The are 4 main manufacturers of the VR headsets on the market right now: HTC, Oculus, Playstation VR (Sony) and Samsung.
You can often come across a question: what is the best VR headset among them? Let’s look on look at the situation on the market in recent years.
Up to 2019, the VR headset market has been dominated by HTC Vive and Oculus. HTC Vive had the highest performance and provided technical support to businesses. Oculus headsets on the other hand had a store with exclusive games and are proven to be a stable, reliable hardware for a very attractive price.
In 2019, A range of new headsets using an inside-out technology were launched, opening up different possibilities to use a headset. Between the improvement of Valve headsets and the wave of Windows Mixed Reality headsets which no longer need external cameras (base station), the trends of VR headsets are no longer the same.
Every virtual reality headset has its own characteristics, in addition to the price tag.
MiroWin studio as company involved in VR game development has an experience in creating and porting of VR games for any of the listed VR headsets. So, let’s describe each of them.
PlayStation VR (PS4 VR) is not the best VR headset among others, but the best and competent variant for console gamers.
The biggest objection here is that PlayStation VR accessories are sold separately, but you can find a variety of bundles with devices like the PlayStation Camera included. However, PS Move controllers aren’t included in each pack.
By the way, if you think about buying PSVR headset, you should know about PS5 VR support also.
WMR headsets are the only ones that are capable to be used over a very large free-roaming area.
Windows Mixed Reality headsets work with technology that uses the environment to navigate in an area They work with a Windows system that allows you to access your computer desktop from the headset and is user friendly for the more accustomed players.
Samsung Odyssey, like all Window Mixed Reality headsets offers a technology without motion camera captures around you and allow us to run VR experiences on a very large space. With high quality performances and comfort for free roaming, it is the preferred solution for a play area of more than 100 sqm.
The Valve Index, on our honest opinion, is the best performing headset in the market now. The screen performances are great which provides an excellent rendering, even for the most dynamic gaming experiences. In addition, its wide field of vision further amplifies the immersion of the players. However, it needs base stations (external cameras) to be tracked which increases the price of the complete pack, and it is obligated to operated through steamVR. Its controllers are very light and run on battery. The range of base stations limits it to a play area of 10mx10m, which is more than enough for arcade gameplay.
The Oculus Rift S is a great headset for arcade gameplay as well. It is very light and ergonomic. It is able to identify itself in the play area thanks to the inbuilt cameras on the headsets which track objects in the surrounding area to follow the player’s movement. Even though it has a lower resolution than its competitors, it remains to be a good alternative and allows you to fully enjoy VR experiences. Its price is also a huge plus as it is much more attractive compared to its competitors.
The Oculus Quest is currently the best standalone headset. With a high ranking due to it being user friendly and its performances. However, stand-alone headsets are currently only compatible with some but not all VR games, and the quality of games is limited due to the lower performance of the headset compared to a PC.
HTC VIVE pro VR headsets worked great as arcade headsets and were also considered the most efficient until the new generation of headsets released in 2019. However, the controllers are less ergonomic and have a pad instead of a joystick, which could be less comfortable for some players. In addition, the interface between the headset and the computer is via a linkbox which could potentially disturb the operation. With a tracking method similar to the Valve Index, this headset needs base stations (external cameras) and is relatively expensive.
One of the most anticipated headsets was the Vive Cosmos. It’s the only HTC headset with Inside Out tracking that promises great performance at an affordable price. However, it was widely criticized when it was released because of the poor tracking performances which has caused too much disruptions during the players experience. For example, the lost of tracking between the headsets and the controllers, etc.
Hope that for this moment you’ve got a little more information about what VR goggles are available on the market.
We have the devkits for the most popular VR headsets to be useful for the development of the own and third-party VR content.
