HTC Vive Cosmos Elite Virtual Reality System

All of the technical specs are top shelf and works as advertised. I picked up this and the Valve Index, the Index does have it beat on field of view, but the Vive's display is noticeably better in color and clarity . The Vive controllers have amazing tracking, but they're heavy and starting to show their age and there is no comparison between them and the Index's controllers (you can use those on the Vive too). But honestly my only major issue is that it's stupid front heavy and your neck will be hurting after a few minutes of play. If you are younger or don't have ripped neck muscles like a body builder, you may want to look at the much lighter Mixed Reality or Oculus headsets.

So the htc vive cosmos elite. You are probably like me when I was buying this headset and wondering why would I buy this head if I can get a valve index for only $100 more? Well for one the whole point with the cosmos is customization. The way how the head set was built was for multiple attachments to be on it and face plates that can feel like your on a whole new head set. What I mean and what I think vibe is trying to do is make something you will never need to change out but instead just spend like $200 for a new face plate and boom it’s like you just bought a new head set. Plus let’s not forget this headset has a better refresh rate , better shipping , and it can be wireless all unlike the valve index. So in short words I would recommend getting this headset because it could save you money farther down the future. If you are switching from an oculus headset or a mixed reality head set I guarantee you will have a whole new experience. Now also this depends on your pc but that’s for every head set now. So there you have it that’s my honest opinion on the HTC VIVE COSMOS ELITE

This is my first VR set (that I’ve bought anyway). The visuals are really good. Very little blurring on the edges. I have found you have to adjust the headset to find the “sweet spot” where it’s all clear. When I first setup the base stations I was ready to throw this thing out a window. Tracking would not work. Period. After a lot of frustration, I realized that my Xbox connect emits an IR signal that completely interrupts the hive tracking. After turning off the connect, everything worked well. My only complaint is the VIVE port application which currently is bugged and you can’t even walk through it. Which is a shame cause it looks cool. I think VR has come a long way. Still some ways to go, but it’s definitely the future.

I'm rather surprised this worked on my system. My gaming PC is an MSI GL63-series laptop with a Geforce 1660 TI Mobile graphics card. Not exactly the Lambo of gaming laptops or graphics, but it handles well enough for every game I've put it up against. All the 'DisplayPort needed' talk made me wiggle too, but an MDP-to-DP adapter make it work perfectly. (Heck, it came with one in the packaging, too) Pros: So far, games work just fine on mediumish quality with little to no lag issues. I play Half Life: Alyx on Medium and it works very well, Beat Sabre give no trouble, and VRchat also operated quite well. The room-tracking actually impressed me, it was quite near 1:1 movement with maybe 2-15 ms delay at worst and that was because of the laptop most likely. It presented an appropriate sense of scale within applications, as well as ample crouch detection, which you need for some games behind cover! The button configuration works well enough for all apps since SteamVR is handling most of the input mappings to known VR systems I suppose. Sure, it doesn't have a hand strap like the Index... so I use the wrist straps and don't drop my controllers. I don't hand per-finger tracking, but I got grips, and the interfaces are fine with that. Sure, I popped extra for the room sensors, it made logical sense so my clumsy self won't bump into the TV or couch. Cons: The cable can bunch up a bit after a few dozen turns around the room, I'll attest to that. Sort of wish the earphones would better press to my ears, but I can hear through them fine while they hover just a half-inch away from my ears. Wouldn't've minded a 3.5mm plug to auxiliary headphones. Mic works in VRchat clearly however. Maybe this is just me still finding my VR legs, but after a few hours of usage, I do notice a 'tactile disparity' with the real world the next day. It's gotten better, probably need to tune that side eye-spacing knob a little better. But that knob ain't great and I can't go below 60mm which might help some smaller folk. Sure I had to make a Vive account during setup but... at least it ain't hocking my personal information or locking my games to a Meta account like some VR solutions might be doing. I don't HAVE to use the Vive storefront; SteamVR interfaces with it just fine. In fact, it's what does the actual room setup. Summary: I mean, sure the Index would be baller, but some of us have more important things like... you know... rent or groceries or bills. Do you NEED a $1,000+ VR setup? ... I mean REALLY NEED it? Do you need a $1,000+ phone? I mean REALLY NEED it? Do you NEED a car with power windows or can you just use the hand crank to achieve the same outcome and save a couple hundred bucks? Moderation in all things; the middle option is oftentimes sufficient. The HTC Cosmos Elite is plenty sufficient for its intended use case scenarios.

