Review on 🎮 SAMSUNG HMD Odyssey+ VR Headset + Wireless Controllers - 3.5" Black (XE800ZBA-HC1US) by Darryl Jennings

If you haven't played or watched videos in VR, WMR or any other immersive device, prepare to be amazed. This type of immersion is unlike anything you've likely experienced before. You will feel like you are there and you will be able to interact with the world around you. It's not hard to imagine that with improved field of view, enhanced resolution, and tactile/force feedback, it's easy to forget you're in a "virtual" world. That all sounds great, unfortunately for the Odyssey+ there are a few things that Samsung needs to fix for the next-gen: 1. There's a very small sweet spot in the middle of your field of view where objects are relatively sharp and clear. Outside of this "golden spot" everything gradually blurs towards the edge of the screen. Imagine holding a small coin about 12 to 18 inches in front of your face. This coin comes very close to the sweet spot and this is where you can expect the best resolution and sharpness. Unfortunately this beautiful dot doesn't move with your eyes, it's actually built into plastic lenses and can be seen if you look at them. That means you essentially have to keep your eyes on the sweet spot and move your head to look at things. Imagine reading a document and your head should follow every word and line you read, not just your eyes. Imagine playing a racing game and instead of using your eyes to scan the side/rearview mirrors and gauges, you have to move your head to do so. It's unnatural and I can't get used to it. Outside of this optimal range, text is blurry, details are fuzzy, and perspective is distorted. The less detail you seek in the periphery, the worse the effect.2. Ergonomics. For the rest of my life, I couldn't figure out how to consistently wear this properly. As far as I can tell, it should sit higher on the head, almost like a crown, and not snug like a headband. It's all based around finding that magic sweet spot, and it's in a more natural place when the set is higher on your head. Unfortunately the kit works over time until you screw it in so tight it hurts. An adjustable front to back top strap would be handy to prevent it from falling off. It would probably distribute the weight a bit better too.2a. Ergonomics - headphones. They are not removable which is a big problem I have. They sound very good, there are no problems here. But in what should be an optimal set, the ear tips don't go down far enough to sit properly on my ears. They're not removable and you can't articulate them enough to get them out of the way to wear your own, so I'm taking either bad tone or bad sweetspot placement in stride. I do not consider myself to have an unusually high head. Headphones really need to be detachable to solve this problem. As a side note, if you are a gamer or streamer and you remove your device, you will also lose your voice connection as your audio will come from the connected headphones. It feels like this part of the product hasn't been carefully thought out. 2 B. Ergonomics - nose pad. The nose pad is more like a wedge-shaped piece of soft silicone designed to block light. The problem is that it puts pressure on the nose and causes pressure in the nose. It also traps heat/condensation on exhalation. Usually, breathing through the nose becomes uncomfortable. If I kept this I would cut this flap to make it work on my nose.3. Permit. This is for and against. On the plus side, it's the best I've tried. I've tried Rift and Vive (but not Vive Pro). The resolution is better than both, but it won't impress you with sharpness if you're coming from a decent monitor. The overall picture becomes much softer and completely blurred outside of the sweet spot described above. So what's right for Odyssey+?1. The immersion is amazing (discussed above). You have to experience it to believe it. Driving simulators, flight simulators and videos are amazing.2. The resolution is the best possible in my experience, although it's not what I want. What Samsung did on this set to eliminate the screen door effect (SDE) absolutely worked. It's very hard to see and you really have to look for it in the right lighting/background.3. As far as I know, Flashlight mode is unique to Windows Mixed Reality. On the front of the device is a low-resolution camera that allows you to project an image of the real world into your virtual world. You can use this to see what's going on around you. As you walk, you can see where you are in space. If you sit and hear something, you can see it quickly. When your phone rings, you can bring your phone close to the camera and view your message. It's a low-resolution black and white camera, so not perfect, but much better than shooting with the camera or sticking your head out at odd angles to see the bridge of the nose. Headphones, although I wish they were detachable, are of decent quality.5. The mic got good reviews from everyone who heard me talk about it. It sounds just as good in VoIP applications as it does on a very high quality microphone that I use separately.6. Price. Even at the regular price, this is attractive for a kit. On a sale, that's a very good deal - if it works for you and you don't mind my perceived flaws. My introductory headline states that this is "a great demonstration of technology". I am very concerned about this. With recent sales, Samsung has shown the industry that it's possible to build a quality immersive PC on a budget. It lacks polish and they need to fix the issues I highlighted above. This is a great product to see where immersive technology is going. If you're hesitant to get into VR or immersive technology, this is a great set to try and I recommend it. I look forward to Samsung improving this further and if another one comes out with a higher resolution and bigger/no sweet spot I'll definitely try again without hesitation. I returned the product, disappointed with the shortcomings I couldn't adapt to but very happy with the experience and hopeful for the future of immersive technology. Edited to add a comment to SDE.