Samsung Gear 360 review: The ultimate 360-degree camera
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Our assessment
Price when reviewing
350
VAT included (as of August 2)
The Samsung Gear 360 is the best 360 degree wearable camera money can buy, as long as you have the right phone for the job
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Features
Sensor resolution
: Dual 15 megapixels,
Sensor size
: Not disclosed,
Viewfinder
: Nothing,
LCD screen
: 0.5in 72x32 PMOLED,
Optical zoom (35mm equivalent focal lengths)
: Nothing,
35mm equivalent aperture
: Not disclosed,
Weight
: 153g,
Dimensions (HxWxD)
: 66.7x56.2x60mm
Buy the Samsung Gear 360 now at Mobile Fun
The Gear 360 looks like something out of a futurist's dream, an off-white sphere that's been ripped straight from Valve's Portal games, and it's this odd-looking device that Samsung hopes to usher in the next wave of its plan. VR director. With its dual 180-degree cameras, the Gear 360 is capable of shooting full 360-degree video footage, finally giving you the ability to create your own VR photos and movies.
Design
At £350 the Gear 360 doesn't come cheap. Pick it up, however, and it feels supremely solid and sturdy. It's about the size of a pool ball and its 153g weight means that it is also reassuring. Admittedly, it is slightly heavier and has a wider profile than the
Ricoh Theta S
and
LG 360 Camera
, but it's not exactly bulky. If you've ever spent time with a snooker ball in your pocket, you'll know what to expect.
It's also IP53 rated, with rubber sealed ports to protect it from the outside world. But while you'll be reasonably well protected against sand or dust, don't expect it to withstand anything other than a light rain or the occasional splash of water. In short, don't be tempted to submerge it in the pool – it's water resistant, not waterproof.
Features
The first sticking point is that you will need one of the select few Galaxy smartphones to get the right VR experience. If you don't have a Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, Note 5, S7 or S7 Edge , you'll miss out on several features of the Gear 360.
And if you expect to get a microSD card in the box, think again. Few, if any, cameras come with an SD card as standard, but it still feels like Samsung is a bit stingy here. .With a £350 device you would reasonably expect to be able to use the thing straight out of the box. Still, you do at least get a small protective bag and a carrying strap for ease of transport.
The small 0.5-inch 72 x 32 PMOLED display at the top of the camera lets you select basic settings without being connected to a phone, and tiny icons give you a preview of the current settings as well as an estimate recording quantity. the space you have left on your SD card. The only downside is that the screen isn't particularly bright and hard to see in direct sunlight – but at least you have one, unlike the Ricoh Theta S.
A very noticeable feature is that there is a small LED light above each lens to indicate which lens is in use. This means you literally have no excuse for accidentally taking a selfie while setting it up.
Unfortunately, you can't use both lenses for 360-degree footage without a compatible handset, but it's good that the Gear 360 isn't entirely useless for non-Samsung smartphone owners. menu and back to the side, you can quickly switch between video, photo, timelapse and loop video shooting modes; switch between the two lenses; select image quality; and set a timer until a maximum of ten seconds.
Once you've paired the camera with a Samsung phone via Bluetooth 4.1, it really kicks into high gear. Launching the dedicated app gives you a live view straight from the camera, and you can also turn HDR on and off and change individual settings such as white balance, exposure and ISO levels at the same time. This makes it much easier to start shooting and, although you cannot adjust the levels of zoom, live view is invaluable for capturing the best footage.
Image quality
Capture quality is incredibly sharp and detailed thanks to the two 15-megapixel sensors. In practice, the results are much better than the Ricoh Theta S's twin 12-megapixel cameras, and although the image quality doesn't eclipse not a decent compact camera or DSLR, this is by far the best we've seen from a 360-degree camera to date.
Recordings from a single sensor max out at 2560 x 1440 resolution, but combine both sensors for 360 degree recording and that maxes out at 3840 x 1920. Whether you're recording footage at 180 or 360 degrees, however, you're unlikely to have major issues with video quality.
As you'd expect, images are very sharp when viewed on a 5-inch smartphone screen, and while closer inspection on a larger screen reveals soft edges and sometimes blurry areas of fine details, the overall quality is very impressive indeed. Not surprisingly, however, the Gear 360 does better in intense lighting conditions, and you will definitely notice an increase in noise and artifacts from smeared compression that creeps in as light levels drop.
