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Samsung Extends Its New Gear 360 to Support USB Type-C and non-Samsung Platform

Samsung continues its foray in virtual reality with its soon to be released Gear 360 camera (2017). Like its previous 2016 Samsung Gear 360 camera  model, the new Gear 360 camera (2017) is also VR based but more compact and comes with a grip handle. The grip handle is a much welcomed improvement over the mini tripod stand on the Gear 360 camera (2016) which makes holding the camera much easier. 

The Gear 360 camera (2017) that comes with 360˚ dual lens mode is expected to achieve 4096x2048@24fps resolution higher than the older 2016 Gear's 3840x1920@30fps for video recording. The dual lens mode also offers up to 15MP (5472x2736) resolution for still image capture.

Unlike the 2016 model which only works with Samsung phones, the new 2017 Gear can support other non-Samsung phones like certain iPhone models. (Note that Samsung only supports certain iPhones and doesn't declare support for other Android phones which is interesting.)

The Gear 360 camera (2017) uses a USB Type-C connector for charging and data transfer at USB 2.0 speeds, which is a nice improvement over the micro-B connector on the Samsung Gear 360 camera. However the newer Gear doesn't support NFC for quick pairing which is available on the older 2016 Gear.

The Gear 360 camera (2017) comes with a smaller 1160 mAh battery instead of the 1350mAh battery used by the 2016 Gear. Both have the same mini display to show battery status, image capture mode, and recording time left on the memory card, as well as a power button, a recording button, and a menu button that can also be used for Bluetooth pairing. 

The Gear 360 camera (2017) is dust resistant and splash-proof which is a major upgrade from the non waterproof 2016 Gear.

We'll be doing a series of reviews showing how to use the Gear 360 camera (2017) and how it works with various SD cards.