Samsung Android XR smart glasses pre-orders get started on November 12

Smart glasses are about to enter quite possibly their biggest era yet, with the release of Google and Samsung’s new Android XR collaboration, and now we finally know when you can get your order in. The companies have been teasing these wearables for months now, featuring frames from the likes of Warby Parker and Gentle Monster. Last month we heard that a November launch was supposedly confirmed, and today pre-order details are starting to go official.

There’s not much to share just yet, but we do have a date: Pre-orders for Samsung’s “Intelligent Eyewear” open in one week, on November 12.

We’ve already seen the frames, and we know to expect an audio-first Android XR experience — Samsung models with integrated displays will have to wait. Recent rumors have suggested that the glasses will ultimately ship sometime in December, which would neatly fit with this pre-order window.

With any luck, next week’s opening of pre-orders will not just confirm that release date, but also finally reveal exactly what Samsung has in mind for pricing. That’s arguably the biggest outstanding question that’s been hanging over this launch. You won’t be paying anything like the $1,800 the bulky Samsung Galaxy XR headset runs, but these could still end up costing you as much as a decent phone.

Shoppers securing their pre-orders can look forward to using the smart glasses for help navigating around town, assisting with translations, or just chatting with Gemini to get information about whatever’s on their mind. They’re also equipped with cameras for recoding spontaneous moments — and yes, Samsung is taking all the expected privacy-preserving steps like lighting up an LED while recording and refusing to film if it detects the LED has been covered.

For as excited as we are to see these glasses finally land, it also probably couldn’t be happening at a worse time. Governments around the world are pushing back against smart glasses, limiting just how and where users are able to operate them. Ideally, regulators and manufacturers will eventually be able to meet in the middle with some mutually satisfactory compromise, but we’ll have to wait and see what shape that might take.

Are you planning to get your pre-orders in next week? Will you wait to hear more from early adopters before deciding? Let us know what you’re thinking, down in the comments.