This year the HTC Vive range of virtual reality (VR) headsets will be growing thank to new faceplates for the Vive Cosmos. Before things get a little too confusing there are some deals currently available for UK customers wishing to step into the Vive ecosystem, with Overclockers UK offering the biggest saving yet on the Vive Cosmos.
The online PC specialist retailer is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a sale, discounting loads of products in the process. It just so happens that the Vive Cosmos headset is the only one in the sale, with Overclockers UK reducing the cost by £120 GBP when you enter promocode COSMOS120 at the checkout. This drops the price from £699 down to £579, a bigger saving than the previous Black Friday which only saw a £100 saving.
Certainly the best deal yet for the headset but it’s still way above main competitor, Oculus Rift S at £399. Both have done away with external sensors, offering customers easy to use inside-out tracking – Vive Cosmos boasts a 6-lens system over Rift S’ 4 cameras. One of Vive Cosmos’ main features is its modular front faceplate system with several variants announced last week.
Apart from the standard Vive Cosmos, the company will be releasing a further three models to be sold in bundles and just the faceplates themselves. The Vive Cosmos Elite offers both inside-out and external tracking capabilities using SteamVR base stations, the Vive Cosmos XR is for mixed reality (MR) use cases while the baby of the bunch the Vive Cosmos Play will be the cheapest entry – a price has yet to be confirmed.
Or if you’ve been thinking about upgrading your PC the Overclockers UK’s sale might be a good time to look for parts, VR-compatible GPU’s in particular. The Zotac GeForce RTX 2060 Super is currently £299.99 rather than £359.99 or how about the Asus RADEON RX 5700 XTfor £349.99, down from £479.99.
If you head on over the HTC Vive’s website then you can always save £220 on the HTC Vive Pro Starter Kit which was £1,119, and now retails for £899.
VRFocus will continue to bring you the latest VR deals and updates from HTC Vive.
During CES 2020 last week HTC Vive was noticeably absent when in previous years the company has made quite the effort, last year in particular, revealing Vive Cosmos and the Vive Pro Eye. HTC Vive has had one announcement to share, however, and that’s a permanent price reduction for the HTC Vive Pro, dropping the base price for the headset to £599 GBP/$599 USD.
An upgrade to the original HTC Vive, the Vive Pro improved key features like the resolution and comfort whilst adding extras such as integrated audio. This saw the headset become the defacto device for a lot of virtual reality (VR) developers demonstrating their videogames at events.
The price drop to £599 is just for the headset itself, ideal for those early HTC Vive adopters looking to improve their experience who already own the SteamVR tracking solution and motion controllers. For those new to the system then the HTC Vive Pro Starter Pack which includes the 1.0 bases stations and Vive controllers is now £899, down from £1,119.
Or then there’s the HTC Vive Pro Full Kit which features the new 2.0 SteamVR base stations and second generation controllers for £1,119 rather than £1,219. All these reductions are very similar to HTC Vive Pro’s Black Friday deals a couple of months ago, just this time they’re not time limited.
To help deciding between the two the SteamVR 1.0 system was designed for smaller home play areas, covering a maximum area of 3.5m x 3.5m (15 square meters). The 2.0 base stations can cover up to a 100 square meter area (2 stations cover 5m x 5m), great for massive rooms – which is why VR arcades use them.
For current customers that £599 price makes the HTC Vive Pro a more viable upgrade path than the newer Vive Cosmos which is more expensive at £699. The Cosmos didn’t have a very successful launch back in October, beset with problems including inside-out tracking problems in low light situations. These have mostly been rectified with a continual stream of updates but the reputational damage has been done. Unlike rival Oculus Quest which hasn’t yet had a price drop, the Vive Cosmos saw a £100 reduction on Black Friday.
As HTC Vive continues to make its headsets more price competitive, VRFocus will keep you updated.
HTC Vive Pro launched in April 2018 with a few key improvements over the company’s original 2016 HTC Vive headset, although its launch was marred somewhat by its steep retail price of $800 for the headset alone. Now the company appears to be responding to recent competition in the space by cutting the price of its Vive Pro headset permanently to $600.
