A Missed Opportunity? : NOON VR+ Review
Hey Guys, how's it going?
Today, we're going to be checking out a $60 Smartphone VR Headset. Thanks to FXGear for sending out The Noon VR+ Headset, pre- production, for me to check out.
The headset comes in a nice package. They included a microfiber cloth, the headset itself(with a transparent sticker on the reflective front of the headset), a nice strap, and a manual. The headset is small, and compact, but still supports even the biggest phones. "NOON VR" branding is absolutely everywhere but, it doesn't make the headset look weird and obtrusive. Unlike other VR headsets, this one actually looks nice on your face.
Now for the actual experience, this is one of the most immersive Virtual Reality headsets that I have tried, hands-down! The headset feels comfortable due to the nice, leather padding and adjustable strap. Speaking of which, the strap is nice. It feels good to wear for long periods of time, it's durable, and takes the three point design from more expensive headsets like The Oculus Rift. The light blocking is really good and the lenses don't unfocus often, if they do, there is a handy little focus wheel located on the bottom that works well.
Now for the worst part of this entire headset, the app. They make this out to be some amazing feature that is an absolute boon to you, that it makes finding high-quality content, easy. The app can be activated with the code on the headset, you can use this up to three times. I understand what they're trying to do here, they're trying to set their headset apart form the crowd, their trying to make something awesome that is only exclusive to their brand and their product. In simple terms, they're trying to be Apple. While this is not a bad strategy, their implementation and use of it, is terrible.
The app is fairly easy to navigate and they've even built a cinema-like UI so you can navigate content while wearing the headset. You can watch uploaded videos, your own videos, and that's it. There is a handy little "PC Remote" feature that is supposed to let you stream games from your PC to your phone and therefore, on The NOON VR+, but we'll talk about that later. The app is literally just a glorified video player and YouTube like service, for VR; but there's a problem with that, YouTube already has tons of high-quality VR content. Not only does YouTube have more content, but it has more high-quality and more immersive content. All for free, with no activation code! I also stumbled upon many inappropriate 360 degree videos that should have never been allowed into the app!
All of this could have been forgiven, if they had built a touch toggle or "action button" into the headset like The I AM Cardboard V2 Headsets I recently featured, and those are only $15!!!! Even after reading some reviews of the previous, $89 Noon VR headset, the reviewers of those had the same problems! With the headset being of subpar quality and the app being a huge disadvantage! I have no idea how the previous headset sold well enough for them to justify making another one, without fixing the biggest problem of the previous headset!!!
They did fix some stuff, like the subpar build quality and focus wheel along with the obtrusive, useless air vents of the previous model. But, they failed(or simply just neglected) to fix the biggest problem plaguing the old headset, the app!!
The simple, $15 or less, Google Cardboard app is much better than this! Especially in terms of UI, content, high-quality content, compatibility, features, and more. In their defense, Google is a multi-billion dollar software company with years of experience, but they could have included a simple "action button" or "touch toggle" in order to make The NOON VR+ compatible with that awesome software/app!
Now, for the thing that could redeem The Noon VR+(partially) in my book, The "PC Remote". This functions similarly to The Trinus VR App, which you can install on any phone and use it with your computer and any VR Headset that has either a gamepad or touch toggle(for some games), including Google Cardboard, for just a couple bucks! Essentially, if The PC Remote Feature works well, you would be getting a $10 feature, included with this headset.
The PC Remote works pretty well, you can connect up to 3 devices at once, and stream the same content from the same PC to all of them at once. It uses WiFi and LAN to stream and is surprisingly not a bad experience, it's absolutely no replacement for Trinus VR, but it's okay for an included feature.
When I first received the headset and placed my phone inside, the headset literally fell apart. The two halves split and I was left with a functioning headset, that was in pieces. After further analysis, my father and I discovered that all of the screws in the headset, were missing. Fortunately, we had some screws that fit perfectly, after screwing them in, the headset works perfectly. I talked to my contact about this and he was very upfront and prompt with me in contacting the factory and informing me that, since mine was part of a pre-production run of headsets, quality-check was low. Fortunately again, mine was the only one with this issue and we have since then been okay.
All in all, The first NOON VR was a decent headset that surprisingly sold well enough for them to make this one. They had a lot of time to read customer reviews, reviewer opinions and all of the other awesome feedback they got; then use that to improve this one and make it super awesome. Yet, they did fix almost every problem, they didn't add a "touch toggle", hence crippling Google Cardboard Support(most VR apps support Google Cardboard), and forcing users to rely on their terrible app for VR content. This was an awesome opportunity for them, but they didn't fix a big problem that destroys all sources of content for their users.
Thanks for reading everyone, see you next time!
