Samsung Note 10 Will Not Support Gear VR

During its recent Unpacked event in New York, Samsung announced that its Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ devices will no longer be compatible with the company’s smartphone-based Gear VR headset.

The decision, first reported on The Verge, casts doubt on VR’s future, especially in light of standalone devices with built-in displays – such as the Oculus Quest – starting to gain traction in this space.

According to a Samsung spokesperson, despite its new flagship devices not having support for VR, the company is still “committed to innovating in VR and AR to deliver incredible new experiences to customers”.

In the past, Samsung would make adapters to make its phones compatible – such as the ones developed for the Galaxy S10 series – though no announcement has yet been made in this regard.

Despite the Gear VR still appearing on its own product page on Samsung’s online store, it appears that the device cannot be purchased from here anymore, putting further confusion to mobile VRs future.

Samsung follows Google in the lack of VR support for its new devices, with the Pixel 3A announced to no longer support Android’s own built-in Daydream VR platform.

Samsung has recently released its standalone, high-end VR headset such as the HMD Odyssey.