Samsung Gear VR review

SAMSUNG GEAR VR FOR GALAXY NOTE 7 HANDS-ON – BACK IN BLACK, AND IT'S COMFIER

Alongside the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung has unveiled a form version of its virtual-reality headset. Thankfully, the new Gear VR isn’t built specifically for the Note 7, but instead updates a few components to meet the needs of the new phablet.

Visually, it looks almost identical to the model it’s replacing. Built in partnership with Oculus, it's primarily made from plastic and it's now black, rather than white. Overall it looks far nicer, and more stealthy, than before.

There are other, smaller improvements and additions that may not be instantly obvious. The foam surround that sits against your face is more rigid and less prone to sucking up sweat as you’re feverishly immersed in the VR world. The head strap has also been slightly revamped, again in an effort to make the VR more comfortable for extended periods. I like the improvements here, building on an already functional product.

The headset also features a new external port, to which you'll be able to attach further accessories to the unit directly. These could include plug-in game controllers and possibly even cameras such as the Gear 360, for example.

This Gear VR exists as a result of the Galaxy Note 7's switch to USB Type-C. Obviously, if you already have the older Gear VR unit but update to the latest phone then the former will no longer work. Thankfully, Samsung has made the newer model backwards compatible. The USB Type-C plug can be replaced with a micro-USB version: you pretty much just snap out one adapter and slide in another – it’s all very simple.

If you’ve used the Gear VR before, then the rest of the setup should feel familiar. Once the phone is satisfyingly slotted into the unit, it will boot you into an Oculus-inspired interface. None of this has changed with the updated version, and I've always found it to work perfectly well. There's been a slight rejig of the directional touchpad that’s used for navigation, but I didn’t really notice what had changed.