When HTC first introduced that their new Vive Cosmos headset had a modular faceplate design that will allow you to replace it for “different VR needs in the future“, it wasn’t completely clear what these wants would really entail. Would it’s the faceplate equal of their Vive Tracker doodad for bringing real-world objects in VR? Or wouldn’t it by some means introduce eye-tracking like their Vive Pro Eye headset?
Finally, we have now a solution within the just lately launched Vive Cosmos Elite and the upcoming Vive Cosmos Play. Fundamentally, each the Play and the Elite are precisely the identical headset because the common Cosmos. The solely actual distinction is how their respective faceplates observe your digital actions. With the Elite, HTC have ditched the (comparatively) hassle-free inside-out monitoring of the usual Cosmos and opted for exterior SteamVR base station monitoring as an alternative. It’s successfully a more moderen incarnation of the unique Vive and Vive Pro, and even comes with the previous Vive wand controllers and SteamVR 1.Zero base stations within the field should you purchase it as a whole headset bundle. You may also purchase the Elite faceplate individually should you’re an current Cosmos proprietor, too, however is it actually definitely worth the improve when the Valve Index solely prices somewhat bit extra? The reply is: it’s sophisticated.
As I discussed in my unique Vive Cosmos review, I’m very a lot on board with the pondering behind HTC’s newest PC-based VR headset. Being capable of merely add a brand new bit onto your current headset as an alternative of chucking the whole factor out when a more moderen, fancier model comes alongside is a good concept on paper, and it’s a lot friendlier on the previous pockets, too. In follow, the Cosmos doesn’t fairly dwell as much as these lofty expectations, however the Cosmos Elite does burn barely brighter than its normal sibling should you’re prepared to place the work in.
Now, I used to be despatched the Vive Cosmos Elite as a separate, standalone faceplate so as to add onto a typical Vive Cosmos. HTC additionally despatched me two previous Vive wand controllers and two SteamVR 1.Zero base stations to go together with it, so my foremost expertise of getting the headset up and working will likely be similar to these ‘upgrading’ from the common Cosmos quite than somebody getting the job lot as a whole headset bundle. The £899 / $899 headset bundle does certainly include these aforementioned Vive wand controllers and SteamVR 1.Zero base stations within the field, however as I’ll clarify in a minute, the improve course of isn’t almost as straightforward appropriately.
Ever questioned what the Vive Cosmos appears like and not using a faceplate?
Firstly, the Elite monitoring faceplate didn’t include any directions on tips on how to really take away the unique Cosmos faceplate from the headset and fasten the brand new one. There isn’t any type of button on the headset itself that you need to use to pop it off, both, so the one method to really swap the faceplates out is to actually dig in together with your fingernails and prize it off manually – which isn’t actually what I wish to be doing with £900 / $900’s value of VR package. Still, I’d bought the previous Cosmos faceplate off, it was at the least comparatively easy to only stick the brand new one on by giving it a agency push till it snapped into place.
It wouldn’t be so unhealthy if that was the tip of the matter, however sticking a brand new faceplate on doesn’t imply your PC routinely recognises it as a brand new headset. When I first tried to get the Vive Cosmos Elite arrange, as an illustration, I spent ages questioning why the Vive Console software program wasn’t choosing up the headset correctly. Turns out you additionally must reset the headset’s management field as properly, a solution that I needed to go rooting round for in HTC’s on-line help pages because of the lack of directions within the field. Again, the precise act of urgent a button isn’t precisely that arduous, however extra must be carried out to make the method simpler and extra accessible for first-time VR customers.
Next, I needed to arrange the SteamVR base stations and pair the headset with a brand new set of controllers. As with the unique Vive, you’ll must plug every base station into mains energy and put them in reverse corners of your play house to allow them to see the headset always. This could imply you might have to path some cables throughout the ground relying on the place your plug sockets are, which isn’t precisely ideally suited however proper now it’s only a essential evil you’ll must put up with. Luckily, SteamVR takes care of many of the setup, and I really had a a lot better time getting Vive’s Console software program to work with SteamVR right here than I did with the common Cosmos.
However, even when the setup course of was a stroll within the park, there’s nonetheless fairly a price concerned right here should you’ve solely ever had a Vive Cosmos headset. The Elite faceplate isn’t suitable with the common Cosmos controllers, you see, so that you gained’t be capable of reuse them should you’re upgrading. Instead, you’ll want controllers which can be suitable with the SteamVR base stations, which both means sourcing a pair of previous Vive wand controllers, which at present value £240 / $260 should you go for the unique fashions direct from HTC (or £386 / $400 in order for you the blue 2018 variations that got here with the Vive Pro), or shopping for a pair of Valve Index controllers by way of Steam, which value £259 / $280.
The Vive Cosmos Elite isn’t suitable with the common Cosmos controllers, so that you’ll must make do with older Vive controllers to benefit from its exterior SteamVR trackers. Fortunately, the SteamVR trackers are additionally suitable with Valve’s Index controllers.
Add that to the £200 / $200 you’ll spend shopping for the faceplate, plus £250 / $270 for a pair of base stations (or £360 / $400 in order for you the newer 2.Zero fashions), and that’s at the least one other £690 / $730 to get all the pieces you want to begin utilizing it. That’s successfully like shopping for one other complete Cosmos headset, so that you’re not likely saving enormous quantities of cash by happening the improve route.
