Review: Zeiss VR One Plus Headset

It looks like the great has become greater with Zeiss’ VR One Plus headset. The next generation of Zeiss’ headset seems to have taken where the original left off and answered any comments we ever made about what it was missing.

The new VR One Plus simply looks and feels like the VR One, only there is now one tray to rule them all instead of a tray for every model of phone (which would have become excessive for those who easily get bored of the phone they carry). On top of that, the only other issue the original model had was size. Larger phones were becoming more popular thanks to the Galaxy Note starting a trend. Phones like it, iPhone Plus, Lumia 1020 and so forth, wouldn’t fit in it regardless of the tray you printed or purchased because the slot wasn’t large enough to accommodate that size of a phone/tray.

The adjustable tray was a fantastic solution to the main problem the original faced. It’s hard to call it a problem as all devices have their limitations, but with the ever growing and changing market of phones, the original approach (although innovative) just wasn’t going to cut it. Zeiss depended on consumer 3D printing to help sell the original model. However, only a small fraction of the consumer market has bought into 3D printers to this day. So that makes a pretty good chance that if someone buys a new phone, they were stuck up a creek without a paddle unless Zeiss offered a tray for the model for sale. There were only three tray models they had/have for purchase. Outside of that, they had 6 models to choose from for download, in case you did have a printer at home. Again, innovative as how many companies try to make it easy for you to create your own replacement or upgradable parts. That will be great when 3D printing becomes more common. Or we develop true replicators, in which then i believe the market is guaranteed to take off.

Now you don’t have to concern yourself with that. If you buy into a new phone, simply adjust the tray to its size. Then again, every time you use it, you are adjusting it to get the phone in or out anyway, but I think you get the point. No more replacement trays or multiple trays laying all over if your house has multiple phones. This makes it easier for travel as well, especially if you are taking it somewhere like work or school to show off to all of your friends.

As mentioned, there aren’t too many changes beyond that. As you can see, it looks pretty much exactly like the original VR One, only with a larger slot for the larger tray.

Image quality is obviously completely dependant upon the phone you are using with it. It is best to go with a pixel density that is higher than 1080p for the sake of your eyes, as it will reduce any kind of strain that you might experience. If your phone has less than a 1080p capable screen, it’s best to wait till you get a better phone (or borrow someone else’s).

If you have something comparable to a 2K or even 4K display, it is going to look fantastic. Now where Zeiss’ headset comes into play with helping with this, is the glass. I am sure you have heard of Zeiss before, other than the times we have spoken about them in the past. They are a German-based company who are quite popular for the quality of their lenses. You can find their glass all over in camera lenses, binoculars, scopes, medical equipment and so forth. They are everywhere and are to lense quality as Canon is to camera bodies. So when you use Zeiss lens in the mix, your VR experience is going to be as clear as day. The only discrepancy you are going to experience is that spec of dust or a hair, resting on your phone’s screen because you forgot to wipe it down before sliding it in.

It will work with any phone that can be inserted into the tray, ranging from 4.7-in to 5.5-in in size. I have already covered screen quality, so the only other thing to mention is the extent of your experience, which will rely on the OS your device is using. Completely independent to the quality of the headset, but worth mentioning. Android and iOS users are going to get the most out of their experience, especially if they have a Bluetooth controller to fully interact with games with. For example, you can search for “cardboard” in the Android market and find all sorts of apps, as this headset will work with any app designed for Google Cardboard. Windows devices will be limited to a handful of apps and games and will be less interactive due to the app market is simply neglected as of yet.

Even better, take advantage of those killer optics and pair the VR One Plus with your DJI Phantom (3 or higher) or Inspire drone, as well as the Parrot Bebop. You can purchase and download the CloudlightFPV app for your iPhone, which will allow you to take FPV (first-person view) control of your drone using your controller for piloting the drone and the motion of your head to control the camera. They do only support iPhone at the moment and the app does cost $15, but I am sure others will pop up within all of the app markets eventually. As long as an app supports VR, it should work just fine.

As for comfort, it nails it perfectly. The strap provided is comfy and the weight of the VR One Plus including the phone inside is just right. We tested it against some of the heavier models we have lying around and it felt great. Nothing is perfect, but in this case, it heavily depends on the phone you use (was there a pun in there?).

It doesn’t connect to your PC or anything. It is simply another Galaxy Gear VR solution for all of the phones that aren’t, well, Galaxy phones. Now throw in the face that you can stick those in there as well and you have a pretty well rounded device.

It comes with a small cube you fold together for use with the Zeiss VR app that allows you to interface with the 6 different sides using augmented reality (AR). You also get instructions and a small pad to wipe things down with.

Our Conclusion

Fantastic! If you are impressed with Samsung’s Gear VR, then you will be impressed with the Zeiss VR One Plus. It covers nearly any phone model (except for those too thick, which only rules out some of the much older phones) that is popular by today’s standards (and yesterday’s). It is comfortable, adjustable and features Zeiss lenses inside. Not much more you could ask for in a VR Headset outside of a full scale one that connects to a PC (but then you are talking about a much, much higher price for those). Is it pricey compared to some of the others? Sure, but do they have high quality glass or cheap glass that is mass produced in a third-world country? The Galaxy Gear is expensive for some of the same reasons.

*Average price is based on the time this article was published

Video:

Additional Images:

Specifications:

Are you a manufacturer or distributor that would like us to test something out for review? Contact us and we can let you know where to send the product and we will try it out.