HTC Vive XR Elite Virtual Reality Headset + Controllers

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.

Pros: The Vive XR Elite has a great form factor. Its lightweight, balances well while youre wearing it. I like the feel of the controllers. Video passthrough is pretty good. Its good enough to walk around the room, pick up things, and you can read text on your monitor if you get close enough. Controller tracking and hand tracking is pretty good. I know some have mentioned that the audio is not that great. I think its fine for what I use this for. I havent tried other VR headsets to compare though. Cons: I wear reading glasses, and read that the Vive XR Elite has adjustable lenses, so you could dial in your prescription. I was surprised to see that the clearest setting for me was dialing it to zero. The focus wasnt that great, but dialing any higher made it worse. I have an astigmatism, so maybe thats the issue. So if you have an astigmatism, this headset isnt for you? Hopefully there are some options in the future that will fix this. The stand-alone game options are pretty limited. Looking for more in the future... Connecting to the PC went smoothly, but the wifi connection is terrible. I have a 6G wifi router and the connection settings says its got an excellent connection, yet the VIVE Streaming Hub constantly says its dropping frames. *** Update *** I noticed my headset was flipping back and forth between my 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks. I have disabled my 2.4 GHz network in my router and that has greatly improved the WiFi experience. Plus HTC has updated the software for the headset which also seems to have greatly improved things. WiFi is working very well now. FYI, I have a modern MSI gaming laptop with 32 Gigs of ram and an NVidia 3090ti. I play SuperHot, which is fun yet has very simplistic graphics. This game works for me about 20% of the time. Forget playing something like HalfLife: Alex. *** Update *** As I mentioned before since HTCs update and turning off the 2.4 GHz network things are much improved, including HalfLife: Alex. This game works great now even in WiFi. I tried using the headset with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. First with WiFi. It came through low resolution and was jerky. Then I played it wired in through the USB-C cable. It looked much better but alternated every second between normal frame rate and lagging, which made things like landing more difficult than it should have been. *** Update *** The HTC update seems to have greatly improved wired performance as well. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is amazing in VR. There are still cons though: Text in the cockpit is still fuzzy because I have an astigmatism and am unable to perfectly focus the headset. I tried Immersed, which is a vr desktop. The resolution and focusing issues Ive had make this unusable. This is my first VR headset, and I went by pre-release reviews of this headset, which can be risky, but I _thought_ HTC, with all their experience producing VR headsets, would come through on this one. I was very wrong. *** Update *** I am glad to say that HTCs software update fixes for both WiFi and wired and adjustments I made to my WiFi router have greatly improved performance. I have changed my rating from 1 star to 4.

This device is peak HTC. Pure form with no function. I sincerely don’t understand who these high-end standalone headsets are made for. To me, these are like prototype cars: they look cool and include cutting edge technology, but have no business being sold to consumers because they have no practical purpose. I experienced three major issues that will never be fixed, regardless of what HTC claims: 1. This was not designed as a PCVR device. You cannot readily stream PC content with or without a USB cable. Wireless is awful and it’s the hardware/software, not me. Other wifi 6E streaming devices I’ve used have flawless streaming on my network. USB tether is not the fix either. Everything about it is tedious or broken. When you get it to work, the images are compressed, frame rate is 75hz instead of 90hz, and it randomly freezes. Some people are saying HTC can fix this with an update, but that is impossible because there’s actually a major issue built into the device: you can’t stream via USB and charge at the same time. That’s why they make a big deal about hot-swappable batteries, it’s because otherwise you can only use this for 2 hours at a time unless you’re in standalone/wireless mode and plug it into the wall. Some owners and even HTC suggests daisy-chaining a battery into the PC connection, which barely helped in my experience, and is a ludicrous thing to accept as a solution. How hard would it have been to design a two-pronged cable that can provide data and power from the PC? Instead you have to buy a cable they made for a different headset they released years ago. Just admit that the HTC XR Elite wasn’t designed for PCVR. Stop lying HTC. 2. The sunglasses mode is a scam. I don’t see how it’s not a scam. You cannot actually use it in sunglasses mode because the headset’s internal battery is minuscule. This is not just a PCVR issue, this applies however you use the device. The internal battery’s job is maintain minimal power during disconnects so the device doesn’t have to do a complete reboot. Therefore sunglasses mode doesn’t work without being plugged in so it begs the question: plugged into what with what exactly?? The battery with the 8inch cable they provide? And the battery then goes where? Should I be wearing a battery backpack? I might as well just strap the stupid battery to my head at that point. The only way it works is with the aforementioned daisy-chained battery method, which means buying cables and splitters that you may not have, making this device even more expensive to do something poorly that it should be doing perfectly and natively out of the box. What is the benefit of sunglasses mode when it comes with literal strings attached? Absolutely brainless design. 3. My final issue won’t apply to everyone but is an absolute guaranteed deal breaker for anyone it applies to. You cannot use glasses with these, which isn’t a secret, as they advertise built-in diopter adjustment. Alone, not being able to wear glasses isn’t necessarily a negative. However, some people wear glasses for reasons that a simple diopter adjustment isn’t going to fix. Good luck if you have mild or worse astigmatism or wear lenses for anything other than basic myopia. The fundamental problem for me personally is that corrective lenses are fractional but the diopter adjustment is just rotating the lens between 0 and 6 until your vision is less blurry. It doesn’t display what you have it set to and even worse, it doesn’t seem to actually go all the way to 6.00. My vision is -5.50 and -5.75 and it is still blurry. Not VR blurry, but “this isn’t my prescription blurry.” This was the nail in the coffin for me, doubly so for fear that if my vision ever gets worse, the XR Elite becomes completely unusable. At the end of the day, this is a product with no audience. HTC built a really cool device for no one. They packed it full of next gen VR features, but they didn’t ensure that any of them actually work and the sum of its parts is less than the whole. I honestly had the same exact experience with their first major headset released in 2015, it is wild that they’ve learned nothing. HTC has a terrible habit of designing products that sound amazing in theory, but they don’t care how they function in practice. HTC advertises PCVR but wireless streaming is extremely buggy at best and USB streaming requires you purchase a $100 cable and jerry-rig in a battery somehow … and it still won’t work that well. Sunglasses mode sounds, looks, and feels awesome, but literally doesn’t work without connecting a battery somehow which defeats the purpose. You don’t have to wear your glasses (and can’t), but the included solution isn’t sufficient to give a clear picture for a large minority of people. All-in-all, I can’t recommend this to anyone.

