Too little too late. Dont see a way of it being worth it, unless someone really wants to pay double just to not use Pico, or just for smaller form factor.
i like the small form factor, kinna reminds me of megane x. Would love to have something small and light i can wear for hours comfortably, which has been missing in market.
HTC really should have invited Sebastian to their offices for user testing during the development phase. It would’ve really helped them to understand what features they should not miss if they want the product to be successful.
I tried this at CES and their product development director told me the depth sensor is currently disabled. They are still tuning it and will be available once it releases.
Ok see that's important information they should have shared with people trying out their products. I will never understand why companies forget such important details.
@@WujiKami people are human if no one complained about it maybe they forget to mention it ( although they should have talking points ) or maybe they need to hire better reps lol
Amazing first impressions Sebastian ! Especially the fact that you compare each separate aspect to a 'known experience' from another existing headset gives us something we can relate to as if we were there ourselves to try the headset first hand. Keep it up !
That might not be the case. It looks like those arms go a fair bit behind the head and resting on a pillow could push it up off your face, not to mention you'd need to be snuggling with a battery pack + long cable.
@@pakman184 I agree I thought of that after I made this comment. You might have to be careful not to push the headset forward off your face because of those arms. But it might work out, it will definitely be better than the adjusting knob and I don't think the battery pack is any kind of problem at all if you're laying down
Your Focus 3 review was very good and convinced me to get that headset for PCVR. I do like it, but if the XR Elite is an overall better experience (form factor, lenses, better battery/charging options, weight distribution, binocular overlap comparison, F3 "120" FOV vs XR "110" FOV, F3 3.5 audio jack vs no jack on the XR, heat generation and fan noises, and lenses+panel combo), I'd definitely like to know. The lenses+panel combo difference is important, as F3 has noticable glare. But, the F3 got a VBS streaming quality update to 'ultra' at 3072 x 3072@90hz 200mbps for RTX 4000s dual video encoder, so it would be hard to give that up. I really hope your full XR Elite review can cover this comparison! Oh, and the overall eye comfort experience of the F3 with prescription lens inserts or glasses vs the XRs diopter!
@@ji32002030??? lol... how about in 2025 maximum. its not even hard to do.. it's just these HMD companies that are too stupid to just give it a bigger fov and having one light. guaranteed by 2025-2026 max.. they release new headsets every year..
@@heyjeySigma I also hope that Quest 4 in 2026 will finally have better FOV. But we should be careful with the predictions. Since 2012, the ultimate VR headset is always 5 years away. Even Michael Abrash fell victim to that and in 2016 predicted 140 FOV and 2x4k displays for year 2021
The feature for eye ajustment is just SO AMAZING, I would love to see this come from more affordable devices like pico or meta, it would be so amazing for me because I have myopia
The crazy thing is that this is utterly trivial to do. As in this review, and my OG Samsung Gear VR headset, you simply have the lenses on a fine pitch 'screw' so that it can move slightly further from the panel and the only downside is a very slight loss of FOV! I simply don't know why this isn't universal. It's the reason I won't buy an Aero (not interested in add-on lenses!).
I wish they had a more affordable version without the mixed reality features, maybe even with a battery-less strap, just for PCVR. If the price were under a thousand I might have started saving up for it.
can't wait for your in depth hands on review! Unfortunately this is out of my price range but hopefully the tech and design trickle down to future models.
I keep coming back despite the price, there's something's here. One extra good feature like bigger fov, oled screen, better resolution or even extra passthrough camera and it would have been pretty incredible. There's also the question of privacy, how important is it truly and how much is it worth. It's modulability is another feature that makes me want to support it.
This is honestly the first standalone style headset that has even remotely piqued my interest. The price is steep, but this form factor and the potential moving forward looks incredible. This is something I can see myself carrying around a lot and using with my laptop with a link cable if I can't do everything on the device itself. I really hope this catches a lot of attention and I hope HTC takes this and makes a simplified version at a cheaper price to disrupt the market. I absolutely love my Vive Pro Eye, but this looks like it could replace it very easily, especially with the eye and face trackers that are following soon.
No DP, next please ...What mania do vr manufacturers have in fighting for the standalone market, don't do the same in any other way. Very good that it is a transformer but since the pico4 came out, many users are waiting for a viewer with pancake and dp (cheap price?)... it's not too much to ask, is it?
get over it ....the wire was already dead before wifi6e ....and with next gen headsets it will only keep getting better ...and the next gen high end headsets will use wigig so u will have to wait for Deckard
@@pumpuppthevolume Why would I choose more compression artifacts, more GPU load, more weight due to needing battery, as well as higher latency over just a simple cable?
@@RavenTaleLive clearly you guys are the minority since all the industry is moving to standalone, pcvr ready headsets. Maybe something like the psvr 2 will come out for pcvr. It looks like valve isn't done with lighthouses so maybe the wire will also stay if people chooses that option.
The lenses remind me of a problem I saw with the Aero, looks like there is too much of a gap between them, which would cause poor stereo overlap, even if you had them as close as they go, looks like the gap is too big, like you're looking through a pair of binoculars, with less of a merged image. No local dimming or oled is a deal breaker for me going forward and this is gen 1 fov, htc need to do better to justify a grand. They could have a tough time selling any of these at this price
With such a price I would expect 2x 4K and a DisplayPort. This can't compete with Pico 4 in this case which is quite a shame. Maybe someone will finally create a Pico 4 competitor but with DP included for PCVR and better FOV. Oh well... will wait.
