This year while attending CES 2016, Homido hooked me up with their super tiny Google Cardboard VR viewer, the Homido Mini. After a bunch of testing, my verdict is: this is the cardboard viewer to get.
The Homido Mini is small – it’s a foldable plastic contraption, with two lenses on one side, and a spring-plastic clip for your smartphone on the other side. The frame folds in half for easy carrying, and that’s about it. To use the Homido Mini, simple unfold it, fire up whatever Google-Cardboard compliant or similar app on your smartphone, slip your smartphone into the cip, and then hold look through the lenses. Boom, VR.
There are LOTS of VR viewers out there – all the way from fully integrated ones like the Oculus Rift, to simple ones that just work with Google Cardboard and similar. For the Google Cardboard crowd, which the Homido Mini is part of, the viewers range in complexity. The NY Times cardboard viewer, for example, consists of an origami-like cardboard box, with velcro closures holding your phone, a foldable light guard, a spring loaded cantilevered button for interacton, etc. 
Those work great, but I think that the quality of VR on your smartphone is somewhat limited, and is not the best. A simle viewer like the Homido Mini is all you need to get a great experience with VR on your smartphone, and there’s no need to go any more complicated with larger viewers. If you want higher quality, upgrade to an overall higher end, dedicated system, like the Oculus.
It’s for these reasons that I’d say, if you want to experience the fun and simple thrills of VR on your smartphone, look no further than the Homido Mini. It’s small, cheap, and folds up to fit in your desk drawer. When you get tired of the mini and yearn for more quality.. take a big step up to dedicated hardware.
