After a quick teaser image in October, HTC just announced and released its all-new virtual and augmented reality headset, the Vive XR Elite. The all-in-one headset looks to take on the Meta Quest Pro, combines MR and VR into one device, and offers a lightweight yet versatile experience for users.
The Vive XR Elite is a $1,100 flagship consumer VR headset that’s available for pre-order starting today and will start shipping sometime in February.
As for specs, the new Vive XR Elite has a 4K display with a 90Hz refresh rate, delivering 2K pixels to each eye. There’s a respectable 110-degree diagonal field of view, 12GB of RAM, and 128GB of internal storage, all powered by the slightly older Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chipset. For those wondering, that’s the same chip as the Quest 2.
It features four wide-angle cameras for mixed reality pass-thru, plus it’ll track your hands when you’re not using the Motion controllers. HTC claims the XR Elite has large, loud, directional audio speakers, and it weighs only 625g which is less than the Quest Pro.
As expected for a standalone VR headset, the Vive XR Elite has a large battery pack on the back of the headrest. The company says this placement will help balance the overall weight for longer sessions, although battery life is only about two hours.
That said, users can hot-swap the battery for a fully charged one if they buy extras, and HTC even added a retractable USB-C cable on the right side of the headset for quick charging or using it with a portable battery pack.
As for content, there will be around 100 games available at launch, with more in the coming weeks and months. You’ll be able to enjoy titles on Viveport, plus the XR Elite works with select PCVR games over USB-C. Furthermore, HTC mentioned titles, including Figmin, Hubris, Yuki, Demeo, Maestro, and Les Mills Body Combat are available at launch, and Everslaught: Invasion will come out later this year.
Finally, the Vive XR Elite should get two optional add-on accessories at a later date that’ll enable eye-tracking or facial tracking for select apps and usage scenarios.
The all-new HTC Vive XR Elite is available to pre-order for $1,099, and it’ll start shipping sometime in February.