> Soldering SMD components sounds daunting,

It really isn't, watching some videos learning some techniques. Practice. The same statement could be made about most things that people aren't familiar with or haven't spent any time working to learn.

Just because you can get good at something, doesn't mean it's not hard :)

I know what you're getting at, but anything you're passionate about doesn't feel as hard as it does to people who are not.

There are so many things in life that I think are nonsensically complicated and I have a hard time grasping why anyone would ever want to waste time on them, while I know how to do a lot of things that "normal people" consider outlandish - just because I spent tons of time researching and learning about a topic because I was interested in it.

So yeah, if you're meh about VR headsets and "it would be kind of cool to have", just buy a Daydream - don't try to learn how to solder SMD's. :)

If you want it enough you'll figure it out.

As someone who has worked in an electronics lab and done lots of soldering, I can say your setup makes a huge difference. A great setup will make soldering SMD components a breeze, but a bad setup will make it very frustrating. Practice obviously helps but a nice soldering station with some kind of magnification will close the gap a whole lot faster.

Using a proper microscope for soldering was definitely one of the most useful things I learned as a high schooler interning in an electronics lab.

I am still surprised that this is not more common. Even a biology-grade binocular microscope for 100$-ish makes a huge difference.

It's also worth note that manufacturers like JLCPCB have SMT Assembly Service which might be able to deliver fully assembled boards. I haven't looked at the gerber+BOM to verify.

Also, it can be quite pleasant. After a while it almost feels like drawing pixel art.