At the sneak peek of the new Samsung Galaxy S7 edge smartphone yesterday, we were also given the opportunity to try out the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge with the Gear VR Consumer Edition virtual reality headset. In fact, Samsung took us (virtually) to the Mobile World Congress 2016 in Barcelona, Spain, through seven 3D videos.
If you are wondering, this is exactly the same Samsung Gear VR Consumer Edition (SM-R322) that was launched on the 20th of November 2015. Although it was officially designed for the Samsung Galaxy S6 / S6 edge / S6 edge+ and the Galaxy Note5, it appears that they had already planned to make it compatible with the new Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge smartphones as well.
The Samsung Gear VR Consumer Edition (Amazon) is the improved version of the Gear VR Innovator Edition (Amazon). It not only supports more devices, it also comes with an improved touchpad on the right side of the headset. Another improvement is the addition of a cutout in the Gear VR frame to allow the insertion of a headphone jack. This allows for a more immersive experience.
If you look closely at the lower left corner of Gear VR’s front, you will see the labels next to the adjustment locks that this is the Gear VR Consumer Edition (Amazon) originally released for the Samsung Galaxy S6 / S6 edge / S6 edge+ and the Galaxy Note5.
Incidentally, the Consumer Edition of the Samsung Gear VR is 19 percent lighter than the original Innovator Edition, and features better foam cushioning.
Performance
[adrotate banner=”4″]The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge unit you see paired with the Gear VR Consumer Edition (Amazon) in this article is an engineering sample. So there were some glitches in getting Oculus VR to start up. For some reason, it loaded Google search with the keyboard instead.But once we “fixed” the problem, it performed exactly like the Note5 did with the Gear VR Consumer Edition. That’s no surprise since both devices have similar sized screens (5.5″ vs. 5.7″) with the same resolution – 1440 x 2560.
Support Tech ARP!
If you like our work, you can help support out work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!