Perhaps it was the time when Oculus made the announcement about their Rift virtual reality headset that changed the game for VR forever as there are now many tech firms who are getting into this space with each passing day and one of those newest players is the Zeiss VR One. But it is quite different to the Oculus Rift or that of the HTC Vive as you do not connect this particular VR headset to your computer, but with your smartphone. It does offer a lot of potential in terms of performance and design, but its questionable lack of controls does hurt its overall usability.
The Zeiss VR One Presents a Solid Build Quality and Comfortable Design
When it comes to design, the Zeiss VR One looks and feels simple, especially when comparing it to Samsung’s Gear VR. It has a white matte plastic visor that is finished with a glossy, transparent front plate. The headset attaches to the head of the user with the use of three elastic straps that are secured by hook-and-loop fasteners and buckles. Two of these straps meet horizontally around the back of your head, whereas the third one will connect over the top. Speaking of the top strap, it assists in ensuring that the headset will stay in place, and it does a pretty good job of doing it as well. There are foam padding lines at the face mask portion of the device. However, unlike the Gear VR, it is permanently fixed there rather than letting users remove it.
Unlike the Google Cardboard, or once again with the Samsung Gear VR, the Zeiss VR One Headset does not use a removable front plate and built-in smartphone holder in order to secure your attached handset. Instead, there is a smartphone tray that is able to slide in and out of the headset which still provides a snug fit for your phone of choice. There are different trays available for varying phones, but these are sold separately. Out of the standard packaging, what you’ll get is a tray for the Galaxy S5 or phones that have a similar size such as it.
Even though the Zeiss VR One is slightly heavier and larger than the Samsung Gear VR, it does contain none of the electronics found in the South Korean tech giant’s headset. The Gear VR is able to offer additional sensors as well as a touchpad controller found on the right portion of the device. However, Zeiss’ headset only has the plastic shell the Carl Zeiss optics.