 24-megapixel A7 III to 33 megapixels, with image quality much improved overall. Video is now up to par with rivals with 4K at up to 60p with 10 bit 4:2:2 quality. Autofocus is incredible for both video and stills, and the in-body stabilization does a good job. The biggest drawbacks are rolling shutter that limits the use of the electronic shutter, plus the relatively high price.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/sonys-61mp-a7r-v-mirrorless-camera-is-on-sale-at-its-lowest-price-ever-113045739.html?src=rss
As part of its Galaxy XR headset presentation, Samsung also briefly teased another wearable product. It’s working in collaboration with two eyewear companies, Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, on AI-powered smart glasses to go up against Meta’s Ray-Ban models, Samsung’s head of customer experience Jay Kim announced at the end of the livestream.
“We’re also really excited about the AI glasses that we’re currently building together with Google,” Kim said. “We’re working with two of the most forward-thinking brands in eyewear, Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, to introduce new devices that fit into your lifestyle.”
Samsung will focus on two different markets with those brands, though both will include “cutting-edge” AI features co-developed with Google. With Gentle Monster, it’s developing “fashion-forward” glasses that will likely be aimed at the higher end of the market. The Warby Parker collaboration, meanwhile, will yield eyewear designed for general consumers, probably at a lower price point.
Samsung only said that the AI glasses will bring “style, comfort and practicality” to everyday life via Android’s XR ecosystem. As we saw in May with Google’s prototype XR smart glasses, it will likely employ a Gemini-powered display that will show notifications and small snippets of info from your apps, like the music you’re listening to or turn-by-turn GPS directions. It should also have a built-in camera, of course, along with speakers and a microphone.
Design and appearance will also be key, but Samsung has yet to show any images of the upcoming smart glasses and didn’t reveal a release date. However, it will have a tough climb against Meta’s lineup given the Ray-Ban branding and that company’s head start on the technology. Last week, Meta introduced its Ray-Ban Display model that includes a screen for a true extended reality experience.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/samsung-is-working-on-xr-smart-glasses-with-warby-parker-and-gentle-monster-042632170.html?src=rss
We’ve known for a while that the first extended reality (or XR) headset from Samsung and Google would debut in 2025. During an event on Tuesday night, Samsung at long last shared more details about the first Android XR device that you’ll be able to purchase.
The company got really wild and original with the headset’s name. You’re truly not going to believe what it’s called… Actually, it’s got the most unsurprising name of all time: Galaxy XR. What’s more, you can buy the headset right now in the US and Korea for $1,800. That’s just over half of what the Apple Vision Pro costs.
Aside from an Android-powered headset that looks very much like an Apple Vision Pro, you might be wondering exactly what you’ll be getting in return for forking over 1,800 smackeroos. As expected, Galaxy XR is powered by the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset. Qualcomm worked with Samsung and Google on the headset.
The micro OLED display has 29 million pixels (6 million more than the Apple Vision Pro), a resolution of 3,552 x 3,840 and 96 percent of the DCI‑P3 color gamut — four percent more than the Vision Pro. Where Apple does have Samsung beat on the display front is with the refresh rate: the Galaxy XR tops out at 90Hz and the Vision Pro can hit 120Hz.
Galaxy XR has dual high-res passthrough cameras to support mixed reality use, six other external cameras for tracking things in the environment and two eye-tracking sensors. The device supports iris recognition for unlocking the headset and entering passwords in some apps. As with the Vision Pro, you can capture 3D photos and video using the headset.
The cameras allow for hand tracking and gesture control, though it’s possible to operate Galaxy XR with physical controllers as well. If you prefer, you can pair a keyboard and mouse to the headset or link it to your PC and access your desktop that way.
The dual speakers support Dolby Atmos and there are six microphones built in. As for battery life, Samsung says you’ll get up to two hours of general use and 2.5 hours of video playback on a charge. That matches the original battery life promises of the original Vision Pro, but Apple said its latest model (which has the new M5 chipset) offers an extra 30 minutes or so of usage.
