At the beginning of January, during CES 2023, HTC Vive announced its latest headset, the VIVE XR Elite. A £1300 GBP mixed reality (MR) headset, pre-orders went live during the event cutting off on 15th February. For an undisclosed reason, VIVE XR Elite pre-orders are continuing, giving early adopters until 30th April to claim five free videogames.
Previously, if you pre-ordered before 15th February you were given Green Hell VR, Les Mills Bodycombat, Unplugged: Air Guitar, Figmin XR and Glimpse. Worth over £100, that was a nice little bonus. However, whether it is because of a lack of pre-orders or a change of heart on HTC VIVE’s side, now that claim window is much bigger.
HTC VIVE’s UK website notes that pre-order shipments begin on 25th February. However, placing an order now will see shipments start around 10th March. That still should give you plenty of time to activate the device to claim those free titles.
The VIVE XR Elite is going head-to-head with Meta’s Quest Pro, with both devices focused mainly on mixed reality. The Quest Pro has a few more features like eye and face tracking, but that does come at a cost of £1500.
HTC’s new device is getting some good feedback as well. Mod creator GingasVR notes on Twitter that: “Vive XR Elite is much BETTER hardware than the Quest Pro. I got to use it a lot over the past few days..the passthrough mode, weight and comfort is great.”
While Pocket-lint says the headset: “leaves us impressed with the lightweight hardware offering and the scope of the controls.” As yet, no outlet has given the VIVE XR Elite a full review.
For now, check out our VIVE XR Elite vs Meta Quest Pro specification comparison guide to see how both stack up together.