Gear VR to Become “Galaxy VR”?
The Samsung Gear VR products are probably the best and most successful series of mobile VR headsets on the market today. If you ignore HMDs with narrow appeal, such as single-model Google Daydream units, then there’s not much competition.
Working with Oculus, Samsung was able to create something that was elegant, easy to use and worked very well. Although it only worked Samsung Galaxy S phones, they did a great job of making it work across phone generations. All the way up to the Galaxy S7, you could use the same HMD. With the shift to USB-C with the S8, a new model was needed. Still, that Gear was backwards compatible with older phones.
Having Their Doubts
Samsung has more than enough money to take some chances, and it was never a foregone conclusion that the Gear VR headsets would sell well enough to become a flagship product. If you visit your local pawn shop you’re likely to see stacks of the things from phone bundles just gathering dust. Yet the Oculus store is packed with great Gear VR applications and clearly developers are selling enough product to keep it up.
It doesn’t seem that Gear VR is going anywhere if a report by Sammobile is to be believed. Instead the product we all know as the Gear VR is getting a fresh new identity.
A Rose by Any Other Name
OK, maybe not that fresh. In fact it would seem that Samsung could be rebranding all it’s Gear products, which are wearables, to Galaxy products. A name reserved for its flagships in various segments.
Are the actual products going to change somehow thanks to this? Well, probably not in a way that’s related, but if they are rebranding it could mean new models of the existing line.
A New Headset?
Apple, HTC, Oculus and Google are rolling out standalone VR headsets. Is it far-fetched to think that there could be a standalone Galaxy VR headset in the future? Samsung make all the parts needed for one. Heck, most of those VR headsets use Samsung components in one form or another! With the S10 inevitably coming out, it’s the perfect time to announce a new Galaxy line. Let’s hope any new Galaxy VR product will end up being more exciting than the same old thing with a new sticker on it. Here’s holding thumbs!
