Traditional game consoles still have their dominating powers everywhere, but VR (Virtual Reality) devices have been developing in full force for the last few years. It was Oculus VR that kick-started the growing virtual reality trend, and now several major companies are quickly keeping up with their own versions. The biggest promise of VR at this point is to take gaming experience to a whole new level by allowing users to be more involved in the game; it will be like being in the game instead of controlling it. Watching videos will feel more cinematic as well because users will experience better lifelike representation of audio/visual, especially in 3D-based films.

Samsung Gear VR

One of the first to follow Oculus is Samsung, with its Oculus-powered Gear VR. Samsung has had three different versions of it including the original Gear VR which works only with Galaxy Note 4, Innovator Edition which works with Galaxy S6/S6 Edge, and the latest Gear VR is compatible with Galaxy Note 5/S6/S6 Edge/S6 Edge Plus. Portability and mobility is the strongest point of Gear VR. Gear VR works with the aforementioned smartphone models; it harnesses the screen and processing power of the attached smartphone.

When paired with Galaxy Note 5 or Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, you get 5.7-inch screen that delivers 518 pixels per inch. Other devices, Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, have smaller screens but better density at 577 pixels per inch. You get crisper experience by using the smaller devices. Video is processed at maximum 60 frames. Once your smartphone is docked into the Gear VR, a spring-loaded clasp will lock it to position. As the Oculus app fires up, you are immediately taken into the virtual world where you have 360-degrees of field of view. You can see a TV set and couches, but you cannot interact with any of them. All you do is choose the app or games you want to play with. There is a focus ring on top of the headset which can be useful in case you wear glasses.

According to Samsung, the latest Gear VR has an improved venting over the previous model. It still, however, requires you make sure that you strap the device firmly enough to the head. In case the headset becomes loose at a point during your game, things start look foggy. Fingerprints on phone screen may appear disturbing when magnified by the Gear VR lenses too.

The ability to pair it with a smartphone is both best and worst feature of Gear VR, particularly that it works only with Samsung phones. You need to have at least one of the aforementioned models to make use of the VR. Moreover, because Gear VR harnesses your smartphone’s power, you may need to keep a charger nearby. If you use your smartphone to do daily tasks and light computing needs as well as communication, using it for VR may ruin the entire show as you will get a lot of notifications in the middle of the virtual world; this will keep you going back and forth to the real world, ruining the fun. There is also the issue around lost battery power.

In terms of gaming, Samsung Gear VR does not feature the luxury of head positional tracking. This prevents you from bending your head down to take a closer look at something on the ground or simply duck your head down to avoid some thousands of bullets going your way. Primary controls on the Gear VR are touchpad and back button, but you can always grab a Bluetooth game controller for more traditional approach.

PlayStation VR

Previously known as Project Morpheus, the PlayStation VR is another follow up of virtual reality trend by one of the biggest names in gaming industry. Sony has actually been working on VR for about five years, and the PlayStation VR seems to be the company’s answer to this new competitive market. Unlike with Samsung Gear VR where you have to use specific smartphone model to enjoy gaming and watching movies, PlayStation VR is less portable and less versatile because you have to connect it to PS4 system through HDMI cord. It is not as mobile as the competitor, but it is still in development phase.

An obvious advantage of the PlayStation VR is the screen. Featuring 5.7-inch OLED display with 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution, the experience is going to be more massive. As a companion of PS4 system, users will expect something to improve the excitement of gaming instead of degrading it, and Sony delivers. The screen also features 120Hz refresh rate and video processing ability at 120 frames per second. In general, its display technology brings expanded field of view, super low latency (as Sony calls it), and non-existent motion blur. As a result, every movement you make will register with PS4 in 18 milliseconds; too fast for anyone to notice unless you are The Flash.

Coming from Sony, PlayStation VR is expected to excel in gaming. Besides featuring compatibility with DualShock 4 and Move controllers, this device brings rotation and position head tracking. It has four LED on the front to track head movement, using PlayStation 4 cameras. Two more LEDs are on the back to understand that you are looking back behind you. Audio experience is better as well; when you hear a soldier sneaking up behind you, you can turn your head and hear the sounds of his boots from left, right, and front.

Summary 

If you are looking for portability, Samsung Gear VR wins the competition any day of the week. However, it lacks the processing power and controlling versatility when used for gaming purpose. You can use traditional Bluetooth game controller of course, but the absence of position and rotation head-tracking limits Gear VR’s advantage. Also, because screen and processing power depend on smartphones, video rendering and quality will not be as smooth as you will get from PlayStation VR. And, yes, you guessed it correct! The cost of owning the SONY Playstation VR will definitely be way more than the $99 price point of Gear VR. Gear VR reviews so far have definitely been promising.