Thanks for the review. I'm still shopping for my first VR headset and I've been waiting on the Vive XR Elite reviews to see if this will be my first one. I like that they do not take personal data for resell so I think paying a higher price to keep my privacy, this might be worth it.
SadlyItsBradley released a video talking about. Unfortunately they didn't have a complete VR headset to show but they did have some contraption people could look through showing the headsets VR and real time passthrough modes.
For people who are PCVR focused like me, for the resolution, processing power and tracking precision; are the added features to the XR or Quest Pro worth converting to?
It definitely depends on what you want. As somebody who is heavily invested into social VR and PCVR as a whole the biggest thing with inside out tracking headsets is losing hand tracking due to occlusion. Personally, I could never give up my index because I have an easy full body setup and can more or less be tracked in any position, from being face down on the floor to doing a handstand. While its specs might not be the best (4 years old in a few months) there has been nothing so far I want to give it up for. More or less, do you intend on getting invested into VRChat or not lol.
Have in mind that I never had any headsets in my home but I tried couple of them over time. Tbh the pancake lanses are alone woth converting. Eye and face tracking of quest pro is a game changer for social/online games, but if you dont care it, then XR Elite would be a go to headset for you. Mind that both headsets are overpriced, cuz of the new technologies, so for normal consumer they arent the best to buy. Also most heasets that will be released from now forward will have pancake lanes so it will be more common in the future, of course we all should wait for review of the HTC headset. So if you want a better headset right now then yeah, go ahead, but there will be more headsets released in this year, like Quest 3 and hopefully a Valve Deckard...Decard will probably be the best headset when it will come out or maybe it will be overhyped product...who knows. If you are like me and can wait even another year for new headset then wait, but if you are craving for new one, then go ahead and buy either of headest. I wont be a big jump in next-gen vr but I would say the headsets is more like QoL changes that are more than welcome.
@@KyroOryk Rec room was cool when i came out and I dropped off. I think I'm more drawn to the immersion from vr, the best resolution, tracking and wireless are great. I'd be willing to deal with cords for high quality rendering and great tracking. Blew my mind first time someone tossed me a vive wand and caught it.
Finally a thorough and well balanced review of this headset. Didn’t knew that power bank was demonstrated for use. Love it. I wonder what continuous power from power bank or charger will do the cpu and stock tiny mint batteries ? I can understand laptops on continuous power but this small and light duty product?!?!
Thanks Sebastian. I think this new headset takes HTC multiple steps in the right direction. Certainly appears to be worthy of a middle tier purchase for someone who's not willing to accept the Meta, Pico, or Pimax baggage. 😊 Looking forward to the full review!
Oh man. The ergonomics seems great. They look sexy. And I'm ok with paying extra for a prosumer XR HMD. But I would need that 3D passthrough implemented and tested first, and of course HTC are working on that. They will have solved really complex frontline problems when they get SLAM+depthsensor+RGB working.
If youre comparing visuals to the G2, its prob best to compare to Pico 4 instead. Has same resolution, and closer fov. Only thing this new headset has going is its form factor.
@@seraphimelegy6747 I actually own a G2, so I'm hoping it would at least match the visuals. Form factor is super nice but I don't know if it's worth shelling out the the $1100 asap for that alone.
Look forward to your report on tethered PC VR exp of this one. If it's DP, it would be somewhat worth considering for flight sim. The MeganeX is already a disappointment for its price, and pico doesn't have DP. Really wish there could be a Reverb G2 replacement with higher FOV, pancake lens, DP, and a reasonable price...
I think its USB Type C if you want PC teethered. Theres no Display Port unfornately. It's what i've seen from the tweets on their twitter and other sources
@@EruKaze thx. haven't dug into the info too much. So if it's USBC on both ends then it's a bummer...not sure if any adapter on the market is capable enough for doing the job. ShiftAll says they are USBC too with an official DP adapter iirc, while Pico4 and others are just USBC without DP function...
@@NanaHoshi35 Yeah, on the standalone side it doesnt need a cable to be plugged to your PC but ofc you be using its battery source. But if you wanted to play teethered without worrying on battery it can be plugged in USB-Type C and you can capture the source of it in both ways as well. With Vive Streaming application. (Teethered or WiFi) But yeah i was suprise hearing that, coz that wouldnt be good for those that have a PC that doesnt have a Type C Connector, if they wanted to use the teethered mode. Its been said it can run games in Vive or SteamVR which is good on that, coz you don't wanna be locked out using just Vive software/games only.
Hello Worrior! Our consumers safety and peace of mind is a top priority for us. You can find more information on our privacy practices here: www.htc.com/us/terms/learn-more/.
Very helpful insights. Thank you. I was waiting to hear someone talk about the difference the depth sensor makes when in pass-through mode, along with the quality of the color pass-through camera before deciding on a Quest Pro or this new HTC set. There are things I like about the hardware, such as the form factor, diopter, and the modular design, but after hoping for more from the color pass-through and depth sensor, I am crestfallen for the MSRP.