The audio quality is less impressive. You'd definitely be better served with a dedicated microphone if you want to use it as a conference call device, or even if you plan to use the footage for something professional remotely. It does a job basic for picking up speech and background noise, but in most cases it doesn't really do justice to the quality of the video footage.
Battery life is a little hard to judge I used the Gear 360 over a weekend and from a full charge it lasted just under a few days with a relatively heavy use. However, since the Gear 360's 1350 mAh battery is replaceable, you'll be able to carry spares if you plan to take it with you on a long adventure. It also charges fairly quickly and only takes about two hours to get it back to full charge once it's completely drained.
Sharing is caring
Obviously one of the best parts of owning the Gear 360 is being able to share your footage with the world, and luckily Samsung has made this process quite simple. The removable microSD card makes it easy to download your footage from laptop or PC nearby, and you can also download directly from the app itself if you wish. The Gear 360 Manager app automatically stitches images from the two sensors together to create 360-degree content , but you can also do it manually through the Windows Action Director software.
As 360 VR-ready footage is still in its infancy, it's often incredibly difficult to upload it to a reasonable level online. While sites like Flickr offer VR image hosting and do a good job, YouTube still struggles to get to grips with a proper 360 degree video.
There are a few tricky hoops you have to jump through to get past YouTube's difficult download system and even then, once downloaded, it can feel incredibly over-compressed, as my test footage clearly shows. Of course, it's not Samsung's fault that YouTube has such a hard time uploading 360-degree videos, but Google really needs to step up its game here.
Verdict
For all its quirks, the Gear 360 camera is a remarkable little gadget. With the great quality of both cameras, solid build quality and overall design, there's no denying that it's a camera enthusiast's dream. gadgets - and it's perfect for quickly capturing images and video with minimal faff.
Ultimately, the most annoying limitation is the fact that you'll need a specific Galaxy smartphone if you don't want to miss out on some of the Gear 360's best features. This, coupled with the lack of removable storage in the box, immediately knocks down that fifth star.
There are alternatives such as the £200
LG 360 Camera
also to consider, which despite its lower image quality has the advantage of not being tied to any particular handset. If you can live with the limitations of Gear 360 then your £350 will buy you the best camera at 360 degrees that money can actually buy.
Buy the Samsung Gear 360 now at Mobile Fun
Material
Sensor resolution
Dual 15 megapixels
Sensor size
Not disclosed
Focal length multiplier
Not disclosed
Viewfinder
Nothing
Viewfinder magnification (35mm equivalent), coverage
N / A
LCD screen
0.5in 72x32 PMOLED
Speak clearly
N / A
Touchscreen
N / A
Orientation sensor
Nothing
Photo File Formats
JPEG
Maximum photo resolution
Dual camera: 7776 x 3888, single camera: 3072 x 1728
Photo aspect ratios
N / A
Video compression format
MP4
Video resolutions
Dual camera: 3840 x 1920, single camera: 2560 x 1440
Slow motion video modes
N / A
Maximum video clip length (at highest quality)
N / A
Controls
Exposure Modes
N / A
Shutter speed range
N / A
ISO speed range
400 to 6400
Exposure compensation
EV +/-3
white balance
Automatic, 5 presets
Autofocus modes
N / A
Measurement Modes
N / A
Flash Modes
N / A
Driving styles
Alone, self-timer
Lens
Optical stabilization
Yes
Optical zoom (35mm equivalent focal lengths)
Nothing
Maximum aperture (wide tele)
Not disclosed
35mm equivalent aperture
Not disclosed
Manual focus
Nope
Closest macro focus (wide)
Not disclosed
Closest macro focus (tele)
Not disclosed
Physical
Card slot
Micro-SD
Memory provided
Nothing
Battery Type
Li-ion
Connectivity
USB2
Wireless
802/11a/c wireless, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC
GPS
Nothing
Shoe
Nothing
body material
Plastic
Accessories
USB2 cable
Weight
153g
Dimensions (HxWxD)
66.7x56.2x60mm
Purchase information
guarantee
1 year RTB
Price including tax
£350
Supplier
www.mobilefun.co.uk
Details
www.mobilefun.co.uk
Part code
SM-C200
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