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| Image source: technivorz.com |
It is year 2016 and now you can enjoy real virtual reality by getting one of the top VR headsets. But, only if you have enough money to spend on more advanced VR headsets, and the patience to wait for your order to arrive. Yes, it takes a month for HTC Vive's pre-orders to arrive and almost two months for the Oculus Rift. But, before deciding which headset to buy, you should first spend some time considering the pros and cons of the top rival VR headsets, Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive.
First of all, you can't say that one of these headsets is the best one, because both of these headsets have their positives and negatives. For example, the laser tracking system used by HTC Vive to turn your room into a 3d, VR sphere is a positive point for HTC Vive, where you can move around your room while enjoying the immersive gaming experience. Whereas, with Oculus Rift there is a single tracking camera that only allows you to sit and enjoy the VR experience. On the other hand, there is also a negative point to it. Like, it takes almost half an hour to setup the HTC Vive tracking system before you can start enjoying it. Whereas, it becomes quite easy for Oculus Rift to setup because of its single tracking camera.
Similarly, there are quite a few things you should know before deciding to order VR headset. Looking at technical specs, both Oculus Rift and HTC Vive have the same HD OLED display resolution and that is, 2160*1200 at 90 Hz with a 1080*1200 resolution per eye. Both use advanced sensors for head tracking except there is an additional camera on HTC Vive which can be used to switch between virtual reality and the original world (your real environment). You will never find this camera on Oculus Rift and you'll have to remove your headset to check out your real environment. Looking at the design you'll definitely notice that Oculus Rift is far more comfortable with a sleek and beautiful design. HTC Vive, on the other hand seems too bulky and loses some points for its design. Another important thing to consider is that HTC Vive comes with two gesture controllers whereas, gesture controllers for Oculus Rift are not released yet.
As for the price, Oculus Rift costs 600$ plus the Rift Ready gaming PC, while HTC Vive costs 800$ plus the compatible gaming PC. So, both of these headsets are pretty expensive if you don't have a very powerful gaming PC.
After price comparison, you should also look at the content matrix, Oculus Rift comes with exclusive games, and one of their exclusive titles, Lucky's Tale is shipped free with Oculus Rift. Whereas, HTC Vive has no exclusive games so far.
All in all, both the headsets are some great VR gadgets, and people should try to experience at least one of the two. In the end, it really depends on your preferences and your money, as to which headset you want to go for.