I have OQPro and definitely recommend it. Have had about 5 VRs - including the Index... I'm using the OQPro for a lot of RUclipsVR everyday and browser + poker. Standalone fantastic.. and when connected to PC/Steam - it's amazing. MRTV's review wasn't that good, but it's because of his personal comfort (I find it THE most comfortable) and the price (glad to see HTC's is not that far off).
I think this is the most we will get resolution-wise with an XR2 processor. And with that resolution you have to limit the FOV so that the passthrough gets sharp enough to read text.
As expected it's unfortunately not really justifying the label "XR" yet as it seems, although the form factor, external IPD control and diopter dials are really nice to see. Thanks for getting there to give us an early hands-on impression.
I can well imagine that you can use it to reach business customers. But if you have a Pico 4 & Quest 2, you don't need the glasses. It's also a pity that there is no DP. With DP I would have found the glasses exciting.
DP would have dramatically increased the expense of this. You can’t just slap DP into anything. It’s not that simple. The XR2 doesn’t have direct DP support, it has to be added with additional hardware that this tiny HMD doesn’t have the space for. I’m sorry, but people are going to have to get over lack of DP support until a new SOC drops with it integrated. Licensing and additional hardware on board makes it virtually impossible to integrate into standalone HMDs right now, because it isn’t feasible.
PICO 4 Has better 3D pass-through after the last update, may get better with future updates. HOPEFULLY Pico will partner with Virtual Desktop to access pass-through
So glad u cleared all my questions up. Not the best resolution and no depth perception leave it feeling abit like an expensive pico 4. Ill stick to my pico 4 n 4090 till i see u get a better look at a finished pimax crystal at some point
If only they had put the 2.5k panels of the Focus 3 in. It would have been a win. But now its just a too late gimmick with its current specs. Pico 4 crushes it at pcvr at higher resolution, bigger fov, and half the price. Would loved to see those Focus 3 panels with the pancake lenses, Wahh!!
Yeah, this is just missing the mark a bit for me. I had given up on HTC honestly, so it was a surprise to see them take a swing at something I might have considered. But if you call something 'Elite' and charge more than a grand, I shouldnt be seeing any specs that look too cut corner - and that res is not it anymore.
While this headset isn't quite what I would spend $1k on, I'm excited for the better for factor. We are getting REALLY close to a headset where it will be decently comfortable to sit back and watch a movie on. For me personally, I'm going to stick with my Index and Quest 2 for a while longer. I'd like to see 120 become the new minimum FoV, and 4k res. Once that happens, I'd be way more likely to pick up a headset like this XR.
Think there are decent attempts but do not think its worth getting anything new until its pancake lenses + microOLED panels with eye tracking + base station tracking + wireless so aka index2
They really should have invested into a second camera for the passthrough almost seems like the depth sensor is simply there to justify a higher price.
Overall, some solid compromises made imo, but $1100 is barely on the edge of acceptable - would rather this priced at $800 for the FOV. But still, I think the non-stereo passthrough might be able to get corrected via software since there's a depth sensor. I just love love love the form factor - I want glasses I can just slide on and off while I'm doing VR work. I saw that in glasses-mode, you were plugged into what I think was a battery bank - wondering if it supports PC tether as well? Or does PC connection HAVE to be over wifi?
For £1000 I want bigger FOV, eye tracking and proper 3D external view. I do like the removable back power bank, tho it would be nice to replace it with a fabric band as the glasses structure doesn't look that secure (but good for movies in bed).
still watching but not getting the impression it still has lighthouse tracking as an option, which is disappointing. For the price and calling it Vive, that should have been a possibility. (at least on the headset)
I personally think hardware manufacturers do not understand that people beat a few good games and don't really play games as most of them suck so they go sit in vrchat all day and want full body tracking and for this only very few good options.
Thank you for a first impressions on this very nice, I'd personally really like more fov for that price. Also does anyone know what the refresh rate of the panels are 🤔
@@stormvr1070 yep same. would love to have a pancake lens, small form factor, wireless headset to use while FBT dancing! whoever releases the first one will get my money.
So, it cost double of the Quest 2, that is way too expensive for most consumers. Two questions. How easy is it to clean the fabrics. And can you play your Steam VR games on this as stand alone (not connected to a PC), or you need to buy the games all over. That is what prevents me for swapping my original Vive headset for a Quest 2 or Pico 4, that I still need to connect to a PC to play the games I bought on Steam VR even though many of them are built native for the headset. My PC is not powerful enough for these new headsets, so I need to run the games in the headset. But if this from Vive will allow me to transfer the games to the headset, that would be great.
Are the diopters digital adjustment or manual. Would prefer digital in 0.01 increments so I can punch in my prescription settings per eye instead of trying to eye it out. Price would be more worth it if digital. These companies definitely need to adopt the air bridge type dongle as a standard possibly included in the price. So much more reliable and easy to use than using a wifi network.
@DarkforcesII Well they could at least add a digital indicator of what the setting is at to make it more simpler and accurate so I don't haft to sit there and dial it in visually.
Don't care about the headset as is, will be a different story if the eye and face tracker addons are affordable though. I wonder if the headset itself has a built in battery so you have the ability to hot swap batteries without it shutting off on you..