The interpupillary distance of the Galaxy XR’s optics is 54~70mm, and it’s possible to buy insertable prescription lenses if needed. As for connectivity, the headset supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. Even with a forehead cushion attached, Galaxy XR weighs 545g (1.2lbs), while the latest Apple Vision Pro has a minimum weight of 750g (1.7lbs). The Galaxy XR’s battery pack — as with competitor’s offerings, the battery is external — weighs 302g (0.7lbs).
Samsung claims the Galaxy XR was designed with comfort in mind. “The headset’s ergonomically balanced frame distributes pressure across the forehead and the back of the head, minimizing facial discomfort while providing steady support,” the company said in a press release. There’s also a detachable light shield that you can employ to block out external light.
There are no prizes for guessing that Google’s generative AI chatbot Gemini is at the heart of Android XR. “Android XR is the first Android platform built entirely for the Gemini era, and we are incredibly excited to take a significant leap forward today with the launch of Galaxy XR,” Sameer Samat, Google’s president of Android Ecosystem, said.
Every Google Play Store app works out of the box on the headset, though of course Google has reworked some for mixed reality. You can use Gemini to navigate Google Maps and ask for personalized recommendations while checking out 3D visuals with Immersive View. Google Photos can bring an extra dimension to 2D photos and videos via auto spatialization.
On YouTube, you can ask Gemini to find videos and tell you more details about what you’re watching. And, while using the passthrough mode, you can look at any object in your environment and use Circle to Search to look up more info about it. Google has also made new versions of Google TV, Chrome and Meet (because what is mixed reality for if not conference calls?) for Android XR.
Multitasking is a factor here as well. The operating system allows users to have multiple, resizable apps open at once. These can be arranged in a virtual space, or you can simply ask Gemini to do that for you.
On the entertainment front, you’ll be able to stream shows and movies in 4K in a virtual theater setting. You’ll have access to a library of 180-degree and 360-degree VR content, and you can view 3D content via a “spatial” tab. Some streaming platforms have reworked their apps for Android XR, including Crunchyroll, HBO Max and Peacock.
There’s a multi-view option for watching sports, with apps from the likes of MLB and Fox Sports available. With Adobe’s Project Pulsar (an immersive video editing app), you’ll be able to add 3D depth to videos and seemingly place captions behind subjects with ease, if that’s something you’re interested in.
Galaxy XR has games too. NFL Pro Era — an NFL-licensed virtual reality title that’s also on Meta Quest, PlayStation VR and Windows — is available for Android XR. So too is Inside [JOB] by Owlchemy Labs (Vacation Simulator, Job Simulator). For compatible games, Samsung says Gemini can offer real-time coaching, tips and “enhanced gameplay experiences.”
The arrival of Galaxy XR is an important next step for Google and its grand vision of an Android XR ecosystem. But the company isn’t stopping with headsets. It’s also making smart glasses, a product category that Meta has been trying to conquer. Samsung and Google are working with Warby Parker on Android XR smart glasses. At I/O earlier this year, we got some hands-on time with a prototype of Google’s Android XR glasses.
Once again, Galaxy XR will run you $1,800, and Samsung is offering financing options. The Galaxy XR Travel Case and Galaxy XR Controller will each run you $250 — at those prices, they almost need financing options too. Ouch.
Anyone who buys Galaxy XR by the end of this year will get an Explorer Pack at no extra cost. This includes 12 months of access to Google AI Pro, YouTube Premium and Google Play Pass. The NFL Pro Era, Project Pulsar, Calm and Asteroid apps are bundled in too. You’ll also get NBA League Pass access for the 2025-26 season in the US or 12 months of the Coupang Play Sports Pass in Korea. Charging $1 for each of the first three months of YouTube TV seems a little cheap considering the outlay for Galaxy XR, but it’s still a decent perk. YouTube TV typically costs $83 per month.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/google-and-samsungs-first-android-xr-headset-is-the-1800-galaxy-xr-020004449.html?src=rss
Samsung’s take on the Vision Pro is here — and you can already order it. Costing just over half as much as Apple’s reality machine, the Galaxy XR has a 4K micro-OLED screen and a 100-degree horizontal field of view. The $1,800 mixed reality headset is available now for pre-order on Samsung’s website.
