This post will detail the best phones for Samsung Gear VR that you can grab off the market for a reasonably decent price.
It can be confusing because the Samsung Gear VR won’t work with just any phone and you must ensure that all the requirements are fulfilled.
This post will delve into the features of some ideal phones for it and we’ll also discuss the factors you must consider before you buy.
Winner
Samsung Galaxy S6
With a 5 GHz octa-core processor and 3 GB RAM, this phone is beefy enough to run the majority of VR titles available on the Play Store. It fits snuggly in the Samsung Gear VR headset for a streamlined virtual reality experience.
Runner Up
Samsung Galaxy Note 5
The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is large enough to fit perfectly into the Samsung Gear VR headset. Furthermore, if you get the 64 GB version, you’ll have tons of space to easily store your VR titles.
Also Great
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
This phone comes with a sleek finish that’s very aesthetically pleasing. The user experience is very smooth and this is true even when you run highly resource-intensive VR titles on it. Furthermore, it’s available for quite a decent price.
Now that you know a little bit about our top 3 picks, let’s delve deeper to consider which one would be most suitable for your needs.
Best Phones for Samsung Gear VR - Top 3 Reviews
#1: Best Overall Phone for Samsung Gear VR - Samsung Galaxy S6 Review
The Samsung Galaxy S6 is a powerful smartphone that is powered by its 5 GHz octa-core Samsung Exynos 7420 processor. The phone has 3 GB of RAM which is more than enough to run the majority of VR apps currently available on smartphones.
The phone fits very securely into the Samsung Gear VR headset so you don’t have to worry about it bouncing around inside it.
Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Samsung Galaxy S6
Price: Since it’s a fairly old phone at this point, you can find it for a super budget-friendly price on Amazon as well as other online outlets.
Size: The phone has a screen size of 5.1 inches which is within the range of the smartphones that the Samsung Gear VR headset supports. Although, we do wish it was slightly bigger because in some VR titles, certain objects can appear to be quite small.
Processor: As mentioned above, the Samsung Galaxy S6 has a 5 GHz octa-core processor that is more than powerful enough to run VR titles with ease.
- Powerful processor
- Sleek, polished look
- Budget-friendly
- Configures seamlessly with the Samsung Gear VR headset
- Easy to use
- A bigger screen size would’ve been preferred
Best Overall Phone for Samsung Gear VR
The best overall phone for Samsung Gear VR is the Samsung Galaxy S6 thanks to its ease of use, great screen resolution and high-speed processor.
#2: Best User-Friendly Phone for Samsung Gear VR - Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Review
This phone boasts a metal and glass build that makes it super sturdy but also, sleek and stylish.
It’s a great choice for the Samsung Gear VR headset on account of its bigger screen coupled with its high resolution. This results in a very streamlined and crystal-clear VR experience.
If you’re someone that really wants to enjoy the visuals within their virtual reality experience, then this smartphone is definitely worth considering.
Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Samsung Galaxy Note 5
Price: Again, its price is quite budget-friendly since it’s a fairly old smartphone at this point. You can get it as a refurbished model very easily online through outlets such as Amazon. Many of them still come with official Samsung warranties.
Size: The phone has a display size of 5.7 inches which is well within the range of sizes that the Samsung Gear VR headset supports. It’s the perfect size because it’s not too big and also, not too small.
Processor: The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 boasts the Samsung Exynos 7 Octa 7420 processor that is super powerful and can easily run most VR titles available on the Play Store. The phone rarely ever freezes, even when it’s running resource-intensive VR apps or games highly.
- Aesthetically pleasing
- Fits easily within the Samsung Gear VR headset
- Easy to configure
- Affordable
- User-friendly
- Can be buggy with certain VR titles
Best User-Friendly Phone for Samsung Gear VR
The best user-friendly phone for Samsung Gear VR is the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 thanks to its powerful processor, large internal memory and user-friendliness.
#3: Best Sleek Phone for Samsung Gear VR - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Review
This is a super-balanced phone when it comes to functionality and look. It looks incredibly stylish and boasts a modern, curved look that is sure to wow your friends.