It would be an instabuy (if I got the spare money) and if it could run some Quest games I like. As both are android based devices I wonder if it would be possible. I am wowed bye the form factor and modularity. So it'd be nice if I could carry around a power efficient SteamVR capable gpu form factor laptop or gaming device that'd simultaneously charge the headset and drive the display through the cable (which might be more powerefficient then using wireless). For now I'm quite happy with the Quest Pro but a bit jealous of the even smaller form factor. With the higher resolution pass through mode, walking around and using them as expensive spare glasses is also nice! I also want an alpha transparency hardware slider for windows or apps, so I can lookup something while sitting on the couch, even though I could use my smarphone or watch for that.
the form factor and comfort seems very enticing but the FOV turned me off. I can really see the benefit of the removable battery strap section for high back chair and lean back comfort. A lot to like about the headset and HTC are innovating here but I'd rather pay another 400 or 500 pounds (over the price of this headset) for mini LED (or better) and wider FOV as well. Such a thing does not exist. So, its a Pico4 for me in the meantime (as a PCVR headset). Also, Interesting that the separate power bank / stream unit (I understand you can use an android phone to stream stuff) is a feature, seen a lot of ridicule that Apple might be going for a pocket compute/ power unit, I really don't have a problem with that if it affords a better experience.
can you power it with regular power from computer/Wall ? like valve index ? and stream with cable like valve index ? with something like a 3meters long cable ? is there any compression video while doing so ? i know this doesnt have displayport but usb port ??? how bad is it ?
I sold my Rift before getting a Rift 2. Hated the light blacks so much I returned it. Been away from VR ever since. I was thinking of getting a quest 2 until they jumped the cost $100.
Hello Dan! VIVE XR Elite does support Wi-Fi 6 + 6E. You may refer to this page for a complete list of supported countries: www.vive.com/us/support/focus3/category_howto/in-what-regions-can-wifi-6e-be-used.html.
$1200 with controllers. They will release a version of the headset without the controllers at a lower price, Authority Media released a video interview were this was confirmed.
What are your thoughts about the Vive XR Elite?
It will be interesting to hear your honest opinion! (including whether it is worth the price!)
Too little too late. Dont see a way of it being worth it, unless someone really wants to pay double just to not use Pico, or just for smaller form factor.
I'm linking a lot from it. Not liking the screen.
Would like a comparison to something like the Varjo Aero... If I'm going to drop 1100 on a headset... I'll just as soon drop 2k on a headset.
i like the small form factor, kinna reminds me of megane x.
Would love to have something small and light i can wear for hours comfortably, which has been missing in market.
HTC really should have invited Sebastian to their offices for user testing during the development phase. It would’ve really helped them to understand what features they should not miss if they want the product to be successful.
Yes. Arpara should have done also. Professional beta tester Seb.
I tried this at CES and their product development director told me the depth sensor is currently disabled. They are still tuning it and will be available once it releases.
Ok see that's important information they should have shared with people trying out their products. I will never understand why companies forget such important details.
@@WujiKami people are human if no one complained about it maybe they forget to mention it ( although they should have talking points ) or maybe they need to hire better reps lol
@@WujiKami Probably because they know it's not working as intended yet and do not want to advertise that fact.
Amazing first impressions Sebastian ! Especially the fact that you compare each separate aspect to a 'known experience' from another existing headset gives us something we can relate to as if we were there ourselves to try the headset first hand. Keep it up !
The removable back would be good for laying down
Great point that didn't occur to me immediately!
That might not be the case. It looks like those arms go a fair bit behind the head and resting on a pillow could push it up off your face, not to mention you'd need to be snuggling with a battery pack + long cable.
@@pakman184 I agree I thought of that after I made this comment. You might have to be careful not to push the headset forward off your face because of those arms. But it might work out, it will definitely be better than the adjusting knob and I don't think the battery pack is any kind of problem at all if you're laying down
Your Focus 3 review was very good and convinced me to get that headset for PCVR. I do like it, but if the XR Elite is an overall better experience (form factor, lenses, better battery/charging options, weight distribution, binocular overlap comparison, F3 "120" FOV vs XR "110" FOV, F3 3.5 audio jack vs no jack on the XR, heat generation and fan noises, and lenses+panel combo), I'd definitely like to know. The lenses+panel combo difference is important, as F3 has noticable glare. But, the F3 got a VBS streaming quality update to 'ultra' at 3072 x 3072@90hz 200mbps for RTX 4000s dual video encoder, so it would be hard to give that up. I really hope your full XR Elite review can cover this comparison! Oh, and the overall eye comfort experience of the F3 with prescription lens inserts or glasses vs the XRs diopter!
Some day we will have a headset like this that has an acceptable FOV. That's when I'll buy my next headset.
It will happen. I guarantee it will happen before year 2030
@@ji32002030??? lol... how about in 2025 maximum.
its not even hard to do.. it's just these HMD companies that are too stupid to just give it a bigger fov and having one light.
guaranteed by 2025-2026 max.. they release new headsets every year..
