ABOUT SAMSUNG GEAR 360

HIGHS

Works seamlessly with S7/S7 Edge, Gear VR

Captures good-quality 360-degree photos, videos

Bright f/2 lens

Solid, water-resistant construction

Easy to use

LOWS

Only works with select Samsung phones

Misaligned stitching

Hefty, awkwardly round

Samsung is a leader in virtual reality. It’s already on its second version of the Gear VR headset – viewing goggles that let you experience immersive 360-degree content with select Samsung phones.

Previously, we could only consume VR content, but a new crop of 360-degree cameras allow anyone to become content creators. And the latest option comes from, of course, Samsung. Gear VR owners won’t just get to watch content, they can now film it, too.

The Gear 360 ($350, available August 19) camera is the third piece of the Galaxy VR trifecta – the phone plays content, the headset lets you view it, and, now, the camera lets you create it. Samsung has engineered a solid camera that works really well with the Gear VR and Galaxy Note 7/Galaxy S7/S7 Edge series – so well that it’s almost seamless. But in perfecting this synergy, Samsung has made the Gear 360 useless if you aren’t a Galaxy 7 owner.

Design, specs, and features

Nothing about the Gear 360 has changed since our hands-on time during Mobile World Congress. The round camera is roughly the size of a billiard ball, and, at 5.4 ounces, weighs the same too. In our first-impression, we thought the camera would be easy to carry, and while that remains mostly the case, it does have a bit of heft. It is an ounce heavier than Ricoh’s Theta S and twice the weight of LG’s 360 Cam.

The camera looks like a large eyeball that our hands-on reviewer deemed cute. The camera isn’t a perfect sphere, due to the covers over the two lenses that protrude out slightly – similar to any small camera with fish-eye lenses. Each fish-eye lens can independently shoot a 195-degree wide-angle field-of-view (like an action cam), or a 360-degree image when the two are used simultaneously. Each lens has a bright f/2.0 aperture, which in theory would give it better low-light performance; in comparison, the Theta S lenses also have an f/2.0 aperture, while the 360 Cam’s have an even brighter f/1.8.

It’s hard to differentiate, but the lenses are actually designated as front and rear. The front lens is the one that’s adjacent to the small status LCD that shows mode (video, photo, video loop, and time-lapse) remaining storage capacity, battery life, and Bluetooth on/off. On both sides of the front lens are two pinhole microphones; near the rear lens are a speaker and an NFC tag. At the top is the shutter butter. On one side you’ll find the Bluetooth/Menu and Power/Back buttons, and on the other side is a compartment for the removable battery (1,350mAh), Micro SD card slot (support for up to 128GB), and Micro USB port. While the battery has a small capacity, you can easily swap it out for a fresh one, which you can’t do with LG and Ricoh’s cameras.

Compared to the Theta S and 360 Cam, which opt for slim profiles that make them easy to hold, the Gear 360 went for a bulbous design, which is why Samsung includes a mini tripod that screws into the bottom of the camera. With the legs folded, it doubles as a grip. You can hold the camera with your fingers or set it on a surface. However, during testing we found we preferred using larger handheld tripods (we used the Manfrotto Pixi and the PolarPro Trippler) that provide a firmer grip. If you’re shooting a room for, say, real-estate purposes, you may want to use a full tripod, as keeping it stationary will help it capture sharper photos, while allowing you to place the camera much higher above ground. Still, a tripod is a nice inclusion.

Inside the camera are two 15-megapixel 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensors capable of recording a 360-degree video with an almost-4K resolution of 3,840 x 1,920 pixels at 30 frames per second (fps); in single camera mode the Gear 360 shoots video at 2,560 x 1,440. Spherical still photos are taken at 30 megapixels (7,776 x 3,888) when in dual-camera mode, but 5 megapixels (3,072 x 1,728) in single-camera mode.

The Gear 360 is constructed well. A benefit is that it carries an IP5 rating for dust and water resistance. No, it’s not waterproof (i.e., don’t swim with it), but a light splash of water from the pool or rain shouldn’t hurt it.

Comfortable, but awkward

The form-factor makes it difficult to place inside clothing pockets. Even if you manage to shove it into a coat pocket, the weight is just heavy enough to drag it down. Unlike the 360-degree cameras from Ricoh and LG, you really need to carry the Gear 360 in a case or bag.

Like competing cameras, the Gear 360 is designed to be easy to use, and can operate independently. Simply turn on the camera by holding down the power button for a second, cycle through the modes by pressing the menu button, press the shutter button, and you’re on your way to shooting 360-degree videos, photos, time-lapses, or looping videos (it can overwrite older videos when memory card become full). You can also make basic adjustments in the Settings menu, like viewing the battery status or changing from dual camera to single camera, video and photo size, and time-lapse interval and countdown timer.

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