HTC Vive XR Elite: Where to buy, specs, price & more

The HTC Vive XR Elite is now available! Here’s everything you need to know about it, including where it’s being sold and how much for.

Once the virtual reality space king, HTC now sits comfortably amongst the many headsets on sale. The last major headset, Cosmos, didn’t do too much to shake the boat and was ultimately upstaged by longtime partner, Valve, and Meta’s Quest 2.

Though, with a new race to release a ‘pro’ headset, HTC seems to be coming for Meta and the Quest Pro with a vengeance.

What is the Vive XR Elite?

The Vive XR Elite is a new all-in-one headset, sporting a design for maximum flexibility. Even the hot-swappable battery, which can be detached to create a lighter headset, seems to be aiding that goal.

The Vive XR Elite’s battery life was said to be 15 hours, but in looking at recent reviews for the headset, it’s closer to the usual two hours instead.

Without the battery pack.

This battery pack also appears to be housing the USB-C hub needed to connect the Vive XR Elite to the PC, allowing you to game or use VR applications from your more powerful PC. Wi-Fi streaming is also included, using Wi-Fi 6E to apparently allow for seamless streaming.

Inside, the pancake lenses allow those needing glasses to manually adjust the lenses up to six times. This is HTC’s attempt to remove the uncomfortable feeling of a headset over your specs.

It also appears that HTC has bested the competition in terms of passthrough video. This feature allows users to use a built-in camera to see their surroundings. For the Meta Quest Pro, this means enabling augmented reality for applications, but it has been met with some issues.

From CES, audience members have reported that the passthrough video is genuinely really good. It’s backed by a 16MP color camera, and footage coming out of the tradeshow is impressive.

HTC Vive XR Elite release date

The HTC Vive XR Elite was launched at the end of March 2023. However, its reception was a little muted, similar to the Quest Pro.

HTC Vive XR Elite price

The HTC Vive XR Elite is available for an MSRP of $1,099. This is a little more expensive than something like a Meta Quest Pro, but the Vive XR Elite is much higher-end by comparison. What you’ll be paying for here is the horsepower under the hood. Though, you will lose out on Meta’s now mature store platform.

Where to buy the HTC Vive XR Elite

The Vive XR Elite is currently up for sale on Amazon and through HTC. It’ll launch in March, with Amazon giving a tentative date of March 31.

You can pre-order the Vive XR Elite for $1,099 below:

Pre-ordering before February 15, 2023 will score you five free games.

HTC will be giving away the following games:

• Green Hell VR
• Les Mills Bodycombat
• Unplugged: Air Guitar
• Figmin XR
• Glimpse

Included in the box is the detachable battery, as well as:

• Battery cradle
• Controller (L)
• Controller (R)
• Lanyards x 2
• Microfiber Pouch
• Top Strap
• Type-C to Type-C Cable
• Type-A to Type-C Cable x 2
• Lens Protection Card

HTC Vive XR Elite specifications

HTC has outfitted the Elite with similar specs to the Meta Quest Pro. However, where it seems to be coming up short is with the gritty aspects. There’s no eye tracking, and full-body tracking doesn’t seem to be included either.

Those that intended to use this as a partial upgrade to their old base station-equipped headset, will be disappointed to hear that it’s not supporting them either.

It is, however, offering a decent amount of competition with the Meta Quest Pro, which you can see in the comparison below. Unfortunately, until the device actually launches in March, we’re missing a few key elements in terms of performance against Meta’s headset.

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