A Solid VR Headset With A Considerable Price Tag

When done correctly, a virtual reality headset (VR) can immerse you in a game far more than a traditional gaming experience could ever imagine. Making the VR experience enjoyable requires a delicate balance of comfort, ease of use, and capabilities that are far harder to get right than it might seem. Additionally, the platform needs to have abundant content options as any platform that lacks content can limit an otherwise great experience.

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Designed for both enterprise use and consumer use, the HTC Vive Focus Vision is the company’s latest attempt to bring the masses a premium VR experience. At $999, the Vive Focus Vision isn’t the most expensive option out there, but it’s also far from being the least expensive. With headsets like the Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S undercutting HTC on price, the competition in the VR space has never been better. While the Vive Focus Vision (sent to us by HTC for this review) does a lot right, it’s held back a bit by a couple of hardware decisions and a price that might very simply be too high.

The Vive Focus Vision has a lot of bells and whistles on paper. The front of the Vive Focus vision has four tracking cameras, two 16MP full-color passthrough cameras, an infrared floodlight, a proximity sensor, a G-Sensor, a gyroscope, and a depth sensor. The cooling vent and fan are out of the way and sit near the top of the headset. The fan was mostly silent during gameplay and I often forgot it was even there.

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There are two USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 ports, with the one on the left side supporting DisplayPort. There is also a 3.2mm headphone jack on the left side of the headset. There is a button on the right side that enables passthrough mode and the volume buttons can be found on the bottom.

The Focus Vision comes with two eye-tracking cameras that feature automatic IPD adjustments, which means no more manually adjusting the lenses for that perfect fit. The automatic IPD adjustment worked well for the most part but can fail to adjust correctly if you forget to look at the dot that appears in the center of the screen or if the headset has trouble tracking your eyes. A manual adjustment is possible from within the settings.

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The back of the device houses the power button as well as a battery level indicator. There’s a magnet back pad that houses the hot-swappable 7000mAh battery, which lasts about 2 hours per charge. The Focus Vision has a secondary battery that can run the headset for up to 20 minutes, giving you ample time to swap the primary battery. You can get a 50% charge in 30 minutes using the included 30W charger or a full charge in about an hour and a half.

HTC did a remarkable job crafting the Vive Focus Vision and is very comfortable to use for extended play sessions. Thanks to the battery on the back, the headset is well-balanced and never feels like it’s pulling your face down. It’s not the lightest headset at 785g (1.73 pounds) but the balanced weight distribution makes it feel lighter than it is.

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There are two plastic arms that connect the front of the headset to the back which provide a sturdy and premium feel. The rear of the device has a dial that controls the length of the headset and there’s an adjustable strap on the top. If you don’t feel like twisting a dial for micro-adjustments, there’s a button that sits under the dial that allows for quickly loosening the headset.

The combination of the dial and the head strap makes getting a perfect fit a breeze and allows for quick and easy adjustments. Light blocking was also excellent during my testing which helped with the immersion. The Focus Vision has rubber flaps to wrap around your nose and there is ample padding to go around your eyes.

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The VIVE Focus Vision utilizes the same controllers found in the Vive Focus 3. You’re getting two independent wireless controls that charge via USB-C and can make it about 15 hours between charges. Both controllers paired automatically during my testing and easily turned on using the Vive and Menu buttons. If for some reason the controllers don’t pair, it can be done manually in the app.

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Each controller has a joystick, three buttons surrounding the joystick, and two trigger buttons on the stem of the handle. It can take some time to adapt coming from a traditional controller, but you get used to it quickly.

The controllers have a tracking ring attached to the top which doesn’t generally get in the way, but I would have liked to see HTC take a page from Meta’s playbook and get rid of them. At 142g the controllers are light and feel well-built.

Setting up the Focus Vision for standalone VR wasn’t too difficult, but it wasn’t the smoothest process. To get started you have to download the “Vive Manager” app on your phone and set up an account. From there the app walks you through pairing the headset to your phone and the setup process.

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The app didn’t make it entirely clear if you should be performing the task on your phone or on the headset itself. I found myself taking the headset on and off to perform various tasks to get it fully set up, which was clunky at best.

What was less clear was how to get it the Focus Vision setup for PCVR mode using the Vive Wired Streaming Kit. A quick search led me to some well-made videos by HTC that demonstrated the connection process. There are a few steps needed to get started. The Vive Wired Streaming Converter connects to an open DisplayPort on your video card and to an open USB 3.0 port. From there you plug in the power cord and the Wired Streaming Cable, which is very long.

Then I had to download the “Vive Hub” on my desktop, pair it with the headset, and install Steam VR if it isn’t already installed. From there you can finally play your favorite Steam games using a wired or wireless connection.

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HTC equipped the Vive Focus Vision with a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1 processor, 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and 128GB of internal storage with an option to expand that up to 2TB via MicroSD. The inclusion of a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1 chipset is a bit disappointing when the Meta Quest 3 and 3S come with the much stronger Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset while the headset has a significantly smaller price tag.