Furthermore, the smartphone works extremely well with the Samsung Gear VR headset since it has a 5.5-inch screen size. The size is perfect for the headset and fits securely inside it so you don’t have to worry about the screen jittering as you experience VR.
This is also helped by the fact that the phone has 4 GBs of RAM which ensures it’ll be able to process everything properly without crashing.
The phone also boasts a high amount of internal memory at 64 GB. This internal memory can be further expanded by up to 200 GB. This gives you more than enough space to hold all of your favorite VR titles with ease.
Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
Price: Similar to all the other entries on this list, the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is a smartphone that came out some years ago. Hence, you can easily snag it for a budget-friendly price on Amazon.
Size: As mentioned above, the phone has a size of 5.5 inches which is easily within the range of supported sizes of the Samsung Gear VR headset. The screen is large enough to ensure that you have a highly pleasurable and streamlined virtual reality experience.
Processor: The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge features the Samsung Exynos 8 Octa 8890 which boasts high processing power and a streamlined user experience. You’ll hardly ever experience any freezes or crashes.
This is also true for when you’re running highly resource-intensive VR titles.
- Adequate amount of RAM
- Powerful processor
- Easily compatible with the Samsung Gear VR headset
- Easy to configure and use
- Decent pricing
- Curved look might not be appealing for everyone
Best Sleek Phone for Samsung Gear VR
The best sleek phone for Samsung Gear VR is the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge thanks to its curved design, ease of use and budget-friendly price.
Buyers’ Guide
This section will explore all of the factors you must consider as a consumer before you buy a phone for the Samsung Gear VR headset.
Many consumers tend to buy a phone without doing adequate research. As a result, they end up with a phone that might not fulfill all of their needs. If something like this happens to you, we’re sorry to say it but you only have yourself to blame.
Make sure that you look up user reviews online, look at what your own needs are, and then, find a phone that fulfills those needs.
The factors to consider before buying a phone for your Samsung Gear VR headset include:
Price
This will depend on your budget but of course, you must consider the price of the phone that you intend to buy.
Of course, the more expensive a phone is, the more features it will most likely have. However, it’s up to you to decide how many of those features you actually need and how many of them you could do without.
Many of the more expensive phones will have features that you don’t really need. This is especially true if you intend to buy the smartphone simply for running VR titles on the Samsung Gear VR headset.
A limited budget means limited options.
However, that’s nothing to worry about since the Samsung Gear VR headset is a fairly old piece of tech at this point. Hence, the ideal phones for it are also fairly old. This means that you can get them at a fairly cheap price.
Size
The Samsung Gear VR headset is compatible with smartphones whose length ranges from between 5.1 inches to 6.3 inches. Hence, you must ensure that any phone you buy lies within this range.
If the phone is smaller than 5.1 inches, then it won’t be able to fit snugly within the Samsung Gear VR headset. This means that as you try to play a VR title with a smaller phone, that phone will keep bouncing around inside the headset.
Naturally, this won’t result in a very pleasant VR experience. In fact, it’ll pretty much be unplayable.
On the other hand, if you buy a smartphone that’s bigger than 6.3 inches, then it simply won’t fit inside the pocket of the Samsung Gear VR headset.
You definitely don’t want to waste money on a smartphone that doesn’t fit inside your VR headset so be careful.
Always check what the size of the smartphone is and ensure that it’ll be able to fit into the VR headset that you have.
Processor and RAM
You need a fair amount of processing power to ensure that your phone will be able to run the VR titles you want to play with ease.
A phone that doesn’t have the adequate processing power and RAM to run certain VR titles will mean that those titles will be virtually inaccessible to you. Either they simply won’t run at all or if they do, they’ll run at a decreased frame rate which could cause nausea and eye strain.
Inadequate processing power or RAM will result in a very unpleasant VR experience.
Hence, it’s important to ensure that the smartphone you get has a good enough processor and high enough RAM to run the VR titles of today.
