Google now has its own Samsung Galaxy Gear: the $79 soft-touch Daydream View. Like the Gear and other phone-powered virtual reality headsets, the View connects to your smartphone for VR experiences (although it's only compatible with the Pixel and Pixel XL right now). In our review we found it was a cut above the competition — easy-to-use and comfortable. If you're curious about the View, Google has shared a bunch of retailers where it's available to buy, and hopefully some of those will also have units in store for customers to try first:

• United States: Google Store, Verizon, Best Buy; $79 (USD)
• Canada: Google Store, Bell, Rogers, Telus, Best Buy; $99 (CAD)
• United Kingdom: Google Store, EE, Carphone Warehouse; £69 (GBP)
• Germany: Google Store, Deutsche Telekom; €69 (EUR)
• Australia: Google Store, JB Hi-Fi; $119 (AUD); Coming to Telstra on Nov 22nd

As well as the headset itself, Google has also launched its own Android-only VR platform: Daydream. This includes access to VR-versions of popular Google apps including Google Photos, Google Movies, Google Arts & Culture, and — the killer app — YouTube VR.

Cheaper headsets like the View are never going to compete with the likes of the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift in terms of graphics and immersive features like head-tracking, but they’re bringing VR mainstream. You can read our full review of the headset here.