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Gear VR is a smartphone-holder virtual reality device developed by Samsung and Oculus VR in cooperation. Gear VR is, by itself, not a fully featured virtual reality head-mounted display, because it only features the housing for a smartphone, lenses, and a basic control interface. The device needs a Samsung smartphone to fully function, as it does not have any processing or displaying capabilities on its own. The first version of the device, Innovator Edition, was compatible only with the Samsung Note 4. The second version was lighter, increased interpupillary distance range, and was compatible with Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, and Note 5 smartphones. <ref>http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Gear-VR-Innovator-Edition/dp/B00QZLOFK4</ref> The Gear VR was the first virtual reality device released outside of a developer or early-access program in the year of 2015.<ref name="theverge092015">http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/25/9397569/samsung-oculus-consumer-gear-vr-design</ref> Together with the launch of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in the August 2016, Samsung revealed a new version of the Gear VR.<ref name="note7version">https://www.engadget.com/2016/08/16/samsung-gear-vr-2016-review/#/</ref>

Gear VR optics have 96 degrees field of view and the smartphone housing features several additional components. There is a number of sensors present (accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity, magnetometer), among which is a modified version of the tracking unit [[Oculus Rift]] uses.<ref>http://www.roadtovr.com/samsung-gear-vr-official-specifications-20ms-latency/</ref> These can be utilized by the smartphone after it is connected to the device via a microUSB connector inside the smartphone housing. This way, more precise rotational tracking can be achieved. The smartphone also handles the audio processing.