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Even with the older chipset, the Focus Vision was generally snappy, and I didn’t experience any slowdowns during my testing. Apps loaded fairly quickly, there was some waiting involved but nothing terrible. The built-in speakers with privacy mode were quite good and helped further the immersive experience.

The Focus Vision has dual 2448 x 2448 LCD panels for a combined 5K resolution. HTC opted to go with Fresnel lenses instead of the better pancake lenses found in other premium VR headsets. Fresnel lenses have small rings circling the lens which are noticeable during use.

When your eyes are viewing images in the sweet spot, the high resolution provides a detailed and crisp visual experience and keeps the screen door effect to a minimum. Once your eyes stray from the sweet spot, keeping everything in focus can be a struggle. While the center of the display was in focus, there was a noticeable decrease in quality as you looked towards the edges. I’m attributing it to the use of the Fresnel lenses, but it’s hard to say for sure.

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The Vive Focus vision supports a 90Hz refresh rate at launch but HTC has promised 120Hz support in DisplayPort mode by the end of the year. You also get a wide 120-degree field of view. The passthrough worked well enough and let me see my surroundings in full color. It did make me feel dizzy at times when moving around in the passthrough mode.

As a general consumer, using the Focus Vision as a standalone VR headset is a bit disappointing. The content library is the biggest reason for this as it lacks just about anything that felt compelling to use. For the review, I downloaded several titles for testing including “VR Chat,” “Figmin XR,” “Maestro: The Masterclass,” “XR Workout,” and “The Blu: Whale Encounter.”

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The games themselves worked well enough, providing good visuals despite the older chipset. I particularly enjoyed “Maestro,” as I learned to play as a band conductor. These are the types of games that showcase a VR experience and just how immersive the content can be. Being underwater in “The Blu: Whale Encounter” was the first app that I downloaded, and it was a good showcase of the visual experience.

The issue with all of this is that none of these titles offer great replay value and if it wasn’t for testing, I probably wouldn’t have downloaded them in the first place.

That’s not to say it’s all bad, as HTC has done a great job with the content lobby and software menus used throughout the headset. It’s immersive and lets you quickly see your installed apps, access the store, and change your settings.

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Using the HTC Vive Focus Vision in PCVR mode was also a bit of a mixed bag. The best experience by far was when you were physically tethered to your PC with the Vive Wired Streaming Kit. This kit allows you to connect directly to an open DisplayPort on your GPU, giving you a low latency, lag-free experience.

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The Focus Vision works in tandem with your Steam library allowing you to play your favorite VR titles using the power of your PC. When using the $149 Vive Wired Streaming Kit, you get up to a 90Hz refresh rate in each eye for remarkably smooth gameplay.

Playing “Half-Life: Alyx” and “Project Cars,” the Focus Vision delivered crisp and smooth gameplay. There was a single dropped frame and everything ran as expected. The 5-meter cable was a bit cumbersome and often got in the way when I tried to move, but when sitting stationary, the Focus Vision was a blast.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said when trying to stream those same games over Wi-Fi. When trying to use the Focus Vision without the tethered cable, the gameplay experience was nearly unplayable. The game would run alright for a bit but would frequently lose its connection or have such bad lag that it rendered the game unplayable.

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It may not be all of the Focus Vision’s fault as I do live in an apartment and there are a number of other competing Wi-Fi routers in my vicinity, which can cause all sorts of interference.

If you want the best experience, then you should pick up the Vive Streaming Kit. If you want to save a few bucks, then you should at least get the $89 Vive Wired Streaming Cable. No matter how you look at it, it’s a bit disappointing that HTC doesn’t include the basic DisplayPort cable with the Focus Vision as it provides by far the best experience.

At launch, the HTC Vive Focus Vision is positioned a bit weirdly in the overall VR market. As a Standalone VR headset, the Focus Vision mostly misses the mark due to its paltry content library. It’s a lot more intriguing as a PCVR headset thanks to its ability to use your Steam library, which substantially expands its gaming catalog.

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With a 120-degree field of view, dual 16MP color passthrough cameras, decent battery life, and a sharp LCD display consisting of a 2448 x 2448 resolution per eye and a 90Hz refresh rate, the Focus Vision has a lot to offer.

It’s held back a bit due to its use of Fresnel lenses, which are the same type of lens used on the much cheaper $300 Meta Quest 3S. The Quest 3S also utilizes a newer Snapdragon processor for significantly less. When compared to something like the Meta Quest 3, it becomes even more head-scratching. The Quest 3 has a 2064 x 2208 resolution per eye, up to a 120Hz refresh rate, and uses Pancake lenses for sharper visuals. If you have a PlayStation 5, something like the PSVR2 may appeal to you for its ease of use and simplicity.

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For $999, the HTC Vive Focus Vision is not a bad headset, but based on the lack of content in standalone mode, and the fact that you have to purchase a streaming cable separately, the Focus Vision is priced far too high. If you do spring for the Focus Vision, you are getting a comfortable headset and good battery life. If HTC can get its content library in order, it could be a solid investment.

The HTC Vive Focus Vision can be purchased from Amazon for $999. If you want the Streaming Kit, Amazon has a bundle for $1,148.