HTC Vive XR Elite Virtual Reality Headset + Controllers

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.

I really see no reason for this half-baked product to have been released. For starters the hand tracking while decent clearly needed polish as it kept bugging out on me. Especially if switching from controllers to hand tracking which would sometimes cause freezing or other issues that required a reboot to clear. The main hub was buggy when downloading larger apps as downloading from there would always hang on anything beyond a certain size before starting over from 0%. Fortunately going to the actual app platform hub made it work but then why let us use a way to download that is buggy and incomplete? Just incompetence apparently. Trying to take the headset off to let it download something while you do something else would also cause the download to fail. I even got told by customer care to put something in front of the sensor so the headset could stay on. The headset itself would constantly overheat and crash, another thing to start over on a app download. Then I find out it cant even support Linux which mainly meant the Steam Deck which to me is quite surprising given how closely Valve works with HTC. On top of that the controllers would barely hold charge and seemed to die without ever using them. First time using a stand alone and but have also tested a quest and I think we need progress before its really ready. To me it feels half-baked at best and a mess at worse which is what this was for me. For the hardware we need at least what solid state batteries promise for longevity and weight as well as processors dont dont require screaming fans or a better cooling solution. I dont know exactly what that will require in terms of newly developed tech but I think Ill stay away from stand alone VR till that stuff is realized at the very least.

Bought it for my kids 16th birthday. He got super frustrated with it. Im a Microsoft Systems Engineer and I cant even get the thing to do what its supposed to do. And our PC is a top Alienware costing over 6K. We have Unifi wireless - everything in our setup is commercial grade except for this device. It is less than fun - its frustrating. If that is what you are into - go for it. But it is total junk IMO. Wait for other options TBH. Its not worth it - ESPECIALLY at this price point. So disappointed.

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.

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.

Im not sure this device deserves all this hate. A good buddy of mine is a quest fan, so Ive played with both the quest 2 and pro a bunch. My experience with the xr elite is without a doubt superior. For such a compact headset, the hardware specs are quite impressive: the displays are sharp, its light and comfortable, resolution in passthrough mode is so much better than quest pros, etc. Im confident that upcoming software updates will solve some of the little things people are bitching about (even iphones were glitchy when launched initially and required updates). Its a superior piece of hardware, and HTC is already rolling out software fixes.

Vive has produced yet another high-quality product! Once again HTC Vive is making headsets for recreational consumers. I originally had the Vive OG, and the Vive Pro OG with the lens mod. I bought the quest 2 just for travel and mobility. After hearing everybody’s complaints with the XR Elite, I was concerned this headset would not be a vast improvement in quality of play… Especially with PC-based games. A good example is the quest 2 running kayak mirage… it is horrible… no detailing or definition in any of the landscape/scenery whether playing standalone, or PCVR with a cable! And I was concerned that without the video compression of the Vive pro that the XR Elite headset running off USB-C would not be good. I was completely surprised! Very pleasantly surprised!!! I’ve been using VR since the inception of consumer headsets, and this is a nice step up! The pancake lenses make all the difference and it is so much better than the quest 2!!! So much clearer, great definition in images. and the diopters are the icing on the cake! I wear contacts and as part of the set up process you have the option to adjust the diopters. I decided to adjust the diopters just for the experience and wow! So now one eye is set on 2 1/2 and everything looks pristinely clear!!! My vision is fine in all other scenarios, and now I’m glad to be able to see better in VR too. I’ve heard complaints of God rays, fix your diopters! Also, using the cable link, I was able to run Lone Echo flawlessly! I could never get the quest to run it, and when I did. It literally dropped more frames than it played and of course it just looked ugly. Even with a high-quality hardwired cable link. Lone Echo is also a program that doesn’t look great with the screen door effect… So I didn’t want to play it with my Vive Pro either. It looks glorious and runs so smoothly it’s insane with the XR Elite!!! Haven’t run half life Alex yet, but I’m sure it’s going to play as well as lone echo does, if not better! I have been thrilled to see that the headset runs all my old programs in steam, as well as revive! Sweet! Before getting the XR elite, I was using two headsets, my Vive Pro for at home on PCVR, and the quest 2 for mobility around the house, and when I travel using it as a standalone headset. The Vive XR elite is a step up in all directions! It is extremely comfortable, no mods needed like you have to do with the quest 2, (ouch!), and I can’t get over the clarity!!! I can use it anywhere in the house as stand alone, or run it with wireless streaming without sacrificing quality. Because it can run as a standalone, it makes it perfect for traveling… Especially with its low profile and lightweight! The XR Elite definitely meet my needs, and exceeds expectations. I did not have a headset that I could run wirelessly with higher quality PCVR. Absolutely love it! So exciting! Now, like all things in VR, the software is a little bit slow in coming. Patience wins here. Software will be coming, and I’m ready for it. I remember in 2016 trying to find software… There’s a plethora available now in comparison to that!!! Lol.