The Galaxy XR isn’t only a Samsung product. The company developed the long-rumored headset alongside Google and Qualcomm. It’s the first Android XR product, a line that will eventually include AI glasses “and beyond.” You can read more about the headset and its ecosystem in Engadget’s news coverage.
Given Google’s connection to the Galaxy XR, it isn’t too surprising that the company has bonuses for early orders. If you buy the headset before the end of 2025, you’ll get “The Explorer Pack.” That includes a year of access to Google AI Pro, YouTube Premium and Google Play Pass. Also included until the end of the year is the “XR Pack.” This adds three months of YouTube TV, a year of NBA League Pass, NFL Pro Era, Adobe’s Project Pulsar, Asteroid and Calm.
You can order the Galaxy XR now from Samsung’s website and in Samsung Experience Stores. The headset costs $1,800. An optional Galaxy XR Controller costs $250. And somehow, the official Galaxy XR travel case also costs $250, which is — yikes — a lot. Perhaps consider waiting for third-party alternatives on the case front.
Samsung is offering a 24-month financing plan for the headset ($75.01 monthly) on its website. Meanwhile, Samsung’s stores have that plan as well as a 12-month one ($149 monthly).
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/how-to-order-the-samsung-galaxy-xr-headset-020008173.html?src=rss
Apple’s Vision Pro was meant to usher in a new era for headsets. However, its high price and somewhat limited utility resulted in what may be the company’s biggest flop in years. Now it’s time for Samsung to give things a go with the Galaxy XR. It’s a fresh take on modern mixed reality goggles developed through deep partnerships with Qualcomm and Google and it attempts to address some of the Vision Pro’s biggest shortcomings.
While both Apple and Samsung’s headsets have a lot of similarities (like their basic design and support for features such as hand and eye tracking), there are also some very important differences. First, at $1,800, the Galaxy XR is essentially half the price of the Vision Pro (including the new M5-powered model). Second, instead of Apple’s homegrown OS, Samsung’s headset is the first to run Google’s new Android XR platform, which combines a lot of familiar elements from its mobile counterpart but with a bigger emphasis on AI and Gemini-based voice controls. And third, because Samsung relied more on partners like Google and Qualcomm, the Galaxy XR feels like it’s built around a larger, more open ecosystem that plays nicely with a wider range of third-party devices and software.
The Galaxy XR fundamentally doesn’t look that much different from the Vision Pro. It features a large visor in front with an assortment of 13 different exterior sensors to support inside-out tracking, passthrough vision and hand recognition. There are some additional sensors inside for eye and face tracking. There’s also a connector for the wire that leads to its external clip-on battery pack alongside built-in speakers with spatial audio. The one big departure is that unlike the Vision Pro, the Galaxy XR doesn’t have an outward-facing display, so it won’t be able to project your face onto the outside of the headset, which is just fine by me.
However, the devil is in the details because while the original Vision Pro weighed between 600 and 650 grams (around 1.3 to 1.4 pounds) depending on the configuration (not including its battery pack), the Galaxy XR is significantly lighter at 545 grams (1.2 pounds). And that’s before you consider the new M5 Vision Pro, which has somehow gone backwards by being even heavier at 750-800 grams (around 1.6 pounds). Furthermore, it seems Samsung learned a lot from its rivals by including a much larger and thicker head cushion that helps distribute the weight of the headset more evenly. Granted, during a longer session, I still noticed a bit of pressure and felt relief after taking off the Galaxy XR, but it’s nothing like the Vision Pro, which in my experience gets uncomfortable almost immediately. Finally, around back, there’s a simple strap with a knob that you can twist to tighten or loosen the headband as necessary. So even without extra support running across the top of your head, getting in and out of the Galaxy XR is much easier and comfier than the Vision Pro.
