I love the HTC Vive XR Elite, but the Meta Quest Pro beats it in 4 important ways

Date:
Sun, 02 Apr 2023 14:00:00 +0000

Description:
The HTC Vive XR Elite has awesome qualities, but the Meta Quest Pro is better in some key areas.

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Are you after a premium VR headset that doesnt need to be tethered to a PC? Then, youve probably considered options like the Meta Quest Pro and the new HTC Vive XR Elite, but which is better?

Ive had the chance to try out the HTC Vive XR Elite and, so far, my first impressions are mixed. There are a couple of ways it beats the Meta Quest
Pro, but many aspects of it are worse leaving HTCs headset feeling identity-less.

Heres a rundown of my initial impression of how the headsets stack up. For a more in-depth look at the devices, check out our Meta Quest Pro review , and keep an eye out for the upcoming HTC Vive XR Elite review. HTC Vive XR Elite wins: comfort

If you value comfort above all else, then it's near impossible to beat the
HTC Vive XR Elite in the VR space.

For a start, the headset is pretty light, weighing in at 625g landing it midway between the Quest Pro at 722g and the Oculus Quest 2 at 503g. However, thanks to its well-balanced design (the headset's weight is evenly
distributed between the front face and the battery pack at the back of your head on the strap) youd be forgiven for thinking the device is actually lighter than the front-heavy Quest 2.

If 625g is still too heavy for you, and you dont mind being tethered to a power source, you can unclip the Vive XR Elites battery pack and wear it as a pair of glasses. Our US Editor in Chief enjoyed using the Vive XR Elite too (Image credit: Future)

I wouldn't recommend the glasses mode for gaming, but if youre at your desk and using VR to be productive, then the battery-less setup is the way to go. The only downside is that the Vive XR Elite glasses feel somewhat precarious like this, so be prepared for the odd wbmcevjh to punctuate your documents if it falls from your face onto the keyboard. That said, it hasnt slipped from
my face yet, so maybe I shouldnt be so afraid that it'll fall. HTC Vive XR Elite wins: mixed reality

Another win for the Vive XR Elite is the quality of its mixed reality. The cameras are so good you might forget youre looking at the real world through
a camera; the only clues being a slight distortion caused by its fish-eye
lens and some difficulty reading screens.

The Meta Quest Pros mixed-reality quality is very grainy, so Ive not seen
much reason to use any apps optional MR mode on it. On the Vive XR Elite, Ive used its app's MR modes frequently.

That said, the HTC Vive XR Elite still suffers from the same general lack of unique MR use cases that Metas hardware struggles with. Most of the apps that use MR also offer perfectly good VR modes, so as cool as this feature is, its still more of a novelty than a fully fleshed-out tool. HTC Vive XR Elite fails: specs

In terms of specs, the HTC Vive XR Elite is on par with or falls behind the Meta Quest Pro in almost every regard. The Meta Quest pro's display isn't quite as good as the XR Elite's (Image credit: Meta)

The visuals are the one area where HTC has the edge. The XR Elite boasts a 90Hz refresh rate LCD screen that affords a 1920 x 1920 pixel-per-eye resolution with a max 110-degree field of view. Metas Quest Pro LCD also has
a 90Hz refresh rate but only offers 1800 x 1920 pixels per eye and a max 106-degree field of view.

In terms of power, the Vive XR Elite lags behind, using a regular Snapdragon XR2 rather than the upgraded XR2 Plus found in the Quest Pro. It also only provides 128GB of storage versus the Pros 256GB though both devices have
12GB of RAM at their disposal.

HTCs hardware also lacks some of the Quest Pros bells and whistles when it comes to face and eye tracking. HTCs headset will only provide these features via an optional add-on thatll launch sometime in the future (and no firm release date has been provided yet). HTC Vive XR Elite fails: controllers

A VR headset allows you to peer into the metaverse and is undoubtedly the
most important part of any virtual reality setup, but the second most vital aspect is the controllers that let you manipulate the virtual world. Without them, VR games and apps would simply be videos, rather than immersive interactive experiences. (Image credit: Future)

Unfortunately, the Vive XR Elite doesnt seem to appreciate the importance of its handsets, with the packed-in controllers being exceptionally lackluster. The plasticky finish is in stark contrast to the 'Elite' headsets premium identity, and they dont feel as ergonomic as alternatives offered by even Metas budget-friendly Quest 2. They also dont seem to feature haptics or the VR experiences Ive tried so far dont use them at all. Without this physical feedback, the immersive feeling of virtual worlds is easily broken.

In contrast, the Quest Pros controllers are superb. Theyre weighty and
premium feeling, and the realistic haptic feedback they provide helps
convince you that your virtual interactions are real. The Quest Pros handsets also forgo the chunky tracking ring for cameras, which offers a more accurate tracking method and means youre less likely to bump the handsets together something Ive done quite a bit with the Vive XR Elite. HTC Vive XR Elite fails: Software

Another letdown is the XR Elites software. The Viveport selection doesnt
stack up against whats available on Metas Quest store. Every great Viveport experience is also available on Quest (or Meta offers something similar thats at least as good), while many of the best Quest games are missing from the Vive.

You can expand the Vive XR Elites library if you tether it to a PC which unlocks games like Beat Saber through Steam or Walkabout Mini Golf through Viveport but its annoying that these experiences are restricted to PC when Metas hardware offers these and other apps using just the headset. I love Walkabout Mini Golf, it should be on every VR headset (Image credit: Mighty Coconut) HTC Vive XR Elite fails: price

When HTC announced the XR Elite and its cost, the pricing felt right. Yes,
the headset was less technically capable than the Quest Pro in some regards, but it was cheaper, with HTCs hardware coming in at $1,099 / 1,298.99 / AU$2,099.95.

However, Meta then played a rather cruel trick on HTC, slashing the Quest
Pros price by roughly a third of its original down to $999.99 / 999.99 / AU$1,729.99.

This lower price point undercutting the Vive XR Elite leaves HTCs device without an identity. When it was the cheaper headset the XR Elite seemed like a viable alternative to the Quest Pro, but now that its the higher-priced gadget, the XR Elite is clearly less value for money than Metas premium headset.

Are these premium headsets still too pricey for you? Check out our roundup of the best Meta Quest 2 deals and the best Meta Quest promo codes we can find right now.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/meta-quest-pro-vs-htc-vive-xr-elite


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