NSAMVR
The Samsung Gear VR is finally available for purchase!
Model No: SM-R322NZWAXSA
Compatible with Galaxy Note 5, S6 edge+, S6 and S6 edge.
Coupon code only available to the first 500 orders only.
Offer ends 29/12/2015.
Samsung Gear VR $143.09 (after 10% Discount) + Free Express Delivery @ Samsung Store
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4% from cashrewards
Can't get the cashrewards link to Samsung work…anyone else having problems?
Can I use this with Nexus
Pretty sure it only works the the latest range of Samsung Galaxy/Note flagships, as listed in the deal.
Yes, spend your money on this and don't bother reading the description.
So where is the cheapest compatible phone? :D :D
Just bought 3 more units, thanks for the tip.
FYI these work with S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+ and Note5. (Already mentioned in the description.) I'd also be very surprised if they don't work with the coming S7.
They are dramatically cheaper than the previous units ($249 - $299) for the Note4 and S6, the 'Innovator' editions, and they are less substantial. They don't come with any sort of case, or an SD card like the previous models.
Having said all that, I do like the new model, it's lighter and slightly smaller again than the previous models.
At the moment the word is that the S7 will use the new USB standard so quite possibly not compatible with this version
Bugger, just when they get the GearVR sorted so it works with all their high end phones, they might go and change the port.
wow why 3 dude…they aren't edible..
Could be for VR app development and/or showcasing.
Cool. In your opinion, which is the best device to pair with this headset? I'm pretty interested in VR and my current phone is over 2 years old, so potentially could upgrade.
I will probably try some VR dev on this if I actually get one, if that makes any difference.
Ahhh, nice
@SuperMatty: We've only tried the S6 and S6 Edge in the new GearVR, we're trying to get a Note5 today to test as well. I'd stay away from the edge series if VR is important to you, the roll off on the screen edges lets in more light than the flat phones. (S6, Note5.)
Ultimately they all do a good job, so phone price features should probably be your priority.
@aaronspence: Thanks for the input. I imagine Note5 might be best for the VR experience but I suspect I'd get annoyed carrying such a large handset around all the time.
would you know if you can sideload the gear vr app? i have my own vr headset and dont wanna buy this just for the software
Do you need to buy a controller or anything else to make the most out of these?
I would say absolutely to make the most out of it you will
Would buy this for myself but I have an iphone6plus from work.
After all of the effort of doing it through the Samsung US site/Shopmate! Guess I'll end up with two, thanks op
Can is use this to watch movies? Will it be like watching a 100 inch TV or theater?
I would also like to know this.
Sure can. In the linked product page it shows full Netflix support:
The Samsung Gear VR, like Google Cardboard, uses your phone to project through a headset. What sets the two apart is Samsung's partnership with Oculus and design to be worn for more than a few minutes. Watching movies and television through the Gear VR, while a little silly sounding at first, is a full blown immersive experience in the best way. Instead of just a screen, the Netflix app puts you in a full blown cabin with photos on the wall, a couch you are sitting on, and a coffee table in front of a massive screen.
The experience is surreal to say the least. It really felt like I was sitting in a cabin watching television — which got weird when I was sitting on a couch with a table in front of me in both the real world — with interactive parts all around me. The window to my left was constantly changing, and as the video played on the screen in front of me the "light" from the screen would play off of the magazine and cup on the table. The video quality for movies was good enough to feel like a decent screen at a distance, and thankfully I could adjust the focus by dialing back and forth on the headset. Being able to see my surroundings other than the video was also nice. With my headphones on, it felt like being in a personal theater, which is great if you're looking for a distraction on long plane rides or something.
Totally, although this would be overkill for just watching movies.
Cheaper option is to get one of these for the $10 - 30 mark:
http://www.gearbest.com/virtual-reality-c_11366/
Which works with almost any mobile phone, and then download a vr movie app:
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=vr%20movie%20theatre&…
Some of the vr apps make it look like you are sitting in an actual movie theater, where you can even choose which seat you sit in etc. I found this App was great:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.zeiss.mmd.v…
There is a huge difference between the cheap phone holders and the Gear VR, even for watching movies. Others have pointed out the reduced latency between moving your head and screen updates, which certainly helps, but the bigger difference is that Gear VR has low-persistence.
