HTC Vive XR Elite Virtual Reality Headset + Controllers

Pretty bad an incomparable to other headsets

Horrible first-day experience at the initial setup, the software was a disaster, so many issues with the connection to the PC and phone. It appears HTC is aware of the problem and addressing the problem soon after users pointed it out. Hand tracking is improved, at least it no longer recognizes my feet as a 3rd hand. and Phone mirroring connection is now stable to a usable level. There are many other issues that still need to be addressed before a fair judgment can be passed on the unit. The good news is the developer has not given up on it yet. so I will keep the unit for a month to see.

I have been waiting for this headset for several months and it is a big disappointment. The Bad: 1. The right lens has two dark specs that are either dead pixels or dirt inside the lens. 2. Vive streaming app is very buggy and does not work very well with Steam VR. 3. Controller support on steam vr games is a big challenge. Many of the games are unusable with the controllers and you need to do a lot of tweaking and hopefully get them to work. 4. Before I got the controllers paired I tried to log into my account with hand gestures and the keyboard. This was totally unusable with missing keystrokes and erratic pointer movement. I had to pair the controllers to get this accomplished. 5. Headset draws more power than the usb 3.0 port on my computer can supply and I slowly saw my battery drain while connected to the computer via usb. Need to try other ports before making a final determination. 6. Face mask is not very comfortable but could be tolerated. Need to look at other solutions. The Good: 1. Very light headset especially without the battery pack. 2. Foldable and very portable. All you need is a power source. 3. Works very well with usb c dongle providing power delivery with a wired ethernet connection. It detects the ethernet connection as a tethered usb port. 4. Picture quality is excellent depending on which app you are using. Summary: In conclusion I think that this product was released prior to being ready. The software issues could be resolved if you are willing to wait for fixes, but there is no excuse for the quality issues with the lenses. I like the ergonomics and portability of the product enough to keep it because I believe that the software issues could be resolved in time however I will be replacing my defective unit. Hopefully Amazon will have one to replace it with. Update - March 29, 2023 ----------------------------- Spent several hours with the headset mainly without the battery pack in glasses mode working with steam vr. Following are the results. 1. The Headset pinches on the sides of the head making my head sore right above the ears. This was after several hours of use and now after 12 hours of resting, my head is still sore to the touch. The nose bridge pinches my nose making it difficult to breath but got used to it. 2. I installed the Vive Streaming App beta version and it works better than the released version. 3. Controllers started working with most apps after I disabled the compatibility setting in the streaming app. For some reason the default setting after installation was with compatibility on. This was a major accomplishment since it made the product usable. 4. Most steam vr games I tried worked fine once I got the controller issue resolved in 3 above however I could not get Flight Simulator 2020 to work even though it works fine with the Quest 2 and Pico 4 on the same system. Got a lot of stuttering and the streamer kept on losing connection. 5. Streaming both wireless and usb tethering mode worked fine. I barely noticed any difference between the two. I have mixed feelings about this headset. I think the comfort and software issues could be overcome. I really like the size and portability and modularity as well as picture quality once you get your sweet spot.

so satisfied so I returned it. no worth the money. DONT BUY!

I really see no reason for this half-baked product to have been released. For starters the hand tracking while decent clearly needed polish as it kept bugging out on me. Especially if switching from controllers to hand tracking which would sometimes cause freezing or other issues that required a reboot to clear. The main hub was buggy when downloading larger apps as downloading from there would always hang on anything beyond a certain size before starting over from 0%. Fortunately going to the actual app platform hub made it work but then why let us use a way to download that is buggy and incomplete? Just incompetence apparently. Trying to take the headset off to let it download something while you do something else would also cause the download to fail. I even got told by customer care to put something in front of the sensor so the headset could stay on. The headset itself would constantly overheat and crash, another thing to start over on a app download. Then I find out it cant even support Linux which mainly meant the Steam Deck which to me is quite surprising given how closely Valve works with HTC. On top of that the controllers would barely hold charge and seemed to die without ever using them. First time using a stand alone and but have also tested a quest and I think we need progress before its really ready. To me it feels half-baked at best and a mess at worse which is what this was for me. For the hardware we need at least what solid state batteries promise for longevity and weight as well as processors dont dont require screaming fans or a better cooling solution. I dont know exactly what that will require in terms of newly developed tech but I think Ill stay away from stand alone VR till that stuff is realized at the very least.

For that kind of money I was expecting so much from a gadget. This was a big disappointment and I fell for the exaggerated description and of course features which they failed to deliver. The controllers are big and the frame a little smaller to fit on my already small face. Id stick to my oculus2 which I can honestly say never failed me from the day I opened the box.

Ive been a long time HTC fan, owning the Original, Pro and Pro 2. I was very excited about the XR Elite and pre-ordered it as soon as I was able to. But when it arrived, I couldnt have been any more disappointed. -Gray display. No black means flatter world, with a very little 3D effect. Its the worst 3D Ive seen in a headset. -Extremely cheap feel and make, especially the controllers. -The faceplate keeps falling off because the magnets are too weak. -Glasses mode squeezes your temples so hard, inducing a migraine headache. -Required VIVE software will crash or wont run unless you change your audio to stereo first. It cant handle 5.1, for example. -Wireless VR is all but impossible, even with the best Wifi. Low resolution, artifacts, blue screens, and eventual crashes. It doesnt take much or long for the crash. -Below-average see-thru camera. The world looks flat. I dont understand all the hoopla, as the cameras nowhere good enough for an XR experience. -Speakers sit too high, allowing in too much ambient noise. -Still has screen door effect. -Awful battery life. The only good thing about it is that its light and reasonably comfortable. Everything else about the unit is low quality and subpar. For example, the temples on my unit for glasses mode still had plastic extrusions with sharp edges that flowed over the mold. Apparently HTC couldnt even bother checking and polishing the units. Every time I looked at the Elite, I couldnt help but feel ripped off. Its sad, because I really wanted HTC to succeed.

The software is simply awful. Its certainly possible the hardware is solid, but you never do get a chance to find out. On every startup, its a mystery if the boundary will reset (nearly every time), the hand tracking will work (maybe 50% of the time), or the battery will have charged. Startup times of the headset take from 15 seconds (great!) to 2-3 minutes (and often the little startup circle spins endlessly never starting up!). This might be a fun experiment for some- but avoid the HTC Vive XR Elite like the *plague* of you are looking for even a remotely reliable family VR headset.

Setup was ok, main usage was PC VR. The usb cable didn’t work despite working fine with quest 2. I had to use pc streaming. Not the best. The weight is light but there is noticeable pressure on the forehead. With the sunglass mode, it squeezes hard on the head. I found it to be an issue. It hard to recommend it at this price. AR is a feature no one, yet, asked for it and yet we are paying for it. The price is steep.

The only thing enjoyable about this was the unboxing. I cant get it to stream anything for longer than a few seconds without drops outs. Wired or wireless with a wifi6e made no difference. The only smooth operation I had with this was the initial setup. Then it told me to update my streaming drivers, but wouldnt allow me to do so. I have built every computer I have owned from parts. I have soldered together devices with 100s of components. I have coded software. I have created websites. I have linked analog and digital audio and video together at a professional level, but I couldnt after 8hrs of troubleshooting get this to work for more than 5 seconds in a game without a drop out. The worst part was when it randomly stopped being connected to my PC and insisted I connect to my Google Pixel. WHY?! what are you doing?! I was in game on STEAMVR?! 3 full charges and 8 hrs later, I am done. I am throwing in the towel. I cant waste another minute of my life with something so incredible unreliable as this piece of garbage.