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The reviews for Samsung's futuristic virtual reality headset are rolling in — it's a must-buy if you have the right phone

samsung gear VR
Samsung

The first consumer virtual reality headset is officially here.

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Samsung’s Gear VR headset – which Facebook’s Oculus helped develop – hit store shelves Friday, and the reviews are rolling in.

Many praised the first mass market virtual reality device, which retails for $99, saying it was a “no-brainer” to buy if you already had one of the Samsung phones required to power it. The headset works with Samsung's Note 5, S6, S6 edge, and S6 edge+, which all can slot into the front of the headset.

But because you'll need one of Samsung's pricey flagship phones for the $99 headset to work, if you don't already own one you'll probably want to wait for Oculus to release its highly anticipated Oculus Rift headset early next year.

Many reviewers also noted that live streaming and the resolution of some videos was still lacking, but were huge improvements over the previous version. Overall, reviewers seem satisfied with the product, but are more excited about what is coming next.

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Here is a roundup of the reviews:

Brian X. Chen from New York Times:

"I suspect that Gear VR’s virtual reality experience will be seductive for many because it is so fresh and different, but that it will not become a regular activity because of the weaknesses of the headset. The technology needs to lose some weight, and the video quality needs to be clearer and easier on the eyes.

"It would also be ideal if the Gear VR worked with other types of smartphones, not just the newest Samsung Galaxy devices. I would not recommend buying a Samsung phone just to look at dinosaurs or lift giant stones with your head. But the Gear VR would not be a bad holiday gift for people who already have a Samsung phone."

Kurt Wagner for Re/code:

"Leaving the world behind can be great if you’re, say, sitting at home by yourself. But one of the issues with the headset is that as I used it, I continually wanted to share the experience with others. I got the feeling that virtual reality in general will rely, at least in part, on knowing other people who have a VR headset. Playing a video game or watching a movie alone got old pretty quickly. Like smartphones before it, virtual reality will get better as more people get on board."

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Ben Popper for The Verge:

"Like almost all mobile VR headsets, this one is low resolution enough to have a slight "screen door" effect. I often noticed the edges of the lens and interior of the headset, bits of light creeping in from outside or reflecting brightly off the lenses — little things that prevented the image from being totally immersive. But a good VR film more than made up for these shortcomings."

Peter Rubin for Wired:

"If you have a Samsung phone already, spending $99 on it is a no-brainer. There’s nothing like it, and unless you have a high-end gaming PC or a Playstation 4—and then spend more than $300 on the VR system to go with them—it’s your best shot at VR for the next year or more."

Drew Olanoff from TechCrunch:

"I’ve been testing out the new Samsung Gear VR for about a week and will relay my experiences, some good, some shrug-worthy, but overall a huge leap forward for virtual reality as a whole."

CNET editors:  

"The Gear VR is the best virtual reality gadget you can buy right now, and a great way to jump into the world of VR gaming and entertainment -- just make sure you own a compatible Samsung phone first."

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Marco della Cava from USA TODAY:

"Early iterations of Luckey’s prototype tended to make users sick, as their brains were processing visual information faster than computers could render it and the resulting lag proved nauseating.

"None of that is present in Samsung Gear VR, although the screen-door effect is noticeable at least when compared to watching a Netflix video on any tablet or smartphone. In time, this will disappear as technology continues it Moore's Law-driven charge toward constant refinement at lower prices."

Geoffrey A. Fowler for Wall Street Journal:

"You won’t mistake what you see in there for reality—you can clearly make out pixels, like when you’d sit too close to an old tube TV. Yet using the Gear VR for a week, I frequently found myself getting wrapped up in its virtual worlds, for longer and longer stretches.

"There are a lot of reasons to be excited about this new virtual world, but it’s important to understand what the Gear VR can’t do. Limited by a phone’s processing power, storage and screen, it can’t play complex games. You can wear wireless headphones, but it isn’t a surround-sound experience."

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Janko Roettgers from Variety:

"Overall, the Gear VR still feels a bit like a work in progress, especially for users that are interested in more than just gaming. It’s not just the lack of titles; there are also frequent reminders that you are really just staring at a phone — like the Android virus scanner notifications that kept popping up on my test unit ever so often, interrupting otherwise immersive experiences.

 

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