Everyone is excited about the idea of affordable virtual reality. We are too!
But there's one slightly misleading fact about Samsung's cheaper, lighter Gear VR, which goes on sale today: it doesn't cost $100, despite what some reviews say.
Yes, the headset itself costs $100. But there's a major catch!
Gear VR only works with Samsung's most expensive, bleeding edge phones at the moment: the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge+, and the Galaxy Note 5.
If you don't have any one of those four phones, you won't be able to use Gear VR. (Sorry, iPhone owners.)
And those phones don't come cheap: they can cost anywhere between $500 and $800.
So, no, it doesn't cost $100 for Samsung's virtual reality solution. $100 just gives you the headset, but it won't work without the phone. The headset literally does nothing without a phone powering it.
That said, Gear VR does offer a lot of different features for one of the earliest mainstream VR headsets. Since Gear VR is powered by Facebook-owned Oculus VR, you can use Samsung's headset to play classic games and made-for-VR games; movies, TV shows, documentaries and live streams from Netflix, Vimeo, Twitch, and the Oculus Video catalogue; over 200,000 photos from around the globe with full 360º views; and more.
You can buy Samsung's Gear VR through Amazon, Best Buy, or directly through Samsung, starting today (Friday). Just make sure you have a brand new Samsung phone before you do.
