Sometimes a good idea is a good idea, even if your competitor had it first. Well over two years since the first Gear VR headset was launched (but just a few months after Google's Daydream VR headset launched) Samsung is launching a motion controller for Gear VR which adds a new layer of interactivity and brings the headset's input scheme in line with Daydream. Until now, Gear VR users have had two primary methods for controlling the VR world around them: first was using a trackpad on the side of the headset for swiping and tapping, and second was to use an optional Bluetooth gamepad. Then along came Google's Daydream headset back in November which included out of the box a simple controller—consisting of a trackpad, a few buttons, and the ability to sense rotation—that much more intuitively allowed users to interact with the virtual world using their hand instead of their head. Samsung seemed to agree that this is the way to go when it comes to input for mobile VR headsets, and is launching on April 21st the new Gear VR Controller priced at $39. Nearly identical in functionality to the Daydream controller, the Gear VR Controller gives you a more intuitive and interactive way to manipulate with the virtual world. Hardware The Gear VR controller is a squat little device with a trackpad, trigger, and a few buttons, which feels worthy of its $39 pricetag in every way except for the lack of an internal battery which could be charged via USB. Instead, the device uses two triple-A batteries (included, thankfully). That feels a little weird for a device which is intended to be used with a phone which itself would charge via USB. Granted, even Oculus' high-end Touch controllers for the Rift use a single double-A battery instead of an internal rechargeable battery, and there may be some common reasoning between the two with regard to that design choice. The end of the controller has a bit of a crook to it, which angles the trackpad downward. That may seem like an otherwise needless way to differentiate from the Daydream controller, but it actually serves a smart purpose which addresses an issue I specifically noted about the Daydream controller in our review: The controller works well and is a simple but smart addition to the mobile VR experience which adds a lot, but there’s one niggle that rather irks me. ‘Remote’ style controllers (those which are long and flat, and must be ‘pointed’ at their target), are not comfortable for long durations of pointing because they require you to cock your wrist at an entirely unnatural angle. Try this: reach out your hand like you’re gripping a remote that’s in the shape of a small cylinder (like a roll of quarters). Now imagine that in order to use that remote, you need to point the top of the cylinder at the thing you’re controlling; try that action and see the position in which if puts your hand—that’s the sort of cocked wrist motion that gets uncomfortable quickly. The tilted end of the Gear VR Controller makes the actual pointing part of the device angled downward, which means your hand can rest in a more natural position while using the controller. This is an improvement, though frankly I probably would have angled the end even further! The trackpad senses swipes and also presses down like a button down with a satisfying click. The trigger on the back side of the controller feels mostly like a glorified button, since it has a relatively short throw and presses straight down instead of rotating around a hinge like you'd be used to on most gamepads. Still, we're glad to have it; there's just something about using your index finger in a pulling motion which feels more natural for 'shooting' inputs compared to just tapping a button (or god forbid, a trackpad on the side of your head). Overall the Gear VR Controller feels just a little more snug in the hand, thanks to its shape, than the Daydream controller. Included in the box, along with the batteries and a wrist-strap, is a little fabric loop which you can attach to the strap of your Gear VR headset and then insert the Gear VR Controller to keep it and the headset stored together. It's handy to have a way to keep them from getting separated, but the implementation feels like a bit of an afterthought. Continue Reading on Page 2 >> Experience https://gfycat.com/ImpressiveRequiredIndianskimmer Inside the Gear VR Controller is a little IMU which allows the controller to sense rotation only. This is an important distinction from a controller like Oculus Touch which can detect not just rotation but also translation (the forward-back, left-right, and up-down motions, also called 'positional tracking'). Gear VR (the headset) itself is in the same boat, supporting only rotational tracking and not positional tracking. That said, Oculus has done some modeling so that the controller rotates around a point somewhat near your elbow, so that the visual representation in VR looks a little more natural than the model of the controlling simply rotating around a single point. With rotational tracking only (same as the Daydream controller), that means that the Gear VR Controller is only capable of somewhat basic motion input. You won't