Try to scroll this page and read the text while the page is scrolling. You'll see that the text appears to smear across the display until it becomes stationary, even though your display is (probably) running at a nice 60hz. Now, get your phone out and try scrolling some text and reading it at the same time. You don't have to scroll quickly- in fact, the effect is more prominent when you scroll slowly. iPhone, Android, it doesn't matter, you'll see the same thing- smearing across the display. Your phone is updating at a solid 60fps, so what gives? Well, when you're updating at 60fps, you're displaying one image for 16ms, then getting a new image, displaying that for 16ms, and so on. The problem is, each image shows the text where it should be for the start of that 16ms, but the text is supposed to be constantly moving, so it's "wrong" for most of the frame. There's a disparity between where your brain knows the text "should be", and where it actually sees it, and so you see smearing.
What low-persistence does is show the frame for when it's correct- right at the start of that 16ms- then completely shut off the display. It happens too fast for you to see strobing, and your brain knows how to interpolate between frames to fill in the gaps in motion. You don't get any smearing at all.
So how much of a difference does that really make? Well, look at your phone again, and how smeared that text is when you slowly scroll. Now, try physically moving the phone up and down at the same speed you were scrolling, and just track the phone's motion with your eyes. It's crystal-clear. That is what you'll see when you use the Gear VR. Even when you think you're not moving your head, you're making small movements, and if you happen to be inside a cardboard-style phone holder, you're making your whole world smear, and it's not very enjoyable.
Can someone explain how this unit differs from the $10 ebay headset I've recently borrowed from a friend? I see this has a touch control sensor and volume controls and all that jazz, but at the heart of it is this still not just two lenses being held over your face with better quality materials? Legit question btw, the experience I get from the headset I've been using is phenomenal. If this is leagues better I'll jump right on.
From the engadget review:
Except that unlike Cardboard, the Gear VR has additional hardware — an accelerometer, a gyroscope and proximity-based sensors — on board to reduce latency and increase the performance overall.
They would also have better lenses than the cheapies.
I believe it's a fair bit of an upgrade from the basic bolt-on kits you can get hold of - the hardware+software of the phone is designed specifically to work with the headset's sensors and parameters.
This allows the whole package to optimise towards accurately updating the display in response to your head movements, and cutting the latency (delay) of that update so you don't get that sluggish feeling like you're "dragging" the display around with your head and it's struggling to catch up…
That was a messy explanation, hope you get my meaning :)
Gotya. Using my Note 5 the latency is already negligible and video quality pretty good. I may have missed the Christmas swing but hooray for January birthdays!
Titass
weren't these announced when the note 4 was released?
are the note4 not compatible with these? or are these a newer model?Fairly sure this is the newer model.
Don't think the Note 4 works with this one.
Unfortunately not. The one released for the note is different to this one, and they are not cross compatible. A shame really… i would've hopped on this had they made it compatible with the note 4. The note 4 ones were selling for around 300 which is wayyyy to expensive imo.
Thanks purchased finally :)
Not time to purchase a Samsung phone to use this ;pOrdered thanks! Been waiting for these to become available. They've been sold out everywhere until now, including on Amazon (which is still sold out). From what I've read, this is quite good value for the price, according to engadget it's "A no-brainer if you own a Samsung phone"
http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/25/samsung-gear-vr-review-20…
Awesome deal..
Dammit……Where's the Note 4 version for cheap..!!
I think they stopped production
I have a Note 4 currently….
Ahh I think they stopped production of that one (and it was quite expensive)
Got a s5 about 6 months ago from a s2 now wished i had s6 would have got this
There are other versions of this that suit other phones
noooooo. ordered this morning and just seen this coupon :(
and whats more… i had ordered from amazon US on saturday because i was tired of waiting for AUS stock.. ughh
damn would have been all over it if my note 4 was compatible
Best post ever! Thank you! My boyfriend told me he wanted an Oculus something-a-rather a couple months back and I had no idea what it was. Then Ozbargain came to save the day. Now I have something for him for Christmas. :)
This isn't an Oculus but if he has a compatible phone itd make a damn fine present.
