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The ultimate guide to virtual reality headsets

Virtual Reality is currently in something of a boom period. For the first time in the history of computers, Virtual Reality has arrived not as potential, or a very expensive yet underperforming accessory, but as a major piece of equipment available to everyone.

The nature of Virtual Reality is such that there are hundreds of different Head Mounted Devices (HMDs) on the market to buy, from as little as £2 going up into the thousands. Because of the sheer number of headsets, it can doubtless be confusing to decide which headset is right for you.

It is with this in mind that we introduce the VRS Ultimate Guide to Virtual Reality Headset to cut through the marketing and sales pitches, and give you simply the facts about all the ways to currently experience Virtual Reality.

What's your price range?

ALL CHEAP MID-RANGE HIGH-END
Name Est. Cost Display type Resolution FOV Audio Refresh
Rate
Latency Optics Inputs Type
Pico G2 4K

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$ LCD 3840x2160 total Unknown Onboard Speakers with Headphone Jack 75Hz Unknown Adjustable IPD MicroSD, USB C Standalone HMD
Oculus Quest

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$ OLED 1440 x 1600 per eye Unknown Onboard speakers with headphone jacks 72Hz Unknown Adjustable IPD USB C, Bluetooth, WiFi Standalone HMD
Vuzix iWear

Vuzix

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$230 LCD 1280x720x2 55° Noise Isolating headphones Unknown Unknown Floating Display Design HDMI, USB Video HMD
Royole Moon

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$850 2x AMOLED 1920x1080x2 Unknown Professional-grade Noise Cancelling Headphones 60Hz 0.01ms Adjustable IPD and Focus HDMI, USB, WiFi 3D Video HMD
Merge VR Goggles

MergeVR

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$60 96 Degrees IPD Adjustable 42mm Lenses Left and Right Buttons Smartphone HMD
Homido Grab

Homido

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$40 100º 37mm Biconvex lenses Phone Dependent, has external button Smartphone HMD
Sony Playstation VR

Sony

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$399 OLED 960x1080x2 110º 360 Audio via included headphones 120Hz or 90Hz <18 ms (Estimated) Fixed Lenses, Compatible with Glasses Users PS4 Controller, Playstation Move Wands Tethered platform-specific HMD
VRIZZMO Rebel

VRIZZMO

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$60 120º Adjustability Unknown Smartphone HMD
Homido Mini

Homido

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$15 100º Not Adjustable Smartphone HMD
DreamZ VR

DreamZ

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$59.00 120º IPD Adjustable Smartphone HMD
Fibrum Pro

Fibrum

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$79 110º No Adjustment, 30 mm Lenses Smartphone HMD
BoboVR Z3

BoboVR

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$22 80-95º IPD and Focal Length Smartphone HMD
Durovis Dive 5

Durovis

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$30 ~90º Focal Length and IPD Smartphone HMD
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In Development Headsets

Virtual Reality as a concept has been around for decades but the new wave of head mounted displays that have come in the wake of the Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard amount to essentially a reboot, a year zero scenario. As such, there are just as many pieces of equipment that are in-development, conceptualised or otherwise unavailable.

In order to provide the ultimate guide to head mounted displays, our primary focus has been on hardware you can buy right now, however there are quite a few interesting, unique or just plain odd pieces of VR kit in development, which we have covered in the following table.

What's your price range?

ALL CHEAP MID-RANGE HIGH-END
Name Est. Cost Display type Resolution FOV Audio Refresh
Rate
Latency Optics Inputs Type
HTC Vive Cosmos XR

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$ LCD 1440 x 700 110-degrees 3D 90Hz Unknown Adjustable IPD USB 3.0, DisplayPort, In-house faceplate connector Tethered XR HMD
HP Reverb G2

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$600 LCD 2160 x 2160 per eye 114-degree (diagonal) Onboard speakers 90Hz Unknown Adjustable IPD USB-C, DisplayPort Tethered HMD
Hololens 2

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$3500 See-through waveguide 2048 x 1080 per eye 52-degrees diagonally Onboard spatial sound Unknown Unknown See-through waveguide WiFi, USB - C and Bluetooth Projection Extended Reality HMD
MindMaze Elvira

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$ Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Mixed reality HMD with neurological sensors
Magic Leap

Magic Leap

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$2295 Pass-through Projection 1.3 million pixels per eye 50 degrees Onboard speakers and headphone jack TBA TBA Pass-through Projection lenses USB C, Bluetooth and WiFi Standalone Mixed reality/holographic HMD
Meta 2 (Developer Kit)

Meta

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$1495 AR Projection 2432x1366x2 90° Four Surround Speakers 60Hz Unknown AR Projection Visor Video and Data Cable Tethered AR/MR HMD
StarVR One

Starbreeze Studios/Acer

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$3200 AMOLED 1830x1464 per eye 210-degrees hor. 130-degrees vert. Onboard speakers and headphone jack 90Hz low persistence Unknown IPD adjustment via software 2x Displayport, 2x USB 2 Tethered VR HMD
PinchVR

PinchVR

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$0 TBA Yes - Phone Dependent TBA TBA Smartphone HMD
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Table Key
  • = Phone Dependant
  • = Tablet Dependant