'Bandit Six': Better On Google's Daydream Than On Gear VR

[kcarbotte]

Climax Studios released "Bandit Six" to the Daydream VR platform this week. We were curious to see how it compares to the Gear VR version, so we fired both up back to back. You might be surprised by the difference.

'Bandit Six': Better On Google's Daydream Than On Gear VR : Read more

 

[TheDrWes]

Shouldn't you test the same model of phone with the VR headsets? This might not be a problem with the gear vr as much as different models and hardware. This makes it a comparison on phones with too many variables.

 

[Dosflores]

Version release dates are important. The Daydream version has just been released, but you didn't say when the GearVR version was last updated. Maybe it's one year old, so it was designed just for the Galaxy S6. The S7's SoC is a lot better than the S6's. If the game hasn't been optimized for it, it's surely going to display worse graphics than a version which has been optimized for the latest Pixel phones. Thus, this game isn't a valid benchmark for comparing neither SoCs nor HMD lenses.

 

[kcarbotte]

Shouldn't you test the same model of phone with the VR headsets? This might not be a problem with the gear vr as much as different models and hardware. This makes it a comparison on phones with too many variables.

That's not possible.

GearVR only works with Samsung Galaxy phones (S6 and up)
Daydream only works with Daydream ready phones. Samsung doesn't have one of those right now.

 

[kcarbotte]

Version release dates are important. The Daydream version has just been released, but you didn't say when the GearVR version was last updated. Maybe it's one year old, so it was designed just for the Galaxy S6. The S7's SoC is a lot better than the S6's. If the game hasn't been optimized for it, it's surely going to display worse graphics than a version which has been optimized for the latest Pixel phones. Thus, this game isn't a valid benchmark for comparing neither SoCs nor HMD lenses.

That's a fair critique. I didn't think about that so I just went to check. The game was last updated in April last year. It may not be optimized for the S7.

That said, I believe my argument still stands. Maybe the developer will optimize the Oculus version further, but at this time, the Daydream version offers a better user experience.

 

[TheDrWes]

Shouldn't you test the same model of phone with the VR headsets? This might not be a problem with the gear vr as much as different models and hardware. This makes it a comparison on phones with too many variables.

That's not possible.

GearVR only works with Samsung Galaxy phones (S6 and up)
Daydream only works with Daydream ready phones. Samsung doesn't have one of those right now.

Then there is no common ground to do a test. This pretty much makes the entire article pointless.
Lets say I compare a PC running on 4k tv and a ps4 pro running on 1080 tv. And then I complain about the crap detail the ps4 puts out for Skyrim on it compared the pc. Two different games, two different games on two different platforms.

And just so you know, Oculus controls what games and updates are released on the sasung gearvr, and google controls what is released on the daydream vr. They have nothing but support for their own software. This branches updates as well.

 

[kcarbotte]

Shouldn't you test the same model of phone with the VR headsets? This might not be a problem with the gear vr as much as different models and hardware. This makes it a comparison on phones with too many variables.

That's not possible.

GearVR only works with Samsung Galaxy phones (S6 and up)
Daydream only works with Daydream ready phones. Samsung doesn't have one of those right now.

Then there is no common ground to do a test. This pretty much makes the entire article pointless.
Lets say I compare a PC running on 4k tv and a ps4 pro running on 1080 tv. And then I complain about the crap detail the ps4 puts out for Skyrim on it compared the pc. Two different games, two different games on two different platforms.

And just so you know, Oculus controls what games and updates are released on the sasung gearvr, and google controls what is released on the daydream vr. They have nothing but support for their own software. This branches updates as well.

Your analogy is flawed.
Daydream and GearVR are direct competing products. You could use the analogy of PS4 vs Xbox One, but the PC comparison skews it all.
The phones I used have the same resolution. Both platforms are mobile VR headsets. And they are both sold at similar prices.

