Samsung are at it again and as ever are working on their VR interfaces for their phone systems. VR has been the in thing for the last few years, especially in the mobile phone market, with almost endless possibilities in terms of where the technology can take us.

For those who have seen the VR headset before (after all, their original design came out two years ago already!) they’ve decided to stick with the same aesthetic, favouring a robust plastic design with comfortable velcro adjustable elastic straps. The only noticeable difference being a slightly darker colour palette compared to its earlier cousins.



Partnered with VR powerhouse Oculus, Samsung have made certain that they have interesting new content for the headset available (which has previously been a problem for the setups) along with continued development of apps which should show up in conjunction with other VR strides. Whether this remains true is of course still to be seen. But the fact that they’ve gone to the trouble to ensure the relationship is a nice touch.

Something new, this time around, is that the headset comes with a wireless remote, which I was immediately both disappointed and impressed with (Rather dichotomous I know... but hear me out). From an ergonomic design perspective, the remote is lovely, fitting comfortably in one’s hand and seamlessly synchronising with my phone without any hassle. The buttons are spaced well, including both a touchpad and a trigger, and are reached intuitively during operation, creating an immersive experience that the phone VR headsets have been missing. Possibly propelling phone VR to the next level.



Now for the disappointment… there's simply no rechargeable functionality. The little handset uses 2 AAA batteries, which immediately annoys me as a user, as the technology to create rechargeable controllers has been around for years now, so not implementing it on such a critical portion of the device is a glaring design shortfall.

Plugging one’s phone into the headset is an easy affair. For the purposes of this review I used my Galaxy S8 which easily plugged into the USB type C port and was reassuringly clamped down by the headsets spring loaded grip. The headset supports Samsung phones back to the S6 line, but I only had an old S5, so couldn’t test how badly the functionality dropped with the older models.

Adjusting the straps, the fit is quite comfortable, and the padded material lining headset fits both snug, and comfortably with a strap both over the top of the head as well as around the sides, creating a secure setup so you don’t have to worry about moving your head around as you experience your new VR adventures. The Velcro of the straps is of course very adjustable, so it will easily fit all shapes and sizes of heads (although I suspect that the actual headset may be slightly large when it comes to children noggins, but I had no one to test this theory on).



The headset itself also has some controls (should you not wish to use the controller) and, to my surprise, another type C USB connection point should you be worried about the phone imprisoned inside of the device’s charge getting low. After all, running VR applications does a real number on the poor mobile devices charge levels.

Once everything is connected and the phone has downloaded the required Samsung VR applications (which, as a minor annoyance, involved me once again disconnecting the phone for some reason) the “Home room” of the VR environment loaded and offered me a chance to do a quick tutorial on how the controller and VR worked. This allowed me to travel around a virtual environment and change its parameters using the controller, which was great fun!

Now, when it comes to VR experiences, there have been some great strides in the field, strides that Phone VR unfortunately haven’t quite caught up with yet. In other words, don’t expect full spatial tracking or detection of when you’re standing up or leaning or anything fancy like that. What it can do, however, is grasp which direction you are looking and at what angle, which is still a recipe for some good immersive VR, so long as you’re sitting down. To be fair, that is probably for the best anyways as you’re pretty blind to the real world of meat space with the headset on, so jumping around could only end badly.



When it comes to what the device has available to use, as mentioned before the partnership with Oculus means that we’re going to see more developed content for the device than before. As it stands there are quite a few games available, as well as a vast library of 3D videos for one to peruse. From Rollercoaster rides in exotic theme parks to haunted animatronics restaurants, there’s plenty to look at with more content coming out every day in a manner akin to YouTube. Speaking of which, YouTube actually has its own collection of 3D videos as well.

All in all, the headset is on the more expensive side when it comes to Phone-to-VR conversions. However, what it does provide is an affordable way to experience VR in the home when compared to the full VR headsets currently available on the market, along with a comparable level of component quality.
Sure, there isn’t the same level of integration with your console or PC, but when it comes to 3D video content this device is king on cost to reward.
You’ll have to be in the Samsung Android camp to use the device, but if you’re already on that side of the fence the device is a great addition to a VR enthusiast’s arsenal with its innovative controller and rich mobile experience.