A first look at the new Gear VR

As many of you know I’ve been a fan of virtual reality for a long time, it all started when I read the book Snowcrash and it’s been a borderline obsession ever-since. I currently have a Gear VR and an Oculus Rift, the Rift is without a doubt a better VR experience but Samsung’s Gear VR is incredibly cool since it’s powered by a smartphone making it easy to take with you.

If you’ve never seen someone jacked-into the Matrix mid-flight, don’t be surprised if you do soon.

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While I’m definitely a fan of the Gear VR I can tell you from experience, the quality just isn’t there when it comes to really creating a realistic VR experience. You can definitely get a feel for VR and there is a ton of great content available, but the image looks like it has a million little dots across it which makes it hard for your mind to really feel like you’re actually there.

Of course, these are still the very early days of smartphone-powered VR so it’s only going to get better. On that note, images recently leaked of what the brand-new Gear VR is going to look like:

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According to Gear VR, it sounds like there are some notable updates with increased resolution being one that I’m happy to see on there:

Elsewhere, the new Gear VR unit has apparently grown slightly with the new device coming in at 207(W) x 122(D) x 98.5(H) mm, versus the current model’s 201.9 x 116.4(D) x 92.6(H) mm – so a slightly taller, deeper and wider device overall. Rumour is the new Gear VR will move from micro USB to the incoming standard of USB-C and judging by the image, the phone mount has shifted to a latched caddy design, although it’s difficult to be certain. Those hoping for a bump in resolution for the mobile VR habit will be disappointed though, as the Note 7 sports the same AMOLED screen res of 2560 x 1440 pixels – even if the panel itself curves at the edges in line with the company’s ‘Edge’ series of phones. (Source – RoadToVR.com)

Something tells me I’ll end up with a new Gear VR shortly after they come out so I’ll keep you all in the loop on how big of an update this ends up being. Either way, hats off to Samsung for pioneering in a space that I have no doubt is going to be a real game-changer.

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton