HTC Vive Pro Price Officially Drops By $200 to $599
HTC has officially lowered the price for the Vive Pro virtual reality headset almost two years after its launch. The price drops $200. The full Vive Pro Starter Kit includes the base stations and Steam VR Tracking 1.0 as well as two virtual reality controllers.
The price of the Vive Pro “Full Kit” with the SteamVR 2.0 base stations along with compatible Vive controllers has also been reduced by $200.
With the price cuts, the HTC Vive Pro will now cost just $599, down from its original price point of $799. The deal covers the virtual reality headset only as the tracking stations and controllers are sold separately. The HTC Vive Pro is an enterprise-focused virtual reality headset. The price cuts come at a time when the virtual reality hardware market is getting a little crowded with lots of cool VR headsets being released in the market. Many of these were unveiled during the CES 2020.
With these price cuts, the enterprise-focused HTC Vive Pro is now officially, cheaper than the Vive Cosmos, HTC’s recently unveiled consumer-focused virtual reality headset which has been beset by qualitative hardware issues. The HTC Vive Cosmos goes for $699 and includes a ‘full kit’ with controllers and its inside-out tracking system.
Buying the HTC Vive Pro full kit will still cost you more as it goes for $899. At that price point, it is still cheaper than the Valve Index headset which is regarded as one of the best, if not the best, consumer virtual reality headset currently in the market. The Valve Index is a ‘full kit’ that includes all the bells and whistles to get you started in VR. At $599, the HTC Vive Pro will now be $100 cheaper than the top-performing duo of Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S.
An Enterprise-Focused Virtual Reality Headset
When making purchase decisions, it is important to remember that the HTC Vive Pro is an enterprise or business-focused virtual reality headset. However, consumers can still purchase the headset. But keep in mind that this headset was developed for business-level use-case scenarios.
If you are a consumer with no business-focused VR requirements, you shouldn’t be shopping for the Vive Pro as your gaming headset or your everyday headset. The Vive Pro is a comfortable and high-resolution virtual reality headset but many of its features have since been eclipsed by more advanced virtual reality headsets since its release back in 2018. A Valve Index virtual reality headset, for example, will give you much better resolution as well as comfort while the Vive Cosmos headset has superb resolution even though it had to grapple with a few problems following its release.
If you are shopping for a virtual reality headset for business or enterprise-focused applications, there are lots of options available in the market currently that you can opt for, many of them at an even lower price point than the Vive Pro.
Varjo and Pimax, for example, have excellent business VR headsets that are shifting the game on the business side of VR applications. Vive seems intent on travelling the business path into the foreseeable future although the company is yet to unveil new VR hardware.
The Vive Pro purchase will come with some extra goodies such as a free six-month Viveport Infinity membership. You can order the Vive Pro headset at a much cheaper price on the HTC website.
Does Vive Pro Offer the Best Bargain?
$599 (or $899 for the full kit) for a mid-level business headset is a good offer but if you are a consumer, you can get a higher-quality Valve Index headset for a reasonable price. Price-conscious buyers can go for Facebook’s inside-out tracking headsets Oculus Rift S or the standalone virtual reality headset Oculus Quest that can now be interfaced with PC via an Oculus Link connection to access the vast Rift library.
HTC’s recently unveiled Vive Cosmos headset is still grappling with some qualitative defects and is therefore not a great alternative for the Vive Pro.
If you aren’t too deeply invested into the Vive ecosystem such as the enterprise hardware line or you don’t absolutely need a Vive wireless adapter, then there are plenty of VR hardware options that you can go for.
https://virtualrealitytimes.com/2020/01/11/htc-vive-pro-price-officially-drops-by-200-to-599/https://virtualrealitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/HTC-Vive-Pro-Eye-Product-Shot-600x410.jpghttps://virtualrealitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/HTC-Vive-Pro-Eye-Product-Shot-150x90.jpgHardwareTechnologyVR HeadsetsHTC has officially lowered the price for the Vive Pro virtual reality headset almost two years after its launch. The price drops $200. The full Vive Pro Starter Kit includes the base stations and Steam VR Tracking 1.0 as well as two virtual reality controllers. The price of the Vive...Sam OchanjiSam Ochanji[email protected]EditorVirtual Reality Times - Metaverse & VR