HTC has announced the Vive XR Elite, a new wireless VR headset that aims to compete with Meta Quest Pro for money. Aiming to be an all-in-one device, ready for different metaverses springing up left, right, and center, HTC combines VR and mixed reality in a headset that’s a third cheaper than its competitor.
HTC has been teasing its new device for a long time with trademark filings, store listings, and leaked images since the Meta Quest Pro launched in October 2022. It seems like they were pretty much on the money, because the Vive XR Elite has a brilliant design. , next to the camera and sensor on the front, and the battery is attached to a single strip on the back.
With Meta Quest Pro, HTC Vive XR Elite has a lot in common. It has 12GB of RAM, a 90Hz refresh rate, and both are rated for up to two hours on a full charge. They benefit from the same connectivity options: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 and USB Type C to connect to a PC. HTC’s new headset packs half the storage space of its competitor (128GB), but many people find the Quest with less storage to be better value for money anyway.
The XR Elite includes two open speakers for audio, four wide-field cameras, a depth sensor, manual tracking, and capacitive sensing, but it’s much more customizable. You can disconnect the bulkier battery and opt for glasses-shaped stems if you want to connect it to a gaming PC or use your own power bank. There seems to be room for additional accessories in the future, such as a facial tracking module, although it’s not part of the basic package and HTC hasn’t confirmed it yet.
The new device is much lighter at 625g including battery compared to the Meta Quest Pro’s 722g. This isn’t surprising as the latter is the least reliable VR headset in the current Meta line. The Vive XR Elite also has a slightly higher resolution, at 1920×1920 on a pancake lens, but we’ll need our hands on the device to see if it’s that much of a difference to the Vive XR Elite’s 1800×1920. eye.
Naturally, specifications on paper don’t mean much when it comes to actual performance tests. We need to see how well they fit together before making snap decisions on which headset should be crowned the best VR headset. However, the Vive XR Elite has a price advantage of $1,099 / £1,299, making it much more friendly to play than the $1,500 Meta Quest Pro.
Source : PC Gamesn
