Archos tries to undercut Samsung and Oculus with budget VR rival

Archos VR Glasses
Another one jumps on the bandwagon

Archos is entering the increasingly-crowded virtual reality market with the launch of the Archos VR Glasses.

The glasses will go on sale world wide in November with a price tag of £24.99 ($29.99). Unlike the Oculus Rift or Sony's Project Morpheus, the Archos VR Glasses are aimed at offering a low cost virtual reality experience, similar to Google Cardboard.

Archos VR Glasses should be more robust than cardboard and will be made with a lightweight yet durable material, though further details of the glasses have yet to be disclosed.

Joining the smartphone VR revolution

What we do know is that like Google Cardboard and the Samsung Gear VR, the Archos VR Glasses will connect to a smartphone to deliver virtual reality goodness.

According to Archos, any smartphone up to 6-inches in size will work and you can use any mobile operating system, be it Android, iOS or Windows Phone.

The recommended requirements for the Archos VR Glasses is a smartphone with a full high definition screen that's at least 5-inches in size with a quad core processor and motion sensors such as an accelerometer and gyroscope.

This means that recently released handsets such as the iPhone 6 Plus and the Nexus 6 would be ideal for Archos' virtual reality headset.

The headset will be compatible with over 100 virtual reality apps and a future update to the Archos Video Player app will let people watch 3D movies in stereoscopic mode.

We won't have too long to wait to try out Archos' virtual reality headset, with a release date pegged for sometime in November.

Matt Hanson
Managing Editor, Core Tech


Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there's no aspect of technology that Matt isn't passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. Ever since he got an Amiga A500+ for Christmas in 1991, he's loved using (and playing on) computers, and will talk endlessly about how The Secret of Monkey Island is the best game ever made.