HTC Vive XR Elite Virtual Reality Headset + Controllers

Not perfect, but it stands strongly against the Quest Pro and Quest 3
I’m a big fan of VR since I discovered it just before the release of the Oculus Quest in 2019. I’ve used every Oculus headset, PiMax 8K X, Vive Pro 2, and now the XR Elite.The XR Elite brings some new tech to the non-Oculus VR game. Pancake lenses, independently adjustable focus lenses, a lightweight glasses-only setup using a power source not strapped to your head, color passthrough for mixed reality. It also supports a face tracking module. But if you’re reading this review, you most likely already know the specs. You’re here because you want to know how it feels and performs!Aesthetics: 5/5This is one attractive piece of hardware! It looks, and feels, quality. And it is. It’s one of the best looking VR headsets to date!Performance: 5/5This headset is a solid performer, especially when connected to a PC. Vive has a streaming app that is meant to provide similar functionality as Air Link for Quest, and it works. You can also play by connecting via USB C. The real winner here though is Virtual Desktop (vrdesktop.net) by Guy Godin. For anyone unfamiliar with the app, its popularity soared as a wireless PC VR link, well before Air Link became a thing. One of it’s strong points was and is the direct integration of launching Steam VR games from the app’s menu. Well, the version of Virtual Desktop in the XR Elite store has the unique capability to play Oculus PC VR titles. Yes, you can play Oculus PC VR titles without an Oculus device, using your XR Elite. Due to the way it works, it’s only available by connecting wirelessly and the headset must be able to run Virtual Desktop on its own, which makes the XR Elite one of .. 2? (Also the Focus 3) that has this capability. So if you’re coming from Oculus and have titles you don’t want to give up, you might not have to. It isn’t 100% compatible with all titles, but most I tried seem to work great.Comfort 2/5 updated to 4/5:As it comes, I found this headset to be the least comfortable VR headset I’ve ever worn. Using it in glasses mode does help. Also, there is a strap that is more like an elastic band that is meant to go over the top of your head (there’s a YouTube video about it made by Vive) to help, but it doesn’t help much. The stock facial interface feels too small and awkwardly shaped, and when you think you have the headset in position, it can slide down a little in the back, throwing it all off. Honestly, this is the only real weak point I’ve found on this headset after a month of use. THAT SAID… I talked to Vive and they are aware of this common complaint, and they have released an alternate facial interface. It’s my understanding that they are working to resolve the comfort issue. I’ve upped it to 4/5 because of the alternate facial interface and their acknowledgement of the issue and working on a fix.Features and Tech 5/5:People who wear glasses have struggled with comfort and usability with VR headsets from the very beginning. Some solutions have come out, such as custom prescription lenses that magnetically attach over the lenses on the Oculus Quest series of headsets. But that required ordering lenses and that’s an extra expense. Vive upped the game with the XR Elite and is the first headset to offer adjustable diopters on each lens. What does this mean? Well, you know when you go to the eye doctor and you go through multiple lens power strengths to dial in your prescription “this… Or this… 1.. and 2… And 1 again… And 2 again…” So the lenses on the XR Elite are rotatable independently, and are adjustable from 0 to -5.0. I wear contacts and one eye is -2.25 and bthe other eye is -2.0. By taking off the bbú bú and following the very easy and simple instructions shown to you during setup, you dial in each eye individually. This is awesome! And it works. Very well! No ordering of prescription lenses. Note that this doesn’t completely resolve all of your vision woes, as complex prescriptions would still need your corrective eye-wear, but it’s a great option for most people.Continuing along this innovative feature-set is the expandability for facial tracking, eye tracking, or other future expansions. Who knows what will become available even within the next year. The tech world is kind of crazy like that.One major bonus is the ability to use Vive Trackers. These handy little pucks are not cheap (about $130 each) but they can be worn on your waist, legs, feet, arms, elbows, your cat… Don’t ask. Vive is also working on a tracker that can watch you and track you. The device itself is stationary. This is something I have desperately wanted from Meta since the Oculus Quest, and so far, the only options have been using hacks that are still making progress, such as using a Microsoft Kinect (2.0, the one for the Xbox One) sensor for full body tracking. This does, of course, rely on PC software and only compatible with PC VR. To the best of my knowledge, it can also only be used with Steam VR, because Oculus…Controllers 4.5/5The controllers will remind most people of the Oculus Quest touch controllers, but… Bigger. I don’t know why they chose to use such large controllers, as this was a complaint with the Reverb G2. They are longer and you expect them to be a bit unwieldy at first, but I found them to actually be comfortable and didn’t pay any attention to what I was holding in my hands. They didn’t break immersion, which is important. I guess we shouldn’t be too worried about how the controllers look in our hands when we have a headset strapped to our face. If you’ve ever seen a video of someone playing VR, from the real world perspective, it’s almost.. embarrassing. But who cares, as long as we stay in the Metaverse, right? I experience no issues with tracking, and Vive is still pushing out firmware updates actively, so expect things to keep getting better.Hand Tracking 5/5I’m giving this hand tracking rating a full 5 because it’s honestly about as good as we’re going to get with hand tracking without external sensors to see the other side of our hands. Some mixed reality content, like Maestro, uses one controller and one free hand to conduct an orchestra. For navigating the menus, I found it to be reliable and had no issues.Notables:There are a few extra things worth mentioning here. The battery pack, which can attach to the goggles and looks similar to the Quest Pro, is detachable. You can purchase additional battery packs and swap them (it does require removing the headset, pressing a button on each side to slide the arm out, and detaching the USB C power cable). The goggles have a very small battery and should give you enough time to disconnect the USB C power cable from one pack and attach the cable from the charged pack, though I’d do it quickly if I were you. I didn’t test how long it will stay on, but I know it’s not too long. You can, of course, opt to plug a USB C cable into the goggles that is attached to some other power source instead, such as a wall outlet with a long cord, or a portable power bank that you can slip in your pocket. Just be mindful of how you route the cable so you don’t unplug it while embarrassing yourself in front of your family or friends, as you frantically try to beat that invisible monster to death. Unplugging yourself at that moment would force you to remove the goggles and see your family and friends taking cover and expressing confusion and fear. They’re not doing it if you don’t see them.Also, the app store for standalone apps is… Underwhelming at the moment. But some new releases are hitting for some popular titles, and I think in the near future we can expect to see many of the Meta standalone apps in Vive’s store.I wanted to keep this review short because if you wanted a full article, you would probably be reading one of the many review sites. Well, I don’t run a review site or publish a blog. Yet. However, I hope at least some people find this review useful.My final verdict is that yes, it’s worth the price. Yes, it’s comparable to the Quest Pro and Quest 3. You can expect great support for expansion of new trackers and ways to become even more immersed, than what Meta will provide you. Overall, this headset is a winner and even though I now own a Quest 3, this headset is still getting plenty of use.

