HTC VIVE Cosmos

I returned this headset due to lack of support from several games. I was looking to use RecRoom and ChatVR and neither worked. Beat Saber, Google Earth, and Job Simulator worked fine. The tracking seemed fine. The view seemed blurry outside of a small area directly forward. This is the first headset Ive owned so I dont know if that is normal. I just lost confidence that I would be able to play the games that I wanted. Ill wait for a Valve Index instead.

Do you see a lot of reviews of the Vive cosmos that are negative? Well this one isn’t. I think it’s a great headset fairly comfortable when adjusted right. The six cameras do incredible work in virtual reality. You are not Imprisoned by base units it’s just the headset and the controllers. I choose to play sitting down often mostly because I’m still learning and I don’t want to knock everything over in my house. You can stand up, some games Require it. This is a moderately priced headset and controller box and worth the money! I’ve been having fun that I didn’t know existed.

The inside out tracking HTC advertises for this unit is nowhere near ready for consumer use. This thing loses track of its controllers during nearly every movement youll make. You may be able to play some game, but enjoying them is a much different matter. This issue can be fixed if youre willing to spend around $900 to upgrade it or scrounge around and take chances on used peripherals. First youll need a tracking faceplate. This is sold separately for $200. In order to work, it needs two base stations. These are sold separately for $200, each. You will need both. Then, because the faceplate also cant track the Cosmos controllers, youll need to buy the older model controller at $130 each. That comes to $860 just to get it to do what it needs to function normally. Maybe most telling is the fact that HTC sells the Cosmos Elite with a faceplate, base stations, and the correct controllers for $900. The simple existence of the faceplate tells me they know the inside out tracking system does not work and the Cosmos Elite package tells me that they know the standard Cosmos is not a functional product. The Cosmos Elite is a more reasonable and honest portrayal of what the Cosmos system can do and should cost, although its still very expensive by comparison to its competitors. The Cosmos standalone is nothing more than a dishonest and overpriced platform to sell you expensive peripherals which are actually essentials without which the system is nearly unusable. Poor form, HTC. I returned this, and will have to think long and hard before buying anything else from this company. Even though the Cosmos Elite package appears to be a better offering that will work as advertised, the standard Cosmos has left me extremely suspicious of HTC.

What I disliked about the product was the not available mini display port the adapter for gaming laptops. What I liked was the high resolution screens and pass_through mode. I used it for Flight simulator and space exploring.

There are so many flaws with the cosmos that its surprising it made it past testing. The amount of light you need in your room of choice has to be about the brightness of the sun for the headset to even work. The controllers dont track well at all and jump all over the place. Didnt come with the required cables for a vr ready laptop (stupid mini display port). Many games i was looking forward to playing dont even work with the cosmos (windlands 2). At least it looks nice both inside (assuming you can get it to work) and outside. Get any other headset.

Tracking could still use some improvement but it is a great headset that doesnt need light houses. Since I dont have a dedicated play space this is exactly what I need. It has an official attachment coming that lets it use the light houses so I can upgrade if I do get a dedicated space.

I see a lot of reviews here for the VIVE PRO, which is not the same product as this listing. Anyway I actually do have the VIVE COSMOS, what is listed here. I play a lot of VRChat and this headset is pretty great. Dont believe all of the negative hype about this unit. The screen looks absolutely incredible. Also they are coming out with a lot of mods for this model which will make it surpass all of the older models in every way (VIVE / VIVE PRO / VIVE PRO EYE). In early 2020 there will be an eye tracking sensor mod, as well as a faceplate option that will make use of existing lighthouse style external tracking... Meaning you will be able to use this with any HTC or Valve controllers, as well as body trackers.. All of the older HTC VIVE models will be phased out. The COSMOS is HTCs new flagship headset. The flip up visor is great, the headband is super comfy and the weight of the unit is fine- it seems very light to me. The construction seems plenty sturdy and it takes minimal time / effort to set up in any room. The tracking is not perfect, but they are actively releasing firmware updates and the tracking has improved since I purchased it just 2-3 weeks ago. Remember that similar units (that use onboard cameras for tracking) like Oculus also started out with finicky tracking and then after some time it became quite good by means of firmware/software updates. The same is already happening with this unit, but not many people are talking about it. It appears that the internet likes to complain unnecessarily when a manufacturer doesnt do something to their liking. I honestly dont mind that much, the price of this unit used right now is very low. The COSMOS is a solid unit, and is a much more futureproof buying decision versus any of the other VIVE headsets. Mostly that is on paper still, because the mods that will make it better than all the rest have yet to be released. But I do trust that HTC will release these things very soon and this unit will likely go up in price when that happens. I got mine for $480 used here on Amazon which seriously feels like a steal for how much fun it is to use, how beautiful the screen is, and the full featured quality when it comes to using SteamVR. Four stars because they are still working out a few of the kinks with the tracking. But this will change! I wish I could give it 4.5 stars to be honest. Many people will say that the VIVE or VIVE PRO is the best unit to buy right now, and they are not wrong. However they will be wrong in a few months.

