When Google launched its Daydream View headset, the company said that many smartphone makers would create phones that support Daydream mobile VR. While that list has grown slower than we anticipated, the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ will be joining the fold in the coming months.
The S8 series support for Daydream is notable. Not only are these Samsung phones arguably the most high-end Android devices on the market, they are also amongst the small batch of Samsung phones that support Daydream's only real rival, the Samsung Gear VR.
While the Gear VR is our pick for the best mobile VR experience right now, mostly due to its superior content library, this move still seems like it could hurt the Gear's competitive advantage in the long run. Perhaps VR bigwigs are more concerned about growing the platform by getting headsets into more hands (and onto more faces) than by any particular device's marketshare.
The Samsung S8 and S8+ will receive Daydream compatibility via a software update this summer (Northern hemisphere). The next LG flagship (likely a follow-up to the V20), which will be released later this year, will also support Google Daydream.
This announcement came during the keynote at Google's annual I/O event, which kicked off today. So far, we've also learned more about Google's plans for standalone VR, mobile AR, its Home and Google Assistant ecosystem and the new AI-driven Lens feature, among other news.