@@heyjeySigma I also hope that Quest 4 in 2026 will finally have better FOV. But we should be careful with the predictions. Since 2012, the ultimate VR headset is always 5 years away. Even Michael Abrash fell victim to that and in 2016 predicted 140 FOV and 2x4k displays for year 2021
The feature for eye ajustment is just SO AMAZING, I would love to see this come from more affordable devices like pico or meta, it would be so amazing for me because I have myopia
The crazy thing is that this is utterly trivial to do. As in this review, and my OG Samsung Gear VR headset, you simply have the lenses on a fine pitch 'screw' so that it can move slightly further from the panel and the only downside is a very slight loss of FOV! I simply don't know why this isn't universal. It's the reason I won't buy an Aero (not interested in add-on lenses!).
I wish they had a more affordable version without the mixed reality features, maybe even with a battery-less strap, just for PCVR. If the price were under a thousand I might have started saving up for it.
I love that it converts to glasses for the plane etc, but for media viewing I’d love to see OLED and maybe slightly higher resolution
Get a psvr2 problem solved
@@biglegacy6472 You right PSVR2 is standalone...wait a minute...
can't wait for your in depth hands on review! Unfortunately this is out of my price range but hopefully the tech and design trickle down to future models.
I keep coming back despite the price, there's something's here. One extra good feature like bigger fov, oled screen, better resolution or even extra passthrough camera and it would have been pretty incredible. There's also the question of privacy, how important is it truly and how much is it worth. It's modulability is another feature that makes me want to support it.
This is honestly the first standalone style headset that has even remotely piqued my interest. The price is steep, but this form factor and the potential moving forward looks incredible. This is something I can see myself carrying around a lot and using with my laptop with a link cable if I can't do everything on the device itself. I really hope this catches a lot of attention and I hope HTC takes this and makes a simplified version at a cheaper price to disrupt the market. I absolutely love my Vive Pro Eye, but this looks like it could replace it very easily, especially with the eye and face trackers that are following soon.
No DP, next please ...What mania do vr manufacturers have in fighting for the standalone market, don't do the same in any other way. Very good that it is a transformer but since the pico4 came out, many users are waiting for a viewer with pancake and dp (cheap price?)... it's not too much to ask, is it?
get over it ....the wire was already dead before wifi6e ....and with next gen headsets it will only keep getting better
...and the next gen high end headsets will use wigig so u will have to wait for Deckard
@@pumpuppthevolume Why would I choose more compression artifacts, more GPU load, more weight due to needing battery, as well as higher latency over just a simple cable?
@@RavenTaleLive clearly you guys are the minority since all the industry is moving to standalone, pcvr ready headsets. Maybe something like the psvr 2 will come out for pcvr. It looks like valve isn't done with lighthouses so maybe the wire will also stay if people chooses that option.
@@Dindonmasker They absolutely are the minority
It has DP over USB-C
The lenses remind me of a problem I saw with the Aero, looks like there is too much of a gap between them, which would cause poor stereo overlap, even if you had them as close as they go, looks like the gap is too big, like you're looking through a pair of binoculars, with less of a merged image. No local dimming or oled is a deal breaker for me going forward and this is gen 1 fov, htc need to do better to justify a grand. They could have a tough time selling any of these at this price
With such a price I would expect 2x 4K and a DisplayPort.
This can't compete with Pico 4 in this case which is quite a shame.
Maybe someone will finally create a Pico 4 competitor but with DP included for PCVR and better FOV. Oh well... will wait.
The wifi 6E is a redeeming factor tho. You could do a much faster/lighter encode and use more bandwidth instead.
Thanks for the review. I'm still shopping for my first VR headset and I've been waiting on the Vive XR Elite reviews to see if this will be my first one. I like that they do not take personal data for resell so I think paying a higher price to keep my privacy, this might be worth it.
Hello MRTV, have you demoed the SomniumVR1? I havent seen a video on it, and I really want to see what its like
Good question 🤔
SadlyItsBradley released a video talking about. Unfortunately they didn't have a complete VR headset to show but they did have some contraption people could look through showing the headsets VR and real time passthrough modes.
Thanks Sebastian! Did it slip around without the rear battery attachment?
Nice review, thanks
You totally nailed this first impressions video, thanks Seb!
For people who are PCVR focused like me, for the resolution, processing power and tracking precision; are the added features to the XR or Quest Pro worth converting to?
It definitely depends on what you want. As somebody who is heavily invested into social VR and PCVR as a whole the biggest thing with inside out tracking headsets is losing hand tracking due to occlusion. Personally, I could never give up my index because I have an easy full body setup and can more or less be tracked in any position, from being face down on the floor to doing a handstand. While its specs might not be the best (4 years old in a few months) there has been nothing so far I want to give it up for. More or less, do you intend on getting invested into VRChat or not lol.
Have in mind that I never had any headsets in my home but I tried couple of them over time. Tbh the pancake lanses are alone woth converting. Eye and face tracking of quest pro is a game changer for social/online games, but if you dont care it, then XR Elite would be a go to headset for you. Mind that both headsets are overpriced, cuz of the new technologies, so for normal consumer they arent the best to buy. Also most heasets that will be released from now forward will have pancake lanes so it will be more common in the future, of course we all should wait for review of the HTC headset.
So if you want a better headset right now then yeah, go ahead, but there will be more headsets released in this year, like Quest 3 and hopefully a Valve Deckard...Decard will probably be the best headset when it will come out or maybe it will be overhyped product...who knows. If you are like me and can wait even another year for new headset then wait, but if you are craving for new one, then go ahead and buy either of headest. I wont be a big jump in next-gen vr but I would say the headsets is more like QoL changes that are more than welcome.
