Oculus and Samsung have worked over the years to create a portable and powerful virtual reality helmet. Thanks
The choice between these two models is not a solution fromsimple, especially if you're already in the Gear VR ecosystem. To help you decide, we have collected in this article what to expect when comparing these devices when the Oculus Go goes on sale.
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Feature Comparison
Oculus Go will be an independent device - somethingyes, it doesn’t require a connection to a smartphone or computer. That is, the processor, display and sensors are integrated directly into the VR helmet. All that a computer requires is, in fact, for broadcasting VR games or media, but it must be powerful enough so that the picture and performance do not suffer. Given this difference, here is a comparison of the Oculus Go and Gear VR features:
Oculus go
Gear VR
Viewing angle
Unknown
101 degrees
CPU
Snapdragon 821
Smartphone dependent
Ram
3 GB
4 GB
Audio
Built-in speakers, 3.5 jack
Smartphone speaker, 3.5 jack
Storage device
32 or 64 GB
64 GB + microSD slot
Battery
Unknown
Smartphone dependent
Display
LCD (1280 × 1280 with a frequency of 72 hertz)
AMOLED (1024 × 1024 at 60 hertz)
Sensors
3DoF gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer
3DoF gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer
Controller
3Dof controller
3DoF controller
Network
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi, mobile Internet
Some differences became apparent already thanks tothis table. Firstly, it is extremely unlikely that Gear VR will ever be able to provide such a run time in VR as the Oculus Go with a dedicated battery. Even if you are ready to fully discharge the Galaxy S9 + during the game, it will still happen quite quickly. Secondly, the built-in speakers in Oculus Go will sound much better than the speakers of a smartphone, since the Oculus Go speakers are designed for surround sound, and the smartphone in Gear VR is further away from your ears. However, if you plan to use headphones instead of speakers, you will hardly notice much difference.
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Samsung Gear VR (2017)
But the main difference is the display. In Gear VR, it is, in fact, not particularly designed for working in VR, and has a resolution of only 1024x1024 pixels. Oculus Go, on the other hand, will be able to use 1280 × 1280 pixels for broadcasting graphics, which makes a significant difference in use. In combination with the new Fixed Foveated Rendering technology, the Oculus device uses less graphics memory to render the image on the periphery of the field of view. Due to this, the headset, which seems less powerful in terms of characteristics, is actually either comparable or superior to Gear VR in terms of graphics.
Another important detail when comparing is the anglereview. Samsung has gradually improved its Gear VR to reach 101 °, which matches the field of view you get with desktop VR devices. Oculus has not yet provided data on the viewing angle of its development.
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No wonder how similar in termsdesign and construction, given how long Oculus and Samsung have worked together in this area. However, it is now clear that when using the device they will feel differently.
Software
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All the same programs will be available in Oculus Go,as on Gear VR. When installing the Gear VR software on a smartphone, you install just the Oculus Store and Oculus Runtime. Even for paying for VR games, you can only use Oculus own services, and not the Samsung payment system. Samsung made some great Gear VR apps, but overall, the vast majority of programs were developed by Oculus. At the same time, in Oculus Go, developers will no longer be limited to the Samsung operating system and will be able to control the user experience from and to. There should not be much difference between the Oculus Go and Gear VR in the available applications, but several important limitations are already known.
First time for Samsung Gear VR will be availablesignificantly more applications than on Oculus Go. Oculus said that it would be very easy for developers for Gear VR to port their applications to Oculus Go, but that does not mean that all developers will want to do this. In the photos of the new helmet box, we have already seen that a number of popular VR applications will be available in Oculus Go, but in general their number will not be comparable with the Gear VR library.
Great difficulty for developers whowill port games from Gear VR to Go, optimization of existing programs for the improved capabilities of the new helmet may become. Oculus has promised that some games with Gear VR can be launched at 72 fps on Go after appropriate optimization. In Gear VR, recall, the maximum frequency is 60 fps. The improvement may not seem so big, but in general it is a big step of mobile VR devices towards 90 fps, which give out “full-fledged” desktop helmets.
Given how similar these headsets are,unsurprisingly, if libraries compare very quickly. Developers who have already begun to port their games to Go, for the most part, believe that this process is very simple. Given that there are few technical differences, if Oculus shows developers that people are ready to buy their headset, there shouldn’t be any problems releasing new games and porting existing ones.
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Which helmet to choose?
Although in general the devices are similar, eachof them there are advantages and disadvantages - both significant and more local. Oculus Go is positioned as a portable independent helmet that will not drain your phone while playing, while using Gear VR outside of the house, you will almost certainly need a portable battery. Oculus Go, on the other hand, is equally convenient to use both at home and with friends, on the train and elsewhere - the main thing is that the developers provide the application store with high-quality and interesting content.
Given all of the above, perhaps the price will becomedecisive factor. Many Gear VR owners got their headset for free when they bought a Samsung smartphone, and even those who bought it separately usually spend no more than $ 100 on the current model. Oculus Go, on the other hand, will cost $ 199 at launch, and although it's still super cheap compared to any other independent VR helmet, it is still $ 199 more than most people pay for Gear VR. In other words, at the moment the question is whether they are ready to give a large sum for what Samsung provides for free when buying a flagship, and whether Oculus will make its headset so amazing that it has commercial success.