HTC Vive XR Elite review 2024: a superbly designed headset

In a VR market where the Meta Quest 2, with its low price and easy design, is the leader, any new VR gear has a lot to prove. The HTC Vive XR Elite is a good high-end PC VR headset that can be used on its own. The specs on the box look great. But PC players should think about a few things, especially since it costs $1,099/£1,299, which is over two and a half times as much as the Quest 2.

The HTC Vive XR Elite is one of the least ugly headsets we have seen, and it fulfills HTC’s dream of making an XR device that is very light. Not only does it fit well on my head, but its 614 grams of weight are evenly distributed between the front and back, so it doesn’t put too much pressure on my nose.

HTC Vive XR Elite Specifications

HTC Vive XR Elite: Design

When the Vive XR Elite is taken apart and put next to the Meta Quest Pro, it looks shockingly small. Most of this is because a lot of the parts are optionally removable. For example, you can leave the head strap battery pack behind, and you can power the XR Elite by plugging it straight into a laptop or using your own battery pack. But the glasses are also smaller in size and shape. The mirror-glossy front panel isn’t as wide as the Quest Pro, and the lenses are smaller. You can buy this HTC Vive XR Elite from its official website

HTC Vive XR Elite: Software

The Vive XR Elite falls short in mixed reality and in general because it doesn’t have good software to make the most of its power. Its Viveport store doesn’t have as many apps as Meta’s rival Quest store, which is only for Quest headset users.

From what we can tell, every good VR experience on the XR Elite store is also on the Quest platform, or at least Meta has something close in gameplay and quality. However, this doesn’t work the other way around.

HTC Vive XR Elite: Performance

The HTC Vive XR Elite is able to function admirably because to its specifications. There were no problems with the hardware in any of the games or apps that we tried while wearing the headset; nevertheless, it is not as good as some of the other headsets that are now available on the market.

In comparison, the Meta Quest Pro has the same amount of RAM (12 GB), but it also has 256 GB of storage space (which is excessive, but is still an upgrade), as well as an enhanced Snapdragon XR2 Plus chipset, which provides 50% more sustained power and 30% better thermal performance than the standard chipset.

HTC Vive XR Elite: Battery Life

The HTC Vive XR Elite has a battery life of around 2 hours, which is on par with other standalone headsets. Each controller has a maximum operating time of 15 hours. If you just have 30 minutes to spare before your headset dies, you can get another hour out of a full charge.

The Oculus Quest 2 can last up to three hours, and the Meta Quest Pro only lasts around an hour and a half, but the XR Elite falls short of both of those estimates.

Price and availability

The HTC Vive XR Elite was unveiled on January 5 at CES 2023, and the following day, it was made available for preorder on Amazon. The most fundamental bundle, which consists of nothing more than the controllers, the headset, and a single battery, will be priced at $1,099.

You are only able to purchase the base package at this time; however, HTC has stated that in the near future it will sell more bundles that include a variety of interchangeable faceplates, additional batteries, and other accessories.

Final Words

In the week we used the Vive XR Elite, it seemed too finicky and sometimes buggy for me to get used to it. The software for the system didn’t seem as polished as Meta’s. But as I used it, I started to like how small it was and how well it fit over my face.

If only these were as useful as regular glasses, though, that would be great. Like the nReal Light and other early AR glasses, the design still feels too weird to be comfy. And the weird headband that comes off feels too flimsy.

HTC Vive XR Elite review: The good and The bad

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