Nah. Ideally we'd like to have at least 2.5k resolution per eye. FOV, bigger is always ideal
@@KyroOryk Rec room was cool when i came out and I dropped off. I think I'm more drawn to the immersion from vr, the best resolution, tracking and wireless are great. I'd be willing to deal with cords for high quality rendering and great tracking. Blew my mind first time someone tossed me a vive wand and caught it.
Finally a thorough and well balanced review of this headset. Didn’t knew that power bank was demonstrated for use. Love it. I wonder what continuous power from power bank or charger will do the cpu and stock tiny mint batteries ? I can understand laptops on continuous power but this small and light duty product?!?!
I think I'll wait for the MeganeX VR with OLED panels.
100%.
Or the mystery unannounced micro-OLED headset that's supposedly going to compete with it.
Such of Great preview!
Thank you so much & i hope you have a good day always! ❤
Thanks Sebastian. I think this new headset takes HTC multiple steps in the right direction. Certainly appears to be worthy of a middle tier purchase for someone who's not willing to accept the Meta, Pico, or Pimax baggage. 😊 Looking forward to the full review!
we simply do not want to pay a LOT of money for high quality!
At £380 the Pico 4 is an absolute bargain, as for baggage there really isn't any when you pair with virtual desktop.
Oh man. The ergonomics seems great. They look sexy. And I'm ok with paying extra for a prosumer XR HMD.
But I would need that 3D passthrough implemented and tested first, and of course HTC are working on that. They will have solved really complex frontline problems when they get SLAM+depthsensor+RGB working.
That battery system should be standard on all headsets.
How does the resolution and display compare to the Reverb G2?? And great video!
If youre comparing visuals to the G2, its prob best to compare to Pico 4 instead. Has same resolution, and closer fov. Only thing this new headset has going is its form factor.
@@seraphimelegy6747 I actually own a G2, so I'm hoping it would at least match the visuals. Form factor is super nice but I don't know if it's worth shelling out the the $1100 asap for that alone.
Great review! Interesting to see how far things have come in the last 10 or so years
the big win of all these standalone devices is OpenXR. Choice is king.
That headset looks so slick.
Look forward to your report on tethered PC VR exp of this one. If it's DP, it would be somewhat worth considering for flight sim. The MeganeX is already a disappointment for its price, and pico doesn't have DP. Really wish there could be a Reverb G2 replacement with higher FOV, pancake lens, DP, and a reasonable price...
I think its USB Type C if you want PC teethered. Theres no Display Port unfornately. It's what i've seen from the tweets on their twitter and other sources
@@EruKaze thx. haven't dug into the info too much. So if it's USBC on both ends then it's a bummer...not sure if any adapter on the market is capable enough for doing the job. ShiftAll says they are USBC too with an official DP adapter iirc, while Pico4 and others are just USBC without DP function...
@@NanaHoshi35 Yeah, on the standalone side it doesnt need a cable to be plugged to your PC but ofc you be using its battery source. But if you wanted to play teethered without worrying on battery it can be plugged in USB-Type C and you can capture the source of it in both ways as well. With Vive Streaming application. (Teethered or WiFi)
But yeah i was suprise hearing that, coz that wouldnt be good for those that have a PC that doesnt have a Type C Connector, if they wanted to use the teethered mode. Its been said it can run games in Vive or SteamVR which is good on that, coz you don't wanna be locked out using just Vive software/games only.
Unpopular opinion I'm kinda excited for this headset plain and simple I don't want my data being used by a big market
Hello Worrior! Our consumers safety and peace of mind is a top priority for us. You can find more information on our privacy practices here: www.htc.com/us/terms/learn-more/.
Does it automatically spatially calibrate with vive trackers in PCVR?
I wish.
@@stormvr1070 is that you? Dancer in vrc storm?
@@discorabbit I do, all the time. Yes.
Very helpful insights. Thank you. I was waiting to hear someone talk about the difference the depth sensor makes when in pass-through mode, along with the quality of the color pass-through camera before deciding on a Quest Pro or this new HTC set. There are things I like about the hardware, such as the form factor, diopter, and the modular design, but after hoping for more from the color pass-through and depth sensor, I am crestfallen for the MSRP.
I have OQPro and definitely recommend it. Have had about 5 VRs - including the Index... I'm using the OQPro for a lot of RUclipsVR everyday and browser + poker. Standalone fantastic.. and when connected to PC/Steam - it's amazing. MRTV's review wasn't that good, but it's because of his personal comfort (I find it THE most comfortable) and the price (glad to see HTC's is not that far off).
Resolution & FOV should have been higher. Also needed displayport
I think this is the most we will get resolution-wise with an XR2 processor.
And with that resolution you have to limit the FOV so that the passthrough gets sharp enough to read text.
As expected it's unfortunately not really justifying the label "XR" yet as it seems, although the form factor, external IPD control and diopter dials are really nice to see. Thanks for getting there to give us an early hands-on impression.
looking good Sebastian! :)
Thanks for the impressions! I'm gunna skip out on this one but it's good to see them innovating
I can well imagine that you can use it to reach business customers. But if you have a Pico 4 & Quest 2, you don't need the glasses. It's also a pity that there is no DP. With DP I would have found the glasses exciting.
