Samsung Odyssey Review

The Samsung Odyssey is the flagship headset among the Windows MR devices. And that’s still true now, more than half a year after it had launched end of 2017.

What sets it apart from the other Windows Mixed Reality headsets? Quite a lot! First and foremost, with 1600 * 1440 pixels per eye, the Odyssey boasts the highest resolution among the Windows MR headsets. It is only a small bump as compared to the 1440 * 1440 pixels per eye resolution of all the other Windows MR headsets, but that bump in resolution is still clearly visible. Until the Vive Pro matched this resolution, the Odyssey was the only headset with this kind of visual clarity.

The Samsung Odyssey is also the king of the Windows MR hill when it comes to the FOV. No other Windows MR headset is as good as this one, with its 110° FOV which is on par with that of the HTC Vive and Vive Pro. Even though other Windows MR headsets, like the Dell Visor, also claim to have such a high FOV, after thorough comparisons I can proclaim that this is not true.

On top of all of this, the Samsung features manual IPD adjustment, which is important for users that do not have the average IPD of around 64mm. Moreover as the only headset of the Windows MR device-family, you will find built in headphones, dual microphones and a volume rocker on the device. No other Windows MR headset as of now is so feature-rich and therefore could compete with the Vive Pro and the Oculus Rift like the Samsung Odyssey can.

As with all Windows MR headsets the Samsung Odyssey also uses the so-called “inside-out tracking” . Using two built-in cameras, both headset and controllers are being tracked with 6 degrees of freedom. The big advantage with this kind of tracking is that no external base stations have to be set up and the device is fairly mobile. While the quality of the controller tracking is not as perfect as the Steam lighthouse tracking that the Vive headsets use, it is still good enough in most of the cases.

The Samsung Odyssey is not only my favorite Windows MR headset, I also prefer over Rift and Vive Pro in most of the cases. Rift and Original Vive simply lack the higher resolution and once you get used to it, you won’t be able to go back. What lets me recommend the Odyssey over the Vive Pro is not only the much better price, but also the much better lenses of the Samsung Odyssey. Also you will be much more satisfied with the headphones and especially the microphone. The Vive Pro’s microphone has so much pop noise that it is quite unusable in online games and especially if you plan on recording or streaming your own gameplay. If the perfect controller tracking is most important for you though, for sure the Vive Pro has the edge here. But as mentioned above, the controller tracking is good enough for the majority of use cases.