Samsung’s VR headset costs just £80, but you still need one of its 2015 flagship smartphones to use it

SAMSUNG’S VIRTUAL REALITY Gear VR headset is now on sale for just £80. It’s the first virtual reality headset available to the public beyond Google’s Cardboard viewer, beating rivals Oculus Rift, Valve and HTC’s Vive and Sony’s PlayStation VR to the punch. The only catch is that you need a Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge or S6 Edge+ to use it because it doesn’t have a built-in display.

This makes it a rather expensive package altogether, but those who are eager to enjoy the VR experience can pick one up online from the Samsung Store. It will be available from other retailers, including mobile phone network O2, in the next few months.

We tested the Innovator Edition of the Gear VR, which is an early version of the headset intended mainly for developers, but the consumer edition is 19% lighter and has foam cushioning to make it more comfortable. It’s powered by the same core technology as Oculus Rift, but the Gear VR has been designed from the ground up to work with Samsung’s 2015 range of flagship smartphones. It provides a 96° field of view and has plenty of sensors to help you get the best out of its apps and experiences, including an accelerometer, a gyrometer and a proximity sensor

A touchpad with four directional buttons on the side of the device provides built-in controls, but the headset is also compatible with external controllers such as the SteelSeries Stratus XL gamepad for use with its VR gaming library. More than 25 dedicated VR games will be available on the Gear VR, but you’ll also be able to play retro classics such as Pac-Man, Sonic the Hedgehog and Gauntlet through the Oculus Arcade app.

Alternatively, you can turn the Gear VR into a private cinema with Netflix or Oculus Video. The latter offers over 70 films from 20th Century Fox and Lionsgate, including The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and the Alien trilogy, as well as over 9,000 videos from Vimeo and all your favourite Twitch broadcasts. Gear VR also supports 360˚ photos, while Oculus Social lets you hang out with friends and family in a virtual living room.