He has a galaxy 6 edge :) it's compatible. Might not be an oculus but surely close enough?
Not at all. If he wants an Occulus, he wants to play (PC) games with it.
You can't do that with this, so it fails the primary objective and hence nothing alike.
I'd be pissed if I got one of these if I asked for an Occulus.
The no-PC connectivity and battery is really a killer for using as a Rift replacement.
@jkim: To be fair, I think this would be a good substitute until the CV1 comes out. If he already has the phone, why not.
@xKaizokux: Checked out intugame. You connect phone either to same wifi network as pc or via a usb cable. Fire up the intugame app on your phone and it does the magic of converting the game on pc to VR on phone, from what ive read it works quite well (especially via usb cable if your wifi isnt upto it). Will be giving it a go myself this weekend
@garvani: Nah mate. Any kind of PC -> wifi router -> phone solution will not be acceptable for most gamers, given most are twitch and require sub 2ms latency on visual feedback.
Only a direct connection to the video card through one of its interfaces (hdmi, dp, etc) will hit those latency times. Anything involving software abstraction to redirect output to wifi won't be able to meet any reasonable "gaming" latency. Furthermore, wifi will need QoS fiddled with to prioritize this traffic as #1 traffic and there's no guarantee that your router will allow this customization unless you're running your own custom router (i.e. pfsense).
The other thing about PC gaming is that there's no time limit. On full display full throttle, a phone battery goes what… 3 - 4 hours? You think a "monitor" that stops working after a few hours of continuous use is acceptable for PC gaming?
I reassert that this thing is totally useless for a PC gamer, and really only good for people looking to use games and apps that are already on their phone.
Merry Christmas to me :):):)
Does anyone know if they deliver fast? Didn't realise I was in the express post postcode list. I chose standard delivery.
Hoping to receive it next few days.
the issue with VR is the resolution, a phone one inch away from the eyes requires minimal 4k resolution and 8k as ideal.
1080p screens are like watching movies with low bitrates, sort of like VHS movies, if you've watched movies in the airplane, yeah something like that but with 3D effect.
Absolute rubbish.
@1080P, the pixels are realy quite noticeable. You really do need the 4K to get a good feel.
VR pretty much halves the resolution from only projecting half the screen each eye. Then you get the screen only 2" from your eye. Then sometimes only part of each half of the screen gets an image (note googlecardboard app). On top of that you get lens warping and whatnot.
However all the compatible phones use 2560×1440 or 2k displays, a much higher resolution than the mentioned 1080p resolution and also higher than the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, though the physical frame may block some pixels.
Despite talking about resolution, resolution isn't the important factor here, it is PPI.
I'm not saying it is perfect, it isn't. This is a 1st generation consumer product, other products were development kits or Google Cardboard bits of fun.
I agree that they will look much better at 4k, just don't rule out 2k as a usable experience unless you and the other chap have tried 2k.
PPI is a given when manufacturing 4k at 5 to 6 inches smartphone screen.
I am very affirmative that 4k is the ideal experience for 3D media for VR and 8K is the future.
Of course 2k is the next gen stuff for VR, but I like to fast forward on tech, especially now that 4K tv's are a reality.
http://www.xda-developers.com/can-vr-justify-qhd-and-4k-disp…
refer to the table
Yes of course 4k and up will help with the VR experience, as will increasing refresh rates, reducing latency, improving sensor accuracy and so on.
However the QHD/2k screens, 60hz offer a very good experience, these aren't 1080p as mentioned in the first post, that is why I was correcting. 1080p is definitely noticeable as too low resolution but these use QHD screens or 577 ppi, my Sony Xperia at 1080p uses 424 ppi, so that offers a big difference, hopefully enough that you can easily ignore the pixels and just enjoy the experience.
You've obviously never used cardboard! Looks fine to me!
a person who hasn't utilised VR won't be as demanding as me mate.
