Sizing up the competition is mostly pointless, unless you want something the other side has.
The new Gear VR Controller isn't a unique idea in the world of phone-based VR, but it's far from a "clone" of anything. Google's Daydream Controller may have been the first to offer motion controls and a touchpad for VR, but is it the best? Lets take a look and see what Gear VR and Daydream have to learn from one another when it comes to controllers.
The phone-based VR dividing line is basically Samsung and Oculus vs Daydream right now. Samsung's latest phones don't run Daydream (even though they totally could) and nothing but Samsung phones work in a Gear VR. Basically, if you're interested in using a phone you already own to power a VR headset, you don't really have a choice. You get to use whatever is available on your side of the dividing line.