{"id":50215,"date":"2016-01-14T16:22:58","date_gmt":"2016-01-14T16:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/?p=50215"},"modified":"2016-01-15T10:49:40","modified_gmt":"2016-01-15T10:49:40","slug":"samsung-gear-vr-the-perfect-intro-to-virtual-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/2016\/01\/samsung-gear-vr-the-perfect-intro-to-virtual-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Samsung Gear VR: the perfect intro to virtual reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The Gear VR<\/a> is a brilliant smartphone-based VR headset, which has launched to strong reviews<\/a> in the UK and abroad. At \u00a389 it\u2019s far cheaper than the Oculus Rift (\u00a3530 plus \u00a31000\u00a0gaming PC), and it only requires a 2015-era Galaxy smartphone to operate.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an ideal introduction to virtual reality too, thanks to excellent movement tracking (and hence low nausea), a wide range of polished apps and games, and rapid setup anywhere: just pop your phone in the headset and put it on.<\/p>\n

How does the Gear VR compare to Oculus Rift or Google Cardboard? I\u2019d say that the Gear VR is the best of both worlds, combining the ease of use and low cost of Google Cardboard, but with the app store, visual fidelity and excellent tracking of the Oculus Rift. Let\u2019s take a closer look at how they compare.<\/p>\n

Gear VR vs\u00a0Oculus Rift<\/h3>\n

\"oculus-rift-vs-gear-vr\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Oculus is the biggest name in virtual reality right now, thanks to the upcoming Oculus Rift VR headset for PCs. However, this isn\u2019t the only headset the award-winning company has created \u2014 they\u2019ve also partnered with Samsung to make the Gear VR, a smartphone-based virtual reality headset. At \u00a389, it\u2019s far cheaper than the \u00a3530 Oculus Rift, and doesn\u2019t require an \u00a31000 gaming PC to work. Instead, it uses the screen and horsepower of recent Samsung smartphones, running apps hand-selected by Oculus for inclusion in their store. That makes it the perfect introduction to VR for owners of the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+ and Note 5.<\/p>\n

Gear VR vs\u00a0Google Cardboard<\/h3>\n

\"cardboard-gearvr\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Google\u2019s Cardboard initiative is a cheap and cheerful intro to VR, using your smartphone\u2019s screen and sensors to provide a basic VR experience. The Gear VR is a much more polished experience, with better sensors, lenses and a lighter design. That makes the picture quality much better, reduces nausea associated with poor head tracking, and allows you to wear the Gear VR for longer periods without discomfort. Cardboard also suffers from a swathe of poorly-made apps, while the Gear VR enjoys the high standards of the Oculus Store \u2014 the same store that the forthcoming Oculus Rift will use.<\/p>\n

\"gearvrwm01\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Samsung Gear VR Apps & Games<\/h3>\n

So what apps and games are available for the Gear VR? Good question! There\u2019s actually a whole bunch; Samsung and Oculus have done a great job attracting developers and making their own apps too. Here are five of our favourites:<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0Gunjack<\/a>: An arcade space shooter, made by the creators of Eve Online. It\u2019s simple, frantic fun, but the fixed viewpoint keeps nausea to a minimum.<\/p>\n

\"nextvr-presidential-debate\"<\/a><\/p>\n

4. NextVR: live 360\u00b0<\/strong> video streams, focusing on sports<\/a> and news<\/a> events. If you really want to feel like you\u2019re there in person, this is the way to do it.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Titans of Space<\/a>: go on a virtual tour of the solar system. This is a firm party favourite, and a very cool introduction of VR (and the scale of the solar system!)<\/p>\n

2. Netflix: sit back in front of a giant virtual screen in a cosy cabin, and enjoy your favourite shows and movies.<\/p>\n

\"LandsEnd_Sept16_01_9560x4000\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Land\u2019s End<\/a>: a relaxing puzzle game, released in bite-sized chapters. It\u2019s a beautiful game, and it\u2019s no surprise \u2014 the creators were also behind the gorgeous, award-winning mobile title Monument Valley.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

The Samsung Gear VR<\/a> is the perfect introduction to virtual reality: it\u2019s cheap at \u00a380 RRP, it\u2019s powerful, and it\u2019s made in cooperation with industry leaders Oculus. As it uses your smartphone, it\u2019s also a completely untethered, mobile experience that\u2019s just as fun on the train as it is at home. If you have a 2015-era Samsung Galaxy smartphone, this is the best virtual reality headset on the market.<\/p>\n

Shop for the Samsung Gear VR ><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Gear VR is a brilliant smartphone-based VR headset, which has launched to strong reviews in the UK and abroad. At \u00a380 RRP it\u2019s far cheaper than the Oculus Rift (\u00a3530 plus high-end gaming PC), and it only requires a 2015-era Galaxy smartphone to operate. It\u2019s an ideal introduction to virtual reality too, thanks to excellent movement tracking (and hence low nausea), a wide range of polished apps and games, and rapid setup anywhere: just pop your phone in the headset and put it on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":47681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[311,2077],"tags":[7582,8244,7901,173,7683,7743],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50215"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50215"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50318,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50215\/revisions\/50318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}