HTC Vive Pro
NEXT-GEN VR BRINGS PERFECTLY CLEAR VISION AND A MORE COMFORTABLE HEADSET, SO NOW YOU CAN TRULY LOSE YOURSELF IN ANOTHER WORLD
THE HTC VIVE has always been the leading virtual reality experience when it comes to room-scale immersion. Although rival headsets such as the Oculus Rift have since expanded to help you physically move around to navigate in a VR, and the PlayStation VR does it to a point, no other headset has quite been able to replicate what the Vive offers.
TECH ME ON
There’s an increase in pixels, climbing to 2,880 x 1,600 (1,440 x 1,600 per eye), representing a 78% increase from the original Vive. There’s also high-res audio headphones built into the headset this time round. But after you’ve forked out the staggering $1,199 price, you might be surprised as to what you actually get in the box: just the headset, the link box, a DisplayPort and USB cables for connecting the Vive Pro to your PC, a power adapter and the mounting pad for strapping down that link box. That’s it. To actually use the Vive Pro, HTC is expecting you to already own the pair of controllers and the two base stations required for tracking all of your movements. To buy the full kit, you’ll have to fork out for the ‘Vive Enterprise Advantage’ bundle at $1,999 — a rather large investment.
ROOM WITH A VIEW
The good news is that the Vive Pro will work perfectly with any existing Vive kit. If you’re
THE TWIN OLED SCREENS DON’T JUST DELIVER A HIGHER-RESOLUTION EXPERIENCE OVERALL (THE ORIGINAL VIVE’S RESOLUTION WAS 2,160 x 1,200 TOTAL), IT ALSO MEANS THAT PIXEL DENSITY IS INCREASED BY 37%.
new to the VR game, you need to prepare for what a faff it is getting everything set up properly. You have to download the drivers from the HTC Vive website, run the setup software and get everything plugged in. Then you must position the sensor units up high enough by balancing them on bookcases, tripods or screwing them into your walls, map the space that you want to use, then finally run through the tutorial. That’s before you factor in whether you’ll need to clear extra space in your room to properly play. There’s a standing-only option if you have a small space, but for the true Vive experience, you’ll need a space at least 2 x 1.5m.
Tracking isn’t always perfect, occasionally losing sight of one or both controllers mid-game. It’s a little immersion-breaking, but regardless, the difference between the first Vive and the Pro is staggering.
EYE CANDY
The twin OLED screens don’t just deliver a higher-resolution experience overall, it also means that pixel density is increased by 37%. Having many more pixels in the same space means you can’t see individual dots anymore. The ‘screen door effect’, as it’s known, was prevalent on the first Vive, the Oculus Rift and especially the PlayStation VR. But that’s all gone with the Vive Pro and it seriously changes the overall VR experience.
The display refresh rate is 90Hz, the same as the original Vive. It’s high enough to trick the eyes and avoid feeling artificial, though the 120Hz PlayStation VR is still the king here.
LIGHTENING THE LOAD
Technically, the Vive Pro is heavier than the original headset, and compared to the PSVR or Oculus Rift, it feels like a deadweight. But the weight is better distributed, applying less pressure to your face, thanks to a new rear headrest and a tightening mechanism on the back that’s not dissimilar to the PSVR.
The area that comes into direct contact with your nose has also been tweaked, reducing the amount of light that gets in; before this tweak, that pesky light would have reminded you that you’re still in the world.
The new integrated headphones reduces the wires hanging around your body as you play, and makes the most of the spacial audio provided by the Vive Pro. Everything sounds beefy and detailed, and with a good 3D effect, contributing to a higher sense of immersion.
Despite the fact that the HTC Vive Pro website shows a man leaping about all over the place, this is still a tethered experience. HTC is releasing a Vive Wireless Adapter later this year, but it’ll be an additional cost. It’s an exciting and potentially game-changing solution if it works as well as HTC promises, though.
POWERING UP
When it comes to a PC, you’ll need to power a full Pro experience. HTC recommends using a rig packing at least 4GB of RAM, an Intel Core i5-4590/AMD FX 8350 processor or better, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060/AMD Radeon RX 480 or better. You can buy a suitable setup from about $1,000, though we’d recommend looking at around the $1,800 mark for something that will last a while. That said, we tried the Vive Pro running off an Nvidia GeForce 980 Ti graphics card and it was fine.
With all of this in mind, the Vive Pro is an odd one for us to recommend at this stage. It’s clear that it’s the best immersive virtual experience you can buy; the clarity and detail is such a contrast to the original headset that it feels less like a Vive 1.5 upgrade rather than a visual overhaul, particularly for the big-budget VR release. But the timing and pricing feels off. If HTC sold all of the accessories and the Wireless Adapter in one box, it could justify the premium price. Pre-orders around the world were selling out rapidly, so there’s clearly a demand for better-quality VR. For us, though, such a premium price should also include the Vive Wireless Adapter.
The Pro might offer the best VR experience on the market, but having to buy all the extras to be able to use it properly makes it a very expensive proposition if you are coming to VR from scratch. Throw in the space and setup requirements and it’s best to consider this an investment in the best VR experience. If you’re happy to make that investment, we can recommend the Vive Pro. For an easier setup and lower cost, the PlayStation VR is still the best option. For a room-scale experience at a lower cost, the original Vive bundle is a good buy at half the price ($879).