On the inside, the Galaxy XR is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chip with dual micro OLED displays that deliver 4K resolution (3,552 x 3,840) to each eye at up to 90Hz. I wish Samsung was able to go up to a 120Hz refresh rate like on the Vision Pro, but considering the Galaxy XR’s slightly higher overall resolution, I’m not that bothered. And I must say, the image quality from this headset is seriously sharp. It’s even better than Apple’s goggles and it might be the best I’ve ever used, particularly outside of $10,000+ enterprise-only setups. Once again, when you consider that this thing costs half the price of a Vision Pro, this headset feels like a real accomplishment by Samsung to the point where I wouldn’t be surprised if the company is losing money on every unit it sells.
In terms of longevity, Samsung says that for general use the Galaxy XR should last around two hours. If you’re only watching videos though, that figure is more like two and a half. Thankfully, if you do need to be in mixed reality for longer, you can charge the headset while it’s being used. As for security, the Galaxy XR uses iris recognition to skip traditional passwords, which is nice.
Sometimes, trying out a new software platform can be a little jarring. But that’s not really the case for Android XR, which shouldn’t present much of a learning curve for anyone who has used other headsets or Google’s ubiquitous mobile OS. After putting the goggles on, you can summon a home menu with an app launcher by facing your palm up and touching your index finger and thumb together. From there, you can open apps and menus by moving your hands and pinching icons or rearranging virtual windows by grabbing the anchor point along the bottom and putting them where you want.
Notably, while there is a growing number of new apps made specifically for XR, you still get access to all of your standard Android titles. Those include Google Photos, Google Maps and Youtube, all of which I got a chance to play around with during a 25-minute demo. In Photos, you can browse your pictures normally. However, to take advantage of the Galaxy XR’s hardware, Google created a feature that allows the app to convert standard flat images (with help from the cloud) into immersive ones. While the effect isn’t true 3D, it adds distinct foreground, midground and background layers to images in a way that makes viewing your photo roll just a bit more interesting.
In Maps, you start out with a view of the world before using hand gestures to move and zoom in wherever you want or voice commands to laser in on a specific location. The neat new trick for this app is that if you find bubbles over things like restaurants and stores, you can click those to be transported inside those businesses, where Android XR will stitch together 2D photos to create a simulated 3D environment that you can move and walk around in. Granted, this doesn’t have a ton of practical use for most folks unless you want to take a virtual tour of something like a wedding venue. But, the tech is impressive nonetheless.
Finally in the YouTube app, the Galaxy XR did a great job of making standard 360 videos look even better. While quality will always depend on the gear that captured the content, viewing spatial clips was a great way to show off its resolution and image quality. Google says it will also put a new tab on the app to make finding 360 videos easier, though you can always watch the billions of standard flat videos as well.
Interestingly, you can use and navigate the Galaxy XR entirely with hand gestures, but voice commands (via Gemini) are also a major part of the Android XR platform. Because the goggles sit on your head, unlike with mobile devices, there’s no need to use a wake word every time you want to do something. You just talk and Gemini listens (though you can choose to disable this behavior if you prefer), so this makes voice interactions feel a lot more natural. Because Gemini can also do things like adjust settings or organize all the apps you have open, in addition to answering questions, it feels like Google is starting to deliver on some of those Star Trek moments where you can simply ask the computer to do something and it just happens. Yes, it’s still very early, but as a platform, Android XR feels much more like a virtual playground than VisionOS does at the moment.
While I didn’t get to test these out myself, there are some other important features worth mentioning. In addition to apps, you can also play your standard selection of Android games like Stardew Valley or connect the headset to your PC (like with Steam Link) to play full desktop titles. Furthermore, I was told that the Galaxy XR can be tethered to a computer and used like a traditional VR headset. And while Samsung is making optional wireless controllers for the Galaxy XR (and a big carrying case), you may not need them at all as you’ll also have the ability to pair the goggles with typical Bluetooth-based gamepads along with wireless mice and keyboards.
Google also says it’s working on a new system called Likenesses that can create personalized avatars for use in video calls and meetings that use data from interior sensors to deliver more realistic expressions. Additionally, you’ll be able to use tools like Veo3 to make AI-generated videos while providing prompts using your voice. But this is just scratching the surface of the Galaxy XR’s capabilities and I want to use this thing more before offering a final verdict.
