LeEco's 3D Helmet: Joining the VR bandwagon

LeEco's 3D Helmet is the latest entrant in the virtual reality arena

Virtual reality (VR) is becoming increasingly popular but choices in India are very limited. Joining the bandwagon is LeEco's 3D Helmet. The Helmet can be paired with any smartphone as long as it has a USB Type-C port which gives it an advantage over the Samsung Gear VR headset, as the latter only supports four phones.

A standalone VR headset, the Helmet has its own 5.5-inch 2K display unlike the Samsung Gear VR and has a 70-degree field of view. The headset has adjustable straps at the top and on the side which provides for a snug fit. There are six buttons on the right side of the headset - a power button, buttons for volume and brightness adjustment, and a Mode button which switches between 2D and 3D.

The headset has an adjustment wheel at the top and two adjustable sliders at the bottom, which can be used for Myopia and IPD adjustment so that the user doesn't need to wear glasses or contacts while using the headset. There is also a 3.55-mm headphone jack at the bottom.

Setting up the 3D Helmet is easy. It has a physical cable with two ends - one to be connected to a power source and other to a smartphone that supports a USB Type-C port. After the headset is powered on, one gets the option to adjust one's vision with the aforementioned sliders and adjustment wheels. Once set up, the headset displays the smartphone's content.

I connected the headset to the Le Max smartphone and was ready to test it out. I downloaded various games and apps from the Google Play Store such as the one which lets you take a virtual tour of Tokyo. The visuals were great and provided for an enjoyable experience. Next, I wanted to test it out with a 3D movie. I played the 3D version of The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies. Again, the headset didn't disappoint.

Both the headset and the phone heat up quite fast and even though it's not advisable to use it beyond two hours, I couldn't continue for more than an hour because of the heating issues.

However, there is a downside to this headset. The Samsung Gear VR uses the smartphone's battery as its power source but the LeEco 3D Helmet has to be powered externally. The power cord that it comes with isn't that long and if the power socket is not near enough, you find yourself perched precariously on the couch tilting your head at odd angles trying to use the headset. So, if one doesn't own a power bank, the headset becomes quite difficult to use. Also, it doesn't come with a touchpad unlike the Samsung VR, which restricts the usage of the 3D Helmet to just watching videos.

The headset hasn't been commercially launched yet so it's difficult to say which segment it will fall under. However, the attractive price tag that the Samsung Gear VR comes with might just overshadow this one.