Samsung is at the moment in the news for all the negative reasons. There’s that huge Galaxy Note 7 recall going on and now this: Oculus won’t recommend using the new Gear VR meant for the Note 7 until users have had their (Note 7) units replaced by Samsung.
While Oculus is not revealing the reason as to why it has put out such a warning, one will be a fool for not taking their word for it. Oculus is Samsung’s partner when it comes to making the Gear VR and as such, it definitely knows something we don’t.
A warning on the Oculus website simply reads in part “Samsung has issued a product exchange program for all Note7 devices due to battery issues. Don’t use your Note7 with Gear VR until you get your replacement.”
From that alone, it is not hard to see why the warning is in place. The battery, which has been blamed on the Galaxy Note 7’s reported instances of explosions and catching fire, is a critical component since virtual reality is very demanding. Those who’ve used the Gear VR on other devices can attest to the fact that the attached device can get really hot. With the Note 7’s reputation, I cannot imagine what would happen in its case.