There are many VR headsets available in the market ranging from $30 to $900. Which one to get is up to personal preferences. In this article we will discuss some high-end VR headsets, what are they offering and how are they different from other headsets.
There are two types of VR headsets,
- Tethered
- Standalone
In tethered headsets, you have to connect your headset with a powerful PC or a console. Some prominent tethered headsets are Sony PlayStation VR, Lenovo Mirage, Oculus Rift S, and HTC Vive Cosmos.
You do not need to connect the standalone headsets with a PC or console. Enjoying immersive experience in standalone headsets is unique because it provides physical freedom. You can enjoy an immersive experience without connecting it with a machine. Oculus Quest, Oculus Go, HTC Vive, Lenovo Mirage Solo, HTC Vive Proton come in the category of standalone VR headsets. All these headsets have dedicated screens. These headsets have their GPUs to render graphics.
Let’s take a look at some well-known high-end VR headsets.
1. Oculus Rift S
Rift S comes with a 2560×1440 pixels LCD screen with 600ppi and 80Hz refresh rate. It has an accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer. It offers 6DoF with 5 cameras sensors for tracking. 6Dof is 6 degrees of freedom of movement of a body in 3-dimensional space. Other accessories are motion controllers. Oculus is using a system which they call Oculus Insight that uses three simultaneous tracking methods through an accelerometer, gyroscope, and cameras. As it is a tethered headset so, you need to connect it with a PC through DisplayPort. This headset can be used to enjoy VR experience from both OculusVR and SteamVR stores.
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2. Sony PlayStation VR
Sony PlayStation VR comes with a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels, 5.7 inches OLED display with a 90-120Hz refresh rate. It has 100 degrees of field of view (FoV) with an accelerometer and gyroscope. To connect the VR headset, you need a PlayStation 4. You also need additional accessories along with a VR headset to enjoy the immersive gaming experience. These accessories include motion controllers and
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PlayStationVR Camera. Many games work with PS4 controllers so you don’t always need motion controllers. This is a great addition in the VR industry but this headset and motion controllers still use old technology and are not as capable as Oculus Rift.
3. HTC Vive Cosmos
HTC Vive Cosmos is another high-end tethered VR headset. It comes with a resolution of 2880×1700 pixels, dual 3.4 inches display with a 90Hz refresh rate. It has a maximum field of view (FoV) of 110 degrees. Like all other VR headsets, it also has a gyroscope and G-Sensor. Controllers come with built-in gyro, hall sensors, and touch sensors. Play VR games from SteamVR or HTC’s own VR software store as this headset provides full compatibility with these stores.
All these headsets are tethered. Let’s have a look at some standalone VR headsets.
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4. Oculus Quest
Oculus Quest comes with dual 1600×1400 pixels OLED screen with a 72Hz refresh rate. Just like Oculus Rift S it also offers 6DoF. Since it is a standalone version, you don’t need to connect it with a computer which is it’s the biggest advantage.
This standalone HMD runs on android. It is a good headset but it does not offer the high-end graphical capabilities which tethered headsets offer as it is using built-in hardware. Oculus Quest and Rift both have the same motion controllers.
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5. Lenovo Mirage Solo
Mirage Solo a standalone VR headset is a product of Lenovo. It has a screen resolution of 2560×1440 pixels, 5.5 inches display with 75Hz of refresh rate. It has a maximum field of view of 110 degrees. Mirage Solo uses WorldSense technology for tracking. WorldSense is technology by Google that provides position tracking to standalone VR headsets. Mirage Solo has 2 cameras, these front-facing cameras which enable WorldSense to track movement.
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6. HTC Vive Focus
Vive Focus is another standalone VR headset from HTC. Vive focus comes with a 3K AMOLED screen, resolution of 2880×1600, with a 75Hz refresh rate. It also has 110 degrees of field of view along with 6DoF.
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All the headsets discussed above are high-end and come with a hefty price tag. Let’s compare the prices and pros and cons of each headset.
| Headset | Type | Pros | Cons | Price |
| Oculus Rift S | Tethered | Improved Visuals, Supports 6DoF | No HDMI Support, Tracking Issues | $399 |
| Sony PlayStation VR | Tethered | Good Software Library, Most affordable Headset | Fiddly VR camera, PS4 needed | $299 |
| HTC Vive Cosmos | Tethered | High resolution, No external sensors needed | Expensive | $829 |
| Oculus Quest | Standalone | Accurate tracking capability, Supports 6DoF | Low display refresh rate | $399 |
| Lenovo Mirage Solo | Standalone | Reliable motion tracking, Great battery life | Inferior LCD, No built-in speakers | $339 |
| HTC Vive Focus | Standalone | Lightweight, Great battery management system | Only supports 3DoF, Expensive | $799 |
Every headset comes with some great features and some disadvantages. Like PlayStation VR is the most affordable headset but it needs PS4. HTC Vive Cosmos comes with a high-resolution display but it is quite expensive. In standalone units Oculus Quest is the best device but, you have to deal with the low display refresh rate.
Conclusion
So, before you decide to get a high-end VR headset you need to focus a few things. There are 2 types of VR headsets, tethered, and standalone. For tethered headsets, you have to connect your device with a powerful computer or a gaming console in the case of the PlayStation VR headset. In standalone units you don’t have to worry about wired connection, they are wireless and come with build-in CPUs and GPUs. But the graphical capability of standalone headsets is not as great as tethered headsets. These high-tech headsets have great motion-sensing capabilities, some are even offering 6DoF like Oculus Rift S and Oculus Quest. HTC Vive headsets are expensive because they have a very accurate tracking system compared to other headsets.
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