HTC released a new video promising something “coming soon,” teasing what promises to be the next XR headset from the company.

The video is largely a sizzle reel of its recent standalone headsets, Vive XR Elite (2023) and Vive Focus 3 (2021), focusing on their use for both enterprise and gaming.

“Soon, out innovation will offer you a new kind of power. Prepare to pioneer the next reality,” the video states, flashing to teasers of the headset’s profile. Check out the video below:

While HTC hasn’t officially detailed anything about the device beyond teasing the headset’s profile, rumors suggest it could be the next iteration of Vive Focus, which, at $1,300, is mainly aimed at businesses.

SEE ALSO
Meta Acquired 9 Leading VR Studios Starting in 2019: Here’s What's Happened Since

A supposed leak reported by YouTuber and tech analyst Brad Lynch suggests the headset may be more of an iterative design on Vive Focus 3, containing the same displays and optics as Vive Focus 3, however integrating the same Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1 chipset used in Vive XR Elite.

The device is also rumored to include built-in eye-tracking, USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode, and work with Vive Focus 3’s accessories—although none of that is confirmed.

Image courtesy HTC

When should we expect to see more information on HTC’s next headset? It’s impossible to say for now, although the company tends to tease headsets only a few months out from debut.

HTC teased Vive Focus 3 a month in advance of its official announcement, revealing the headset in full at its Vivecon event in May 2021. The company similarly teased Vive XR Elite in October 2022, later revealing it in full at CES 2023 a few months later.

As far as events go, there are a few where it might make the most sense to debut what could be another enterprise-focused headset from the company.

The soonest, biggest opportunity could be Gamescom in August, however that may be a non-starter. The consumer-focused event is largely dedicated to gaming, although it does have a sizable business area for press and industry. HTC doesn’t have a booth there this year though, but it could have some sort of off-site presence there.

Less “soon” events to consider are Augmented World Expo (AWE) in Vienna, Austria in late October, Immersive Tech Week (ITW) in Rotterdam, Netherlands in November (previously called VR Days), and of course CES 2024 in Las Vegas in January. We’ll be keeping an eye on HTC in the coming weeks for any indication of what’s to come, so check back soon.

Newsletter graphic

This article may contain affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product we may receive a small commission which helps support the publication. More information.


Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Nevets

    Hmmm. The image suggests a standard faceclamp. More generally, HTC has a solid track record of disappointing. They have said: "what’s coming next will change the game for good". This is likely to be more meaningless (or more correctly, false) marketing guff. In 2015 they explained that a delay in the release of the original HTC Vive was due to a "technological breakthrough". It turned out to be nothing of the sort (just improved tracking). Tease us, Vive. But stop underdelivering.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      Well, the Vive Pro was a major improvement over the original one, but also was double the price.

      • Nevets

        Fair point…but I’d rather the price go up than the quality and innovation stagnate.

      • Mike

        The Vive Pro 1 was their last headset that I consider good enough to want to use. OLED matters. Binocular Overlap matters.

        • mirak

          Vive Pro Eye

          That's the last OLED headset all vendors

          • polysix

            PSVR2 (on PC soon with adapter Aug 7).

          • Mike

            And Bigscreen Beyond. I almost kept mine, but decided to return it and wait for them to iron out its issues with the next version.

          • ViRGiN

            Odyssey+?
            Man, you are such a VR tourist.

          • Mike

            Haha, I've been doing VR since 2014. The Odyssey+ is still the best OLED PC VR headset (other than Bigscreen, but it has issues). And the only non-OLED PC VR headet with decent black levels (Vive Pro 2) was ruined by unacceptably low binocular overlap.

            Looking forward to trying PSVR2 on PC, or the next PC headset with decent black levels.

          • Andrew Jakobs

            Didn't the original Quest come out after?

  • Andrew Jakobs

    however integrating the same Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1

    I highly doubt that as it would make no sense. It will use the lastest XR2 Gen2 chip at least.
    I think it will be a smashup of the XR elite and the Focus 3, with the resolution of the Focus 3 and the pancake lenses of the XR elite. And it might just replace the XR elite, Focus 3 and Pro 2.

    • Blaexe

      Never underestimate HTC. I trust Bradley with that. He seems really confident in his info.

      • Andrew Jakobs

        That's true, you never should underestimate HTC in releasing something that is actually DOA because of underspecs.
        If it really has the specs suggested by Bradley it really is a DOA device because of its outdated (lenses/SOC) specs.

      • ViRGiN

        I'd definitely trust the guy who couldn't predict steamvr 2.0 launch, steam link app for quest (project deckard) and new steam deck oled.

        Brad only achievements are working on foot straps for vrchat tracking, and consuming weeby part of Internet with his AVP and calling it spatial computing.

        • Blaexe

          Bradley has had a pretty good track record when it comes to hardware leaks for a few years now. Get off your high horse.

