Oculus and Samsung have been working for years to create a portable and powerful virtual reality headset. Thanks to
Choosing between these two models – solutionnot an easy one, especially if you're already in the Gear VR ecosystem. To help you decide, we've put together in this article what you can 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 –that is, it does not require a connection to a smartphone or computer to operate. That is, the processor, display and sensors are built directly into the VR helmet. Anything that requires a computer – this is, in fact, for broadcasting VR games or media, but it must be powerful enough so that the picture and performance do not suffer. With that difference in mind, here's a spec comparison between the Oculus Go and Gear VR:
Oculus Go
Gear VR
Viewing angle
Unknown
101 degrees
CPU
Snapdragon 821
Depends on smartphone
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 @ 72 Hz)
AMOLED (1024×1024 @ 60 Hz)
Sensors
3DoF gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer
3DoF gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer
Controller
3Dof controller
3DoF controller
Network
WiFi
Wi-Fi, mobile internet
Some differences have already become apparent thanks tothis table. First, it's highly unlikely that the Gear VR will ever be able to deliver the VR runtime of the Oculus Go with a dedicated battery. Even if you're prepared to completely drain your Galaxy S9+ while gaming, it will still happen quite quickly. Secondly, the Oculus Go's built-in speakers will sound much better than your smartphone's speakers, since the Oculus Go's speakers are designed for surround sound, while the Gear VR's smartphone is further away from your ears. However, if you plan to use headphones instead of speakers, you probably won't notice much of a difference.
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Samsung Gear VR (2017)
But the main difference is the display.In Gear VR, it's not really designed to work in VR, and only has a resolution of 1024x1024 pixels. Oculus Go, on the other hand, will be able to use 1280×1280 pixels to stream graphics, which makes a significant difference in usage. Combined with new Fixed Foveated Rendering technology, the Oculus device uses less graphics memory to render images in the periphery of the field of view. This makes a headset that appears less powerful in terms of performance actually either match or beat the Gear VR in terms of graphics.
Another important detail when comparing is the anglereview. Samsung has gradually improved the Gear VR to reach 101°, which matches the field of view you get in 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 Gosame as on Gear VR. When you install Gear VR software on your smartphone, you install the Oculus Store and Oculus Runtime. Even to pay for VR games, you can only use Oculus’s own services, and not Samsung’s payment system. Samsung has made some great apps for the Gear VR, but overall the vast majority of the software has been developed by Oculus. At the same time, with Oculus Go, developers will no longer be limited by Samsung's operating system and will be able to control the user experience inside and out. There shouldn't be much of a difference between the Oculus Go and Gear VR in the apps available, but a few 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, it may be the optimization of existing programs for the improved capabilities of the new helmet. Oculus has promised that some Gear VR games will be able to run at 72 fps on the Go after appropriate optimization. In Gear VR, we remind you that the maximum frequency is 60 fps. The improvement may not seem that big, but overall it is a big step forward for mobile VR devices towards 90 fps, which produce “full” 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 which have their advantages and disadvantages – both significant and more local. The Oculus Go is billed as a portable, standalone headset that won't drain your phone while gaming, whereas when using the Gear VR outside the home, you'll almost certainly need a portable battery. Oculus Go, on the other hand, is equally convenient to use at home, with friends, on the train and anywhere else – The main thing is that developers provide the application store with high-quality and interesting content.
Considering all of the above, perhaps the price will becomedecisive factor. Many Gear VR owners received their headset free with the purchase of a Samsung smartphone, and even those who bought it separately typically spend no more than $100 on the current model. The Oculus Go, on the other hand, will cost $199 at launch, and while that's still super cheap compared to any other independent VR headset, it's still $199 more than most people pay for the Gear VR. In other words, the question at this point is whether people are willing to pay top dollar for something Samsung is giving away for free when they buy a flagship, and whether Oculus will make its headset awesome enough to be a commercial success.