HTC Vive Pro 2 review: An excellent 5K headset for VR devotees

The HTC Vive Pro 2 is a virtual reality enthusiast’s dream. Its 5K 120Hz display delivers the crispest desktop VR experience I’ve ever seen. And although its design has not changed from the 2018 model, it is still very comfortable to wear for extended sessions. But its high price tag and reliance on former controllers make it a tough sell. And let’s be honest, it will take a lot to dethrone the $ 299 Oculus Quest 2 as the ideal VR headset for mainstream users.

That’s not who HTC Vive is really aimed at, however. Like the standalone Vive Focus 3, this headset is clearly intended for professionals. But unlike this device, it also has a lot to offer gamers. For them, spending $ 1,399 on the entire Vive Pro 2 package would be worth playing. Half-life: Alyx in the best possible quality. And if you’ve already invested in the previous Vive Pro or Valve Index, you can buy the new headset on its own for $ 749.

Just make sure you know which Vive Pro is which, as they look virtually identical. The Pro 2 features a black and purple color scheme, but its front cover, strap, and headphones all look the same as before. The difference becomes clear once you put the Vive Pro 2 on: its 5K display offers 2,448 x 2,448 pixels per eye, a huge leap ahead of the Pro’s 1,440 x 1,600 pixels. Plus, the Pro 2’s LCD screens have RGB sub-pixels, which helps make everything look even sharper. The screen can also refresh up to 120Hz, which is significantly smoother than the previous panel at 90Hz, and I liked the wider 120-degree field of view, which makes virtual worlds even smoother. immersive.

These specs might sound familiar, as the Vive Focus 3 also has the same 5K display it just happens to have a slower 90Hz refresh rate. But I came out much more impressed with the Pro 2, as it can easily run any PC VR game or application. The Focus 3, meanwhile, has a limited selection of mobile titles, and I’ve never been able to successfully stream high-end VR from my gaming PC. And, honestly, while it does work, the streaming is still a big step backwards from native execution.

I revisited old and newer games on the Pro 2, and everything looked fantastic. I continued to be distracted by the environments detailed in Half-life Alyx – a game that looked great on the Index, but got an extra level of finish with the Pro 2’s resolution bump. It’s kind of like the switch from 1080p video to 4K. You might not notice the difference at first glance, but once you start inspecting the finer details like grass and wood grain, you can tell you’re working with more pixels.

Come back in Very hot I almost felt like I was playing super hot 2. I could make out a lot more detail in the game’s cyberpunk intro room. And while its aesthetic is relatively simple, the game’s enemies, weapons, and environments all seemed more detailed than I remembered. I also spent more time than I expected looking at just about everything in the VR version of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. This game already looked awesome on a normal monitor, but in 5K VR I could appreciate Senua’s intricate character model even more.

As impressive as it sounds, I really wish HTC had upgraded the controllers to the Pro 2. Its full kit includes the same huge wands that came with the original Vive in 2016. They work pretty well, but they don’t. not as ergonomic as Oculus’ touch controllers, or even the Focus 3’s gamepads. They are particularly archaic after experimenting with Valve’s hand-tracking Steam VR controllers, which come with the Index. Since this is also a SteamVR headset, you can still use the Index gamepads with the Pro 2, but that adds up to $ 280 more and more from an already expensive headset.

It would also have been nice to see HTC Vive improve the design of the Pro 2 a bit. It remains very comfortable thanks to its plush padding in the front and back, as well as its balanced weight distribution. But the company could have taken inspiration from the Valve index. The near-field speakers would have been a solid improvement over the on-ear headphones, especially since the Pro 2’s boxes tended to warm my head. The headset screens also generate a decent amount of heat, which has led to sweaty gaming sessions.