I really wanted to love the Cosmos but some major design flaws sent it back. First is the sweet spot. Those of you who don’t know what the sweet spot is it is the center point on each fresnel lens with the image is crystal clear. Both eyes must align perfectly on these center points. The bottom line is if the earth is the size of the lens for each eye, the sweet spot is about the size of the ball point pen. What makes this worse is how the unit fits on your head. It requires many adjustments to get it perfect. I found that the only way to get it perfect meant having it strapped pretty tight on my head, which caused serious headaches and limited play time. Because the visor flips up which indeed is a great idea also means the visor doesn’t sit flush on your face. Which again, affects the centerpoint clarity. When you do get the perfect clear image on both eyes which was also a problem because sometimes one eye would be in perfect focus and the other eye would not, the very moment you allow your eyes to stray from that centerpoint everything becomes blurry extremely quickly and really bad. It’s as if your peripheral vision is completely blurred out which means you can’t move your eyes you can only move your head to look around. I have had the Oculus CV1 for 2 years and preferred it over this. The next issue was the headphones which is a pain to line up with your ears, and when you do line them up, they don’t sit flush on your ears. They pop upwards off the ear and sound quality terrible. Next is the Vive user interface which is absolutely awful at best. And confusing at worst. Trying to navigate between that and steam VR is a real pain. The tracking cameras are absolutely a joke. I had numerous issues with tracking, Constant errors on screen about there not being enough light, despite using my video lighting from my cinema work which was also ridiculous to have to use especially considering there’s plenty of light in my living room. I really wanted to leave oculus because of the whole Facebook tie in, and I wanted something that should be essentially next generation considering as I’ve had mine for two years. But this unit definitely was not the solution. I was given a lot of warnings about this headset, all if which turned out to be true. So i’m standing by for the rift S to come back into stock and we will see where the market is in another two years. Maybe the next gen valve index... My best advice is stay away from this headset.

I personally did not enjoy the inside out tracking. I returned this item and stepped up to the full vive, and way happier!

Good resolution is a big plus. it looks cool... when it works My understanding is that other headsets use tracking devices located on the walls. They can see your moves no matter where your hands are. This headset uses cameras located on the headset. It means that as soon as the cameras dont see your hands, they are lost. I dont know why they describe it as an advantage. To me, losing tracking all the time makes it useless, really. When I play a racquetball like game, the racquet gets lost unless I make an effort to keep my hands in front of me all the time. I kind of hoped that maybe, I could buy additional devices to improve tracking, but no. Their own tracking devices for other versions of Vive are no use with this one. Is not it unfortunate? Overall, I am getting the impression that those who make these headsets use other headsets at home. cons: - many of the games simply dont run or run in some kind of unusable mode, and I cant find any explanations why - as soon as the controllers move outside of the view, they are lost. I hoped to use the headset for fitness. No, forget about it. I made a mistake with this one, its not suitable for fitness, its annoying. - The headphones keep popping out and away from my ears. its again annoying and distracting. - all I am getting when asking questions about how to cope with the above is you shouldnt have bought this headset, we dont know who they are making it for, its pricey and subpar On the positive side, VR is a great experience. Its cool to watch 3D scenes. If quality tracking is not important, and the software that you plan to use runs ok, its really amazing. I wish I had a chance to return this one for something with better tracking because my goal is VR fitness. UPDATE: If you push the joystick down, it is also a clicker. I wish somebody told me before. It was not evident at the beginning. So, I am adding a star back.