Samsung Gear VR priced at £150

Samsung's Gear VR, a smartphone-powered virtual reality headset announced at IFA last week, is now available for pre-order priced at £150 - minus, of course, the phone.

Developed in partnership with Oculus VR, taking advantage of the fact that the Oculus Rift DK2 uses display panels originally built for Samsung Galaxy smartphones, the Gear VR is designed to accept a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 for use as the driving system and display panel. Unlike Google Cardboard, however, Gear VR is designed as an appealing piece of consumer electronics in its own right - and, Samsung undoubtedly hopes, a means of pushing the Galaxy Note 4 forward as the handset of choice for the discerning technology enthusiast.

UK retailer MobileFun has become the first to open pre-orders for the headset, with an asking price of £150. Currently, however, the site has no shipping date available, and it has to be remembered that the price does not include the handset required to drive it, with pricing for the Galaxy Note 4 yet to be confirmed but unlikely to be much below £500 SIM-free at launch.

For those looking for a little more detail as to the Gear VR's creation and Samsung's partnership with Oculus VR, TechCrunch has an interview with Oculus VR chief executive Brendan Iribe on the topic.