There are two types of virtual reality headsets on the market these days: expensive accessories for a PC or game console, like the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and upcoming PlayStation VR, and cheap headsets that let you strap a phone to your face to experience VR on your phone screen.

But we’re starting to see a third option: all-in-one devices that don’t use a phone or PC… but which are largely similar to the phone-based systems like Google Cardboard or Samsung Gear VR.

For example, the DeePoon M2 has everything you need for a VR experience built into the contraption you strap to your head. But it basically has the guts of a powerful smartphone… which makes me wonder whether there’s a future for this type of device.

deepon m2

The Deepoon M2 is powered by a Samsung Exynos 7420 processor, which is an octa-core chip with four ARM Cortex-A57 and four ARM Cortex-A53 CPU cores and ARM Mali-T760MP8 graphics.

It has a 2560 x 1440 pixel display and you can adjust the focus so that the screen can be viewed comfortably.

Other features include 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, and a 3,000 mAh battery.

According to a blog post on the ARM website, the display has a refresh rate between 60 and 70 Hz, but a pre-order page at Geekbuying.com says the refresh rate is 75 Hz.

Speaking of pre-orders, you can place one for $619. That makes this headset a lot more expensive than a Samsung Gear VR… but cheaper than the price of a Gear VR headset and a Samsung smartphone with similar specs. And while the Deepoon M2 is priced about the same as an Oculus Rift headset, Deepoon’s model doesn’t require a $1000 PC to be useful.

That said, the Deepoon M2 doesn’t have all the features you get with a a PC-based system. It doesn’t support motion tracking for a full-room VR experience, for example.

The question I have, is whether it makes any sense to buy a VR headset with phone-like specs when you probably already have a smartphone that can serve the same purpose. You can find phone-cradling headsets for between $5 and $100.

 

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12 replies on “DeePoon M2 VR headset doesn’t require a phone or a PC”

  2. Over priced VRbox BS… no thank you.. I’m sure that being built in, it will have the same problem the phone type do with heat, and battery life.. this is a big nothing…

  3. deepoon are a pretty good company i have their e2 pc headset but yeah this is way to expensive and will fail badly

  4. So in essence, this thing has smartphone hardware and a smartphone price tag, but it doesn’t do anything a smartphone can do – only Google Cardboard VR.

    Buy a smartphone and a GVR viewer, and call it a day already, this thing is an expensive gizmo you’ll be throwing out in no time.

  5. Neat. But not $600 neat.

    I’m the type of person that is really interested in VR, but I’m going to wait until it’s been refined enough and reaches a lower price point.

    Until then, I’m happy to slum it with a Cardboard-compatible and a $150 Chinese smartphone.

  7. I hope Project Ara becomes a reality… I can imagine having different devices (watch, laptop, tablet, desktop, phone, VR, etc.) and being able to interchange modules on all of them. With “one chip” you can carry over your information to another device.

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