In many ways, the Galaxy XR looks and feels like a flagship mixed reality headset in the same vein as the Vision Pro, but for the Android crowd (and Windows users to some extent as well). On top of that, Google has done some interesting things with Android XR to make it feel like there’s a much wider range of content and software to view and use. In many ways, the addition of a dedicated AI assistant in Gemini and voice controls feels much more impactful on goggles than a phone because you can’t always count on having physical inputs like a mouse or keyboard. And with the Galaxy XR being half the price of the Vision Pro, Samsung and Google have done a lot to address some of the most glaring issues with Apple’s rival.
In case the price drop wasn’t enough, it feels like all the companies involved are doing as much as possible to sweeten the deal. I actually started laughing when I first heard all the discounts and free subscriptions that come with the headset. That’s because in addition to the goggles themselves, every Galaxy XR will come with what’s being called the Explorer Pack: 12 months of access to Google AI Pro, 12 months of YouTube Premium (which itself includes YouTube Music), 12 months of Google Play Pass, 12 Months of NBA League Pass and a bundle of other custom XR content and apps. So on top of a slick design, top-tier optics and a new platform, Google and Samsung are basically tossing a kitchen sink of apps and memberships in with the headset.
My only reservation is that when it comes to mass adoption, I think smartglasses have supplanted headsets as the next big mainstream play. Granted, there is a lot of technology and software shared between both categories of devices (Google has already teased upcoming Android XR smartglasses) that should allow Samsung or Google to pivot more easily down the line. But the idea that in the future there will be a headset in every home seems less likely every day. Still, as a showcase for the potential of mixed reality and high-end optics, the Galaxy XR is an exciting piece of tech.
The Samsung Galaxy XR is available now for $1,800 on Samsung.com.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/samsung-galaxy-xr-hands-on-a-smarter-more-open-take-on-apples-vision-pro-for-half-the-price-020044642.html?src=rss
The Samsung Galaxy XR is designed to be a showcase for Android XR, Google’s new AR / VR operating system, but unlike competing mixed reality headsets, Google says there will be few limits on the apps the Galaxy XR will actually be able to run. In fact, a Google spokesperson tells Engadget that “almost all Android apps will automatically be made available without any additional development effort.”
Obviously, Google and Samsung would love deliberately designed spatial experiences for their new hardware, but almost all existing Android apps, regardless if they were made for phones or not, will be considered “Android XR compatible mobile apps” once the headset launches. That means they’ll run in a floating spatial panel that can be moved around the virtual space surrounding you, and per Google’s Android XR developer guidelines, will automatically support core XR input methods like eye and hand tracking, along with the usual suspects like controllers, mice and keyboards. They should also run and look like they would on a smartphone or tablet. “Apps that specify compact sizes show up accordingly and apps that allow for resizing can be resized in XR. These apps do not run in compatibility mode and won’t be letterboxed,” Google says.
The only apps that won’t make the cut are ones that require features a given Android XR device doesn’t support, like GPS. And in the case of apps that are already updated to work on large screens, or that are “adaptive apps” designed to reflow and change size depending on the Android device they’re running on, things will be even smoother. Google says adaptive design will be expected to be the default going forward, an effort that started with this year’s release of Android 16. “Many APIs restricting size will be ignored on larger screens (which includes Android XR),” Google’s spokesperson said, because the company ultimately wants Android apps to feel responsive whether they’re on a phone, an in-car display or an XR headset.
Apple tried a similar, but more limited approach with the launch of visionOS and the Vision Pro by letting developers list their iOS and iPadOS apps in the visionOS App Store. The move produced mixed results, and a dearth of real visionOS apps. An app designed with a device in mind is better than one that’s not, but Google does at least appear to have set Android developers up for a slightly smoother ride. Considering the Galaxy XR’s cheaper price when compared to the Vision Pro, they might also have a bigger audience to make apps for, too.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/why-the-samsung-galaxy-xr-can-support-almost-all-android-apps-021000889.html?src=rss
