HTC Vive XR Elite Virtual Reality Headset + Controllers

tried 8 hours to get vive elite xr to work, including 2 hours with vive chatbots. no go. returned item.

I had in the past almost all the be headset. I returned the quest pro cause it was too expensive for what was offering plus was uncomfortable. When I heard the htc elite is so small I ordered immediately. Was a big disappointment. Uncomfortable and even if they was advertising bigger fov that the quest it was seems smaller. I couldn’t keep it.

Great for pcvr ; No login hassles; Compact; Accurate tracking; Great pass thru implementation; Bad: Don’t buy it for iPhone mirroring; Don’t buy it if not for pcvr; USB links external storage devices but may not show files in software; Don’t buy it for hand gestures;

so satisfied so I returned it. no worth the money. DONT BUY!

Where do I start.... I really wanted to like this headset and I defended many of HTCs poor choices in designing this thing... But after using it, or trying to, I cant defend this POS. 1) They marketed this as the most comfortable headset on the market and it is NOT. Its actually pretty UNCOMFORTABLE. The eye guard is made out of a stiff material with ZERO padding and a rough fabric over it. It quickly irritates your face and digs into your skin and leaves marks and hurts to wear or move around in for any length of time. 2) The headset doesnt have access to the normal typical app library, instead it has a very unique and limited app library of about 20 apps. The web browser didnt even work at launch and they didnt even notice or bother to fix it until I put them on blast on Facebook. And its still buggy as hell. 3) You dont even have access to basic apps like YouTube, Netflix, Chrome, etc. 4) the only way to play any decent apps is by linking to a powerful pc, and the HTC link software is very buggy. 90% of the games/apps wont load properly or register the controllers. And keep in mind these are all apps that work perfectly fine with my HTC Vive, Rift S, and Quest 2 Headsets. 5) The battery drains stupid fast. You have maybe an hour of use in game, 90 minutes maybe if you are using light apps. 6) They bragged about how good their eye adjustments were, but no matter what I try I cant get a good clear visual, always some blur. By contracts my HTC Vive and Quest 2 both give me a crystal clear non-blurry image. 7) The hand tracking is hot garbage, it STRUGGLES to track hands and gets their position wrong just enough to make trying to use your hands uncomfortable and cumbersome. 8) The controller tracking is also pretty bad, it frequently loses track of them even in a brightly lit room and it tracks them too low...the pointer line feels like its coming out of 10 inches below where the tip is. Makes clicking on things awkward and clunky. This thing is a steaming pile of disappointment and feels like they rushed out an unfinished product, I am going to send it back and get a Meta Quest Pro, at least I know that one will work.

So for this being a brand new product and everything. I would really highly recommend people getting this one versus the quest and all that personally. there isnt a lot of games On here yet but the games are really nice. I think the biggest problem a lot of people are having is that. You need to connect the app to your headset. Once you connect the app to your headset get it updated get everything going through there its Really Good its not bad at all. Its really clear you can change how everything looks itll dial into your view center. Everythings really beautiful I personally havent found anything bad with it yet. The hand tracking is a little different and a little buggy but I dont like using my hands all the time so im still experimenting with it. I love the way the headset sits on my head how it feels. I think its really nice and I think its worth the money and some of the games that you buy for it right now really nice. I would at least try it knowing that you have to add the app to it to make sure it runs good.

