The Galaxy S8 may well be the next must-have phone. But thanks to this upcoming accessory, it’s also a Trojan horse for VR.
Samsung’s latest superphone will be officially unveiled on March 29, but one of its implied accessories has already seen the light of day. The newest version of the Gear VR was already shown off weeks ago at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona. The new model — the fourth iteration of the accessory that turns various Samsung Galaxy phones into a virtual reality helmet — now includes a dedicated controller , too.
While the nascent virtual reality movement has struggled since bursting on to the scene in 2016, the Gear VR has been a bona fide hit. In fact, with over 5 million Gear VR headsets sold as of January, Gear VR may well be a larger VR platform than Oculus Rift , HTC Vive and PlayStation VR combined. (The Gear VR incorporates Oculus tech, too.)
Yes, the Gear VR had more than a headstart of more than a year. (The original model went on sale in December 2014 .) And a lot of those „sales“ were freebie giveaways with Galaxy S phones. But that’s exactly the point: That formula has worked out well, and Samsung looks to repeat the same playbook for the S8.
And it doesn’t hurt that, even at full price, the Gear VR is also one of the best VR platforms for the money.
Good news: the new accessory will work with old Gear VRs.
The ultra-cheap Google Cardboard may beat Gear VR on numbers if you count all the giveaways handed out over the years, but it’s also not a platform in the same way: there isn’t a Cardboard app store, per se. Gear VR, like the Daydream View — which is basically Google ’s answer to Gear VR — is connected to its own app ecosystem.
