2016-04-19

Oculus Rift vs. Samsung Gear VR, Which Is Worth Buying?

Summary: Oculus Rift or Samsung Gear VR, which one is better and worth buying? This article aims to elaborate its advantages and disadvantages respectively, so as to help you make your own decision.



Finally, after years of waiting and wondering, the Oculus Rift is right in front of our faces, and it’ll be available soon. The Oculus Rift is set for full in just a couple months. Meanwhile, Samsung has been pushing another, more affordable headset, the Gear VR, to the masses. Though these devices were contrived with two very different audiences in mind, we nonetheless thought it would be fun to compare the two in a savage battle for the Metaverse! For you who may be not a fan of Samsung or Oculus and in trouble with picking the more appropriate VR headsets, the following detailed Samsung Gear VR vs Oculus Rift comparison based on specs and features can give you a hand.

Oculus Rift vs. Samsung Gear VR - Design

While neither option is going to blow you away in terms of style, appearance-wise, Samsung has Oculus beat with its Gear VR headset. There's no denying how trendy this thing looks, even if the whole concept of fashionable VR is completely foreign to us right now. At least on the exterior, it's the perfect complement to Samsung's mobile devices, which is an appreciated touch considering it works so closely in conjunction with the Galaxy Note 5 and the trio of Galaxy S6 handsets.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Oculus Rift's appearance isn't exactly subtle. Though the final design we see below has iterated significantly on the previous dev kit's design and certainly bears a more pleasing aesthetic than the one before that, it's still hard to ignore how bulky it looks, even if it does promise a weight under 380 grams.
The matte finish might serve better than the Gear VR at resisting scratches, but it doesn't save the Oculus from the uncomfortable stares you'll assuredly get while donning the display.

Winner: Gear VR

Oculus Rift vs. Samsung Gear VR - Performance

Performance-wise, the Oculus and Gear VR are two different beasts. The Oculus is a clearcut winner here, offering up two integrated OLED displays, bolstered by an accumulated 2160 x 1200 pixel crystal clear image and buttery smooth 90Hz refresh rate. While the Gear VR presents a fair challenge to the Rift in terms of resolution, as you can imagine, an Ultra HD image exhibited from a 6-inch smartphone will likely pale in comparison, and graphics performance is limited by smartphone hardware.

Winner: Oculus Rift

Oculus Rift vs. Samsung Gear VR - Software

The software catalogue, as you can imagine, is much more capable of delivering familiar content on the Rift. While Gear VR is host to some assuredly innovative indie offerings, games like House of Languages and Blind Swordsman aren't exactly household names. No, the more well-known software rests in the hands of the Rift.

This one's up to personal preference mostly, but I'm more interested in the prospect of the Rift to go back and play games like Half-Life 2 and Dying Light with an immersive new atmosphere as opposed to a few select glorified mobile games.

Winner: Oculus Rift

Oculus Rift vs. Samsung Gear VR - Price

News on pricing information for the Rift has been sparse. In the past six months or so, we've heard everything from "$1,500 or cheaper" with the purchase of a PC to "at least $300," according to PC Gamer. The Gear VR, on the other hand, is affordable for anyone with one of the compatible Galaxy smartphones at $99. Sure, for under 100 bucks you aren't guaranteed the same level of immersion as you'd expect with the Rift, but it's a nifty, low-cost sample of the future. And you don't have to know the first thing about PC specs in order to use one.

Winner: Gear VR

Oculus Rift vs. Samsung Gear VR - Supported Video Formats

Certainly, figuring out Oculus Rift vs. Samsung Gear VR supported video/audio file formats is the best way to get out of video format compatibility issues, together with converting videos to VR headests video formats with a video converter for fluent playback.

Oculus Rift video formats supported:

2D Format: MKV, MP4, AVI, WMV
3D Format: 3D SBS Video

If you have problems playing back files such as .MKV. You may also need to install a CODEC pack. I would recommend the CCCP Codec pack (It may have a Russian name but this should cover your CODEC needs and has no spam)

More information at: Generally Supported Video Formats by VR Headsets

Related articles: How to Import and Watch DVD movies onto Oculus Rift DK2
How to Watch 3D videos on Samsung Gear VR?
How to Watch 3D YouTube movies on Samsung Gear VR

Samsung Gear VR vs Oculus Rift: Side-by-side Comparison

 
Oculus Rift
Gear VR
Optical Lens110 degrees or greater96° field of view
Display2160 x 1200 pixel, 90Hz built-in OLED displays
2560 x 1440 pixel Super AMOLED
Refresh Rate90 Hz60 Hz
Required Hardwaremore, Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater, Nvidia GeForce GTX 970/AMD 290 equivalent or greaterGalaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, and S6 Edge+
SensorGyrocope, accelerometer, magnetometer, Constellation arrayAccelerator, gyrometer, geomagnetic, proximity
Focal AdjustmentNoneFocus adjustment wheel
Interpupillary Distance CoverageDefault distance set at 64 mm, adjustable range TBA
54~70 mm
Physical UIXbox controller, Oculus Touch controllersTouchpad, back button, volume key
ConnectionHDMI 1.3 video output to headset 2x USB 3.0 ports for peripheralsMicroUSB connection to Galaxy Note 5, S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+
DimensionsTBA, 1.3 x 14.7 x 7 inches for Dk2 dev kit201.9 x 116.4 x 92.6 mm
Weight<380 grams310 grams
Color variantsBlackFrost White
Price"at least $300", around $1,500 with purchase of Oculus Ready PC.$99, plus cost of phone
ContentAvailable through Oculus Store, wherever PC software is soldAvailable through Oculus Store, 16GB microSD card included in-box

Conclusion

The Oculus Rift and Gear VR both deliver on almost paradoxical fronts. While Oculus brings the power of PC gaming to a head-mounted virtual reality display, Gear VR serves as a convenient introductory point for anyone only casually interested in this emerging tech. Especially in reference to pricing, much of Oculus Rift's features remain ambiguous.

Considering both peripherals bear some sense of innovation, although in antithetical ways, making a decision on which is objectively "better" isn't really needed this time around. They're both powered by the same company (Gear VR is designed in conjunction with Oculus) and are both sure to evoke their fair share of buzz by the time their respective release dates roll around.

It's still too early to tell which is the better VR bet, but that may be impossible to say even after both have hit the market.

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