I did not purchase through Amazon but thought Id leave a review here anyway. Ive been using it for a few days, so here are my early thoughts. First of all, the hardware. The headset is very tiny and lightweight - especially without the battery attached. Its significantly smaller than the Focus 3, Quest 2, Quest Pro, Vive Pro, etc. I love that you can hot-swap the battery out, and the headset is able to power itself for at least a few minutes. The fan is incredibly loud and distracting, even louder than the Vive Focus 3 fan, and it runs loud even when there are no apps open. In comparison, the Meta Quest 2 and Quest Pro are nearly silent. The balance is good with the battery attached, actually the battery half weighs more than the headset half so the balance is a bit back-weighted. There is some pressure on the nose bridge and the stock face mask does not fit my face perfectly, a common complaint. Some light is leaking in from the sides which causes glare, ugh. I like the stepless toggle on the bottom of the headset to adjust IPD while using the headset, though it feels a bit unrefined. Surprisingly it stays on my face quite well in glasses mode. My complaint with glasses mode is that the headset needs to be powered via a powerbank or wall outlet. I would prefer to use a single tethered connection from the headset to a PCVR setup. AFAIK, there are no PCs with 30w power delivery which this headset requires to stay powered. HTC needs to sell a USB desktop accessory that provides tethered connection over USB as well as power via an AC adapter, similar to the dongle youd use with something like a Vive Pro. Im using this device on a special wifi network which cannot take advantage of the wireless PCVR connection, so please let me just use this as a normal tethered headset in glasses mode! I dont want to wear the battery while Im tethered! I also hate that I now have to install yet another buggy HTC program, Vive Streaming Hub, to stream PVCR. It seems nearly identical to Vive Business Streaming, but that program isnt compatible with the Vive XR Elite. The controllers are the same as from the Focus 3. Theyre fine, but not great. They feel unbalanced with a lot of weight in the bottom where the battery is. They plug in via USB-C. For some reason, HTC included a single USB-C to USB-C charging cable for the headset, and two USB-C to USB-A cables to charge the controllers. And no power brick or anything. Who was responsible for THAT decision? Okay, onto the standalone software. It feels about five or six years behind Meta OS. Its baaaad. Its not like Metas software is free from bugs either - plus theyre still running on Android 10 as of V50 - but it works so much better than this does. If youre familiar with the Focus 3 menu, this is basically the same. Any time I move outside of the boundary, I need to set it up from scratch, and that really annoying ladys voice comes on explaining each step of the process. Its like, I do this ten times a day, please stop introducing me to this process. Hand tracking is okay. Controller tracking is good. But both feel significantly behind Meta. I dont feel like I can trust the passthrough. Unlike the Quest Pro, which is pretty reliable with running the passthrough image at all times when not in an app, the Vive XR Elite is often just a black screen with the logo/loading screen. When you step outside of the boundary with the passthrough running, the passthrough image actually gets DARKER as part of the warning that youve left the boundary. This is stupidly unsafe. Another part of the problem using this device with mixed reality is that the stock face mask is fully immersive. HTC has previewed another face mask which is completely open and rests the headsets weight on a pad on your forehead, but for some reason that isnt included with your purchase. By comparison, the Meta Quest Pro comes with magnetic side blinders, and even with them installed you get a lot of peripheral light coming in from the bottom. Combined with a reliable passthrough, this helps keep your sense of place in the real world. I feel completely untrusting of the XR Elite to provide a similar experience. The passthrough image itself is pretty good. Its noticeably higher resolution to me than the softer-looking Quest Pro, especially at a distance of 2-10 feet. It appears to only use the single color camera for the passthrough image, while the Quest Pro uses an overlay of the color image on top of the four other cameras, which gives it more depth perception but also some weird b&w artifacts) There is a very strong sharpening filter applied to the passthrough image which in some senses does help with smaller details but is also kind of nauseating. I havent measured the FOV or looked at the specs but it feels a little narrower than the Quest Pro to me, and much better than the Quest 2 and Focus 3. Even for PCVR, I would be hard-pressed to recommend this device over the Meta Quest Pro, especially now that the Pro has dropped in price. The Quest Pro provides twice as much storage, face and eye tracking, a wireless charging pad, much better controllers, a much more stable OS, and a better app library/store. If youre coming from previous HTC headset, and/or you desperately want to avoid Metas ecosystem (I dont blame you), youll probably be okay with this. But the software, on both the PC and headset sides, is significantly more frustrating to deal with than it was in the past. The only silver lining is that the hardware is mostly okay, and software issues have the potential to be ironed out in the coming months. This could be a 4/5 product but the software/OS experience leaves it at a 2.

I wanted to like it, after about two hours I just couldnt get it to stay focused. It just doesnt feel right for someone with a wider head. I have the same problem with eyeglasses most are not wide enough for me. I returned it, but will have to wait 30 days plus up to 7 days for the banks to process the return. This is not the normal Amazon return efund policy.

Setup was ok, main usage was PC VR. The usb cable didn’t work despite working fine with quest 2. I had to use pc streaming. Not the best. The weight is light but there is noticeable pressure on the forehead. With the sunglass mode, it squeezes hard on the head. I found it to be an issue. It hard to recommend it at this price. AR is a feature no one, yet, asked for it and yet we are paying for it. The price is steep.

Really enjoying the XR Elite. Great combination of form and performance. This VR headset is light and comfortable and as close to a pair of glasses as I’ve experienced. I’ve been wanting a high end headset with the convenience of being a standalone device, and this fits the bill. Resolution is clear, colors are vibrant, and refresh rate is very good. I’ve found the interface to be pretty intuitive so it’s relatively easy to use. Came with some interesting software and works with their own store and Steam. Looking forward for more mixed reality apps to take advantage of the color passthrough.