HTC Vive XR Elite Virtual Reality Headset + Controllers

The only pro is that its lightweight. The controller are cheap plastic, the tracking is awesome, the screen is fun and hard to see even on its brightest setting, no exclusive games, no virtual desktop, laggy despite my wifi 6e, did I already mention the controllers that feel like they will fall apart at any second and also have terrible battery life? This takes three place of the pico 4 as the worst headset on the market (with psvr2 taking 3rd. I HATE meta, but the meta pro has great lenses and the sweet spot is enormous, this thing feels like taking a step back in time to a colorized virtual boy with better graphics but just as useless. Already requested a return. This is an embarrassment to HTC. If you buy, have no expectations..... And youll still be disappointed. These lenses are awful.

The quality of the headset is good. The full-color passthrough is really neat especially compared to my old Samsung Odyssey WMR. I also like that the controllers pair to the headset and not to my PC. My biggest complaint is that they have clearing been pushing the 5 free titles as part of the pre-order since it was listed back in January. However, only ONE of those five titles are actually available on the headset. The other 4 are apparently coming soon with no clear release date. The Viveport store is pathetic at best. SteamVR worked with a USB cable most of the time, but it would occasionally flake out. Using Wi-Fi 6 from my router in the same room was low resolution a laggy at best. Sometimes it work for a good couple minutes and other times not at all. Overall, this thing is not worth the $1100 asking price in my opinion.

I purchased my XR Elite via the HTC Vive store, but Im so disappointed in it that I felt a warning on Amazon was warranted. Its impressive when you first pull it out of the box, but any possibility of a good review had vanished after using the headset for less than 10 minutes. Im a Vive fanboy... I own the original Vive and the Vive Elite Cosmos and LOVE them both, but I can only assume those engineers came nowhere near the XR Elite. For reference, my SteamVR streaming rig is a relatively high-end 3080TI with a WiFi 6E router... I have no issues running the most demanding VR games at high detail on my Cosmos Elite. Good -The diopter adjustment is great -HMD is impressively small and light weight Bad -AIO software might as well be nonexistent for whats offered -PC streaming is mostly a stuttering low-rez mess and when it does work and very few SteamVR games provide bindings for the XR controllers -Uncomfortable in every configuration... glasses mode pinches your skull to literally headache inducing levels and battery mode squashes your face when you wear it tight enough not to wiggle -Terrible internal reflected light bloom in the pancake lens assemblies... bright graphics wash out the entire display -Field of view is one of the worst Ive experienced with no ability to move the lens closer to your eyes -Controllers feel like a cheap Dollar Store knockoffs -Face gasket is made of a fabric material and is already dirty and deforming in addition to constantly coming detached from the headset at the slightest bump -A ridiculous piece of cheap elastic is included as a securing head strap HTC should be embarrassed by the XR Elite and ashamed of themselves for the price point. My shame is in not retuning it immediately... now I can only hope that active improvements to the software and 3rd party accessories can save it from a dusty death at the bottom of a drawer.

Cons: 1. If your network isnt being broadcasted, theres no way to add to the hidden network from the Vive Manager app. So you have to join whatever broadcasting/visible network that you see then sign up the headset then go into the virtual dashboard to Connectivity to add the hidden network 2. Small sweet spot 3. Fan in headset is noticeable 4. Glare from the lenses and halo effect (or light bleeding) around the edges 5. IPD says 72 but only goes to 69.55 6. Grainy passthrough 7. First impressions of the hand tracking isnt that good. It works but you most definitely need the controllers nearby 8. Despite following the steps of this video, I have difficulties getting the headset to see the PC connection. After almost a hour of working on this, I gave up. I will try again tomorrow but Im more than likely returning the headset when I had high hopes for this as a glasses wearer and original HTC Vive owner. Pros: 1. Form factor: lightweight, compact, balanced 2. Good audio: crisp 3. No glasses needed

So for this being a brand new product and everything. I would really highly recommend people getting this one versus the quest and all that personally. there isnt a lot of games On here yet but the games are really nice. I think the biggest problem a lot of people are having is that. You need to connect the app to your headset. Once you connect the app to your headset get it updated get everything going through there its Really Good its not bad at all. Its really clear you can change how everything looks itll dial into your view center. Everythings really beautiful I personally havent found anything bad with it yet. The hand tracking is a little different and a little buggy but I dont like using my hands all the time so im still experimenting with it. I love the way the headset sits on my head how it feels. I think its really nice and I think its worth the money and some of the games that you buy for it right now really nice. I would at least try it knowing that you have to add the app to it to make sure it runs good.

