The Simple Guide to Four Major VR Headsets Launching This Spring
Oculus Quest
Quest is Oculus’ first standalone VR headset that includes 6DOF tracking on the headset and controllers.
Because it doesn’t have the power of a beefy PC, you can expect graphics to have a decidedly ‘mobile’ feel, but nevertheless it’s very possible to get lost in VR on Quest, even if the graphics are far from what you’d see on a PC VR headset.
Who is it For?
Quest is made for gaming, and most apt for the VR user who isn’t willing to invest in a gaming PC that has enough power to run a PC VR headset. Quest can only run Quest-specific content available on the Oculus Store (Oculus Rift and Oculus Go also have their own separate content libraries).
Oculus has confirmed that Quest will cost $400.
Oculus Rift S
What is it?
Rift S is Oculus’ second PC VR headset, and the company is positioning it as an easier to use version of Rift—with a few upgrades.
Another upgrade over the original Rift S is a new display with a higher resolution that will make graphics sharper and reduce the ‘screen door effect’ (the unlit spaces between pixels), which will make for a step up in clarity.
Oculus has confirmed that Rift S will cost $400.
HP Reverb
What is it?
HP’s Reverb headset is the company’s second PC VR headset which runs Microsoft’s ‘Windows Mixed Reality’ platform, and can also play SteamVR content through an official plugin. Like Rift S, Reverb uses on-board tracking and doesn’t rely on external sensors for tracking.
The biggest upgrades that Reverb brings to the table are an all new design which offers on-ear headphones, as well as new displays which offer a big jump in resolution compared to pretty much any other headset on the horizon.
HP has confirmed that Reverb will cost $600 for the consumer edition and $650 for a professional edition for enterprise use.
Valve Index
What is it?
Although Valve contributed significant R&D to the HTC Vive, the company’s upcoming Index will be the first PC VR headset made and sold by Valve. Though only limited information is available so far, it seems that Valve is positioning Index as a flagship headset for SteamVR, and it’s thought that the company could announce a least one first-party game to launch with the headset, but we’ll have to wait and see. The headset will launch with the ‘Knuckles’ controllers which Valve has had in the works for many years now (though they plan to call them ‘Valve Index controllers’ moving forward).