Daydream-ready Phone Minimum Requirements
Google released their most recent Compatibility Definition Document for Android that includes a new section specifying what’s required from a Daydream-ready phone.
The paragraphs below are from from the following article:
In the most recent CDD, a new entry in the Hardware Compatibility section adds many requirements for Daydream VR. This includes key display specifications, such as requiring at least 1080p resolution and ‘strongly recommend’ to be 1440p or higher, measuring between 4.7″ and 6″ diagonal. The device must maintain 60Hz in VR mode, and regarding pixel switching, Gray-to-Gray, White-to-Black, and Black-to-White switching time must be ≤ 3 ms, supporting a low-persistence mode—which reduces image blur in VR—with ≤5 ms persistence.
In terms of processing, device implementations must have at least two physical cores, assigning an exclusive core to the VR app, not allowing any other processes to run on it (except device drivers used by the application), but the document stops short of defining minimum clock speed or floating point performance. In terms of rendering, device implementations must support OpenGL ES 3.2 and Vulkan Hardware Level 0 and ‘should’ support Vulkan Hardware Level 1.
Video decoding is also particularly important for mobile VR, and Daydream-ready devices are expected to support H.264 decoding at least 3840×2160@30fps-40Mbps (equivalent to 4 instances of 1920×1080@30fps-10Mbps or 2 instances of 1920×1080@60fps-20Mbps), as well as HEVC and VP9, decoding at least 1920×1080@30fps-10Mbps and ‘should be capable’ of decoding 3840×2160@30fps-20Mbps (equivalent to 4 instances of 1920×1080@30fps-5Mbps).
Phew...that's a lots of technical specs for a phone to be "Daydream-ready"! You think your phone might make the cut?