Since the Samsung Gear VR headset is fairly old, it won’t support many newer VR titles anyway, so you really have to worry about older titles that came out in 2017 and 2018.
As long as you buy a high-end smartphone that came out around that era, you’ll be fine.
Internal Memory
The internal memory of the smartphone you get matters a lot because that’ll determine how many VR titles you’re able to store within it at any given time.
It’s important to note that you need to have adequate space since VR titles won’t be the only thing filling your phone; Unless you’re buying the smartphone exclusively to play VR titles on it.
If you intend to use it as your primary phone as well, then you’ll also need space for other files such as pictures, videos, documents, etc.
Hence, ensure that the smartphone you get has adequate internal memory. In addition to having high internal memory, you can also opt for a smartphone that has adequate memory extension options.
There exist smartphones that let you expand their memory by up to 128 or 256 GB. Such smartphones can be great since you can get a micro SD card to expand their memory. This exponentially raises the capacity of your smartphone to hold more VR titles.
Screen Resolution
Lastly, it’s important to consider the screen resolution of the smartphone that you intend to get.
The higher the screen resolution, the clearer the image will be during VR.
If you buy a smartphone with low resolution, then the images you experience in VR might be pixelated or blocky. While this doesn’t irrevocably ruin the experience, it definitely does mess with your immersion.
Developers work very hard to bring you the most stunning visuals within VR as they possibly can. All of this will be nullified if you run the VR title on a smartphone that has low screen resolution.
In fact, if your smartphone’s resolution is too low, it might not even be able to run certain VR titles. This is because certain VR titles only work with particular screen resolutions and not at lower ones.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What Phones are Best for the Samsung Gear VR?
The best smartphones for the Samsung Gear VR headset, in our opinion, are the following:
- Samsung Galaxy S6
- Samsung Galaxy Note 5
- Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
For a more complete list of supported smartphones for the Samsung Gear VR, you can go to Samsung’s website.
Can I Run the Samsung Gear VR with Any Smartphone?
No. The Samsung Gear VR headset does not support iOS devices at all.
Furthermore, when it comes to Android phones, it’ll run well with most of them but there might be some exceptions where you run into issues.
For the most streamlined experience, we recommend you opt for one of the smartphones listed on Samsung’s official website.
How Long Should I Be in VR?
It’s a good idea to take regular breaks from VR and not spend too long within it. We recommend that you take a 15-minute break after every half hour.
This prevents you from having nausea issues and also, prevents any eye strain issues from developing.
How Do I Check the Android Version of My Smartphone?
Checking the Android version that your smartphone is running is super easy. Just follow these steps:
- Go to your Phone settings.
- Scroll all the way down and tap “About Phone”.
- Find where it says “Android version” and the version will be listed right next to it.
Can I Watch VR Videos on My Smartphone?
When we talk about VR, we usually talk about VR apps and games. However, that’s not all that the Samsung Gear VR headset can do.
You can easily use it to watch VR videos as well as VR movies with the help of your smartphone and the headset. There are tons of VR videos available on Youtube as well as many VR experiences available on Netflix.
Final Verdict
We’re at the conclusion of our post for the best phone for Samsung Gear VR.
In the end, we must say that most of the Samsung flagship phones that came out during that era will most likely be suitable for the Samsung Gear VR. However, if you want the best bang for your buck, then go for the Samsung Galaxy S6.
It’s not the best smartphone of the bunch, per se, but it’s more than enough when it comes to what you need to run VR titles on the Samsung Gear VR headset. It’s super easy to configure and it also runs all the VR titles with little to no setup.
Which phone do you think is the best for the Samsung Gear VR headset? What phone do you use with it? Let us know in the comments section below.
Author
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Victor is the Editor in Chief at Techtyche. He tests the performance and quality of new VR boxes, headsets, pedals, etc. He got promoted to the Senior Game Tester position in 2021. His past experience makes him very qualified to review gadgets, speakers, VR, games, Xbox, laptops, and more. Feel free to check out his posts.
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