It's still not a headset we'd recommend to most, as it's been surpassed by a few others now, but a great deal on this device wouldn't be an instant no. We’ve also seen complaints online that some face shapes don’t mesh well with Vive headsets, though we didn’t have a panel of testers with more physical variations try this one out because of pandemic restrictions at the time of our testing. While we tend to use this headset hooked up to a gaming PC via a cable (you'll need a high quality USB Type-C cable to get the job done), you can go cable-free via a couple of ways. It’s also the first mainstream VR headset to make mixed reality (also known as augmented reality) one of its core features.

This all matters because, if you're lucky, you can find the Pico 4 going for less than the Quest 3, and in those instances where the Quest 3 is just that little bit too expensive for your budget, the Pico 4 makes for a great stand-in. Regarding to the strength of the cable, i made the naked wire that sorrounds all of the thin wires be shorter than all wires sorrounds by it.The best VR headset is able to make you forget, even if just for a moment, you're wearing a big chunk of plastic and foam on your face. The chip leverages Spectra7’s patented power harvesting algorithms, eliminating the need for any external power source while delivering up to Ultra HD 4K resolution. If money is no object and you're just looking for the purest, most high-end VR headset out there, the Valve Index is the closest thing to having a holodeck in your office. The Index's FOV, at 130°, is also best-in-class, and there's virtually no detectable screen door effect inside the headset.

The Vive Pro 2 weighs 850 grams, and as a result, we noticed its bulk more than we did that of the 515-gram Quest 3. We like the open-ear setup in a social setting, where the speakers can clue onlookers in on what the person wearing the headset is seeing, but audiophiles are likely to want to plug in their own headphones. The photo below shows the very small twisted pair of HDMI cables with their three connections to the connector. So the lesson for others is the your better off fixing the cable at the break rather then at the connector. The Quest 3, Quest 2, and Vive Cosmos use inside-out tracking—that is, sensors on the headset instead of placed around your room.

The old Vive did have a wireless module you could add to the system, which was almost effective, though, in our experience, the connection dropouts would not be something we could put up within the long term.

Good controllers: The controllers should be comfortable to hold, and they shouldn’t have overly complicated button layouts. There's no need to fiddle with base stations and the colorful passthrough feed means you can draw out your play space with ease. Sensors for tracking your head and hands are built into the headset and controllers, which means you can walk around the entirety of a room and your virtual body will do the same. Windows Mixed Reality headsets, in our experience, have less reliable tracking and less content, and worse controllers than Meta and HTC headsets. You can spend thousands of dollars chasing the best specs in a VR headset, but we think comfort and ease of use are more important elements for most people who want to explore VR.The Quest 3 comes with a set of improved Touch Plus controllers, which no longer have the prominent ring around the hand like the older Quest 2 ones did. Oodles of testing went into helping you decide which ones are worth your hard-earned cash, and I've landed on the Meta Quest 3 as the best VR headset for most users.

In practice, that means you’ll still be aware that you’re staring at a screen; we sometimes noticed flares of light when we looked at high-contrast images like white text on a black background. The first VR headsets used what are known as lighthouses, individually placed sensors, or positional trackers, which plugged into your PC. While that can’t match the resolution of the Quest 3 or Vive Pro 2, it’s enough that you’ll feel immersed in VR.My only worry (before cutting the cable yet) is whether the colors of the individual cables will match those in my replacement USB3 cable, there's a lot of them.