Huawei VR leaked on Weivo
Images of Huawei VR appeared briefly on Weibo before being removed Weibo

Huawei has officially entered the virtual reality game after announcing its own headset. The company unveiled Huawei VR at its P9 smartphone launch event in China, which will directly rival virtual reality headsets from Samsung and LG.

Much like the Samsung Gear VR and LG VR 360 headsets, Huawei VR works by slotting a phone into the front of the device. The headset is compatible with the Chinese manufacturer's new P9 and P9 Plus flagships, which were unveiled in the UK on 6 April, as well as the larger Mate 8.

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It's little wonder Hauwei has entered the virtual reality game. With the VR headset market tipped to reach $895 million (£630m) in 2016, it was only a matter a time before the manufacturer decided it wanted a slice of the pie. Smaller companies, such as Opto, have also been trying to encroach on Samsung and co's turf.

From a design perspective, Huawei VR looks similar to the Gear VR. The headset has a touchpad mounted on the side that can be used to navigate through apps, as well as adjustment rings for the lenses. The headset connects to the handset via USB-C port.

According to Huawei, the experience inside the headset will be similar to viewing a 130-in television from two metres away and will offer a resolution of 639ppi. Once strapped in, users are treated to 95-degree field of view (FOV). By way of comparison, Samsung's Gear VR offers a 96-degree FOV and the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets 110-degrees.

One factor that could be a key caveat for Huawei's headset is the fact that the P9, P9 Plus and Mate 8 smartphones only sport 1080p displays. Compared to the Quad HD resolutions of the Galaxy S6/S7 and LG G5, this leaves us wondering just how sharp the Huawei VR experience will be.

Huawei has yet to pin down a price or release date for its virtual reality headset, though TechRadar reports that the company promises a debut "this season" – in which case, likely Q2 or Q3 2016. When it does arrive, Huawei says there'll be a bunch of content to jump into from the start, including games, films and other so-called VR experiences.

Watch out for more info on Huawei VR on IBTimes UK.