Best VR Headsets for 2016
Virtual Reality is still on its infancy as what the tech community would compare it to a much established kind of technology. However, it is here to stay. So we’re giving you a list of the VR headsets you can buy for yourself and rock Virtual Reality like it’s been here for a while.
Oculus Rift
Priced at $599
The Oculus Rift started out as a Kickstarter campaign and now has gained momentum to compete with the big names in hardware manufacturing. Like the competing products, the Rift connects to a PC via DVI and USB.
HTC Vive
Priced at $799
The HTC Vive is the most talked about brand when it comes to VR hardware. It’s collaboration with Valve means it has access to the rich gallery of games in the ecosystem. This also plugs into PC’s making it more powerful compared to its mobile counterparts.
Samsung Gear VR
Priced at $99
Samsung with the help of Oculus Rift came up with an Oculus Rift lite or officially known as the Samsung Gear VR. The Gear VR is just a case that uses a Samsung smartphone to project and process the images you see in the virtual world. The image quality is a little bit grainy and lower quality but with the price and the pace of innovation, expect the next versions of the Samsung Gear VR to be better.
Sony Playstation VR
Priced at $399
Though the Playstation VR is still due on October 2016, the Sony branded VR headset is said to feature 120Hz gaming refresh rate. With its release date being months before Christmas and its considerably low price, the Sony Playstation VR is expected to go big.
Freefly VR
Priced at $79.99
Freefly VR headset may not be fancy and modern looking that most conventional VR headsets but this has more features to notice. It can support any smartphone between 4.7 inches to 6.1 inches. Freefly VR also has support for Google Cardboard apps with the comfort brought by the faux leather lining that makes contact with the wearer’s skin. It has a mini controller named Glide that makes gaming more interactive by using it with one hand for many functions.
Avegant Glyph
Priced at $699
The Avegant Glyph have one great feature: its interactive eye tracking technology. Instead of using a smartphone display to project images to the eyes, this headset uses an array of micro mirrors that reflect images directly to the retina. This is known to reduce eye fatigue and motion sickness to the user. A truly amazing device.
Zeiss VR One
Priced at $129.99
Zeiss VR One have one advantage compared to the Samsung Gear VR: it can use any smartphone whether iOS or Android. But supported display sizes is between 4.7 and 5.2 inches. This features a media player for video consumption and an AR app for augmented reality.
FOVE VR
Priced at $349
FOVE VR has one great feature that is unique to the product: interactive eye tracking. The infrared sensor monitors the wearer’s eyes that gives a very realistic approach by knowing the wearer’s location in the room. The depth of field is also possible by detecting where the player is looking at making the visuals more real.
Razer OSVR
Priced at $299.99
The Razer OSVR is not like the standalone virtual reality headsets that completely runs on a specific platform or OS. This one is a developer’s kit. This makes easier for developers to make applications for VR hardware, without technical limitations.
Microsoft Hololens
Priced at $3000
Microsoft’s concept of virtual reality is by using virtual holographic images. This means as you wear the headset, you get to experience augmented reality with elements added to your environment in real time. It uses its own Kinect technology to track motion and voice commands with an entire Windows 10 OS built into the device. You will have to shell out $3000 dollars to own one though.
