The VR game is hot at Mobile World Congress 2015, and it all kicked off with HTC’s RE Vive VR headset made in partnership with Valve. Not content with letting HTC grab the limelight Samsung is announcing a brand new Gear VR designed specifically for the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge in mind. Samsung partnered with Oculus Rift to create the original Gear VR last year with the launch of the Galaxy Note 4, and brought a whole new way to experience VR by using your phone. Samsung may not have been the first to do VR by using your phone, but it did it better than anyone else by having the dedicated Oculus market for VR games and apps on the Gear VR.
Now with the announcement of the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge Samsung is showing off a brand new Gear VR that’s 15% smaller than the original Gear VR. This is important not only because it’s less bulky than the previous model, but it’s also lighter weight. Samsung has further improved comfort by creating a new straps that are more ergonomic as well as balancing the weight of the unit so that it’s not quite so front heavy. In addition to these improvements there is now a mechanical ventilation system to help keep that sweat off your brow when things get tough in the game.
Given the screen improvements that Samsung has made with the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge you know that the improvements will be even more palpable when that screen is right up in your face. The 5.1-inch Quad-HD screen is 0.4 inches smaller than on the Galaxy Note 4, which means the pixel density is considerably higher at 577 PPI. The lenses used on the new Gear VR boast a wide 96 degree angle, meaning VR is more lifelike thanks to the more natural field of view. All the previous features of the Gear VR are present as well such as full head tracking via a number of sensors. Finally Samsung has added a USB port to the unit so that you can plug it in during use. This keeps it from draining your phone’s battery and allows you to keep gaming without having to worry about running out of juice. Whether or not Samsung will be doing a similar hands-free control mode like HTC is doing with the RE Vive isn’t clear, but the current model allows Bluetooth controllers. We’ll bring you more as it’s available and when we gets a hands on you’ll be the first to see it.