Samsung vs. Acer Blended Actuality headsets: Which handles VR easiest?

Superhot on the Dwelling windows Store looked clearer and more brilliant with Samsung’s HMD Odyssey, when put next with the Rift and Vive. It moreover did a solid job tracking my circulate as I dodged and weaved by bullets and fists flying in the direction of my head. Samsung’s controllers felt upright as perfect because the Oculus Contact’s and HTC Vive’s; I without problems fired off shots at enemies who had been dozens of digital ft away.

That used to be the case for most video games and VR experiences, though I had some distress with Duck Season in SteamVR (which Dwelling windows headsets are moreover appropriate with). Aiming and reloading my digital shotgun felt clumsy and awkward, though I had no distress playing it on the Vive. There is a appropriate chance the builders composed must optimize that sport to better beef up Blended Actuality headsets and controllers.

I tested Acer’s headset after spending a pair of hours with Samsung’s, and it nearly felt unfair to examine them. While the historical is lighter and more uncomplicated to place on, it used to be noteworthy tougher to compose it match very without problems. I moreover grew to detest the foam padding Acer historical spherical its eyepiece. It felt cheap and scratchy on my pores and skin, even after upright a jiffy of wearing it. Or no longer it’s baffling why that foam moreover covers the put the headset sits in opposition to your nose, since it repeatedly presses in opposition to your nostrils. That usually made it a minute bit laborious to breathe while in VR — and yes, I tried adjusting the headset hundreds of cases to set faraway from that.

Acer’s model is moreover a transparent downgrade from Samsung’s when you step into VR. Since its lenses are shorter, your ogle of the digital world is more like peering by a pair of binoculars reasonably than being surrounded by the atmosphere. And beyond that, the screen quality used to be moreover noteworthy worse; the total lot looked duller and fewer fascinating than with Samsung’s headset. I composed managed to admire a number of rounds of Superhot, however I might maybe maybe not shake the feeling that I was having a worse abilities.

After bouncing across a number of VR experiences, including the intimate Thru You, by Lily 1st Earl 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley of Bewdley and Saschka Unseld, as neatly as a number of different 360-diploma movies in the Jaunt VR app, the Acer headset felt sufficient at easiest. It does the fundamentals of what we might presumably need from a VR headset, however it undoubtedly has a laborious time competing in opposition to more-spectacular entries like the HMD Odyssey.

Pricing and the competition

Acer’s Blended Actuality headset used to be the principle we saw from Microsoft’s platform, so or no longer it’s no surprise it feels a minute bit like a escape job. It used to be moreover one among the $300 models Microsoft used to be at the delivery touting as a reduce mark entry into VR. Now, though, the Acer headset prices $Four hundred alongside side its controllers. That is more difficult to stomach when Samsung’s HMD Odyssey bundle goes for $500. There is clearly a long way more than a $100 distinction in quality between the 2. Within the period in-between, HP’s Blended Actuality headset, which we reviewed final week, is accessible in at $450. I would composed counsel Samsung’s model over that, since it has a long way better controllers and shows.

Indubitably, the proper rivals to every Dwelling windows VR headset are the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. On condition that the Rift is now all of the model down to $Four hundred with its Contact Controllers and it has a elevated library of VR titles, it composed appears to be like like the greater chance for most folk. You lose the comfort of built-in tracking, however you safe a more brilliant tool ecosystem in substitute (and it’ll moreover work with SteamVR titles).

Wrap-up

Side by aspect, Samsung’s and Acer’s choices seem like textbook examples of what to originate, and what to set faraway from, when making VR headsets. The HMD Odyssey is joyful, neatly-built and makes digital reality seem incredibly immersive. Acer’s, meanwhile, is none of those issues. While or no longer it’s composed early days for Microsoft’s Blended Actuality Platform, when you procure to must soar in, or no longer it’s obvious that Samsung’s headset is your easiest chance.