Is the Vive XR Elite worth it?
Is the Vive XR Elite worth it? We take a look
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Since it was announced back at CES 2023, the VR community has been asking ‘is the Vive XR Elite worth it?’. Well, now that we know a fair amount about the Vive XR Elite’s specs, features, and pricing, we’re going to take a look to see whether or not it’s going to be worth the purchase.#
HTC Vive XR Elite VR headset
Chipset
Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2
Storage
128GB
RAM
12GB
Display resolution
1920 x 1920 per-eye
Battery Life
Up to 2 hours, comes with a hot-swappable 26.6Wh Battery
Weight
1.37lbs/0.62kg
While last year was a relatively slow one for VR, up until the Meta Quest Pro was announced, 2023 started out very strongly, with rumors surrounding the Meta Quest 3, which were then confirmed by Zuckerberg himself, when he spoke to Stratachery.
Then, of course, HTC exploded out of the gate at CES, revealing their new convertible, standalone VR headset, the Vive XR Elite. This immediately made headlines for being very competitively priced, landing between the Quest Pro and the Quest 2. However, despite undercutting the Quest Pro, it’s still pretty expensive at $1099 for a pre order, so, is the Vive XR Elite worth it? Let’s take a look.
Is the Vive XR Elite worth it? Specs & features
Taking a look at the Vive XR Elite’s specs, we can see that it’s looking very strong, especially when compared to the aging Meta Quest 2.
The SoC might be the less-spicy version of the Snapdragon XR 2 that the Quest Pro has, but that platform benefits strongly from upgrades to the surrounding hardware, so the head-to-head performance difference remains to be seen
One of the bigger deals we’re seeing when it comes to specs is the RAM, with 12GB, it’s certainly looking like it’ll be a multitasking monster.
Moving onto more unique features, the Vive XR Elite is going to be modular, with HTC themselves describing it as ‘convertible’. From what we can gather, HTC intends this feature to transform the Vive XR Elite into a more portable, handleable machine.
This means that you can opt to entirely remove the external battery, making the XR Elite resemble a very stocky pair of sunglasses. However, it’s unclear at this point how much this will affect the performance.
Conversely, you’ll be able to connect the headset to a PC to enhance its power, forgoing portability in favor of performance. Again, it’s unclear how much performance will be gained this way, with the capabilities of the PC in question playing a large role, do doubt.
Should you buy the Vive XR Elite? Final verdict
We end this page in a confused position. We have no doubt that the Vive XR Elite will be a total powerhouse of a VR headset. However, we always feel a bit disingenuous when we recommend that people buy something that isn’t available.
The Vive XR Elite does look like it’ll be a very competitive option over the Meta Quest Pro, though, as its specs are almost identical while the price is around $400 lower.
