Android Daydream

While common sense would suggest that the visual presentation of lower-powered mobile VR headsets will always lag behind that of powerful PC-based VR, Google has a new tool that it says can deliver desktop-level graphics – and beyond – on mobile VR headsets.

Moving past smartphone-based VR, Google will soon be partnering with hardware makers to launch standalone VR headsets that have no reliance on PC, console or smartphone. One of the first devices will be an HTC-made, Vive-branded headset.

Google Daydream View is “intriguing, but not yet ready for primetime” and lags behind its (only) mobile VR headset competitor, the Samsung Gear VR. But gaps between these rivals should tighten over the next year and Daydream could even come out on top, thanks to a few key advantages.

​The Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR finally has a true rival, in the upcoming Google Daydream View. There’s still a lot we don’t know about the latter, but let’s compare the features and specs we’re aware of right now.

We first got wind of Google's ambitious Daydream VR project at its I/O conference in May, and now we're starting to see some actual hardware: meet the Daydream View VR headset, launched at Google's special press event.

Today Google announced an Android-based VR platform called Daydream, with no physical hardware in sight (yet). Let's take stock of what we do and don't know about Daydream.