archie,
I've worked with mobile phone set-ups quite a bit with TrinusVR and Moonlight apps, and a Homido VR heatset (which costs about £50). I now have an Oculus Rift and can tell you the difference is substantial. You can see the video I created which takes you through the steps here to get it working on an Android phone:
[video=youtube;ol2WdOKK8Aw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol2WdOKK8Aw[/video]
Note I believe you can use the onboard gyroscope so no need to use the Opentrack software.
The steps you need to do to get it to work:
1) Have decent network setup
2) Set-up TrinusVR / Moonlight to talk to each other and get IP and ports configured
3) Set-up resolutions in all various apps - moon light, in-game and Trinus (make sure all are set for 1080p 60fps, only other option is 4k in moonlight and the tech can't do this yet in terms of bandwidth, and graphics)
4) Apply Reshade mod to Elite to warp the image (and you have to manually delete files when you don't want to use this for normal use)
5) Set in game mode to side-by-side for 3D
The whole process is convoluted and a pain in the **** to set-up, even when you know the steps. The results are good if you've never experienced VR at all, but you don't have 6 degrees of freedom, just 3 way rotation (don't think you can even tilt your head?).
If you only intend to use the headset for Elite or sitting VR experiences mainly (with the occasional standing use) then Oculus Rift is the way to go. It's comfy, has by all accounts less of a screen door effect, build in headphones are so much easier (less wires / steps to getting setup) and the store and controllers work well - it's just a polished experience. Now all I have to do to play Elite in VR is load the game through Steam VR and slip on the headset and I'm good to go.
This is from
somone who was adament VR wasn't worth buying into just yet, but trying my friend's CV1 headset convicned me otherwise.
By all means do the home DIY approach, but it's a world away from owning a dedicated headset, maybe not in terms of visual quality, but in ease of use, comfort and degrees of freedom when used.