To experience holoride, a smartphone is not always strictly required but useful.
You do not necessarily need a smartphone in the car to experience holoride. Having an eligible gamepad to use with the VR headset is enough.
Hint: Our retrofit Pack has everything you need.
However, you do need an internet connection for the experience. This could be provided via your smartphone. Since the internet connection is generally only used for localization purposes it will not use up too much of your mobile data volume. Depending on the distance travelled while playing we do not expect the used bandwidth to exceed a few MBs per hour.
If you have a compatible Audi vehicle, this connection can also be established via the embedded Audi connect SIM. Learn more about Audi connect here.
The HTC VIVE Flow can not only play videos from local storage it can also mirror what's on your phone screen. Most Android phones can be used with VIVE Flow, but the manufacturer strongly recommends using a phone that supports Miracast and HDCP 2.2 and above. Having these features on the phone will allow you to fully enjoy the VIVE Flow. You can find a detailed list of recommended phones on this page.