While the Vive XR Elite almost looks like a pair of oversized glasses, the Focus Vision isn’t all that different from the Focus 3. It’s obviously a standard VR headset, although it’s a step up from the Meta Quest 3. made of cheaper plastic and other inferior materials. There’s plenty of padding along the front earcups and rear headband, and plenty of room to accommodate large glasses.
Under the hood, the Vive Focus Vision features a 5K LCD display, offering 2.5K resolution per eye, a 90Hz refresh rate, and a 120-degree field of view. (HTC says it will gain 120Hz support over DisplayPort later this year.) In addition to two 16MP front-facing cameras positioned like human eyes for distortion-free mixed reality, there’s also an infrared floodlight for the hand. low-light tracking, four external tracking cameras and a conventional depth sensor.
Once again, HTC has stuck a removable battery pack on the back strap of the headset, however There’s also a small internal battery that now offers an extra 20 minutes of standby time charging. This means you can change battery packs without powering off the headset and leaving your VR immersion. This feature alone could attract organizations where employees will have to wear Focus Vision for hours. HTC claims that the headset can serve two hours of continuous use.
With the Vive Focus Vision, HTC is also making a game for high-end VR gaming. While Meta’s Quest headsets can connect to gaming PCs wirelessly and via USB-C cables, they actually deliver a compressed video feed of VR experiences from that system. Focus Vision’s DisplayPort kit is more like a standard PC VR headset: It lets you connect directly to your computer’s video card. You shouldn’t see any of the lag or compression artifacts that you occasionally do with a PC connection from Meta Quest.
As I expected, the Focus Vision is very similar to the Focus 3. It’s easy to adjust, there’s plenty of room for my glasses, and the front and back padding helps it rest comfortably on my back. The headset also feels well balanced on my head thanks to the rear battery pack. Other headsets, even Apple’s Vision Pro, can feel front-heavy and put pressure on your nose and eyes.
When it comes to true VR experience, the Focus Vision delivers what I expect from an expensive HTC Vive headset. The 5K display is sharp enough to read small text and its wide field of view lets you navigate around the world. Nature Treks VR feel truly immersive. I haven’t had a chance to try the PC games yet, but I’m looking forward to it for review.
I’m still disappointed by the limited selection of apps in the VivePort store, but once again, this isn’t a device that should provide much service to general VR users. Companies relying on Focus Vision will either use existing enterprise software or build their own. And gamers likely won’t spend much time outside of a wired DisplayPort connection where they can get the full rewards of SteamVR’s libraries.
The Vive Focus Vision is available for pre-order today through October 17 for $999 ($1,299 for businesses with extended warranty). HTC will also be offering a free DisplayPort bundle for early adopters, and there are also three game packs to choose from.
Update 9/18 10:55 PM: HTC Vive has extended its pre-order window from September 30th to October 17th. We’ve updated the post to reflect this.
