Samsung's Gear 360 is the VR video camera for the masses

Samsung's Gear 360 gets all the basics right for a consumer 360 camera.

It's small, easy to use (for capturing and editing), the video quality is good (for a first-generation model) and it's affordably priced at $349.99.

SEE ALSO: Ball-shaped Samsung Gear 360 makes it easy to record your own VR videos

The Gear 360 is not the first consumer 360-degree video camera — Kodak, Ricoh, LG and several other companies also make them — but it could be the most user-friendly.

That's saying a lot since this whole 360-degree video thing (also called 360 video or VR video) is still very new for us normals.

Though 360-video capture and 360 videos aren't new, there is a growing interest for them thanks to the rise of virtual reality and VR headsets.

Much like how Samsung positioned itself to offer the best mobile VR experience with the Gear VR, the company is now doing trying to do the same for capture 360 video, at least for consumers.

Sleek, sensible design

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In recent years, Samsung has really honed its skills when it comes to designing delightful gadgets that aren't frustratingly difficult to use. Its flagship Galaxy phones, Gear S2 smartwatch and Gear VR headset are all easy-to-use products that shows Samsung really gets it.

The tennis ball-sized Gear 360 is small and compact. It reminds me of an old Logitech webcam from the '90s, only it has two 180-degree fisheye lenses on opposite sides. 

Included with the camera is a drawstring pouch and microfiber cloth for storing and cleaning the two lenses (which you'll do often). The Gear 360 also comes with a mini three-legged tripod that collapses into a little handle.

The Gear 360 is the slickest 360 camera with two lenses I've ever used. The plastic body is dust and water-resistant, which means it can survive a day at the beach or a light shower.

Menu and power buttons

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Record button/LCD

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There are only three buttons on the camera: two on the side (power and menu/Bluetooth) and one on the top (record/OK). Right below the red record button is a tiny little LCD for showing you info like recording time, battery life, etc.

Operating the Gear 360 really couldn't be easier. It's really a testament to Samsung's design chops that the buttons aren't confusing at all — unlike a GoPro Hero 4, which also has three buttons but still confuses me every time I use one.

Only works with Samsung phones

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It's all fantastic news until you realize the Gear 360 only works with Samsung smartphones. Specifically, Samsung's newest phones from within the last year: Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, Note 5, S7 and S7 Edge.

You're completely out of luck if you own another brand of Android phone or the iPhone. It's possible Samsung could extend compatibility with more devices in the future, but for now the Gear 360 only plays nice with the aforementioned Samsung phones.

Before using the Gear 360, you'll need to download the Gear 360 Manager app to your phone. I used a Galaxy S7 Edge.

The camera pairs with your Samsung phone through Bluetooth and a few moments later you're staring at a very Samsung-esque app that gives you a live view of your video, various camera settings (i.e. white balance, exposure, etc.) and access to the 360 content you've captured.

One small thing I really liked was how fast the Gear 360 connected to the S7 Edge. The camera connected instantly as soon as I launched the Gear 360 Manager app.

Recorded footage is saved to a microSD card and then transferred to your paired Samsung phone for viewing and editing. The camera supports up to 200GB microSD cards. 

Capturing in 360

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Capturing 360 content is just as simple. You select your mode, either from the camera itself or in the app, and then tap the record button on the camera or in the app. 

There are four 360 degree-capturing modes on the Gear 360: video, photo, timelapse and looping video. All four are pretty self-explanatory. The latter lets you create videos (limited at up to five minutes) that will automatically replay from the beginning once you've reached the end.

The Gear 360 supports various timer intervals so the beginning of your 360 videos won't always be of you pressing the record button and then stepping away from it. I found myself setting longer timers to give myself time to get out of the way or else I'd have to trim them with the app afterwards.

Resolutions

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Manual settings

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Each lens contains a 15-megapixel CMOS sensor with an f/2.0 aperture inside. Times two, that gives you 30-megapixels for still 360 photos. 

For 360 videos and 360 timelapses and 360 looping videos, you can set the resolution as high as 3,840 x 1,920 at 30 fps or 2,560 x 1,280 at 60 fps. There are several different resolutions in-between which also affects how much video you'll be able to store. Lower resolution videos equals smaller files, which equals longer recording times.

While the whole point of a 360 camera is to, well, capture 360-degree content, you can set the camera to only shoot through one lens at a maximum resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 (default is 1080p at 30 fps). It's kind of like also getting an action camera built right in.

Image: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

The app is also used to stitch the recorded footage from both cameras together, save and edit them. Stitching times vary depending on your resolution settings and what type of content it is. 

Swappable battery

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Swappable memory card

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It's important to note that the only way to edit 360 content with your phone is to save them from the the microSD card to your phone's internal storage. I tried editing them directly from the microSD card, but it always reverted to saving them first.