          He has learned and improved. Less hype, more actual information after he confirmed it.

          • ViRGiN

            So what did he actually leak other than Quest 3 cad files which were provided by meta employee under promise of split revenue share?

          • Blaexe

            Aside from Meta headsets how about HTCs last headset, the XR Elite?

            How about we wait for the reveal of this headset and if he's right you just…stop being an ass? Who am I kidding, that will never happen.

          • ViRGiN

            Who cares about Brad? He lives in his own world. Years of cope-building about deckard.

            How about I leak something about new HTC headset? Here it is – it will come with fitness tracking.

            Quest was a real leak. Here, it’s just few bulletpoints posted on his twitter account. Nothing substantial, and even if he is right _this time_, it’s HTC so it’s completly meaningless. He built his cult worship for talking about deckard and how “awesome” steamvr overlays are.

            And again, for such “tech analyst and YouTuber”, he doesn’t do anything for VR/XR. He is just a consumer. Someone who felt the urge to sell his monitor after 3 days of owning AVP. That guy is nuts.

          • Blaexe

            "Who cares about Brad?"

            You do, apparently. A lot going by your rant. Otherwise there would be no point in commenting on me in the first place.

          • ViRGiN

            Brad is present in public conversation, so it's worth getting informed who he is and what he actually do.

            People been crapping on me for years about valve deckard coming soon. It's been years.

            I see someone referencing Brad, I won't hesistate to point out his lack of knowledge about 3 biggest Valve things in years – SteamVR 2.0, Steam Link for Quest, and Steam Deck OLED.

          • Blaexe

            This piece is not about Valve. It's about HTC and his hardware leaks. He has a proven track record when it comes to that. Maybe learn to differentiate…and to read.

            I said that I trust Brad with that specific leak. Not with everything.

            The world is not black and white.

          • ViRGiN

            So what other htc products did he leak? He didn’t even leak this one – just said some specs. Why he didn’t announce new htc headset?

          • Blaexe

            I literally told you earlier. Proves my point: Learn to read.

            And unknown specs = leak

          • ViRGiN

            I literally ask what htc products he leaked before, and you’re unable to name any.

          • Blaexe

            Uh… I literally did name one.

          • ViRGiN

            Tell me where he posted his finding, the exact date and where. It’s easy to find third party AI generated websites talking about him leaking it, hard to find actual source material.

          • Blaexe

            Lmao. That’s hilarious. And sad.

          • ViRGiN

            Everyone with Google skills can find it this is giant misinformation and half-truth. Everyone with common sense knows Brad is a sad weeb, and he is liked and well known for giving hope to burned out PCVR users through insufferable amount of valve deckard “leaks” for the past several years.

          • shadow9d9

            Yes, or else you wouldn't have continued responding and saying to look at your posts… and so I looked.. and…you didn't actually specify anything. If you make a claim, it is on you to give evidence.

          • shadow9d9

            Yeah, because he literally paid someone to leak, because he is ethically bankrupt.

        • Blaexe

          So Bradley was right, huh? Who would've thought? Maybe he has some actual sources…

    • I was thinking the same… if it releases with a simple XR2 Gen1 is DOA.

      • absolutely hope the rumor is incorrect

      • ViRGiN

        It could release with XR5 Gen69 and it will still be DOA unless it's running Meta OS.

        But you should not be so harsh on them – HTC might not invite you to their showcase! You were able to be toxic positive about Somnium, why crap on HTC?

  • If those really are the specs, HTC are incredibly stupid. A slight change to an existing product is not going to cut it with the Samsung Google device on the horizon, the AVP, the Pimax Super, etc. etc. Unless they really want to shoot themselves in the XR foot (so to speak). :-)

  • Gamesterz

    ehhh, HTC is way behind. They are always way over priced and just push out crap ever since the Vive/Pro etc.. They need to get out of the headset game.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      The original vive/pro are excellent headsets, and as I understand even the Pro 2 is a good headset. They still seem to make money with their headsets otherwise they would be out of the game. Also the Focus 3 seemed to be a good professional headset. I'd rather have them stay in the game just as an extra competitor.

      • Ondrej

        The original was basically Valve's product. They gave the technology to HTC that was desperate for some hardware after failing at smartphones. And Valve was never interested in monetizing their own hardware, because it's much harder to make profitable than software.
        But then HTC diverged because they also wanted that software money.

        Gaben deserves the blame too. He kinda mocked the "hardware guys" for not being able to have any decent profit margins and expected them to do the "charity" work for Steam. Happened with Vive and Steam Machines. He got his lesson.

  • Tough for me to get excited yet until I see the product design and market fit. I've had a great time with HTC and Pimax headsets but the standalones like Quest 3 are reaching a point where it gets tougher to justify. Maybe for eye tracking but without mass support the appeal isn't there yet even if I believe in it. Still interested to see what comes out!