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For the most part, the new Gear VR works like the old Gear VR. You still use certain Samsung Galaxy phones (anything since the Galaxy Note 5 will work) to provide the display and processing guts. The Gear VR headset itself still provides some crucial extra processing for tracking the angle of your head and a touchpad on the side for basic in-app controls (you can also use bluetooth controllers for more complex games). The Gear VR still can't track your head's position in space, though, so when you lean forward in a Gear VR app, the whole world comes with you in a nauseating fashion.

The main reason for the redesign is the launch of Samsung's Galaxy Note 7, which sports a USB Type-C connection that isn't compatible with last year's Gear VR model. The new Gear VR sports a Type-C docking dongle on the front by default, but that can be slid out and easily replaced with an older USB micro dock for compatibility with older Galaxy phones. The pass-through charging slot on the underside of the Gear VR is also USB Type-C now, though the headset comes with a tiny adapter to take a charge through older cables.

Aside from that base compatibility, the most noticeable change to this year's Gear VR comes in the touchpad controls on the side of the headset. That touchpad is now a large, smooth, shallow divot, with only the tiniest bump in the center and a gentle lip on the edge to help your finger feel for its relative position. That's in stark contrast to last year's touchpad, which featured a large T-shaped groove to guide horizontal and vertical finger swipes, a thick circular bump to identify the center, and a heavy, raised lip around the edge of the surface.

All told, the touchpad redesign is a change for the better. Yes, the new design makes it slightly harder to figure out your finger's precise position on the touchpad just by feel, but it's rare that you need that information when using a Gear VR app. For the kinds of taps and quick swipes you'll be making constantly, it's much more enjoyable to run your finger across the 2016 edition's smooth surface, rather than bouncing up and down across the many bumps on last year's model. Just atop the touchpad, there's now also a home button sitting right next to the back button, saving you the trouble of holding down the button for a few seconds to return to the main menu.

Cosmetically, the bulbous front cover on last year's model has been replaced with a thin piece of black plastic. This exposes some of the docking machinery on the front of the headset, ruining the smooth lines a bit, but it also seems to do a better job of keeping outside light from leaking into the headset's optics, preventing distracting glare.

Inside those optics, both eye sockets are now separated by a vertical black plastic bar, helping to prevent light from one side of the screen from bleeding into the view of the other. The lenses themselves are also slightly bigger, helping contribute to what official specs tell me is a slightly improved field of view (101 degrees this year, compared to last year's 95 degrees). I can't say the difference is especially noticeable when testing with the Galaxy S6+ Edge, but your mileage may vary on a phone with a bigger screen.

Those official specs also suggest the weight is actually a few grams higher on the 2016 edition, though there's really no way to notice the difference in practice. Still, we're a bit upset that Samsung wasn't able to further reduce the headset's weight, especially after the first consumer edition shaved a healthy 22 percent of the weight off the Innovator Edition. As it is, the weight is just enough (with a phone inserted) to place noticeable pressure on the sinuses and to encourage you to use a thumb to help prop the unit as your index finger hovers over the touchpad on the side. When you're moving your head around this much, every gram counts.

There's new, thicker cushioning on this year's model, though I can't say it felt much more comfortable on my face. If anything, that thicker cushioning trapped more heat in the eye well, contributing to a sweatier overall experience in games that require a lot of head movement. There are some small changes to the strap design as well, to improve the lines when you remove the optional overhead support strap; it's the kind of small tweak that's not especially noticeable.

Ten months after the launch of the original hardware, the Gear VR is still a no-brainer if you already have a compatible Samsung phone. For $100, you get a comfortable, portable VR experience that is head and shoulders above cheap solutions like Google Cardboard, even if it's not quite up to the standards of an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive.

If you already have last year's Gear VR model, though, save your money and wait for a more significant upgrade rather than investing in the small tweaks to this year's model. Even if you don't already have a Gear VR, in fact, you might want to look into last year's model instead of this one (unless you have a Galaxy Note 7—in that case, the 2016 Gear VR is the only one that will work). Those older headsets currently retail for about $70 (or less if you buy a "refurbished" used unit) and are nearly as good as the newer, $100 2016 models in every way that matters. When so little has changed, that's a relative bargain.