Alongside the addition of SteamVR 2.0 tracking sensors, integrated audio, and ergonomic head strap, one of the biggest improvements to Vive Pro was undoubtedly its displays, which feature dual 1,440 × 1,600 AMOLEDs—a clear upgrade over Vive’s 1,080 × 1,200 per lens resolution. That works out roughly to a 77% increase in the number of pixels for each eye.
The Valve Index, a direct competitor to Vive Pro, sells for $500 for the headset alone however, which boasts the same resolution as Vive Pro but at a slightly larger field of view; Vive Pro is somewhere around 110 degrees while Valve Index is around 120-130 degrees. If you want to know more about Index, check out our deep dive review.
Image courtesy HTC
Moreover, HTC is now selling its ‘Vive Pro Full Kit‘ for $1,200, which includes a pair of the newer SteamVR 2.0 base stations and a pair of Vive wand controllers. Notably, Valve is selling the superior all-in Index bundle with the much improved Index controllers and SteamVR 2.0 base stations for $1,000.
You might think HTC would be able to serve up a cheaper all-in SteamVR 2.0 bundle due to the inclusion of the aging Vive wands, making HTC’s new pricing scheme for Vive Pro overall a bit of a perplexing move.
Additionally, HTC is also offering up its ‘Vive Pro Starter Kit‘ for $900, which includes the Vive Pro headset, a pair of older SteamVR 1.0 base stations, and two Vive wand controllers.
Vive Pro, whether purchased through a bundle or the headset alone, comes along with a six-month free trial of Viveport Infinity (a $78 value), the company’s Netflix-style game service that lets you download a number of participating games from the digital distribution platform Viveport.
HTC Vive is cutting the price of its enterprise-focused (and very expensive) PC VR headset, the HTC Vive Pro.
Starting today, the standalone Vive Pro, which includes just the headset alone, costs $599 (or £599). That’s $200 less than its original $799 price. In fact, it’s actually even cheaper than HTC’s new consumer-level VR headset, the Vive Cosmos. That costs $699, but also comes with two hand-tracking controllers and embedded sensors for inside out tracking. The standalone Vive Pro doesn’t have controllers, nor the external SteamVR sensors to track the headset. So, to be clear, the standalone kit is only a viable option if you already own SteamVR base stations and Vive controllers.
$599 also puts Vive Pro’s standalone headset at $200 more than the $399 Oculus Rift S and Oculus Quest.
You can, however, get a Vive Pro, two controllers and two SteamVR 1.0 base stations for the new price of $899. Or you could even upgrade to the ‘Full Kit’, which includes SteamVR 2.0 base stations, for $1199. That’s $200 more than the $999 Valve Index, which also includes 2.0 base stations and its own Index Controllers.
Again, it’s important to stress that Vive Pro is a business-level device. HTC won’t stop consumers from purchasing the kit, but even with these cuts, its price is still very much aimed at companies over consumers.
Vive Pro is still an incredibly expensive proposition, then, and many of the features that headlined the device when it released in 2018 — upgraded resolution and improved comfort — have either been met or surpassed in other products, even some from HTC. Last year, for example, the company launched the Vive Pro Eye, which is essentially the same device but with eye-tracking. That device hasn’t received a price cut today ($1,599 for the full kit). Cosmos, too, beats Pro’s resolution.
Earlier this week HTC canceled appointments with the press at CES 2020. At the time the company told us that it had a “new vision” for Vive that it would share later in the year, likely around Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. We speculated that perceived struggles with the launch of the Vive Cosmos might mean that the company is doubling down on its enterprise business. Cutting the price of the original Vive Pro might support that theory.
Would you get a Vive Pro at this new price? Let us know in the comments below!
HTC is starting off the new year with a discount on their Vive Cosmos VR headset, bringing the price down $100 from $700 to $600 for a limited time only.
The deal started on New Year’s Day and will run until next Friday, the 10th of January. It is only available in the United States and Canada, and is available on the HTC site along with select retailers.
