Although Samsung hasn’t announced an official price or specific release date for Gear VR, the new VR headset has appeared on the website of an authorized Samsung retailer priced at $245. Samsung has launched an official Gear VR microsite, though they aren’t yet taking pre-orders.
Samsung’s Gear VR announcement earlier this week was met with positive vibes by the VR community. Developers who have worked with prototype versions of the Gear VR hardware say they’re impressed with the experience that the mobile ‘Powered by Oculus’ device is capable delivering.
The release date for Gear VR has only been confirmed by Samsung as specifically as 2014, though there have been some rumblings about a possible Fall release. The company has launched an official microsite for the headset which reveals that Gear VR will include a 16GB microSD car that comes pre-loaded with “a collection of 360-degree videos and 3D movie trailers from major studios.”
See Also: Samsung Gear VR ‘Innovator Edition’ to Launch in 2014 Aimed at Developers and Early-adopters
Officially, Gear VR is unpriced. However, the unit has popped up on MobileFun.co.uk, a third party retailer that claims to be a Samsung Authorized Dealer, priced at £150 (~$245).
Given that the Galaxy Note 4, that’s required to power the device, will run around $600 off-contract, the Gear VR experience may not be all that much cheaper than the desktop VR experience. A $1000 gaming desktop ought to be enough to run the most demanding Oculus Rift DK2 demos, plus another $350 for the headset. That puts the difference between the mobile experience and the desktop experience only around $505.
Yet for those who may be interested in getting the Galaxy Note 4 anyway, Gear VR could be a reasonable add-on even at $245, at least according to a quick survey of two folks I know that are waiting for consumer-ready tech before making the plunge into VR.
“I’d have to wait and see what games come out that are supported by it, but I think it would be a great addition to my gaming arsenal,” said one potential Gear VR buyer who is already a user of Samsung phones. “That seems reasonable for bleeding edge tech. At that price, I’d probably wait a few months to make sure there aren’t any major defects (and see if it doesn’t drop some),” she said.
Another individual I spoke with about the possibility of Gear VR running $245 wasn’t deterred.
“Gear VR’s price is much more approachable to me than the alternative VR headsets available considering they require a fairly powerful computer setup to run, which I don’t currently have,” he said.
Would you pay $245 for Gear VR?