The HTC Vive XR Elite is a shapeshifting, lightweight luxury of a VR headset

As someone who considers Uniqlo a luxury item, the HTC Vive XR Elite might be the most expensive thing I’ve ever worn.revealed in CES 2023 This is the first Vive, due to launch in March VR headset Borrowing from the more compact design of the mobile VR-oriented Vive Flow VR glasses, it’s used real PC gaming credentials for years. I recently went to try them here in London. vibe cosmos Series, why is this worth £1299 / $1099?

The answer, at least from HTC’s point of view, is flexibility. The Vive XR Elite is an all-in-one headset that doesn’t require a base station, can be worn wirelessly for less demanding VR games, or can be connected to a PC for more advanced gaming. Half-life: AlyxFine, but some other AIO headsets can already do it. Oculus/Metaquest 2What sets HTC’s latest offering apart is the ease with which it can wirelessly connect to a PC via Wi-Fi, no sideloading antics, and the ability to remove the battery pack for a fully portable VR/AR-ready pair. that it can be converted. Connect to power bank and smart phone. It aspires to be everything for all VR fans, and at a time when the Quest line is obsessed with tracking those metaverse dollars or selling personal data, it’s a bad sell. not.

First impression: It is indeed very light. Second impression: Damn it doesn’t fit my glasses. Luckily, the Vive XR Elite also copies the Flow’s adjustable lens diopter dial, so the maximum myopia setting of -6 was just below my pesky right eye prescription of -7. However, I was able to rotate it for a fairly sharp image while away. Keep my glasses aside.

The Vive XR Elite are comfortable to wear, except for a slightly tight fit around the nose. Relocating the battery pack to the back of the head strap distributes the overall weight more evenly than squeezing everything into a large block in front, and doesn’t need to be distributed as much in the first place. at 625g, cosmos elite 184g less than valve index.

If you want even more bulk, it’s easy to remove the battery pack and replace the straps with eyeglass-style temples. It’s meant for mobile use, but you can wear the Vive XR Elite like this as part of your PC setup, but you’ll have to plug in the power cable, which sacrifices wirelessness. , I have to say I preferred the battery configuration as it felt safer with a fair amount of noggin. In glasses mode, it’s much more front-heavy, and I’m worried about it flying off with a sufficiently vigorous head movement.

Unfortunately, HTC didn’t have a desktop PC. As such, it could only be played in all-in-one mode. Still, we took a closer look at how the Vive XR Elite performs, especially since one of the games it installed. overconfidence – AIO port for desktop grade PC VR adventures. From compelling weighted first-person swims to questionable jellyfish blasts, Hubris aptly described the headset’s 1920×1920 one-eyed display and sleek controllers. , the latter tracking is accurate and less jerky.

Less enthusiastic was the bare hand tracking I tested Maestro VR, an otherwise whimsical orchestra conductor simulator. Using the controller to swing my right hand to wield the baton worked fine, but when I had to stick my left finger into a slack musician, it sometimes took a while for that hand to appear in my view. I noticed I had left my left arm out of sight of his four tracking cameras in the headset. After putting his hand back in the frame, I noticed that the hand re-acquired wasn’t as fast. Delay is also doable, but it’s not noticeably faster than other game-focused headsets.

In general, this is not a patch about Index’s controller-assisted hand and finger tracking. This is a problem when Valve’s complete VR kit (including a base station and a copy of Alyx) costs £919 / $999. Even for arguably the best PC VR headset on the market, it usually looks like a silly amount of money, but the Vive Elite XR does even more damage to your financial well-being, especially as a PC gaming device. , I’m still not convinced it’s worth paying this premium.

As a more general VR headset, on the other hand, the Vive XR Elite’s versatility has a certain appeal. It offers a wider range of compatible materials than the Index, as it can run locally installed games smoothly or connect to a PC. Glasses to entertain yourself on long flights and coach rides. luxury? yes. Useless? maybe not.

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For more on VR, check out RPS fellow Rick Lane’s monthly magazine for far fewer pictures of me looking like a driller from Deep Rock Galactic. reality bytes digit.