Introduction

Virtual Reality Glasses are fast becoming the tech of the future. It seems every major OEM (and even Social Network) are getting into the market space with their take on the technology with things like Google Cardboard, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive already being the major contenders for the number one slot.

On the 16th of October 2014 Archos announced their entry into the VR world with the ARCHOS VR Glasses so we asked the simple question, will this entry-level product be able to compete in a world which is fast filling up?

Let’s dive into the review and find out more!

Build & Aesthetics

The Archos VR Glasses are cheap, I don’t just mean in cost but from start to finish it’s very obvious that there has been little money or effort spent in designing this product. The plastics are terribly weak, the lenses are nowhere near the quality of those supplied on Google Cardboard and the head band is simply uncomfortable with no form of padding at all.

There are expandable parts of the glasses to make them compatible with larger or smaller phones that are on a ratchet styled plastic however I felt that each time I expanded it to fit a bigger phone I was going to snap or at least damage the grooves that it uses.

Looks wise, it looks the part. It manages to pull off the illusion that you are getting a premium product for a budget price however it should be noted that this really is a budget product for a budget price.

Software

Archos do not officially provide software for the glasses, they simply point you to a whole list of compatible apps on Google Play. Note that I emphasised the word compatible as from my own perspective, using the OnePlus One, Honor 6 and Samsung Galaxy S5, I never really felt that any of the apps were compatible with these glasses.

Performance

The point of VR Glasses is that you are meant to feel deeply immersed into the virtual world you are seeing through the glasses. It is supposed to engulf your field of view to give the illusion that you are part of what you are seeing however at no point wearing these glasses did I ever feel immersed. There was far too much light getting into the glasses from the outside and I had to squint my eyes a lot to “make them work” which you shouldn’t have to do.

Conclusion

When Google Cardboard was announced at Google I/O 2014 I was one of the people who picked up a clone pair via the TinyDeal website for next to nothing. Though the build quality was nowhere near Google Cardboard quality it was actually OK.

I showed this amazing and immensely cheap accessory off wherever I could, it blew people’s minds when they seen such a pathetic looking piece of cardboard do things they could never have even thought possible.

When I seen the Archos VR Glasses come out I thought, excellent, these would replace my (now in bad condition) cardboard glasses and will at least last me way longer too…

Sadly this was not the case, I was left highly disappointed and without a good VR accessory as I took a drastic step in binning my cardboard before these arrived.

The total score shown on this review is 2.5 however I would say it’s closer to 1.5 at best, don’t waste your money on these as you will regret it.