HTC Vive XR Elite Virtual Reality Headset + Controllers

Ive used Meta and PICO products in the past and I want to say this product is the best in the market. Despite the cost, if only people realize how much costs go into production then one would understand the price point is reasonable. Meta is only selling at their low price point because they want your data so they can make profit out of it. HTC VIVE has no intention whatsoever of collecting your data. If you want high performance and portablity, this product is it, there isnt any other product out there. There are products that give you great performance but is no where near portable and lightweight, nor comfortable. There are products that give you portability but delivers lackluster performance and really has no solid features to use it for. Last but not least, content. Even if you dont use their own vr content platform VIVEPORT which already has all the various types of games and content that one would need, you can still obtain content from Steam which the best games and content are there. As long as you can play Beat Saber and Half Life Alyx which are really the two best games out there, I dont see why everyone is complaining about volume of content since most content are about the same. Aside from games, there are fitness such as Les Mills Body Combat, art such as Gesture VR and productivity content that can be used to enhance your day to day lives. I think majority of people just dont realize there are other non gaming content that deserves more attention to why VR or XR (extended reality) needs to be part of our lives sooner than later.

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.

the face cushion had no padding along the top, where it has hard plastic pressed up against your forehead. just from completing the setup i had a painful red spot

Preface to this review: I have an extreme negative bias towards Meta and refuse to use their products, so Im completely unable to compare this product to any of the Quest offerings. Ill primarily be comparing against the Valve Index. Furthermore, as other reviews have pointed out, the standalone experience is sorely lacking, and in my opinion HTC should have delayed the launch of this headset until they were able to get more apps into their storefront. Because of this, Ill only be focusing on the PCVR experience here. The HTC Vive XR Elite is not the best headset in any one category. Its not the best looking image (PCVR), it doesnt have the best controllers, it doesnt have the best tracking, and its not the smoothest experience out of the box. What it does have, is portability; both portability in travel and portability between users. We have a Valve Index already in our house, and sharing that experience is tedious to say the least, which means in the year weve had it in our house of 4, weve pretty much never shared a VR experience all together. That changed only a few days after the XR Elite arrived. The ability to quickly swap between different users of differing prescriptions, the ability to adjust the IPD to fit my (admitted hey-Arnold-esque) head, and the lack of a top strap to accommodate the widest range of hair styles make it an actually fun and immersive experience you can ***enjoy with your friends and family*** instead of alone. Ill admit the Quest lineup is probably pretty similar here, but as I mentioned above, I refuse to in any way support their parent company, and thus here I am. I believe that this product is perfect for those looking for a higher-end product as their first foray into VR, and many of the flaws the XR Elite has, I hope HTC is able to solve (primarily the lack of apps in the storefront). If youre listening HTC, one thing I would love to see is the ability to integrate with other controllers. The XR Elite can already track my hands, but it cant pair with Index Knuckle controllers and track those instead? Of course Id be giving up some precision the Knuckle controllers usually have by removing the base stations, but I cant see why it isnt possible. That, or release some higher-quality feeling controllers. All in all, I really wanted this to be a 4-star or 5-star review, and I think for the right person (such as myself) it definitely is, but as for the general public... Its a hard sell given that they probably dont share the same aversion to Meta as I do.

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.

Streaming from PC Sucks, the thing is constantly in a loading screen (let me tell you how exciting VR is watching a HTC logo for 20 mins...), The left lens is literally littered with green dead pixels like it got hit by a magnet or something. Im looking into a return.

Horrible first-day experience at the initial setup, the software was a disaster, so many issues with the connection to the PC and phone. It appears HTC is aware of the problem and addressing the problem soon after users pointed it out. Hand tracking is improved, at least it no longer recognizes my feet as a 3rd hand. and Phone mirroring connection is now stable to a usable level. There are many other issues that still need to be addressed before a fair judgment can be passed on the unit. The good news is the developer has not given up on it yet. so I will keep the unit for a month to see.

Maybe been able to use 2 or 3 times since it came in last week, it keeps resetting boundaries and non stop loading. Its almost like it cant handle head movements which is dumb since its a vr head set. YOu move your head and it starts the spinning vive symbol. Its starting to look like a waste of money

I wanted a standalone VR that can handle PCVR gaming (too lazy to deal with basestations), and the XR Elite delivered exactly that. Wireless PC streaming is a bit choppy, but thats highly dependent on the quality of the wifi network. A proper review will have to wait until I connect to a router thats less shared (I have 4 other housemates). The wired streaming experience, however, is solid. I downloaded the vive streaming app and set everything up without much issue.

Ive owned the original Vive, Index, and Quest 2 and this headset has been the most disappointing.. Unboxing it and setting it up was alright, when I went to log in with my email it told me to use steam to log in which I assume it wanted me to plug into a PC which I cant so I eventually made a new account with a new email so I can download things which worked but now I cant use the built in browser since it says it needs to update and I cant open it anymore, also for a few hours on the first day I was stuck on a loading screen but could hear the menu in the background and resetting it a few times didnt help, I had to unplug and replug it in like 5 times to eventually be able to use it again. Software aside the fan on this thing is loud, like its pretty noticeable id say double maybe triple the Quest 2s fan noise. The passthrough is the only decent thing on this headset but its not perfect but so far the best ive seen on a headset, At this price point theres better options out there