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How to watch VR videos and play VR games on your Android phone

Get stuck into VR movies, games and apps on your Android mobile with Google Cardboard by following this simple guide.

The Google Play store is slowly filling with some damn entertaining virtual reality experiences, including some truly immersive games and some absolutely terrifying horror experiences. And all you need to enjoy them is a relatively modern Android phone and a pair of Google Cardboard glasses (or another compatible headset).

Here’s how to get started with VR on your mobile.

Is my Android phone compatible with Google Cardboard or other VR headsets?

Most Android mobiles from the past couple of years are compatible with VR headsets such as Cardboard. If it’s running Android 4.1 or above then you’re almost certainly ready to rock. You can check this by heading to your phone’s settings menu and scrolling down to ‘About phone’. You should see the Android version number listed.

Note that for the best possible VR experience, you’ll want to use a phone with at least a 5-inch screen, preferably with at least a Full HD (1080p) resolution. However, we’ve used the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact as a VR viewer and that’s only a 4.6-incher with a 720p resolution, so smaller phones definitely work.

Buy yourself a Google Cardboard headset, or make your own

You can head on over to the Google Cardboard page to purchase your own headset. There are quite a few different types now available, many created by third-party companies, and they cost from as little as ten pounds.

Alternatively, you can craft your own VR goggles at home – we created a video back in 2009 to show you how, long before Google Cardboard even existed.

Read next: Best VR headsets

Download the Google Cardboard app

Head to the Google Play store on your phone once your goggles are sorted and download the Cardboard app. This allows you to set up your headset and also helps you to find some VR apps to get started. Enjoy!

Read next: How VR headsets will make sports ten times more awesome

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