DP would have dramatically increased the expense of this. You can’t just slap DP into anything. It’s not that simple. The XR2 doesn’t have direct DP support, it has to be added with additional hardware that this tiny HMD doesn’t have the space for. I’m sorry, but people are going to have to get over lack of DP support until a new SOC drops with it integrated. Licensing and additional hardware on board makes it virtually impossible to integrate into standalone HMDs right now, because it isn’t feasible.
@@thunderbolt10031 it would have only cost an extra 10 dollar max per unit. It can be done.
PICO 4 Has better 3D pass-through after the last update, may get better with future updates. HOPEFULLY Pico will partner with Virtual Desktop to access pass-through
I agree. The pass through has much improved since the update but there are no applications to make use of it
So glad u cleared all my questions up. Not the best resolution and no depth perception leave it feeling abit like an expensive pico 4. Ill stick to my pico 4 n 4090 till i see u get a better look at a finished pimax crystal at some point
How was the binocular overlap?
He mentions it around 9:00 "better binocular overlap than the Quest Oro making this a goo VR experience".
The future looks bright. Once they can release headsets like this with 120hz, it's time for me to jump back into the market.
I mean VR future looks bright. Life future on the other hand...
I really like the look of this system its just the high price that puts me off.
Wow, this is so exclusive! :O Great job in going there
If only they had put the 2.5k panels of the Focus 3 in. It would have been a win. But now its just a too late gimmick with its current specs. Pico 4 crushes it at pcvr at higher resolution, bigger fov, and half the price. Would loved to see those Focus 3 panels with the pancake lenses, Wahh!!
Yeah, this is just missing the mark a bit for me. I had given up on HTC honestly, so it was a surprise to see them take a swing at something I might have considered. But if you call something 'Elite' and charge more than a grand, I shouldnt be seeing any specs that look too cut corner - and that res is not it anymore.
10:54 it's so light that it doesn't fall off, interesting. Quest 2 would drop like a rock.
I pre-ordered. Right mix of features for me, I think.
I'm waiting for Quest 3 for my small form factor headset and either Somnium or Crystal for my sims
Pimax 12k for PC VR and Psvr2 for exclusive games 🙂
Only 2 headsets that you need
While this headset isn't quite what I would spend $1k on, I'm excited for the better for factor. We are getting REALLY close to a headset where it will be decently comfortable to sit back and watch a movie on. For me personally, I'm going to stick with my Index and Quest 2 for a while longer. I'd like to see 120 become the new minimum FoV, and 4k res. Once that happens, I'd be way more likely to pick up a headset like this XR.
Same with me, will just stick with my Index and Quest 2 until resolution improves more and don't have to spend 2500+ for it.
What if you have reading glasses (Positive lenses instead of negative?)
I don't see the problem with a magic leap style puck u can offload for more computing power???
Think there are decent attempts but do not think its worth getting anything new until its pancake lenses + microOLED panels with eye tracking + base station tracking + wireless so aka index2
Good that they put the battery at the back for better balance.
They really should have invested into a second camera for the passthrough almost seems like the depth sensor is simply there to justify a higher price.
Overall, some solid compromises made imo, but $1100 is barely on the edge of acceptable - would rather this priced at $800 for the FOV. But still, I think the non-stereo passthrough might be able to get corrected via software since there's a depth sensor. I just love love love the form factor - I want glasses I can just slide on and off while I'm doing VR work. I saw that in glasses-mode, you were plugged into what I think was a battery bank - wondering if it supports PC tether as well? Or does PC connection HAVE to be over wifi?
It does support a wired connection I believe.
The reduced size alone is worth the price difference.
Is it natively compatible with 11 table tennis?
I would love to try this
Can I get a recommendation on VR headset with the most features such as OLED?
For £1000 I want bigger FOV, eye tracking and proper 3D external view. I do like the removable back power bank, tho it would be nice to replace it with a fabric band as the glasses structure doesn't look that secure (but good for movies in bed).
Yeah, not sure why they didn't think of a simple elastic band.
Holding on for the quest 3 without any "elite straps" for comfort
nice! ready for the crystal
still watching but not getting the impression it still has lighthouse tracking as an option, which is disappointing. For the price and calling it Vive, that should have been a possibility. (at least on the headset)
I personally think hardware manufacturers do not understand that people beat a few good games and don't really play games as most of them suck so they go sit in vrchat all day and want full body tracking and for this only very few good options.
Does the diopter accomodate people that need reading glasses(presbyopia)?
Any news of the meganex? I'm just holding back for a native pcvr headset....
Thank you for a first impressions on this very nice, I'd personally really like more fov for that price. Also does anyone know what the refresh rate of the panels are 🤔
Currently it's display refresh rate is 90Hz.
oh nice, thank you very much
I want to know comfort comparison between Q2(mod strape) vs Qpro vs XR elite vs pico 4. Which is the most comfortable headset on the market?
if this had basestation tracking i would buy it
Same. As a full body tracker user, I have no interest in mixing tracking solutions.
@@stormvr1070 yep same. would love to have a pancake lens, small form factor, wireless headset to use while FBT dancing! whoever releases the first one will get my money.