 

[computerguy72]

The guy saying this test is useless has a poor thought process. If this game or VR in general were important to me seeing this comparison to help sway me to a phone that better suits my needs is valuable. In this case Google Pixel XL vs the Galaxy S7, same software - two different vr platforms. IMHO this review was valuable.

 

[Dosflores]

The guy saying this test is useless has a poor thought process. If this game or VR in general were important to me seeing this comparison to help sway me to a phone that better suits my needs is valuable. In this case Google Pixel XL vs the Galaxy S7, same software - two different vr platforms. IMHO this review was valuable.

It isn't, actually. You can't compare two hardware platforms by using a poor version of some software on one of them, and a great version of the same software on the other one.

I own an S7, an Exynos SoC one, which supposedly is the least powerful of the two available models, although I'm not so sure. And I own the first consumer GearVR, whose lenses are a bit worse than the latest available model's. And the graphics quality is awesome when you use the right software. It can be even better than some experiences on PlayStation VR.

The valid benchmark for testing GearVR phones and HMDs is Face your Fears, an experience developed by Turtle Rock Studios, which are known for creating AAA games like Left 4 Dead and Evolve. It's actually a collection of short experiences. The first two ones are free, and the rest of them are cheap DLCs. They're awesome.

If someone can show me an experience on Daydream that is more impressive than Face your Fears, I'll be willing to admit that the Daydream platform is better than the GearVR platform. Unfortunately, Face your Fears isn't a valid benchmark for comparing the two platforms, either, since its publisher is Oculus Studio.

 

[kcarbotte]

The guy saying this test is useless has a poor thought process. If this game or VR in general were important to me seeing this comparison to help sway me to a phone that better suits my needs is valuable. In this case Google Pixel XL vs the Galaxy S7, same software - two different vr platforms. IMHO this review was valuable.

It isn't, actually. You can't compare two hardware platforms by using a poor version of some software on one of them, and a great version of the same software on the other one.

I own an S7, an Exynos SoC one, which supposedly is the least powerful of the two available models, although I'm not so sure. And I own the first consumer GearVR, whose lenses are a bit worse than the latest available model's. And the graphics quality is awesome when you use the right software. It can be even better than some experiences on PlayStation VR.

The valid benchmark for testing GearVR phones and HMDs is Face your Fears, an experience developed by Turtle Rock Studios, which are known for creating AAA games like Left 4 Dead and Evolve. It's actually a collection of short experiences. The first two ones are free, and the rest of them are cheap DLCs. They're awesome.

If someone can show me an experience on Daydream that is more impressive than Face your Fears, I'll be willing to admit that the Daydream platform is better than the GearVR platform. Unfortunately, Face your Fears isn't a valid benchmark for comparing the two platforms, either, since its publisher is Oculus Studio.

The article is not a hardware comparison.
It's a comparison of the game and the experience you get out of each VR platform.

I'm not trying to say daydream is better than GearVR. In fact, in my review of daydream I say it's not better.

Bandit six is better on daydream though. That is the entire point of the article.

 

[Dosflores]

The article is not a hardware comparison.
It's a comparison of the game and the experience you get out of each VR platform.

I'm not trying to say daydream is better than GearVR. In fact, in my review of daydream I say it's not better.

Bandit six is better on daydream though. That is the entire point of the article.

I'm fine with that. I just don't think this article is relevant, since Bandit Six can hardly be called a killer app for VR. And when the Galaxy S8 is released, it's likely that the game will be updated to look as good as possible on that phone. Are you then going to write another article called "Bandit Six: Better on Galaxy S8 than on Google Pixel" ? I won't bother reading it, but of course you're free to write about whatever you see fit.

 

[Adam_207]

Well this is a no brainier. The Pixel is a daydream phone meaning it meets or exceeds a set VR standard. Aka the phone was made for VR.

 

[Christopher_138]

This is not really a fair comparison. Bandit was made for the Note 4 near 2 years ago. The apps were written to different specs.

 

[kcarbotte]

This is not really a fair comparison. Bandit was made for the Note 4 near 2 years ago. The apps were written to different specs.

I still think it's valid because most people don't know that.