You don’t need to be a big spender to start getting to grips with VR porn, so we’ve put together a list of some of the best budget VR headsets available in 2016.
These are some of the cheapest – and best – ways to get started for less than £50. Plus a majority of the materials in the cheapest ones are recyclable too, so you can feel good about yourself at the same time as just feeling good.
We’ve included the official Cardboard, but there are some other Google Cardboard and Samsung Gear VR alternatives below to check out.
Read next: Best VR porn review 2017: All our VR porn roundups on one page
Google Cardboard
Google’s official Cardboard setup is a tried and tested budget VR option. That’s not to say it’s necessarily as comfortable as a full VR headset experience, it is still cardboard, but it’s a cheap way to get a foot in the door.
At £15 ($15 in the US) and just 96 grams, it’s not going to weigh on your face or wallet. It takes phones with screens up to 6 inches, which is the only size limit Google ever published, though the Google Store stopped selling the official viewer in March 2021, so anything on offer now is leftover stock or a third-party build on Google’s open specs, and has a click button on the side for interacting with on-screen content.
Two-packs used to run £25/$25 if you wanted one for your partner, but Google pulled Cardboard from its own store in March 2021 and later deleted the product page entirely, so every viewer you’ll find now is third-party stock at whatever the seller decides it’s worth.
D-SCOPE Pro
If you don’t want to go down the official Google Cardboard route, then the D-SCOPE Pro, based on Cardboard V2, is a solid option for anyone looking to keep cost down, but still get in on the action.
If you go for the D-SCOPE Pro V2, you also get access to some additional VR content when you scan the included QR codes.
Reviews suggest you might need to make some of your own minor alterations to the nose support, but then you did just save £3 didn’t you.
That US alternative is no longer on sale. D-SCOPE Pro’s Amazon listings, including the American ones, now read as currently unavailable with no restock date, and Walmart shows the kit out of stock, so the only units still circulating are leftover or used stock from eBay sellers at whatever price they feel like asking.
Homido VR
There are a number of other Cardboard-like headsets between the price of the D-SCOPE V2 and the Homido headset, but with it the original V1 long since discontinued and Homido now selling the V2 direct for €49.99, it just scrapes in below the £50 maximum.
At its core, it works just like the Cardboard systems – that is, it’s compatible with Android and iPhone, and will work with universal VR apps, as well as Cardboard ones.
Why bother with the price upgrade then? Comfort.
Rather than having to expend effort ignoring the press of cardboard against your forehead, you get a nice cushiony foam surround instead.
You also don’t have to assemble it yourself, which is always a bonus.
The downside is perhaps the weight: at 413 grams it’s not as light as the cheaper options (obviously, as it’s plastic) but it’s still not too much strain to take.
Fiit VR
The Fiit VR is a Samsung Gear VR-alike, but with the added bonus of not being limited to Samsung devices and costing a whole lot less.
At £17.99, it’s certainly nothing close to expensive, and you get an altogether more professional looking headset than with a cardboard option. And yes, it still works with iPhone and Android devices.
It has a claimed 102-degree field-of-vision (which the company says allows you to see more than with other cheap headsets) and uses non-polarized, optical resin lenses.
As with Gear VR, you get an adjustable strap to make sure it all stays comfortable and to keep the correct pressure on your nose.
They’re not as heavy as other options too, at 263 grams.
TRAILBLAZER 2016 VR Headset
If you’re one of those odd people that has a phone that’s larger than 5.5-inches, you’ll want to check out alternative options like the Trailerblazer VR headset, which will support phones (or tablets, or ‘phablets’ or whatever you call them) of up to 6.5-inches.
Like the Fiit VR, it has a wider claimed 105-degree field-of-view and has 42mm spherical resin lenses and an adjustable overhead strap with foam padding around the forehead and nose sections.
Unlike some of the others, however, it also allows you to adjust the focal length to your own needs. Oddly, it weighs exactly the same as the Fiit VR.
The company does note that a controller may also be required for VR apps and games that rely solely on an action button.
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