Nice Seb. Any through the lens footage?
Nope, not this time.
Can you use headphones or earbuds? If it is a steam headset does this mean no compression/ true usb C connection? Thanks for the coverage
Good review. Nice form factor, but seems like the Pico 4 is a better value. Nothing really exciting,,, unless you use it on a train or plane.
So, it cost double of the Quest 2, that is way too expensive for most consumers. Two questions. How easy is it to clean the fabrics. And can you play your Steam VR games on this as stand alone (not connected to a PC), or you need to buy the games all over. That is what prevents me for swapping my original Vive headset for a Quest 2 or Pico 4, that I still need to connect to a PC to play the games I bought on Steam VR even though many of them are built native for the headset. My PC is not powerful enough for these new headsets, so I need to run the games in the headset. But if this from Vive will allow me to transfer the games to the headset, that would be great.
htc would be super ahead if they just hire sebastian
Are the diopters digital adjustment or manual. Would prefer digital in 0.01 increments so I can punch in my prescription settings per eye instead of trying to eye it out. Price would be more worth it if digital. These companies definitely need to adopt the air bridge type dongle as a standard possibly included in the price. So much more reliable and easy to use than using a wifi network.
Diopters are manual. I tested it out at CES and was pretty happy with it but I agree that being able to plug in your prescription would be great.
@DarkforcesII Well they could at least add a digital indicator of what the setting is at to make it more simpler and accurate so I don't haft to sit there and dial it in visually.
Don't care about the headset as is, will be a different story if the eye and face tracker addons are affordable though.
I wonder if the headset itself has a built in battery so you have the ability to hot swap batteries without it shutting off on you..
In the htc ces presentation they did say it was hot swappable
Why do companies keep removing the top head strap.
The reverb g2 is the most comfortable headset I’ve tried solely due to that top strap
Your amazing as always
Is there any technical problem that makes impossible the pancake lens with oled panels?
Needs to have good 3D color pass through. If they fix that I will buy one.
Why would you want to have passthrough
@@x32i77 you don't see the value of 3D passthrough for mixed reality? it's an exciting future, i reckon.
@@RogerEssigArtist if they would project Ryley into my room then it would be interesting but other than that there is little use case
Seb you are the best
It would be an instabuy (if I got the spare money) and if it could run some Quest games I like.
As both are android based devices I wonder if it would be possible. I am wowed bye the form factor and modularity. So it'd be nice if I could carry around a power efficient SteamVR capable gpu form factor laptop or gaming device that'd simultaneously charge the headset and drive the display through the cable (which might be more powerefficient then using wireless). For now I'm quite happy with the Quest Pro but a bit jealous of the even smaller form factor.
With the higher resolution pass through mode, walking around and using them as expensive spare glasses is also nice! I also want an alpha transparency hardware slider for windows or apps, so I can lookup something while sitting on the couch, even though I could use my smarphone or watch for that.
the form factor and comfort seems very enticing but the FOV turned me off. I can really see the benefit of the removable battery strap section for high back chair and lean back comfort. A lot to like about the headset and HTC are innovating here but I'd rather pay another 400 or 500 pounds (over the price of this headset) for mini LED (or better) and wider FOV as well. Such a thing does not exist. So, its a Pico4 for me in the meantime (as a PCVR headset). Also, Interesting that the separate power bank / stream unit (I understand you can use an android phone to stream stuff) is a feature, seen a lot of ridicule that Apple might be going for a pocket compute/ power unit, I really don't have a problem with that if it affords a better experience.
can you power it with regular power from computer/Wall ? like valve index ? and stream with cable like valve index ? with something like a 3meters long cable ? is there any compression video while doing so ? i know this doesnt have displayport but usb port ??? how bad is it ?
love that fabric
Hmmmmm. Seems like a smaller quest pro made by a different company. Pretty cool! But we’re all waiting on the quest 3!
Looks perfect for our use case.
having a Diopter is a huge plus for me.
I want better FOV. Tired of feeling like I'm looking through binoculars .
That effect might also be caused by bad binocular overlap. Still I agree it needed a bigger fov and/or resolution.
Is the image compressed like Quest 2 on PC?
Does it have the XR2 gen 1 or gen 2?
This makes me feel the Pico 4 is extremely good value!
I'd absolutely love something like this but without standalone so it could be as cheap and light as possible
I sold my Rift before getting a Rift 2. Hated the light blacks so much I returned it. Been away from VR ever since. I was thinking of getting a quest 2 until they jumped the cost $100.
I actually like using VR with PC via wifi. I hope they will continue to support it.
Hello Dan! VIVE XR Elite does support Wi-Fi 6 + 6E. You may refer to this page for a complete list of supported countries: www.vive.com/us/support/focus3/category_howto/in-what-regions-can-wifi-6e-be-used.html.
All I care about is its PCVR wireless abilities. I don't care about the standalone mode as much.
is the pico 4 better? what about fov?
Is it $1200 with controllers or without? Is there a sku with and without controllers?
$1200 with controllers. They will release a version of the headset without the controllers at a lower price, Authority Media released a video interview were this was confirmed.
@@WujiKami rad
when will valve release the valve index 2 :'(
Wish I knew. Waiting for that or getting the Vive Pro 2 for the lighthouse tracking.