When HTC announced this headset in January it felt like a dream come true. A light form factor headset with inside out tracking and controllers more akin to oculus than the clunky vive wands, and most importantly not tied to meta.I’m not exaggerating when i say this was the pre-order that kept me going the last few months excited every day for when it would be released. I have to say, what a total and complete let down.To put it concisely, coming from a CV1 (a headset from 2016), this headset has several key failures that make it completely inadequate for PCVR, and some that make it a horrible headset over all. The built in audio is horrible for starters, compared to the valve index, CV1, or any in ear headphones, this cannot be fixed as the headset has no 3.5mm jack and the bands are very thick making wearing any over ear headphones extremely uncomfortable.The controllers are probably comfortable for some people, but the weight distribution is really lopsided and they want to roll out of your hands, the triggers also have an extremely cheap feeling click so shooting games have a really uncomfortable tactile response. I also find the tracking rings very large and poorly placed making reloading in games difficult when trying not to smash the controllers together.Tracking on the headset and controllers is both fine but there are pleanty of times I felt like tracking was being lost or lagging behind my real movements.The image is crystal clear and this is definitely the strong point of the headset. However based on the type of games you play and the shape of your head, the vertical FOV makes playing certain types of games impossible. For me I was unable to see my chest without bending my neck down much more than im use to with any other headset. For people who dont usually play VR, lots of games store items/menus on your chest. This means that actions in games like Pavlov and Contractors I use to be able to complete by just peering down a bit now require a ton of head movement.I think the comfort level overall is really going to depend on what kind of person you are, features like the IPD adjustment and the diopters are really nice and i hope more headsets can make use of them going forward, but the lack of a more traditional headstrap design (like found on the index, CV1, Rift S, HP reverb g2) seems really short sighted and basically entirely reliant on third party developers to make solutions for people who dont want a lot of clamping pressure on their face and back.I cant even really give any opinions on the standalone capabilities for this headset because there isn’t enough content on the vive store. Think about this if you arent intending on using this thing for PCVR. You are spending close to 2000$ with tax on a headset that has enough content to entertain you (if you like playing vr fishing games and meditating in front of a waterfall) for less than a hundred hours.For PCVR, the current streaming software is obviously not as good as virtual desktop. I read this from reviews before purchase but i think i sorely underestimated how buggy and slow it was. It launches from steamvr alright conceptually, but there are plenty of times before i was able to get that to work the software would lock up my computer requiring me to hard reboot, or do random things like not let me close any programs once i exit out of the usb streaming.To top it all off my unit came with a dead pixel.To summarize, very poor audio, uncomfortable controllers, bad software (on launch), no games for standalone (on launch), bad vertical FOV, and an overall total disapointment as a PCVR headset.Please do not experiment with this thinking you can return it, they will charge you for shipping.HTC, I think this headset might kill your company but at least you used recycled packaging

This looks and feels like an alpha product that was quickly dumped on the market by a company that’s about to go under.

Product was rushed, Quest Pro is a much better headset.