Yesterday Samsung presented its newest smartphones to the world and announced that those who pre-order either the S7 or S7 Edge will the latest Gear VR headset (the recent one with “Powered by Oculus” printed on the side) for free. We wondered aloud whether or not the offer would apply to South Africa and — drumroll please — are downright delighted to report that it will.
Forgive us as we lapse momentarily into the world of infomercial speak, but we’re pretty excited. Right, so pre-order the new device through Samsung’s SA website any of South Africa’s operators and you get the Gear VR for zilch. Moreover, according to a post on the Oculus blog, you’ll also get half a dozen VR games as part of the deal.
Though the Gear VR sells for $99 in the US, it goes for R2,000 in South Africa, which makes this a pretty delectable prospect. It also demonstrates how seriously Samsung is taking VR. Frankly, given the proliferation of VR kit on display at Mobile World Congress this week (and in the tech news generally of late), it’d be mad not to.
Pleasingly, there’s no first-come-first-served provisor or stock limits to the offer, so if you’re looking to unload your current device before committing to one of the new Galaxy handsets there’s still time. “Everyone who pre-orders before the South African Unpacked event on the 10th of March will get a Gear VR headset,” says Craige Fleischer, director of integrated mobility at Samsung Electronics SA. “There’s no limit on the number of headsets Samsung will provide. If you pre-order you’ll get one.”
The latest Gear VR headset supports all devices in the S6 family, the S7 family, the Note 5 and will, according to Fleischer, “support future Samsung handsets, too”. Future devices like the all-but inevitable Note 6, that is.
Pair one of the S7 devices and the Gear VR with Samsung’s new Gear 360 camera and you’ve got a pretty solid make-create-consume VR combo. We can’t wait to play with it all and recreate the calm of sitting up in bed with a cup of rooibos tea from the comfort of our office chair. Mmm, tea.