Stitching 30-megapixel photos took about 3-4 seconds. Timelapses are two to three times longer. In my tests, there wasn't really any consistency on the conversions. A 42-second 360 video shot at the highest resolution and a 1-minute video both took the same 2 minutes and 41 seconds to process. I repeated the conversions several times and sometimes both clips took a full minute longer to process. Clearly, your mileage will vary... a lot.

How 360 footage looks

Now for what you all care about: video and picture quality and audio quality.

Like regular 2D video recording, there is good- and poor-quality 360 recording. The Gear 360 falls somewhere in the middle in the realm of consumer 360 cameras. 

It's nowhere near as high-res and sharp as the 360 camera rigs made up of a dozen GoPros that cost thousands of dollars, but it's still better than Ricoh's Theta S, LG's 360 Cam and smartphone apps like Google's Cardboard Camera.

I shot mainly with the settings at the highest resolution possible since the defaults, which were lower, weren't very sharp after looking them over.

There are some downsides to shooting at the highest resolution: less recording time because the files are larger, lower battery life (I got about an hour with the highest resolution), overheating (the camera had automatically powered down to cool off several times when it got too hot) and longer processing/stitching times for the app to crunch.

To be honest, I'm neither super impressed nor super disappointed with the final videos and photos. I know the technology is still new for consumer 360 cameras, and it'll get better over time.

Once footage from both cameras are stitched via the app, you can still clearly see the stitch lines. It's less noticeable than many of the other 360 cameras I've tried, but still breaks the immersion of consumer 360 content. To avoid splicing your face in half, it's best to aim the lenses directly at you.

Even with some of the camera settings adjusted and High Dynamic Range (HDR) and "Sharpness" turned on, I didn't see a noticeable leap in clarity. Sure, tweaking the exposure and white balanced brightened and changed the color temperature of the 360 footage, but doing so also introduced other problems  like overexposed skies and lights.

Additionally, when the Gear 360 is mounted on a tripod or in your hand, you'll always see the distorted imagery of the the tripod and your hand in the video. 

360 photo shared to Facebook:

Same 360 photo shared to Flickr:

Capturing 360 content in low light is fairly decent. Your footage will have a lot of image noise, but even at midnight, the footage is at least visible. 

Audio quality is so-so. It's on-par with what you get from many action cameras. It gets the job done, but doesn't wow.

Once you've got all your 360 videos, you can view and share them in a number of ways. You can look at them right on your phone, share 360 photos to Flickr or Facebook and 360 videos to Facebook and YouTube, or view them in VR.

As with all videos, uploading them online compresses the quality. Which makes it all the more critical that you shoot your content at the highest possible resolutions possible, even if it does mean less battery life. (Buy a spare battery or pick up a battery pack to charge it up on the go.)

I'm not sure why, but uploading 360 photos to Facebook crops them into squares. Flickr has no such issues.

A whole new world

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It's still too early to tell if 360 videos will be here to stay for the long term of if they'll end up a fad like 3D. My hunch is they won't suffer 3D's fate, but it won't be mainstream the way so many companies like Facebook are touting it to be.

While I definitely enjoyed watching the 360 content I created and the Gear 360 made it oh-so-easy to capture footage, it wasn't without learning curves.

It's still very weird to go around in public holding a 360 camera out at arm's length. People never stop staring and always ask questions. One lady on the subway (in the 360 video above) complained the camera is too expensive and battery life too short. Others thought I was hunting for aliens, a comment I also got last year while testing the 360fly in London.

Capturing 360 content, be it photos or videos, also requires a completely new way of framing. Or rather, the lack of framing. I was never comfortable putting the Gear 360 on a tripod and then leaving it in the middle of, say, a street intersection (or anywhere public actually) for fear of someone stealing it. And standing in front of it wasn't really a great option since I would be completely blocking one side.

Image: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

Image: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

A lot of what makes great 360 content feel real is the fact that you can't see the camera operator. For consumer 360 cameras, it's tough to not be in the shot. But maybe I'm just a perfectionist and people don't care if they're blocking one side or if their arm or tripod is visible (kind of like how they don't care about selfie sticks in all of their pics).

For a first try, Samsung got just about all the core hardware and software right. The resolution could be crisper, the battery life longer, processing times could be faster and more consistent and the included mini tripod could use some more texture for a firmer. But these things will all get better in future models.

Assuming you've already got a Samsung phone, the Gear 360 is a great companion if you're even remotely interested in shooting 360 content.

Samsung Gear 360

The Good

Compact design • Super easy to use • Multiple 360 modes • Good video quality (at highest setting) • Tripod socket on bottom • Swappable storage

The Bad

Only works with select Samsung Galaxy phones • Slipper three-legged tripod pack-in • Battery life is not great

The Bottom Line

Samsung's Gear 360 gets all the basics right for a first-gen 360 camera.