The Vive Cosmos has seemingly not seen the same amount of success, which could be due to its difficult $700 price point, between the $400 Oculus Quest and Rift S and the $1000 Valve Index. Whether the $100 discount for the next week will be enough to convince some people to take the plunge is up in the air. In our review of the Cosmos upon release last year, the price point was one of the major talking points in relation to the headset’s place in the current market:
“[The Cosmos is] just not enough at this stage to carve out a place in a crowded market that’s still struggling to attract new consumers. At the $699 price point, without any of its marketed add-on features included, I don’t think I can recommend buying a Cosmos when you could instead get a Rift S or Quest at nearly half the price or just save up a bit more for a Valve Index instead.”
It’s the annual sales extravaganza again, Black Friday, where retailers hope customers spend big while everyone is hunting for a decent bargain. The virtual reality (VR) industry has embraced the event for the past couple of years, offering even more incentive to delve into a bit of VR gaming. So VRFocus thought to make things a little easier let’s find all the deals and list them here.
Oculus
Oculus has a few deals on both hardware and software for new and existing customers alike. There’s no discount on Oculus Quest, with both the 64GB and 128 GB models their regular price but you can at least get a free videogame.
Oculus Quest (64GB/128GB) – Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series for free. Deal ends 31st January 2020.
As for software, there’s plenty for both Oculus Rift and Oculus Quest to choose from, including bundle deals and individual sales. Ones of interest include:
Remember all the hardware deals are available until 2nd December, while the Oculus Store software discounts end tonight 29th November, 11:59 PM PT (30th November, 7:59AM GMT).
HTC Vive
This year HTC Vive has been going hard with the sales, from discounting subscription service Viveport Infinity to it very latest headset, the Vive Cosmos.
Viveport Infinity – Save 45% – £4.99/month
Save £100 on HTC Vive Cosmos. Was £699, Now £599 – Vive.com,Amazon
Save £50 on Wireless Adapter and PRO Attachment Kit. Was £364, Now £314 – Vive.com
Save £50 on Wireless Adapter and Cosmos Attachment Kit. Was £353, Now £303 – Vive.com
Save £200 on HTC Vive Pro Full Kit. Was £1,299, Now £1,099 – Vive.com, Amazon
Save £300 on HTC Vive Pro Starter Kit. Was £1,119, Now £819 – Vive.com
Save £200 on HTC Vive Pro headset. Was £799, Now £599 – Vive.com
Save £350 on HTC Vive Pro Eye and Wireless Adapter and Clip. Was £1,863, Now £1,513 – Vive.com
PlayStation VR
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) never usually fails to disappoint when it comes to both hardware and software discounts, and 2019 is no different.
PlayStation VR Starter Pack – £179.99 (was £259.99) – includes PS Camera & PS Worlds – GAME, Argos, Smyths, Amazon
PlayStation VR Mega Pack 2019 – £209.99 (was £299.99) – Includes camera, PS Worlds, Skyrim VR, Astrobot, Everybody’s Golf VR and Resident Evil 7 Biohazard – GAME, Argos, Smyths, Amazon
US Only – PlayStation VR + PlayStation Move & Blood & Truth + Everybody’s Golf Bundle – $249.99
PlayStation 4 500GB with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – £199.99 – GAME, Argos, Smyths
PlayStation 4 500GB with FIFA 20 – £199.99 – GAME, Argos, Smyths
The HTC Vive is one of the most popular and enduring lines of PC VR headsets. Whether you’re talking about the original HTC Vive or the newer Vive Cosmos, there are a bunch of different games and accessories you can use with the Vive system. We’ve put together this list for recommendations on accessories, games, and more for HTC’s line of PC VR headsets.
[When you purchase items through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission from those sales.]
Headsets
There are a few different HTC Vive headsets.
The original HTC Vive and the HTC Vive Pro both use outside-in tracking systems, which require external sensors mounted in your play area to track your headset and controllers. The newer HTC Vive Cosmos uses an inside-out tracking system with cameras on the headset, which doesn’t require mounting any external tracking system.
