Do I really need a Samsung Galaxy to do VR?

[h4lp m3]

I put on a pair of virtual reality glasses at a party and was literally BLOWN AWAY. The headset was Samsung VR Gear and it was attached to none other than a Samsung Galaxy phone. Me being an iPhone user is kind of a problem.

At first, I thought I could jump on to eBay and snatch up a Galaxy S6 with a bad ESN for cheap, but even those are like $200. Plus I have to spend another $99 for the headset. Is there a better way to go about getting into VR? The DIY Cardboard stuff looks really dorky to me and I don't think I could show my face in public wearing one.

If a $200 locked Galaxy and a $99 headset is the most economical road to go, then I guess have to do it. :/

 

[Klyster]

Places like ali express have better than cardboard headsets for various sized phones. You can use the cardboard app.
I'm not sure about iPhone, others here will, no doubt there'll be some cardboard support.

I love my VR headset and the oculus app is brilliant, I hope the Note 6 has a 4 k screen.

http://www.aliexpress.com/popular/vr-headset.html

 

[Mildredop]

I put on a pair of virtual reality glasses at a party and was literally BLOWN AWAY. The headset was Samsung VR Gear and it was attached to none other than a Samsung Galaxy phone. Me being an iPhone user is kind of a problem.

At first, I thought I could jump on to eBay and snatch up a Galaxy S6 with a bad ESN for cheap, but even those are like $200. Plus I have to spend another $99 for the headset. Is there a better way to go about getting into VR? The DIY Cardboard stuff looks really dorky to me and I don't think I could show my face in public wearing one.

If a $200 locked Galaxy and a $99 headset is the most economical road to go, then I guess have to do it. :/

I got the Gear VR free with my S7. It was a bit of fun, but nothing more than that really.

We've recently moved house and we've done 360 photos of the garden and a few rooms. We went to a family party yesterday and it was literally the talk of the evening! When people asked "How's the new house?", rather than answer, we could just hand them the Gear VR and they could see for themselves!

But then the S7 doesn't have 3D touch which is so much more fun...

 

[nj-morris]

There are VR headsets for iPhone out there, but beware, because the picture quality will be awful. The Galaxy has a pixelated and narrow viewing experience, and that's 1440p AMOLED. Can you imagine what it would be like on an iPhone screen?
Which iPhone have you got?

 

[ozaz]

The Verge has quite a good recent article on the current state of consumer VR.
http://www.theverge.com/a/best-vr-headset-oculus-rift-samsung-gear-htc-vive-virtual-reality

I'm not sold on the idea of using my smartphone as a central device in VR (e.g. Gear VR). It seems like it will require even faster processors and even higher res screens than currently available to get a really good experience. As such, the single biggest issue with smartphones today - battery life - is not going to improve anytime soon if manufacturers build flagship phones with VR capability in mind.

 

[h4lp m3]

There are VR headsets for iPhone out there, but beware, because the picture quality will be awful. The Galaxy has a pixelated and narrow viewing experience, and that's 1440p AMOLED. Can you imagine what it would be like on an iPhone screen?
Which iPhone have you got?

6s Plus and a 4s

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

There are VR headsets for iPhone out there, but beware, because the picture quality will be awful. The Galaxy has a pixelated and narrow viewing experience, and that's 1440p AMOLED. Can you imagine what it would be like on an iPhone screen?
Which iPhone have you got?

Picture quality awful? In my experience with both the S6 edge and S7 edge, the quality is pretty good, clear and sharp and comparable to 720 resolution.

Now when it comes to clarity, it's a must that the lens on the Gear VR and the phone display be streak free. Microfiber cloth and tiny amount of warm water does the trick. Streaks on the lens or display will make the content look pixelated. Once everything is streak free, things will look crisp. I think most fail to realize that.

It also depends on the content itself. Streaming content look worst, downloaded content looks amazing.

And if the phone overheats, the quality degrades, which was my problem with the S6 edge. Haven't had overheating on the S7 edge yet.

Of course, it's not comparable to the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive quality.

 

[nj-morris]

Picture quality awful? In my experience with both the S6 edge and S7 edge, the quality is pretty good, clear and sharp and comparable to 720 resolution.

Now when it comes to clarity, it's a must that the lens on the Gear VR and the phone display be streak free. Microfiber cloth and tiny amount of warm water does the trick. Streaks on the lens or display will make the content look pixelated. Once everything is streak free, things will look crisp. I think most fail to realize that.

It also depends on the content itself. Streaming content look worst, downloaded content looks amazing.

And if the phone overheats, the quality degrades, which was my problem with the S6 edge. Haven't had overheating on the S7 edge yet.

Of course, it's not comparable to the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive quality.

Well if the screen is white, I can see each individual red, blue and green subpixels. Maybe it's not awful per se, it's definitely useable, but there's lots of room for improvement.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I think you can get cardboard VR but I don't think it will be as good as the gear VR Or the offering from HTC which is really expensive.

I went to a game of thrones exhibition last year and they had the gear VR there for a simulation of the wall at Castle black. I have to admit it was really good. It felt so realistic. I went with my fiancé who is scared of heights and he found it very realistic too. He said that he felt like he was at the top of the wall looking over the edge and was scared!!

 

[nagromme]

You definitely don't need Samsung.

I like the View-Master brand VR headset on Amazon. No strap, so you have to hold it, but it's solidly built, cheap, has a wide FOV, and fully supports Google Cardboard apps on a range of iPhones.

SOME apps are terrible—laggy and sickening—so try some and see, starting with Google's own demo app. Slow performance is an app-specific issue, nothing wrong with the iPhone's fast hardware!

Gear VR is fine (I've used it) but it really only adds a strap (nice) and a slider control (OK but awkward). I'd rather use a cheap strapped Cardboard headset and a full Bluetooth controller. (But I don't know what strapped headsets to recommend—the best-seeming one on Amazon turned out to have an unacceptably low FOV. You want 90 at least.)

You see pixels on all options—but there's a lot more to pay attention to than pixels, and it's great fun!