So for anyone looking to get into VR, this doesn't seem like a bad investment until it actually arives and you use it for a period of time longer than 2 hours. the TL;DR of this is, headset design sucks, ipd wheel problems, resolution isn't as good as stated. Vive wands are great and seem like solid hardware. Base station 1.0 are decent with enough light but will still have some blind spots, upgrading to 3-4 base station 2.0 will solve any and all tracking issues. To start off, this headset is plagued by a faulty IPD wheel which happens on atleast enough of the headsets that there's a RMA for it and multiple posts across reddit and the like. This faulty IPD wheel (that uses tiny plastic gears that break over time) will cause a anoying and large screen to pop up showing you the calibration for the IPD which will destroy your ability to see anything in game. Playing beat saber when this happens will induce a rage akin to someone having murdered your dog. The build quality and design of the headset is also rather...childish. In HTC's infinite wisdom they wanted to have a flip up design, the issue is now the weight of the front headset rests on a hinge that is attached to a crown. This weight is pulled down your face due to it's design whereas the index or occulus, for example, use both a top strap and side straps to secure the weight to your head allowing far less movement of the HMD (headset display) This normally doesn't seem like a problem until you realize that getting the headset to sit 'correctly' on your head is a mini-game everytime you put it on. I slap my index on and it just works everytime. My old rift was the same way. I'm unaware of any benefit the Cosmos's design has over these headsets other than being able to flip it up (which ironically, because of the weight, causes the headset to shift on your head, meaning you have to adjust it again) Controllers are solid, like really solid. I don't feel like I would break them whereas the index controllers, while functionally better than anything currently available, are made out of cheep plastic and feel like junk. The base station 1.0 will serve every single purpose until you wish to get into full body tracking. With ample light and correct placement you should be able to do feet, waist, hands and headset tracking with the 1.0's and not incure any issues. If your wallet and curiosity will one day make you want to do more than just that level of tracking you will need base station 2.0's. Why? Wider feild of view on the stations, ability to have 4 stations aimed at your play space, literally zero syncing issues due to line of sight, and I want to say less latency but I'm probably biased on that. Honestly if your gonna go full body tracking (because you have the money) just get the Vive Pro Eye or a Valve Index. In the end, your probably better off spending the extra 100$ to get the Index. If you take care of the controllers (make sure your plays pace is clear and be cognizant of your surroundings. You should have no issues. Valve has a no questions asked (mostly) and very nice RMA policy on their equipment. Good luck getting anything fixed through HTC. There is a reason why their nickname is "Hates the Customer" Best of luck in your VR journey!

ok first let me just say vr is hand down amazing i didnt know that vr was that amazing lol the best ok so second thing the price ok let me just say yea it is a bit high but u got to understand the tech in the headset is hand down cutting edge and u got to think ur not just buy goggles its a gaming console like a pre build pc or a xbox or ps4 so the price in the long run is worth it for a better headset third thing games ok on steam there are some many cool games and then the best part there all cheaper then other game there some games for a 1 that are not very loing but they are so fun and there a ton of free games that are more playable then the one u pay for and they have amazing deals and the 6 month vive subscription has 1254 games for this headset alone now from what i seen of this headset on steam and vive this headset is compatible with all the games pretty much now fourth thing iv talk to a couple of friends that have played on other vr and they said mine runs the best and looked better then the other one but FIVE STARS FOR THIS VR amazing last two things when u buy this seting up the sensors are the hardest part but all the good vr has the sensors now to set them up on the wall is nice but i wish i would of spent the extra and got the stand for them and then that way u dont have to put hole in ur wall and u can move them around like i put them on my wall and i will not take them down at all inless i buy the stands they sell the stand on here for pretty cheap but they would be worth it all the work i did to set my up on the wall

For the price, I think the headset is simply okay. I do love the headphones and the flip up display, but nothing else really makes it stand out. The actual display itself is super high resolution, they aren't lying when they say the screen-door effect is virtually gone. Additionally, I feel like it heats up less than the original Vive. I did have an issue with a dead pixel in the peripheral. Although minor, I emailed customer support and rather than the typical one email per day, it was solved that day within five emails. They offered to fix it for free, and even paid for shipping. I was told that it would take a month, but I ended up with a new headset the next week.

At the time of the review the price for this is 899 USD. I however bought mine "Used - Like New - In Original Box" for 699 USD. Overall I am actually happy with it. I run all my games through SteamVR, although Viveport is an option. Viveport, by default, will start with Windows but this can be changed in the settings. I did have one issue, when I first got the headset it would not properly connect to steamVR and I would get no image. This was fixed by completely resetting the headset from Vive Console. There is no getting away from the fact however that the hardware is aging and HTC does not seem to care about adding features to this headset since it is considered "experimental". Refresh is fine at 90hz. However the Quest 2, Valve Index, and Vive Pro 2 all have it beat. If your computer can handle the frames these would be better for FPS. FOV(139° diagonal) is fine, better than Quest 2 but worse than Vive Pro 2 or the Valve Index. Controllers are outdated, better VR controllers have been developed since the Vive Wands came out. The ones that come with the Cosmos Elite are the same gen 1 controllers that came with the original HTC Vive(2016) The touch pads are fine in a most situations but a dedicated joystick and buttons generally would be better. The screen resolution is fine, I don't really notice the resolution unless I try to watch videos in the headset. Videos on my 1080p monitor look better than they do in VR. The only feature I wish worked was passthrough. From what I have read, while there are cameras on the headset, they do really function. They probably could function with a software update but it does not appear that HTC will put in the effort to fix them. Overall the headset it just fine. It works pretty well for what it is but if you are looking to spend 899 USD for the headset, keep in mind that the Valve Index is $999 USD and comes with newer controllers and newer base stations. I bought mine for 200 USD under MSRP and I am happy with the headset.