Skip to main content

Best product of 2015

Samsung's Gear VR is the Model T of the virtual reality revolution

best products of year winner 2015 dt samsung gear vr
best-of-2015-winner

Winner
Samsung Gear VR

The last 12 months saw some truly impressive leaps forward in tech. Amazon’s Echo helped make the dream of smart homes closer to reality. Dell’s XPS 13 dethroned Apple and set a whole new design paradigm for laptops. LG’s first 4K OLED TV combined two futuristic technologies to jaw-dropping effect.

But none of them reshaped the future of technology more than Samsung’s Gear VR, our Best Product of 2015. It’s not the best VR headset out there, or even the first. But like Ford’s Model T or Kodak’s Brownie, it’s the one that’s going to set the world on fire with the possibilities of this promising new technology.

The Gear VR is virtual reality for the everyman. At $100, Samsung’s Gear VR is cheap enough for even the stodgiest VR skeptic to pick up on a whim, provided he or she owns one of the four Samsung Galaxy devices it works with. More important, every snag and rough edge of earlier VR headsets has been filed down for the mainstream. The new foam face cushions are comfortable and washable. It fits over glasses. The matte plastic resists fingerprints. You look like less of an idiot wearing one.

Samsung is stomping on the accelerator and crashing VR into living rooms.

These are all crucial for the Gear VR’s appeal, but it’s still the experience that will sell it – and VR in general – to the masses. Games like the transcendent Land’s End, from the developers of Monument Valley, truly deliver on the immersive possibilities of VR. You can coast through serene, surreal environments solving puzzles or simply exploring. It’s unlike anything you’ve experienced on a phone, a computer, or a TV. Not looking to relax? Don’t worry, you can also jetpack around a city with a shotgun, watch Netflix on a mondo VR screen, or partake in psychedelic short films that will have you wondering if you just awoke from a dream as you peel off the headset.

No, Samsung’s Gear VR is not the full-blown Oculus Rift we’re all awaiting. But by making the Gear VR cheap, mobile, and still supremely satisfying, Samsung is stomping on the accelerator and crashing VR into living rooms — while Oculus wunderkind Lucky Palmer is still busy turning wrenches under the hood of the Rift. And for that, it’s our favorite product of 2015.

Editors' Recommendations

Nick Mokey
As Digital Trends’ Managing Editor, Nick Mokey oversees an editorial team delivering definitive reviews, enlightening…
The best and coolest tablets we’ve seen at CES 2023
Holding the Lenovo Tab Extreme.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023 is happening in Las Vegas this week, and it’s where all the brands show off the latest in technology, including tablets. But with everything that happens over the course of a few days, it is hard to keep up with all of the announcements from the likes of TCL, Lenovo, and more.

To make it easier for you, we have compiled a list of the best tablets announced so far at CES 2023.
TCL Nxtpaper 12 Pro

Read more
The best smartphones at CES 2023
thinkphone by motorola news announce ces 2023

CES 2023 is not a show where you’ll see dozens of new smartphones, but don’t think that means there aren’t any at all to be found at the event in Las Vegas. While the Galaxy S23 and iPhone 15 are scheduled to come later this year, CES has still managed to bring a few surprises. Here are the best smartphones revealed at CES 2023.
Motorola ThinkPhone

Unfortunately, what is probably the most interesting smartphone at CES 2023 isn’t one we’ll be able to pop out and buy. The ThinkPhone by Motorola (to give it its full, rather awkward name) is part of the company’s push into the world of Business-to-Business (B2B) phones and is packed with software that makes it attractive to companies wanting to equip their staff with new devices.

Read more
Apple vs. Samsung: Who has the best lock screen customization in 2022?
Lock screen comparison of One UI 5 and iOS 16

One of the most notable changes to arrive with iOS 16 was a massively overhauled lock screen customization system. Apple went all-in with the new feature, blending aesthetics with a functional flair brought to life by nifty widgets. 
Samsung soon followed suit with its own take on a deep lock screen customization system that made its debut with the One UI 5 update. Yes, there are similarities, but Samsung has done what Apple often does. Or as they say: "Good artists borrow, great artists steal."
Wallpapers – it's the little things that matter

Starting with the stock wallpaper selection, Apple offers a selection of six backgrounds, while Samsung lets you pick between 21 wallpaper options. Scrolling down in iOS 16, you will come across six Weather & Astronomy dynamic wallpapers, which are actually quite stunning to just tap and interact with. 
Next, you have seven emoji-loaded wallpapers and an equal number of artistic background art with solid as well as gradient color styles. When you pick the emoji wallpaper option, you can customize it with any emoji of your liking. Finally, you can have seven uniform-tone wallpapers with a clean fading texture. 
One UI 5 also takes a similar approach but offers fewer wallpapers across different categories. You get nine single-tone backgrounds with a gradient effect and four graphical wallpapers with solid coloring and sharp lines.  
You can adjust the gradient and saturation strength and create a combination from the spectrum option. Users get this facility with One UI 5 as well as iOS 16. Both ecosystems offer a custom wallpaper option that lets you shuffle photos from your photo gallery on the lock screen throughout the day. But there’s a crucial difference here. 

Read more