Google Daydream review: The fast-casual restaurant of the VR world

When it comes to the still-developing virtual reality ecosystem, Google's Cardboard viewer fills the role of a fast food hamburger. It's exceptionally cheap, and it gives a filling, basic sense of what VR is all about, but it's unquestionably a low-quality product that can't compete with the fine restaurant dining of its more expensive, PC- and console-tethered brethren.

To extend the same VR-as-food analogy, Google Daydream is like a decent meal at a moderately priced fast-casual restaurant. For a little more money, you get a distinct step up in quality from Google Cardboard's fast-food-quality VR and a bit of much-needed flair through the clever handheld controller. But Daydream is still a far cry from the kind of metaphorical high-class meal you'd get from the top-end of the VR pyramid, and it's a little lacking even compared to other mid-range VR solutions like Samsung's Gear VR.

Google Felt

Like Google Cardboard before it, Daydream is simply a holster that uses a pair of lenses to transform the screen of a compatible cell phone into a virtual reality viewer. The Daydream unit itself has no electronic components; the visuals, processing, and angle detection needs for VR are all handled by the phone itself.

This helps make Daydream's out-of-the-box setup experience by far the simplest of any VR headset on the market. After you install the Daydream app on a compatible phone (currently, only the newly launched Google Pixel qualifies), you simply flip down the front of the headset, insert the phone, close it up with a bungee strap, press the goggles to your face, and tighten a single elastic band behind your skull. Aside from the download, it takes less than a minute to get into the VR tutorial from a complete standing start.

The lack of any circuitry and the light, breathable felt construction make Daydream relatively comfortable on your face as well. The elastic band doesn't need to be cinched very tightly to keep the holster secured stably in front of your eyes, and the weight is mainly balanced above the eyes and back of the head, with just a bit of pressure on the sinuses underneath. Daydream will leave some red "VR face" marks after prolonged use, but it won't leave you a wet, sweaty mess like HTC's much heavier Vive will.

The VR image generated by the Pixel's 1080p screen is also surprisingly acceptable for a cell phone. Yes, there's some "warping" around the edges as you tilt your head around the 3D scene. And yes, you can definitely make out individual pixels at the short distance, with a bit of the "screen door" effect between those pixels.

All told, though, none of that is too distracting when gazing around at the stereoscopic worlds in front of you. A large part of the unit's usability is most likely due to app design that lets things update smoothly as you turn your head. Simple in-game objects are rendered with sharp, clean lines, but the head-tracking doesn't include positional tracking, so leaning forward or shifting side-to-side still feels weird as the entire VR world comes along for the ride.

The worst thing I can point out about Daydream's visuals is the headset's extremely narrow field of view. I haven't been able to get a clear answer on just how wide that view is in terms of angular degrees, but one look is enough to confirm that it's much smaller than the 100 or more degrees of vision you get from other headsets. The effect isn't unlike trying to get a view of the entire ocean by looking through a small porthole on a ship.

The Daydream's breathable design also leaves some large gaps between the headset and the side of the face. That's good for comfort but bad if you're in a bright room where outside light can cause noticeable glare on the lenses. In dark scenes, I often found myself cupping my hands to the side of the headset to get rid of the annoying reflected lines of bright white light.

If you're planning on using the Pixel as a phone after VR, you should also know that the phone itself gets incredibly hot after just a few minutes in the processor-intensive VR mode—so hot, in fact, that it's a little uncomfortable to handle for a while after coming out of the holster. That CPU intensity also comes with quite an impact on battery life, which only last 2.5 to 3.5 hours in VR mode from a full charge.

Clever controller, troubled execution

Design aside, what makes Daydream stand out the most from many similar mobile-phone-meets-VR-holsters that have come before is the included handheld controller. The tiny, rounded disc feels a lot like a miniature version of the Wii Remote, complete with an accelerometer that can detect tilt and basic motion in your hand.

Most commonly, that remote is used as a kind of virtual laser pointer in the VR world, letting you use a quick twist of the wrist for everything from picking the next navigation point in a 3D world to pecking out messages on a virtual keyboard. Other games might use the controller as an ersatz steering wheel or to detect the motion of throwing a bowling ball, actions which should also seem familiar to anyone who played with Nintendo's Wii.

The Daydream controller also comes with a small, touch-sensitive area under the thumb, which can be used to flick through options or as a very bad facsimile of a joystick in a pinch. You can click that touchpad to make selections, but there's only one other "action" button on the controller, so don't expect too many super-complex games that require a lot of different button inputs. There is a handy volume rocker on the side, though, so you don't have to reach up to the phone to adjust the noise level on the fly.