Marketing so aggressively to such a niche market is only risky if you are unable to deliver, and this headset falls very short of expectations they themselves set. The hardware has promise, in so far as I could be OK with it IF the software experience wasnt so underwhelming. I certainly would like to veer away from Meta to support privacy centric efforts and willing to pay a premium for that. However the state of the UI / UX is so rough, that I do not have the patience to cheerlead for future updates will sort this out. Not for $1200 after tax. I was ready to scoop up accessories and lean into this headset, but I will happily continue on with PCVR via the Quest 2 headset for now. It really boggles the mind how they could even ship a product with software in such a state as if there were no market leaders present currently highlighting the short coming so plainly. Hopefully they can get sorted on future iterations. Im increasingly interested in Big Screens product despite the workarounds for feature parity as I am not skeptical about their marketing. Unfortunately my opinion of HTC is now negatively informed by their willingness to ship a product that over promises and under delivers.

The valve index had set a very high bar, years before the quest 2 ever cam to market. Based on the quality valve is known for and numerous early reviews, I was expecting an exceptional headset when I preordered this one. I already own a quest 1, quest 2 and pico 4, so Im very familiar with vr. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. The headset wasnt comfortable at all. I couldnt get a very good light seal around the face cushion. The cushion itself seemed very flimsy and had a tendency to fall off if I grabbed it the wrong way. The battery pack that attaches to the back, like the pico 4 , is a great way to balance everything. However, unlike the pico, the back doesnt pivot at all. This means you have to loosen the back every time, which is inconvenient. This might have been manageable, but the only way to keep the headset on when I moved around was to tighten it excessively so that my face bit into the face cushion and it stayed on the back of my head. (This gave me headaches after 15-20 minutes of using it.) Visually, its not very impressive either. While it does look better than my quest 2, it doesnt look better than the pico 4. Also, the field of view seemed smaller, sort of like I was looking through binoculars. I tried playing Pop One and found myself having to look around a lot more, because my peripheral vision was almost non existent. Lastly, the controllers seem like a step backward. The body of controllers are straight bulky sticks, without any effort made to help them conform to your hand and be comfortable. The controllers on the quest 2 and pico 4 both feel comfortable in my hands. The xr elites did not. Both the quest 2 and the pico 4 are better headsets than this at a lesser price.

I have been in vr since 2016 and owned most headsets. This is the worst experience Ive ever had with VR. Streaming has issues via USB or wireless (I have a dedicated wifi6e router and zero issues with Quest 2 or Vive focus 3 at ultra quality streaming). IPD constantly adjusts on its own. Unusable as a standalone or with PCVR in its current state. HTCs own forums and Reddit are filled with the same problems. Dont buy.

Cons: Getting this to connect to your steam library is terrible. the Vive Streaming app just does not work. Making this unusable. The pass through isnt great. The 5 games it came with is a lie, cause 3 of them arent even out yet. The PC cable should be sold with this headset and what they charge for it is ludicrous. Pros: The headset is light and comfortable. The eye portion comfortable blocks all light for me.

Preface to this review: I have an extreme negative bias towards Meta and refuse to use their products, so Im completely unable to compare this product to any of the Quest offerings. Ill primarily be comparing against the Valve Index. Furthermore, as other reviews have pointed out, the standalone experience is sorely lacking, and in my opinion HTC should have delayed the launch of this headset until they were able to get more apps into their storefront. Because of this, Ill only be focusing on the PCVR experience here. The HTC Vive XR Elite is not the best headset in any one category. Its not the best looking image (PCVR), it doesnt have the best controllers, it doesnt have the best tracking, and its not the smoothest experience out of the box. What it does have, is portability; both portability in travel and portability between users. We have a Valve Index already in our house, and sharing that experience is tedious to say the least, which means in the year weve had it in our house of 4, weve pretty much never shared a VR experience all together. That changed only a few days after the XR Elite arrived. The ability to quickly swap between different users of differing prescriptions, the ability to adjust the IPD to fit my (admitted hey-Arnold-esque) head, and the lack of a top strap to accommodate the widest range of hair styles make it an actually fun and immersive experience you can ***enjoy with your friends and family*** instead of alone. Ill admit the Quest lineup is probably pretty similar here, but as I mentioned above, I refuse to in any way support their parent company, and thus here I am. I believe that this product is perfect for those looking for a higher-end product as their first foray into VR, and many of the flaws the XR Elite has, I hope HTC is able to solve (primarily the lack of apps in the storefront). If youre listening HTC, one thing I would love to see is the ability to integrate with other controllers. The XR Elite can already track my hands, but it cant pair with Index Knuckle controllers and track those instead? Of course Id be giving up some precision the Knuckle controllers usually have by removing the base stations, but I cant see why it isnt possible. That, or release some higher-quality feeling controllers. All in all, I really wanted this to be a 4-star or 5-star review, and I think for the right person (such as myself) it definitely is, but as for the general public... Its a hard sell given that they probably dont share the same aversion to Meta as I do.