Currently, the HTC Pro Starter Kit is on sale for $799 down from $1098 on HTC’s site. This includes the headset, two Vive Wand controllers and two external tracking sensors for mounting. Vive Pro has improved resolution and comfort over the original Vive.
The Vive Wireless Tracking Adapter allows you to free yourself from the tether of the cord connected to your PC, and use your Vive headset wireless.
It is available for the original HTC Vive, the Vive Pro and the Vive Cosmos, however the Cosmos will also require an additional Cosmos Comparability Kit that will be added to the cart during checkout. You can read our review of the Vive Wireless Adapter here, reviewed using the Vive Pro specifically.
The Vive Tracker is one of HTC’s more innovative ideas for its VR system. It’s a puck-shaped peripheral you can attach to other objects in compatible apps to bring them into VR. You might, for example, stick it to a toy gun to feel like you’re shooting a real one in VR. Take note, however, that the tracker only works with the Vive and Vive Pro; the Vive Cosmos’ tracking system will not register it. Also bear in mind that only select apps will support the tracker. Your best bet is to get them from HTC directly where you’ll find them for $99 apiece.
This AFAITH charger stand provides a neat and tidy solution to store your original HTC Vive or Vive Pro headset, while also charging your HTC Vive Wands. This looks like a nice option if you’re want to store your Vive or Vive Pro on display next to some other gaming consoles, or even other VR headsets. However, it’s important to note that this stand is not comparable with the newer Vive Cosmos.
Barring the adapter above, obviously one of the biggest downsides to using a PC VR headset is that, typically, it means having a thick, restrictive wire coming off the side of your face that makes it difficult to move freely and is often a tripping hazard. If you don’t want to shill out for the Vive Wireless Adapter, you could also install a ceiling pulley system so that your cable loops up through the ceiling mount and then goes back down to your PC to get it out of the way. We haven’t used these in our own home setups, but this has great reviews and is widely recommended.
VR Cover is a company that’s been around for a while and is known for making accessories designed to make headsets feel more comfortable against the face as well as improve hygiene. We have tested their Quest covers and original Rift covers in the past, but have not tried their Vive and Vive Pro covers. They also don’t offer any covers for the Cosmos yet, but the covers are worth checking out for Vive or Vive pro owners.
If you’re using your headsets a lot, the lenses are going to get foggy and dirty and you’ll want some microfiber cloths to quickly clean the lenses between games and sessions.
When No Man’s Sky Beyond launched in August of this year it took the VR world by storm and Hello Games have quietly been toiling away at updates ever since. Now, the Synthesis Update, is the biggest one since Beyond essentially relaunched the game as a whole.
According to an email received from Tim Woodley, head of publishing at Hello Games, the No Man’s Sky Synthesis update includes nearly 300 different bug fixes and feature updates. It’s essentially an amalgamation of several improvements and changes that just hadn’t made their way into a previous update round yet.
“The Synthesis Update is our eighth major free chapter since launch,” says Woodley. “It’s a stepping stone on the way to much larger plans, but contains a lot of features fans are hungry for.”
While we weren’t provided with the full No Man’s Sky Synthesis patch notes prior to the embargo lifting, but they should be live here if you’re reading this. However, we did get a sneak peek at some of the biggest changes, according to Hello Games:
We’ve added some of our most requested smaller features. You can now upgrade your starship, or salvage ships for parts. Players can own and customise multiple Multi-Tools and create multiple characters in the customiser to switch between.
We’ve matched up features across VR and non-VR, so VR players can now ride creatures and take photos, and non-VR players can drive vehicles in first person. As well as a host of VR specific improvements based on feedback from players.
We’ve streamlined, sped up and clarified lots of inventory and UI issues, including a whole new space map and a Personal Refiner you can use directly from your inventory.
There are new technologies and base parts – we’re excited to see what players do with these, especially with the Featured Bases we recently introduced to show off the best the community comes up with.
We’ve overhauled and optimised the terrain manipulator, with new visual effects and new ways to carve your mark in the landscape. As well as undo functionality and the ability to make a permanent stamp on the world with your edits.
And there are literally hundreds (297 in all!) of other bug fixes / small features / bits of polish that lift and bind the game together.
