Daydream a bit of a disappointment

[shady195]

So I got a Daydream VR headset today and unfortunately I'm fairly disappointed.

First off, if you have a 5 inch pixel, i would not expect a great experience. The screen door effect is pretty bad, but I expected it.

Secondly, there is not much support in terms of apps, and downloading cardboard apps do not seem to support it either, Everytime you put the pixel in the headset it immediately kicks you out of the app and into the Daydream home, where you cannot get to the app. As far as I can tell you can't keep it from doing this.

The headset is nice, fits comfortably and is easy to use, but it has quite a bit of light bleed, it doesn't sit flush with the sides of your head. 5 people I let put it on all agreed the light bleed was extremely distracting.

The final issue is is heat, within 10 minutes my phone told me it was to hot, and right before that the controller stopped being very responsive. Originally I thought it was the battery running out but after charging it, it appears it just gets wonky as the device gets loaded up.

Not sure of the XL would do better with heat or not as it has more surface area to disperse it, but as far as the 5 inch pixel goes it's going to be a less than stellar experience.

 

[thatguy97]

Well as far as heat goes we need more efficient cpu architectures but as far as the daydream ecosystem goes it has basically no apps at the moment, that will change but it's going to have to change significantly if, dare I say it, VR is going to gain traction in the consumer space.

 

[Richard Servello]

The headset will be free. So I won't complain.

 

[Metalkid69]

I've been impressed with mine so far. It's true there isn't much in the app store at the moment, but that was expected. I'm sure we will have plenty more by the end of the year. What we do have right now is Youtube VR and boy is there lots of content! The headset is very comfortable and I can definitely see myself wearing this for over an hour with no discomfort. There is one drawback I have to agree with though and that is Heat. I have a Pixel XL and after about 20 minutes of use my phone felt really hot to the touch. I turned mine off as soon as I noticed the heat just because I knew that couldn't be good for my phone. 30 min later I threw it back on and started using it some more. 30 min later I got the "Your phone is too hot, turn off to bring down temperature" warning message so I turned it off again. I know the latest Pixel update included Daydream performance improvements and I haven't installed that update yet. So fingers crossed that the update will alleviate some of those heat issues because 30 min intervals are gonna be a deal breaker.

 

[Richard Servello]

I'm guessing it will be worked out. I'm still waiting for my voucher.

 

[Jeremy8000]

So I got a Daydream VR headset today and unfortunately I'm fairly disappointed.

Well, on the bright side, if you decide it's not something you think you'll want to keep, now is the perfect time to sell it... While a ton of people have or are getting them free, those who ordered since launch day will have to shell out cash for them, and you could probably get most of the retail out of it.

 

[bhatech]

Well, on the bright side, if you decide it's not something you think you'll want to keep, now is the perfect time to sell it... While a ton of people have or are getting them free, those who ordered since launch day will have to shell out cash for them, and you could probably get most of the retail out of it.

Or could just return it and get full refund

 

[Jeremy8000]

Or could just return it and get full refund ??????

If they purchased it, yes - which in retrospect is probably more likely. I was envisioning people who'd bought through Verizon preorder that may have already been able to secure their freebie.

 

[SteelGator]

I expect to be disappointed by Daydream, and would not have bought one. The free pre-order though makes it much less painful to be an early adopter. I figure I will get it and play with it for a few days, then pick it back up as the library and apps mature.

 

[thatguy97]

I expect to be disappointed by Daydream, and would not have bought one. The free pre-order though makes it much less painful to be an early adopter. I figure I will get it and play with it for a few days, then pick it back up as the library and apps mature.

I hope it catches on but devs won't care unless it has a significant enough user base.

 

[Jeremy8000]

The "killer apps" that will garner more than momentary attention will be Youtube and, when they're released, other media apps like Netflix, HBO Go, etc. But if the heat issue limits you to 30-40 minutes in a session....

 

[Richard Servello]

I expect to be disappointed by Daydream, and would not have bought one. The free pre-order though makes it much less painful to be an early adopter. I figure I will get it and play with it for a few days, then pick it back up as the library and apps mature.

I think that's why they are giving it free.