Previously gave it one star, after a couple of weeks upping to 3. Previously had a reverb G2 (1st gen), compared to the G2 its slightly heavier but less bulky. (The headset when disconnected and folded is a little larger than a soda can). Lenses are comparable resolution and are adjustable. (adjustability is great, can get even better resolution on somedays than g2). However, theres some fogging around the periphery and display when looking to the side can be a little blurry. The headset has a little fan built into the display and can be slightly noticeable if its quiet. Speakers are built into the frame, they dont hang or protrude like the reverb or occulus rift v1. Ambient sound isolation is comparable to the Rift Ss speakers. Volume adjustment buttons on the headset are a welcome addition, easier than fiddling with PC volume control though they could be a little louder, I have them on max all the time. Connectivity uses a link cable or wifi. I had to upgrade my router but performance is indistinguishable from when it is tethered. For best performance, the wifi router needs to connect to your computer via ethernet. If using tethered, using the battery pack is a must, they recommend a 30w power supply for headset usage, use of the headset itself I measured up to 18 watts without the battery but observed up to 27 watts when tethering to the headset through the battery. IIRC a lightning port on the motherboard can supply only up to 15 watts. Without the battery the headset randomly blacks out through tethered use, with the battery plugged into the pc you have about 2-3 hours of usage before needing to charge. Right now, Im using a wireless link with the headset+battery combo plugged into a dedicated power outlet. I want to note that the included link cables are comically small for tethered use. Apparently a longer version is sold separately but given the cost of this headset, a longer cable ought to have been included. The streaming software for the PC may need you to allow it in your antivirus/firewall settings. Streaming software is an improvement from WMR, allows you to drop in/drop out of VR compared to WMR which needed you to restart a program if SteamVR/WMR was closed for whatever reason, with HTC streaming you can resume from where you left off as if it never happened. The headset with the battery is comfortable enough provided the included headstrap is used. However, the non battery glasses config becomes very uncomfortable after prolonged use, the legs dig into the temple and are quite distracting. Controllers compared to the G2 V1 are an upgrade as well, hand gesture controls take a little getting used to but seem to have improved in the last update. You need to redefine the boundary and floor every time the headset is fully powered down (as in, no power source connected), this doesnt seem to happen if it has a power supply when shut down. Pros: Increased portability from G2, adjustable lenses are great! Software once running isnt as clunky as WMR and less hassle if the vr is interrupted. Wifi connection, when it works is as good as tethered. No base stations required! Cons: Expensive! Tethered play has a power limit and needs the battery to avoid blackouts, included cables are too short for tethered play. Slight improvements over the G2, mostly QOL improvements but hard to appreciate for the price, high end wifi router needed to fully utilise the new features.

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;

The only thing enjoyable about this was the unboxing. I cant get it to stream anything for longer than a few seconds without drops outs. Wired or wireless with a wifi6e made no difference. The only smooth operation I had with this was the initial setup. Then it told me to update my streaming drivers, but wouldnt allow me to do so. I have built every computer I have owned from parts. I have soldered together devices with 100s of components. I have coded software. I have created websites. I have linked analog and digital audio and video together at a professional level, but I couldnt after 8hrs of troubleshooting get this to work for more than 5 seconds in a game without a drop out. The worst part was when it randomly stopped being connected to my PC and insisted I connect to my Google Pixel. WHY?! what are you doing?! I was in game on STEAMVR?! 3 full charges and 8 hrs later, I am done. I am throwing in the towel. I cant waste another minute of my life with something so incredible unreliable as this piece of garbage.

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.

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

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 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.