Samsung Gear 360 2017 - UK Version

I have a permanent grin since I purchased this Gear VR collection. Photography is a hobby for me but the 360 degree capability of the tiny camera is mind blowing. Even on the normal computer screen the results are impressive but the VR goggles take it to a new level, it's like being back where you took the video or still images. Plenty of stunning online content too, like heli-skiing in snow capped mountains! I plan to travel a lot in coming years and this will enable me to create a library of once in a lifetime experiences that I and my family can enjoy again and again. There are a couple of downsides however. The whole experience is Samsung proprietary and dependant, you need the Samsung phone. The VR goggles can be uncomfortable to wear after a while but this is common for all VR headsets. I would like the optics to be more adjustable as I have a strong eye glasses prescription, adjustment is right at the limit for me. The goggles can be worn with glasses but it is not recommended and can damage both your glasses and the lens in the goggles if they touch. These gadgets are worth it but my advice is to shop around for a good deal for the collection or buy the parts separately. The hand controller is a must have with the headset goggles.

First battery charge it overheated on 4k & two other resolutions around 8 minutes in, second battery charge 12 minutes on 4k this is at 21c room temperature I may still keep the camera it should do better in the outside environment. . Samsung stopped supporting the device back in 2021 (probably because of this issue too) You can't update the camera firmware anymore.I've had no issues with using the app on my Galaxy note 9 running Android 10 seems to work OK (although there's no support for the app now either) it can be a little laggy when switching to camera inside the app or when moving from one photo to another but I just think that's probably a read speed issue of the camera due to limited ram/processor.The camera is good the picture quality seems really good, this camera is a no brainer for £50, so far I'm very impressed with it aside from the overheating, it has very good build quality. I would recommend for this price if you can put up with the overheating issue.*update after a few days use, 4k overheating after around 8 minute usually, 2.5k is fine it records continously with no overheating at all, it breaks the videos down into 10 minute clips on the sd card (probably for post processing reasons)You don't need the app at all to use the camera it has a settings menu on it but would be difficult using this way all the time.I have decided to either do 5 minute max 4k vidoes or use it in 2.5k resolution for longer ones.Battery life is good especially seeing as these units have probably been sat on a shelf for at least 2 years. I recommend getting the insta360 selfie stick very good for this camera it hides the stitch line 👌

Well made camera. good feel in the hand, Only works when linked to a Phone, not a Tablet, tried it on 4 tablets no good. software not compatible with Android Tablets.works fine on a Samsung Galaxy 07 Edge Phone, I have one so happy.Like the look of the 360 video. Looks good when used in the car. Great for family parties.Good value at £37.99 but will only work with a Phone and a bit of effort to sort out the software.

These cameras are great. They shoot 4k 360 degree video and stills, a d used to sell for around 10x the current price.So what's the catch?Well, Samsung stopped supporting them on android and IOS a few years back, so the associated phone app is hard to find, and doesn't fully work with recent phone versions.More importantly the camera shoots dual 190 degree overlapping fish eye images, rather than the more common equirectangular images that most current 360 degree cameras and software use today.So.... If you are hoping to just use the camera out of the box and stream live 360 video, you are out of luck.To be fair this particular seller does acknowledge this and provides a postage free return envelope for buyers caught out by this.I bought this in full knowledge of the limitations, because I spent a bit of time researching tools that will work with the camera for windows, Mac, Linux and Android. There are plenty out there. Sadly Amazon prevents me from posting links,but Google is your friend here. Look out for firmware modsfor the camera and desktop and phone apps that can process the dual fisheye images.Be a little cautious of android apps from sources outside of the play store, but those provided with open source code on GitHub are usually a fairly safe bet as they are open to scrutiny by the wider developer community.The bottom line is that this is a really ace camera, if you are prepared to put in the time and effort learning a few new tools to get the best from it. If however you want a point and click solution that just works with your phone, look elsewhere.