Images : HTCA
t initial release late last year,
the HTC Vive Cosmos was in a
sorry state. Setting up the VR
headset on your PC sometimes
outright failed the basic setup
process. But even worse, its
state-of-the-art controller tracking
that used six cameras on the front
plate was... ineffective at best.
In short, the Cosmos wasn’t a
headset we could wear for very
long, let alone recommend.
After six months of software and
firmware updates – plus the new
Cosmos Elite faceplate that allows
for more precise room-scale
tracking – the Cosmos is a far better
headset. It still can’t quite compete
with the likes of the Valve Index,
but it can competently stand up to
the Oculus Rift S.
That’s because, unlike the Oculus
Rift S, the Cosmos is the only
modular headset on the market: it
can transform from a basic
four-camera inside-out tracking
headset (Vive Cosmos Play), to asix-camera headset (Vive Cosmos),
to a full outside-in headset with
base stations (Vive Cosmos Elite),
all by switching out the front
faceplate. Besides tracking styles,
the headset has the exact same
design and specs, which is why
we’re reviewing them together.
The bad news? The faceplates
cost extra – and buying them all
will cost you more than if you had
bought a multipurpose headset
right off the bat.
The Cosmos released on October
3, 2019 and is available, including a
six-camera tracking faceplate, for
£699. If you want better hand-
tracking, the Cosmos Elite went on
sale last month for £899 for the
headset and faceplate, or £199 for
just the faceplate. Availability has
been limited, but HTC says it will be
fully available later on this year
once production gets back up to
speed post-coronavirus outbreak.
For comparison, the Valve Index
is one of the more expensiveheadsets at £919, while on the
lower end the Oculus Rift S comes
in at £399.
If you can wait a bit longer, HTC is
releasing an even cheaper version,
the HTC Vive Cosmos Play, that it
says will be comparable in cost to
other headsets on the market like
the Oculus Rift S (£400).Hardware and design
All of the Cosmos family sports a
3.4-inch 2880 x 1700 resolution LCD
display that has a refresh rate of
90Hz, and offers a 1440 x 1700
image per eye. That resolution is
higher than both the Valve Index
(2880 x 1600) and higher than the
Oculus Rift S (2560 x 1440), which
means you really don’t notice the
screen door effect at all.
The downside, however, is that
the lenses can’t be moved forward
and back like they can in the Valve
Index – meaning that the 110° field
of view doesn’t exactly fill your
whole visual area. If you shift yourHTC Vive Cosmos and Elite
From £700 | $700 http://www.vive.co.uk
Transforming VR headsets that fit any space and any game
66 |^ |^ May 2020