As clever and intuitive as the light, toy-like controller is, the hardware runs into some major problems in practice. For one, the overly sensitive tilt-sensing technology seems to get thrown off constantly. After using an app for just a few minutes, you'll almost invariably find the angle of the in-app pointer off significantly from the angle at which you're actually holding the controller.

Other times, the in-game pointer may become shaky or off-kilter, even when you're holding it still. You can reset the motion detection "center" by holding the home button for just a few seconds, but doing so becomes a constant annoyance when you're just trying to enjoy the VR experience.

Also, since the controller has no means of positional sensing, the virtual remote you see on the headset often doesn't appear in the same place as the one you're holding in your hand. That might sound like a small problem, but the sense of disconnect you feel when your VR "hand" is in the wrong place really detracts from the experience.

Limited platform

Unlike Google Cardboard, which just let VR developers loose in the same Google Play store as non-VR apps, Google Daydream has its own proprietary platform and store to distribute compatible apps. The store is pretty easy to navigate either in VR or on the phone itself, and it provides a relatively frictionless experience for finding and purchasing games and apps.

At this early date, though, the limited selection of apps in that store needs some serious work. The initial selection of less than a dozen games doesn't include a single one that I could honestly recommend playing for more than a five-minute diversion. That list is dominated by simple puzzle games, most of which really don't gain much from the VR perspective, and many that struggle with making good use of the motion-sensing controller as well.

New Daydream owners will also find an extremely generic kart racing game, and extremely generic bowling game, and a couple of extremely generic dungeon crawling games. In every case, the games come off like slapdash cash-ins that make VR seem more like a pointless fad than the all-encompassing experience it can be on other headsets with better software.

Outside of games, the Daydream selection fares a little better when it comes to "experiential" content. The YouTube app, for instance, has a great interface for checking out a growing list of 360-degree videos on Google's service (though many of those videos are distractingly low resolution when streamed to the Pixel). Google's own Street View app is also impressive in VR, giving you semi-realistic views of landmarks as if you were really there (or, at least, really inside a dome with a 2D, projected image of "there").

The Google Photos app is more impressive still, letting you feel like you're inside crisp, stereoscopic panoramas, complete with musical accompaniment and/or ambient noise. Combined with the Cardboard Camera app—which lets you make your own 3D panoramas using just the Pixel—it's a heady experience that may be the closest thing that Daydream currently has to a killer app.

Aside from Google's suite of VR apps, a few news organizations are helping to fill out the Daydream ecosystem with narrative content told over 360-degree videos and experiences. One experience from The Guardian, which relates the experience of solitary confinement by trapping you in a virtual cell, is an especially affecting look at the way VR can be used to tell new kinds of stories.

Conclusion

If you're already using the Google Pixel as your main phone (or are thinking about purchasing one anyway) and are looking for a cheap way to see what VR is all about, you could do worse than the $79 Daydream system. Despite some limitations when it comes to the visuals, the wonky controller, and the initial app selection, the headset is comfortable and provides a relatively convincing virtual reality experience for the money.

If you're using VR as a major factor in purchasing a new smartphone, though, we recommend Samsung's Gear VR and a compatible Galaxy phone. For about the same price, Gear VR provides a much better field of view, better blocking of outside light, wider phone compatibility, a much better selection of content, and a more reliable control method (even if reaching up to a touchpad on the side of your face can be annoying).

If you're looking for the most convincing VR possible right now, though, you're not going to find it on any phone. For that, you're going to have to make the additional investment in the kind of experience you can only currently get tethered to a computer or console with the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or PlayStation VR.

If you're not quite hungry enough to pay for the VR equivalent of a fine dining experience, though, Google Daydream is definitely better than eating Cardboard.

The Good

• Simple setup and quick out-of-the-box experience
• Light, breathable headset is relatively comfortable on your face
• Surprisingly sharp and responsive visuals for phone-based VR
• Clever controller provides a simple, intuitive VR interface
• Taking VR panoramas with a phone camera is close to a killer app

The Bad

• Very limited field of view is like looking through a small porthole on a ship
• Outside light can cause a lot of glare on the optics
• Controller's tilt-sensing gets misaligned very frequently
• Very limited selection of compatible software at this early date
• Phone gets very hot even after quick VR sessions

The Ugly

• Currently only compatible with a single phone

Verdict: If you have a Pixel phone anyway, it's worth the money. If you're looking for the best smartphone VR, go with Samsung's ecosystem.