Of course, the dent in your pockets will likely be a lot much less should you already personal previous controllers and base stations from a earlier Vive or Vive Pro buy, however as I defined in my Best VR headset for Half-Life: Alyx article, I simply don’t suppose the previous Vive wand controllers are match for objective any extra, particularly if you wish to play fast-paced motion games like Alyx. Not solely do the wand controllers lack the identical variety of buttons as different VR controllers, leading to extra controls getting crammed onto the observe pads, however the observe pads themselves additionally really feel like an enormous step backwards in comparison with the right analogue sticks you get on each different VR controller nowadays. They’re nonetheless all proper for slower, extra sedate VR games, however I all the time felt at a extreme drawback after I performed something that required me to stroll or transfer round loads.
If you’re shopping for the Vive Cosmos Elite as a headset bundle, you’ll get two previous Vive controllers and two SteamVR 1.Zero base stations with it within the field.
Fortunately, assistance is at hand within the type of the Valve Index controllers. These are the perfect VR controllers in my ebook, as they not solely provide probably the most correct hand monitoring, however they’re additionally gentle and cozy to make use of for lengthy durations of time. Plus, they work an actual deal with with the Cosmos Elite. They took all of three seconds to pair with the headset, and are properly value the additional £20 / $20 over the unique Vive wands.
The exterior base station trackers are additionally (unsurprisingly) an enormous enchancment on the inside-out monitoring you get with the usual Cosmos. I didn’t have any of the brightness or visibility issues I had with the common Cosmos, and I didn’t expertise a single monitoring situation even after I was enjoying games on a vibrant sunny day with the curtains open.
Annoyingly, these shopping for the Vive Cosmos Elite as a headset bundle solely get the SteamVR 1.Zero trackers quite than the newer 2.Zero fashions that include the Valve Index.
As for the precise expertise of enjoying games in VR, it was just about precisely the identical because the common Cosmos. It is, in spite of everything, the identical headset, so consolation ranges, gentle bleed, and the general high quality of the display and built-in headphones have been all equivalent – which is to say completely high quality.
Instead, the primary drawback with the Cosmos Elite is the actual fact it prices almost as a lot as a Valve Index, if not considerably extra for these upgrading from a typical Cosmos. If you’re a first-time VR purchaser, for instance, the entire Valve Index VR Kit prices £919 / $999, placing it simply £20 forward of the Cosmos Elite headset bundle within the UK, and $100 extra within the US. US people could properly want to save lots of that further $100, in fact, however once you consider the price of these infinitely superior Valve Index controllers (which I’d strongly suggest doing), then you find yourself spending much more than you’d shopping for an Index – which I must also add comes with the newer 2.0 SteamVR base stations quite than the previous 1.Zero fashions.
I’ll be writing up a separate evaluate of the Valve Index very quickly, however it’s, briefly, a vastly superior headset. Not solely is it extra snug to put on, however the high quality of its built-in headphones and show (to not point out its show’s greater refresh price choices) simply put it in one other league completely. If you’ve bought a spare grand to spend on a VR headset, the Valve Index is completely the one it is best to go for.
In this sense, HTC have actually shot themselves within the foot right here by lumbering the Elite with their historic wand controllers, as for me that is the primary factor holding it again. Had they developed extra superior controllers with correct analogue sticks for the Elite, then it might have been an actual contender to the Valve Index’s throne. As it stands, nevertheless, the Elite feels prefer it’s caught up to now, unfairly crippled by previous know-how when the remainder of the world’s moved on.
As for many who have already purchased into the Cosmos ecosystem, then ‘upgrading’ to the Elite does make a certain quantity of sense should you’re determined for that further accuracy supplied by its exterior base station trackers, however man alive I want it didn’t value a lot. I can also’t think about any state of affairs the place I’d wish to return to inside-out monitoring as soon as I’d gone by way of the effort of establishing the Elite’s exterior trackers both. Having the choice of switching between the 2 sounds nice in principle, however when the bottom stations work so a lot better than the Cosmos’ inside-out monitoring, I doubt I’d really make use of it, rendering its modular nature virtually null and void.
If you’re nonetheless rocking an unique Vive or Vive Pro, however, then do your self a favour and simply deal with your self to a pair of Index controllers, as I can’t see any compelling motive to chuck out your current headset for any of the present Cosmos ones. You’re not getting higher controllers, or higher base stations; only a barely fancier trying headset with a better decision show, which in my ebook isn’t actually value shopping for an entire new headset for.
All this leaves the Vive Cosmos Elite in a quite unusual place. It’s a good if costly improve over the unique Cosmos, however the accompanying shackles of HTC’s ageing know-how means it additionally will get utterly overshadowed by the Valve Index within the course of. Indeed, the one folks I’d suggest this to are current Vive Cosmos homeowners who have already got a pair of base stations available from a earlier Vive. Otherwise, you simply find yourself spending an inordinate sum of money on more and more out of date equipment, which is to date faraway from the Elite’s unique premise that you simply’re virtually on the opposite facet of the planet. It ought to have been a straightforward, easy improve that dramatically improved my headset whereas saving me cash. Instead, I’ve simply watched my financial savings go up in smoke so I can have the identical VR expertise immediately as I did again in 2016.
