Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chip for extended reality platforms is designed to allow those who incorporate it into their gear to give Apple’s ambitious and technologically advanced Vision Pro headset a run for its money. Qualcomm says as part of the second gen Plus launch announcement that Samsung and Google have committed to using its new chip to power gen two XR experiences. Among the noteworthy XR2+ features is its single-chip architecture for 4.3K spatial computing at 90 frames per second. It supports 4.3K per eye resolution and 12 or more concurrent cameras to VR and mixed reality experiences.

The details Qualcomm has shared so far about the new chip “indicate a lot about what Samsung’s headset could do, and what a wave of more expensive, pro-focused headsets could be bringing in the next year or two,” reports CNET, explaining that the Meta Quest 3 was the first headset with Qualcomm’s next-gen XR2 Gen 2 chip when it shipped in fall 2023, taking advantage of the “boosted graphics, color passthrough camera quality, external camera support and onboard AI feature possibilities” the chip offered.

“The step-up XR2 Plus Gen 2 chip, although confusingly named, is aimed at an upcoming line of even more premium headsets that could directly compete with Apple’s $3,499 Vision Pro in features and price,” CNET adds.

In addition to Google and Samsung, other partners that have reportedly committed to making future devices with Qualcomm’s latest chip include “HTC Vive, Immersed (a work software company that’s already making its own VR visor), Chinese esports company Play for Dream and an as-yet-unannounced hardware partner that’s being revealed at this year’s CES show in Las Vegas.” Microsoft used the previous iteration.

Bloomberg echoes that headset makers using the Snapdragon XR2+ chip “will compete with Apple Inc.’s forthcoming Vision Pro,” adding that “the market for devices that project information onto the user’s view of the physical world was fired up last year by Apple’s announcement that it would sell a mixed-reality headset,” but conceding that the category “hasn’t yet taken off.”

The XR2+ technology uses “processors and graphics components that are as much as 20 percent better than their predecessors to project 4K-resolution images on each lens, according to Qualcomm’s Said Bakadir, a senior director of product management,” reports Bloomberg.

The improvements “will ease eye fatigue from reading text, reduce the potential for motion sickness and let device makers implement new features,” Bakadir told Bloomberg, adding that “the chip’s ability to handle more cameras will aid in depth perception and the eye tracking required to orient the user in the real world and recognize items.”

San Diego-based Qualcomm is the leading maker of mobile phone processors. “With Samsung’s mobile expertise and our joint commitment, we aim to create the best-in-class XR experience for Galaxy users,” Samsung Electronics VP and Head of Technology Strategy Inkang Song said in Qualcomm’s press release for the XR2+.