It can also capture video at a sharper 3840x1920 resolution but you can only make use of that, for viewing or upload, via the supplied PC software. This is compounded by potential motion sickness, as the camera lurches around while you stay still. Anything but the most gradual motion of the device itself really strained the limits of the video compression and made for uncomfortable viewing in VR. It's not a big issue, though, as the Gear 360 is primarily designed to be controlled via its app.Įven at 60fps, WIRED found the best results came when the Gear 360 was stationary, letting the action occur around it. The tripod doubles up as a makeshift handgrip but the shutter/record button is on top so it's hardly ergonomic. The Gear 360 comes complete with a mini tripod which has a standard screw for adding a bigger one if required. Ricoh's Theta remains better designed for handheld use, with a grip and a shutter button well below the lenses, though it's still best used with a tripod, in WIRED's opinion. It's around 60mm across and weighs just 153g. It comes with a cloth bag to transport it in, so they don't get scratched up in your bag or pocket. It's dust and splash resistant but WIRED wouldn't want to risk those big lenses on regular action-cam duties.
The Gear 360 uses the same basic principle, with two fish-eye lens and two image sensors, whose output is then stitched together to create a largely seamless 360-degree image, be that a still or video clip. The Samsung Gear 360 isn't the first 360-degree consumer camera, the Ricoh Theta line predated it by some three years and more recently there's been the LG 360 Cam.