The goods: 1. I love the futuristic form factor, it’s not as awkward as VR devices were. 2. I was amazed by how small it is, XR Elite is pretty legit 3. Wifi 6E is enabled 4. Stable and low-latency wireless streaming (tethered streaming as good as always) 5. I am excited for the MR gasket, please make it affordable The concerns: 1. The Android interface need to be polished more … 2. The passthrough mode in a low-light environment can be improved

I have been in vr since 2016 and owned most headsets. This is the worst experience Ive ever had with VR. Streaming has issues via USB or wireless (I have a dedicated wifi6e router and zero issues with Quest 2 or Vive focus 3 at ultra quality streaming). IPD constantly adjusts on its own. Unusable as a standalone or with PCVR in its current state. HTCs own forums and Reddit are filled with the same problems. Dont buy.

Not sure about the histrionics of the current reviews, this is not a push the boundaries headset but is is the most versatile out there at the moment and capable. There is much to refine but I am pleased with the XR Elite and encouraged that many issues I have read from others have been sorted as I had absolutely no issues with streaming PCVR wired, mirroring phone(Samsung S22+), Immersed worked flawlessly, store is adding titles So it is always important to preface what I was looking for here in a VR headset. I am not telling you the headset is better than any other, that is always going to come down to your desired usage. For me, I already have an Index and Reverb G2 and firmly entrenched in PCVR. No interest in console and after those headsets couldnt downgrade visual and sound quality to consider Q2. QP was too uncomfortable and awkward for me, better visuals than Q2 but l wasnt impressed for the money, I was looking for a headset that could fit the following: PCVR wired PCVR wireless Mobile Mirroring VR Standalone VR Compact for Travel/Flight Movie Watching VR workspace in a pinch that was Viable Viable Passthrough That said the XR Elite was the closest from my estimation that fit the bill for me. Since I was entrenched in PCVR the Facebook Meta library is a non factor for me and I have no doubt the library will fill for HTC. For some critical categories for me: Comfort: It is light and once dialed in more comfortable than either of my other headsets but it took some effort to dial it in. While not horrible for me, expect third party face gaskets will improve this. I do find the full headset with pack much more comfortable. The glasses arms are not long enough for me and, while tolerable, is not comfortable. Also, the arms should rotate a bit to allow you to adjust the fit to your face better, especially in glasses mode. Visual Clarity: As expected it is not as good as the Reverb G2 though not far off, but much better than index. For my eyes, noticeably better than the Q2, and on par with QP though to my eyes XR is touch more clear. The one thing I did notice is light bleed of white text on dark backgrounds, this has been mentioned by others and can be bad in some cases. FOV: Seems roughly the same as QP, better than Q2, and definitely less than the G2 and Index, but honestly given the ease of use, lightness, and connection and overall performance with comparable (G2) or better visuals (Index) I feel for casual/social gaming use it will likely be my daily driver despite less FOV. To get more clarity/resolution with large FOV it will require ridiculous hardware (like a $1.5-2k 4090) to run it so dont expect affordable rigs anytime soon. No scuba mask effect for me that others have suggested. Sound: It is better than I expected here. Coming from Index and G2 it is no where near that but definitely better to my ears than Q2 and QP. I did notice that at lower to mid volumes it sounds pretty decent but at higher volumes you start to notice an imbalance with bass lacking. I was able to use BT headphones (Nuratrue Pros) to watch movies with no sync issues, worked beautifully. I have not tried it with games yet though. If there were sync issues, I wonder if BT 5.3 would help, dont know enough here to speak to this...maybe someone out there has more insight. For those complaining about no headphone jack, there is a