Let us know what you think of the No Man’s Sky update down in the comments below!
After announcing its Viveport Infinity Black Friday deal a couple of weeks ago, HTC Vive has now detailed what customers will be able to save this week on hardware. There will be a range of discounts available including money off the new Vive Cosmos and the Vive Wireless Adapter.
Usually, when a new product launches close to Black Friday there’s very little chance of it appearing in the sale – especially if sales are going well. The Vive Cosmos didn’t have a good start when the launch happened in October, with reviewers reporting a number of issues. HTC Vive has been very vocal about solving these, releasing a slew of updates over the past few weeks. Even so, that hasn’t stopped the company from slashing £100 GBP off the regular price, dropping the price down to £599 ($599 USD).
If you’re looking for even bigger savings then the HTC Vive Pro offers the best. There are four deals available saving between £200 – £350. The Vive Pro Full Kit has £200 off, reducing the price to £1,099, while the Vive Pro Starter Kit has an even tastier £300 off, coming in at £819. The difference between the two comes down to hardware generation. The headset remains the same but the Vive Pro Full Kit features SteamVR 2.0 base stations and next-gen controllers.
If you’re just looking to upgrade your original HTC Vive then the Vive Pro headset on its own has a £200 saving, dropping the cost from £799 to £599. And for those looking for wireless freedom, the Vive Wireless Adapter and attachment kit for either Vive Cosmos or Vive Pro are £50 off, retailing for £303 and £314 respectively.
These deals are available in both Europe and North America on Vive.com, beginning on Thursday 28th November 28 until Monday 2nd December. One deal that’s only available in the US is the discounting of the Certified Pre-Owned Vive Systems at $349.
Additionally, all HTC Vive’s Black Friday deals come with 12 months of Viveport Infinity free so you can play hundreds of VR titles across all genres. VRFocus will continue its coverage of the latest Black Friday deals for VR, as more are sure to be announced later this week.
In preparation for Black Friday 2019, HTC has unveiled its lineup of discounted hardware to take advantage of the shopping season.
We heard from HTC that starting on Thursday, November 28th, running through Monday, December 2nd, they’ll have a bunch of big discounts and sales at the official Vive website:
Save $300 on the Vive Pro Starter Kit or the Vive Pro Full Kit.
The Vive Pro Starter Kit is $799—that includes a Vive Pro headset, SteamVR 1.0 base stations, and two Vive wands. If you want the latest versions of the controllers and base stations, you can snag the VivePro Full Kit for $1099, which includes the Pro headset, two SteamVR 2.0 base stations, and two Vive wand controllers.
If it’s only the headset you’re interested in, you can get the Vive Pro HMD for $200 off, bringing the price down to just $599, the lowest it’s ever been.
For the first time since launch the Vive Cosmos is getting a discount too, with HTC offering $100 off the Vive Cosmos—priced for Cyber Weekend at $599—which includes the Cosmos HMD and two Cosmos controllers. This is their latest inside-out tracked headset so no base stations are required.
The Vive Wireless Adapter will be $50 off for all headsets. The Pro and Cosmos still require an additional attachment kit.
HTC is also pricing the Certified Pre-Owned Vive Systems at $349 for this weekend only.
All in all, HTC products are still very expensive even after these Black Friday / Cyber Monday / Cyber Weekend discounts. However, knocking the Cosmos down $100 definitely makes it more attractive — especially if you’re interested in the flexibility afford with its various mods and face plates that will release over time. You can read and watch our full Cosmos review here.
Let us know what you think of these deals down in the comments below!
An upgrade to the original HTC Vive, the Vive Pro improved key features like the resolution and comfort whilst adding extras such as integrated audio. This saw the headset become the defacto device for a lot of virtual reality (VR) developers demonstrating their videogames at events.
To help deciding between the two the SteamVR 1.0 system was designed for smaller home play areas, covering a maximum area of 3.5m x 3.5m (15 square meters). The 2.0 base stations can cover up to a 100 square meter area (2 stations cover 5m x 5m), great for massive rooms – which is why VR arcades use them.
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