exactly be able to 'reach out' and grab things from within the world as if it was your own hand, or do anything like boxing or throwing a football, but you will be able to point and rotate, so expect many apps to have a laser-pointer-like approach to input. That said, this is a nice improvement to the old method, which was almost exclusively gaze-based input, where you had to use your head to move a cursor to select items, shoot enemies, and enter text. Now with the Gear VR Controller (and a properly supported game), moving your head falls back to the much more natural realm of just looking, while you get to use your hand to do the pointing. It seems simple, but it actually makes using Gear VR not just more comfortable but a bit more immersive too because you're using your head and hands in a more natural way inside the virtual world. https://gfycat.com/UnlawfulDiscreteFirebelliedtoad As with most devices which can only track rotation, the Gear VR Controller (just like the headset) has some drift. You'll be prompted to calibrate the controller during setup (which involves moving the controller in a figure-eight shape), and while this helps avoid drift, it doesn't eliminate it entirely. Fortunately, you can hold down the Home button on the controller at any time to quickly recenter it; you'll likely need to do this once every 10 minutes or so, possibly more if you're playing while sitting on a rotating chair. Oculus Home https://gfycat.com/EllipticalSpectacularCreature The entire Oculus Home menu on Gear VR now has support for the Controller, including the System menu which you can pull up by holding the Back button. On the familiar Oculus Home menu screen, you'll now be able to point and select to navigate in a way that feels much more natural than using the headset's side-mounted trackpad and your head for aiming. Supported Apps https://gfycat.com/CarelessThoseChuckwalla A launch Oculus is promising support for some 20 apps in April, with 50 more to come "over the next few months." Some existing apps, like Drop Dead, have been updated to support the Gear VR Controller, while others, like the upcoming Monzo, are all new and support the Controller out of the gate. So far I haven't spotted any 'Controller Required' apps, which means even those that do can still technically be played without it, though Gear VR has a number of 'Gamepad Required' games, so it's possible that we'll see some apps which require the Controller to be played at all. https://gfycat.com/WigglySlowBass For games like Viral Quarantine and Monzo, the Gear VR Controller is a natural fit. In the former, aiming to take down enemies with your hand and a trigger is a far superior experience to using the side-trackpad to shoot while aiming with your face to do the same. Monzo—which allows players to construct, paint, and decorate model sets—benefits from the Controller quite a bit because it's much faster to grab pieces and move them into place with your hand, and they're easier to manipulate too. Full Backwards Compatibility With Older Apps While we think that Samsung is likely to push the Gear VR Controller to become the defacto input method for the platform, with more than 700 apps on Gear VR currently, it's going to take some time before even a quarter of apps get native support for the Controller. In the meantime there's full-backwards compatibility. That means that even for an old game which wasn't made with the controller in mind, you'll still be able to use the controller to play the game, as the device quite easily emulates all the same functionality of the head-mounted trackpad and buttons. [caption id="attachment_62075" align="alignright" width="325"] Smash Hit VR[/caption] So in an older game like Smash Hit VR, (which currently doesn't even know that the controller exists) you can play the game in full using the Trigger to shoot balls to smash your way to victory as if you were tapping on the side-trackpad itself. You'll still need to aim with your face, but at least you can keep your arm down and use a trigger instead of a tap for shooting. Compatibility with Older Gear VR Hardware Although the Gear VR Controller was announced alongside the latest Gear VR headset, our understanding is that the device is compatible with all models of Gear VR except for the very first (which only supported the Note 4). In my testing I was using a Galaxy S6 phone and the second Gear VR headset (2015 Innovator Edition, SM-R321) and I was able to connect the Gear VR Controller and use it flawlessly. Conclusion The Gear VR Controller is a no-brainer as an add-on or a bundle purchase alongside a new Gear VR headset, thanks to its ability to unlock a more natural and immersive way of interacting with mobile VR content that brings the device in line with its leading competitor, Google Daydream. It's compact and feels as well built as Gear VR itself, with a painless pairing and calibration process. With only a handful of apps natively supporting the controller at launch, all but hardcore Gear VR users can likely stand to wait to make the purchase until there's broader app support (or at least until a favorite app sees an update to add support).