Samsung released the pricing of its new Gear 360 camera, selling it starting this week at $229.
A notable deal going live on May 25, though, might make the Galaxy S8 and S8+ one of the best ways to get into VR for the first time.
Customers purchasing one of the phones between May 25 and June 19 can get the new Gear 360 camera for just $49. Slashing $180 off the price of the camera makes this a very tempting deal for getting a 360-degree camera and a single VR device that will work with both Facebook’s Oculus platform through the Gear VR and Google’s Daydream platform. A software update this summer should add support for Daydream to the S8 and S8+. It already works with the Gear VR.
It’ll be a bit inconvenient to purchase both the Gear VR headset ($129 with controller) and a Daydream compatible one ($79 with controller) but developers or curious folks who have been interested in VR for a while have a pretty compelling reason to start exploring now with a Samsung phone.
Developers in particular equipped with the S8 should finally be able to use a single phone on which to develop apps for both Google’s store as well as Facebook’s. When it comes to buying a new phone there are a lot of things to consider that can complicate buying decisions, but for someone looking to try out VR for the first time the S8 will let people try out multiple options without investing too much.
We’ll keep our eyes out for additional deals and full pricing details.