I've tried lots of content using the VR unit that is designed similar to the oculus rift, except that it's an empty unit that has a holding bracket for a smartphone.
the lens are also important as well, the ones by google cardboard aren't as good, there are good quality ones from online stores like DX.
if trying out 3D BDrips, always aim for 1080p 3D BDrips that are around 8-15gb, trust me on this, the difference is night and day.
Just got one from the Samsung store in Melbourne Central. 10% off versus having it right now was a fair swap.
Goodbye real world :)
This has to be one of the most painful purchase experiences when it comes to the web site working I have had in a while.
How much money does Samsung have, and they can't get their Web site right when trying to makw a purchase.
I bet it worked without a hitch for others, but Firefox mobile or on the PC had lots of issues.
I bought one without any issues… Chrome.
I used Chrome and the experience was poo! It was possible but clunky!
Potentially not tested well? I paid using chrome and had one of the smoothest experiences I could imagine
I found if I clicked on the Go to Checkout Now in the popup it was a bit broken, but if I clicked on the cart icon in the top right and click 'Go to Checkout' it worked well.
If you haven't tried vr but are interested in buying this one, i would like recommend you to try in store first.
I was pretty excited to have this one and i think i tried vr with gs6 in Sydney store.
I wear glasses and didn't have issue to use vr without glasses.
Unfortunately the screen resolution wasn't high enough for me.Or try with Google cardboard for $10…
Completely different products and experiences.
It is but in terms of resolution it shouldn't be any different hey?
Yes, assume resolution, so if they is all they are are concerned about it is a great choice.
Got mine for 0.99$ 2 years ago when it just came out. Still gives the people best impression given the experience out of that cardboard material, better than any plastic.
I find it odd that the Note 4 isn't listed as being a compatible model.
Called the Melbourne store, they stated no in store pickup and they can't honour the code either, "totally different entities".
150 bucks for a phone holder? No thx
Haha you are kidding me. I became impatient and got one out of asia…paid $230! I have had it for nearly 3 weeks though….not sure if it was worth the extra $80 though! I have the S6 edge and it works a treat. Ive tried a note 5 as well and theres really no difference. You def need a game pad…the best games require it. You can use other phones with it if you just want to use google cardboard…but it then doesnt use the sensors in the headset, which makes the experience crappy. Its not just a google cardboard holder…its a million times smoother and better for movies, games etc. You really need to get this if you have one of the devices….its awesome.
Thanks OzB, i had no idea I wanted one of these till a few minutes ago. I figure it should be easy to sell on once the novelty wears off.
I did try cardboard a while back & it made me feel quite sick, i suspect the experience should be better with this??
Bought it. Thanks OP! future, here I come! woooo~~~!
They finally started stocking it like 2 weeks after every other country got it. Received mine yesterday from Kogan for $151.
how is it. and how does the field of view/ immersive experience compare to Google cardboard?
I only had time to watch the cirque du soleil demo last night but I enjoyed it and thought it was fantastic. it was much better than Google cardboard which I thought was crappy tbh. I will be watching some other shows on it shortly.
Merry Christmas me, thanks me. Oh, and thank OP :)
Did you get a confirmation email?, I got an email from paypal but no confirmation email?
I didn't get one either!
I'm all over the moon over this deal! Thank you!!!!! I was just about to fork out 250 for a innovator edition on off gumtree. last minute save!
Innovator edition isn't worth squat now!
crap, got excited with the purchase i forgot about cash rewards! =( should put that up OP
Bought one but cancelled the order when I realised that it's not compatible with Note 4.
Can anyone suggest a good remote/controller for this?
From what I understand, NOT the xbone or wii any more. Something to do with Android update. I think playstation dualshock work.
Samsung have their own game pad, but it's not out in Australia yet. In the meantime, I was going to go with the playstation one.
Got confirmation that mine has been shipped!
Same see how long it will take with Xmas around the corner
Is the tracking number working for any of you guys? (express post) mine doesn't :(
nope mine comes up with an error :(
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Nice! Is this in store at the sydney store?