Do you go Rift or PS VR or Vive or Daydream? We help you decide
For the uninitiated, VR is an immersive experience in which your head movements are tracked in a three-dimensional world, making it ideally suited to games and movies.Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR, Samsung Gear VR and the HTC Vive have finally taken the virtual reality medium mainstream.
Explained: How does VR actually work?
While VR was a non-starter back in the 90s, developers are now creating mind-blowing experiences that look set to revolutionise gaming and entertainment. Meanwhile, AR and mixed reality are starting to appear on the scene, blending our world with the virtual one.
But what are the best VR headsets and which one should you go and buy? We've put together the definitive selection of the most gob-smackingly awesome devices just waiting to be strapped to your face.
Read on for the full list…
Oculus Rift
Oculus Rift is the headset that started the current hysteria. Developed by Palmer Luckey, funded via Kickstarter and snapped up by Facebook for a cool $2 billion, the Rift plugs into your computer's DVI and USB ports and tracks your head movements to provide 3D imagery on its stereo screens.
The consumer edition Rift uses a 2160 x 1200 resolution, working at 233 million pixels per second, with a 90Hz refresh rate. It's high-tech stuff, which matches the HTC Vive for refresh rate, but lags behind PlayStation VR on this front. However, given its access to the power of the latest PCs, it's pushing a lot more pixels than Sony's headset.
The Oculus Touch controllers have finally arrived and, through our testing, have pushed Rift to the top of the VR headset pile. Simply put, the Oculus Rift platform is finally a finished product that excels at giving you the VR experience the company initially promised. Now the price is still a sore subject, so it won't be for everyone, but it is the best all-round VR headset you can get right now.
$798 (Rift + Touch Bundle), Amazon
HTC Vive - Virtual Reality System
The HTC Vive is made in collaboration with PC games giant Valve and works with Valve's mammoth gaming ecosystem.
HTC packs in 70 sensors to offer 360-degree head-tracking as well as a 90Hz refresh rate; the stat that's key to keeping down latency, which is the technical term for the effect that causes motion sickness. Thankfully that wasn't an issue in our review, which can't be said about every device.
It doesn't rival PS VR for games you already know and love, but in terms of experimentation, there's plenty to explore. However the key to the HTC Vive's success is the Lighthouse room tracking, which enables you to move around with the headset on. It means mounting some sensors in your home, but the effect is next level.
For a long time, the Vive stood as the reigning champ of VR headsets but after revisiting the device in closer comparisons to Oculus Rift and PS VR, it's been moved to second place for a variety of reasons. That doesn't detract from our earlier experiences though, and it still won for best VR headset of 2016. It's also set to get even better with HTC's new peripherals, including the TPCast module for taking it wireless, and the new trackers, which will turn just about anything into a controller.
$799, Amazon
Sony PlayStation VR
PS VR will be most people's introduction to 'good' VR. It's not perfect but it's going after console gamers hard and, ultimately, it is still a truly awesome PS4 accessory. There's nothing else in the PS VR's category of quality but affordable VR; therefore it is the benchmark for mainstream console VR.
With its low price and PS4 compatibility, PlayStation VR has the chance to go big – even if, by its own admission, the tech isn't quite up to the standards of its competitors.
$399 Amazon
Samsung Gear VR (2016)
The new Samsung Gear VR doesn't look much different to its predecessor but it has several upgrades that make it totally worth it. Gone is the hugely annoying lens fog thanks to new vents and more space inside the headset.
Of course, the visual experience of using Gear VR will depend on which Samsung smartphone you use.
But there are some improvements to the actual headset no matter which Sammie handset you've got – specifically Samsung has widened the viewing angle to 101 degrees (from 96 degrees) and darkened the colour tint to reduce glare and reflections.
$95, Amazon
$95, Amazon