very simple solution, a USB C to 3.5mm Headphone and Charger Adapter ($14). This allows you to provide power (up to 60w) and plug in wired headphones in either glasses or with the battery cradle mode. So ignore the whining on that! Passthrough: This was a bit more disappointing, clearer than any other but still not workable. If you look at a screen with text that has white background from a distance looks just white until you move it very close to the headset. Additionally everything looks oddly flat...depth sensor is still not enabled so we will see how it is in future. Resolution is still not great but passthrough is better than any I have tried to date. Hand Tracking: Work in progress. It is workable with some gnashing of teeth along the way. Also mostly available for menus and mirroring, not for many games at moment. The menu mouthing worked great for me, the pinching to click/select often selected when I didnt pinch. Likely due to angle of camera to my hand so may take some learning on my part. So how did XR Elite fare in each of my uses above? PCVR Wired: Downloaded the vive streaming app to PC, plugged in and up came my steam home and away I went into my library. Demeo, Walkabout Minigolf, Alex and others all worked without issue or hitch. PCVR Wireless: I did not get to try this properly, leaving for a trip, but was able to actually connect and start to play Walkabout with my PC wireless and the headset wireless on heavily shared wifi 5 but did get choppy quickly. If I wired the PC to router expect this would have resolved this so very promising, sorry cant offer more here. Mobile Mirroring: For me this was easy to set up, download the manage, connected to same wifi, selected mirroring and it paired and just worked with my Samsung S22+. It was clear and responsive with no issues. In landscape it really crunches your view and portrait seems unusually tall and thin but overall workable and watching movies was great in a non-noisy environment. Standalone VR: Worked great, visuals were better than I expected, but did not do much more that immersed, Cosmic Flow, and some other free options as leaving for a trip so didnt have much time. Others will undoubtedly be able to provide further insight here. PCVR is my main use so not as vital for me. Travel/ Flight Movies: Used a MS Surface with streaming cable and worked just spectacularly. Cant tell you how good this experience was especially with BT headphones...dont bother with just headset speakers on a plane or other noisy environment as even at full volume you could barely hear the movie. Also, movies via phone mirroring was not smooth, to stuttery/lurchy, though sound with BT was good too. Virtual Workspaces: Used Immerse for this and it is workable for sure. Will not be as efficient as working with multiple screens in IRL yet to me but still investigating. Need to figure out if can do virtual screens in passthrough to use actual keyboard and mouse and simply have screens fixed in your space. The resolution is not quite as sharp as I would like but working on the road it is definitely a viable option and could work for hours if I can sort out using actual mouse and keyboard. Passthrough: Discussed above, helpful but hope it improves with enabling of the depth sensor. Resolution while better than any I have tried to date is still not great. If AR is your thing there are better options. There it is, hope it is helpful to some out there considering this headset. This headset is not breaking any new ground in terms of FOV and resolution. For me this is the only one that ticked all the boxes for me to play my PCVR library but also be useful for Travel and have standalone with phone mirroring (compatible phones only). HTC achieved a good balance with this headset and for someone new to VR who travels for work this will be the best option out there at the moment in my opinion. Hopefully they can improve on the glasses mode with longer arms and for future versions adjustable arms at the headset connection to allow for a better fit and placement of in built speaker to your ears. I am looking forward to seeing how the software improves seeing they are actively addressing many of issues people who had it early have reported.