There is a raft of inaccurate information posted here so I just wanted to address some of the points made by people either misinformed or uneducated on the subject, no offence intended to anyone...


-There a no apps or they are poor – False: The apps intended for use with this are published on the oculus store not the play store, they have strict acceptance criteria with regards to quality and the many of the apps are far beyond what’s on offer for Google cardboard on the play store. I believe there are around 120+ games/apps/experiences and not all are paid, there are many demos and free games despite what's been said here. They seem to drop at least 5 or 6 new apps/games every week.

A handful of app/game reviews can be found here: http://vrgiant.com/ here: http://www.vrsuperstars.com/ and here: http://www.roadtovr.com/category/samsung-gear-vr-applications/

-Buying a plastic Chinese headset for 10-20 will bring the same experience – False: This headset is far superior to the cheaper plastic Google cardboard headsets with sensors incorporated that are beyond what any phone has built in. I do agree that those are a good intro into VR but this is something else completely and far more immersive and polished. You cannot play the Oculus store games/apps or use the gear VR sensors without one of the supported phones.

-There is an S5 version – False: no this is not the case unfortunately, supported phones are only S6/Note 5 and their edge/+ variations (and the note 4 for an older innovator version of this headset).

-Overheating means you cannot use it for more than 10 mins – Partial Truth: While some users experience overheating this can be negated with a few setting adjustments (screen brightness/flightmode/close apps/etc.) and/or running from a powerbank so the battery does not generate heat (my S6 has never overheated even after 1-2hr play sessions or watching a movie in the cinema). The key one seems to be adjusting the brightness in the headset settings menu and closing any background apps.

-VR is a fad like 3D tellies: Big Nope.

-Wait for Rift/Vive/other: There will always be something better in the pipeline (nature of technology), I would argue that this is available now and is also aimed at a slightly different audience or to compliment those other systems. The support for GearVR will not be dropped once the Rift is released, Oculus is committed to both, think about it like this:
Google cardboard = Gameboy
Samsung Gear VR = PlayStation Portable
Rift/Vive = Playstation/Xbox

If you already have a compatible phone why not drop £80 for a Gear VR and then still get your gamming Rig/PS4 headset when finally released? You can take the Gear VR with you to share experiences with friends/watch movies on a large cinema screen when traveling, the social experiences available are also really impressive. I’ve had good times with mine at parties/down the pub with many friends, some buying one soon after experiencing it.

You really do have to experience this to understand it, if you’ve only tried cardboard then I don’t think it’s fair for you to be offering advice in my opinion (it’s like telling me not to buy a car because you’ve got a bike :o)).

This really is the best VR experience you can have that is available commercially today.

Oh and there is lots of VR adult content for it! ;o)

Comments from an Amazon customer:

Here is why this is better than cardboard:
This has sensors built into the actual device that are an order of magnitude more accurate, and more responsive than what you have in your phone. This means that when you turn your head, there is no noticeable delay before the image updates on the screen. What you see matches 1-to-1 with how you move your head in real life. I've had the innovator edition for quite some time now, and the experiences are pretty fantastic. I watch netflix in a beautiful ski chalet on a giant TV all the time. The other day I watched my favorite twitch stream with 5 other people at a movie theater on the moon. They are sitting around you and when someone talks it sounds as if they are actually sitting to your left or your right. Their avatars look like cartoons but it doesn't matter. You can see where they're looking, you can see them nod their head in response to a question. It's like you're really together. And this is just the very, very beginning. One other big difference is the oculus store. It's like the App store for VR content. Lots of great stuff on there already."
"Additionally:
Touchpad and back button on the side of the headset
Proximity sensor to detect whether the headset is on your face
Focus dial to adjust for nearsightedness
High quality optics matched to the screen/distortion mesh, providing a much wider field of view than Cardboards I've tried
Better ergonomics/more comfortable, with some attention given to ventilation to avoid lens fogging etc.
When used with Gear VR, the supported phones' hardware and firmware also provide VR features not available with Cardboard:
Low persistence display (no screen blur when looking around)
Asynchronous TimeWarp (considerably reduced perceived latency, fills in for dropped frames to prevent judder)
Special control over the CPU and GPU for more consistent performance
Optional chromatic aberration correction (often disabled for performance reasons)

Because this is an order of magnitude cheaper and is very effective, nothing compares to it at this price point. An Oculus Rift consumer edition requires a PC costing nearer £1,000 as well as the Oculus itself which as of yet doesn't have a price, but it won't be £80 that's for certain.

can get one from primark for £16 it's just like Google cardboard put your phone in the end of it but works quite well just to get a taste of vr on the cheap

can get one from primark for £16 it's just like Google cardboard put your phone in the end of it but works quite well just to get a taste of vr on the cheap

Comments from an Amazon customer:

Here is why this is better than cardboard:
This has sensors built into the actual device that are an order of magnitude more accurate, and more responsive than what you have in your phone. This means that when you turn your head, there is no noticeable delay before the image updates on the screen. What you see matches 1-to-1 with how you move your head in real life. I've had the innovator edition for quite some time now, and the experiences are pretty fantastic. I watch netflix in a beautiful ski chalet on a giant TV all the time. The other day I watched my favorite twitch stream with 5 other people at a movie theater on the moon. They are sitting around you and when someone talks it sounds as if they are actually sitting to your left or your right. Their avatars look like cartoons but it doesn't matter. You can see where they're looking, you can see them nod their head in response to a question. It's like you're really together. And this is just the very, very beginning. One other big difference is the oculus store. It's like the App store for VR content. Lots of great stuff on there already."
"Additionally:
Touchpad and back button on the side of the headset
Proximity sensor to detect whether the headset is on your face
Focus dial to adjust for nearsightedness
High quality optics matched to the screen/distortion mesh, providing a much wider field of view than Cardboards I've tried
Better ergonomics/more comfortable, with some attention given to ventilation to avoid lens fogging etc.
When used with Gear VR, the supported phones' hardware and firmware also provide VR features not available with Cardboard:
Low persistence display (no screen blur when looking around)
Asynchronous TimeWarp (considerably reduced perceived latency, fills in for dropped frames to prevent judder)
Special control over the CPU and GPU for more consistent performance
Optional chromatic aberration correction (often disabled for performance reasons)

If you really want to try vr on the cheap, then you can get the cardboard version for a couple of quid or theses ones for £7 from Gearbest, or the dreaded DX do then as well... http://m.gearbest.com/home-gadgets/pp_198408.html?currency=GBP&gclid=CjwKEAiA8K20BRDetNv3p6DNhXwSJADSwa3t6K3PQM3k_aIPgfpCohCRBB7OXpmrPb8NwePRF28gohoCr9Lw_wcB

Is there a game pad to go with this, and would you recommend getting one to get the best out if games?

I picked up a good one.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RITECH-II-VR-Virtual-Reality-Video-3D-Glasses-for-Phones-Bluetooth-Gamepad-87WS-/111798027741?hash=item1a07ae85dd:g:aiQAAOSwo0JWH06B

much cheaper £11.69 and fits any phone. took time to come but arrived. The kids loved it, but still not much you can do with them after the initial fun. I initially tried the cardboard one, but you have to keep opening it up and touching the screen. This one has a blutooth controller so makes things easier.

so you need to take the phone out of its case to fit in?

link to £80 on Samsung site anyone? had a look could only find innov edt at £179

Can the original gear vr still be bought for the note 4 ?