The new, comfier, Gear VR is shipping Aug. 19, but you can pre-order it now on Amazon or Samsung. The headset ships the same day as the new USB-C-capable Note 7.
I got to try the headset for a few minutes at Samsung’s launch for the new phone and found the way it sits against my face considerably nicer than the older innovator edition I’ve been using with the Samsung Galaxy S6. The new headset is compatible with most of Samsung’s VR-ready phones in addition to the Note 7, including the S7, S7 edge, Note 5, S6 edge+, S6 and S6 edge. It costs around $100, but if you’re planning to upgrade your phone too you might keep an eye out for a deal that would throw in the Gear VR for free — Samsung has offered multiple promotions in the past along these lines.
If you pair the headset with the Note 7 it should also let you plug a USB thumb drive into the bottom and watch content stored on the drive inside VR.
We’re still waiting to hear details surrounding Google’s Daydream VR platform, but until those headsets arrive the Gear VR is in a class by itself when it comes to providing quality mobile VR experiences. Samsung is said to be developing for Google’s Daydream platform, but whether the Note 7 is compatible with the platform is unknown. That system comes with a motion-tracking wand rather than a touch-sensitive pad like the Gear VR. Though it would be convenient for developers and nice for enthusiastic consumers to buy a single phone and a single headset that works with both Oculus and Google’s VR apps, we’ve not had any indication Samsung will actually be able to deliver that dream solution this year with either the Note 7 or the Gear VR.
