At Yesterday’s Unpacked Event, Samsung unveiled their new Galaxy Note7, and with it, a new Gear VR. The new headset offers some interesting upgrades from the previous Gear VR model:
- It takes advantage of the Note 7’s Super AMOLED screen, which provides a wider field of view. (101 degree field of view, which is a slight improvement over the previous 96 degree field of view) however the screen resolution remains the same as previous models (2560 x 1400p).
- A new Home button and Menu button, allowing users quick access to each feature without having to use the in app menu functions.
- The headset is compatible with both the Note 7’s new USB Type-C connector as well as micro-USB, which provides backward compatiblity with previous Samsung phones.
- Darker color options (Black & Blue) which are supposed to reduce internal reflections and minimize screen glare.
- Improved padding and headstrap to improve the comfort factor.
About the Note 7
In addition to it’s many other features, the new Note 7 has a microSD card with up to 256GB of storage, which will help to support a lot more games and VR apps than previous models. Both the Gear VR and the Galaxy Note 7 will begin pre-orders on August 3rd with a release date of August 19th. We can assume that there will also be bundled options available.
We are excited to try out both of these new devices and will keep you posted when we know more.
Sean Earley is the Executive Editor of AR/VR Magazine & co-founder of RobotSpaceship Podcast Network. He is the Director of New Biz Development and Publishing at KEMWEB, a musician, producer & consultant. He loves guitars, VR and coffee.
