Hot on the heels of the $400 Summer Rift sale, HTC is doing some of its own price slashing, bringing the complete Vive system down by $200 to a new permanently lowered price of $600.
VR’s momentum continues as the two leading PC-based headsets have now dropped significantly in price since the beginning of 2017. Oculus recently introduced a new headset and controller bundle and dropped the price to $500 (though it’s currently on sale a little while longer for $400 [Amazon]), and now HTC is fixing the Vive’s price point at a competitive $600.
In the Box
For $600 you’ll be getting the same tried and true Vive system including:
- Vive headset (with original strap)
- Vive controllers (and charging adapters)
- Two Base Stations (and power adapters)
- Mounting kit
- Base Station sync cable
- 3-in-1 headset cable
- Earbuds
- Link Box (and power adapter)
- USB cable
- Cleaning Cloth
- Alternate face cushion
- Free games: Tilt Brush (2016), Richie’s Plank Experience (2016) and Everest VR (2016)
- Viveport Trial
We expect that by now the majority of new Vive systems purchased will include the newer headset that weighs 15% less than the original, and comes with tweaked base stations.
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This price drop to $600 (formerly $800) brings the Vive into a significantly more competitive position against the Rift’s post-sale price of $500. The Vive’s key advantage is its out-of-the-box ‘room-scale’ tracking capability. The Rift can achieve a similar tracking range, but requires an additional Sensor to do so, and the need to connect the Sensors back to the host PC means the setup for room-scale can be more cumbersome. On the other hand, Vive’s Base Stations need only be plugged into a power outlet, potentially saving you from needing to run a cable across the room back to the PC.
While the Vive makes room-scale relatively easy out of the box, if you’re looking for a similar level of comfort as the Rift, the Deluxe Audio Strap [Amazon] will run you an additional $100.
When it comes to VR content, you might be tempted by Rift’s impressive library of exclusive games, but it’s worth noting that you can play most of it on the Vive using an unofficial workaround called Revive (and conversely, the Rift is officially supported by SteamVR).
Helpful Info
Considering jumping on this deal? We’ve got a number of articles you may find useful to make your decision:
- HTC Vive Review
- Deluxe Audio Strap Review
- How to Tell if Your PC is VR Ready
- Touch and Vive Roomscale Dimensions Visualized
- Latest VR Ready GPUs Benchmarked & Compared
- The 5 Best Cross-Play Multiplayer Games for Rift, Vive and PSVR
- Two Ways to Play Non-VR Games With the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive
- 10 Oculus Exclusives HTC Vive Owners Should Play Using Revive Hack