HTC Vive Cosmos, maybe the most versatile PC VR headset, launches at $699

Finally, the moment has come: after months of teasing, silence, rumors and spinning heads, the Vive Cosmos has finally been launched! The final price has been revealed: 699$ and so its availability, plus some little surprises!

Discover everything with me…

Vive Cosmos

The Vive Cosmos is the latest PC VR headset announced by HTC at CES 2019. It has been teased together with intriguing features like phone connectivity and claims about being the Vive headset with the best display, and for these reasons, it has created some interest in the community.

It is not a standalone headset like someone has misunderstood: it is a tethered headset (like the OG Vive), but it can work wirelessly (through the Wireless Adapter, as we will see shortly on) or connected to a smartphone. This versatility of the device is one of its main features, as we will see shortly on.

HTC has been able to create some hype towards this device, that has appeared intriguing since the beginning. Now, finally the curtains have been lift up and finally we also know (almost) everything on this device as well.

Specifications

Finally, we have all the specifications on this device:

• Screen: Dual 3.4″ LCD diagonal 
• Resolution: 1440 x 1700 pixels per eye (2880 x 1700 pixels combined)
• Refresh rate: 90 Hz
• Field of view: 110 degrees
• IPD Adjustment: hardware
• Audio: Built-in stereo headphones
• Flip-up design: yes
• Controllers: Two inside-out tracked controllers, with:
  • 1 Thumbstick
  • 3 Buttons
  • 2 Index finger triggers
  • 1 Middle finger trigger
• Required PC connectivity: USB 3.0, DisplayPort™ 1.2
• Peripheral Ports: USB-C 3.0, proprietary connection to mods
• Tracking: inside-out, with 6 RGB cameras (4 on the device, 2 on an additional faceplate). No minimum space requirements for standing/seated, minimum 2m x 1.5m for room-scale mode
• Module Faceplates: Vive Motion Mod (Ships with Cosmos) and Vive Cosmos External Tracking Mod (Sold separately)
• Vive Wireless Adapter support: Yes, sold separately with attach kit. Available PCIe slot required

Specs commentary

From the specs, the Cosmos seems a solid v1 headset. The screen is actually the second in class among the consumer VR headsets: only the HP Reverb has a better resolution than it, all the other ones have fewer pixels. Even its majesty the Valve Index has less pixels, with its resolution of 2880×1600. The RGB LCD design gives the display a great fill factor, so the screen door effect is surely reduced. The 90 Hz refresh rate and 110° FOV are pretty standard for a headset of this generation and honestly, I expected something more. The lenses are confirmed not to be the ones of the Vive and Vive Pro, but upgraded lenses like the ones of the Focus Plus, that offered fewer godrays and a bigger sweet spot.

The controllers are for sure a big improvement over the Vive Wands. HTC has basically copy-pasted the Oculus Touch controllers, that are in my opinion the most ergonomic controllers on the market (yes, even more than the Knuckles) and so I expect their comfort to be incredibly good.

The headset tracks both its position and the position of the controllers through inside-out technology, that is thanks to 6 cameras installed on the device. This big number of cameras seems good to provide stability and smoothness to the tracking. This is a feature for which I expect the headset to shine.

But what intrigues me the most is the customization offered by the faceplates and the wireless adapter, that in my opinion deserves a dedicated commentary.

Module Faceplates and the customization craze

This is, in my opinion, the most innovative feature of the Cosmos together with the phone connectivity. The front part of the Cosmos may be removed and substituted with another faceplate. And every available faceplate offers peculiar functionalities.

The one that ships included with the Cosmos is the Vive Motion Mod, a Faceplate with 2 additional cameras, that makes the Cosmos the VR headset with the biggest number of tracking cameras: six. This high number makes sure that the tracking is more fluid, more stable, and offers also a bigger tracking FOV for the controllers. Thanks to it, the Cosmos is nominally the headset with the best-in-class tracking hardware.

But if you don’t like inside-out tracking, you can get rid of it. Using the “External Tracking Mod” faceplate, you can add SteamVR tracking to the Cosmos. This faceplate contains SteamVR 2.0 sensors, that make your headset trackable by Steam VR 2.0 base stations. This way, the Cosmos from being an inside-out headset, becomes an outside-in one (even if some people argue that SteamVR is not outside-in). This may be crucial to let people use Vive Trackers with the Cosmos… and this makes the Cosmos amazing for arcades, R&D centers or even people that want to do the lap dance in VRChat. And also opens up new possibilities: for instance, you can buy the Cosmos+External Tracking Mod and use it with the Knuckles controllers, if you want to have five fingers tracking.

And in the future more exciting faceplates may come… 😉

Vive Wireless Adapter

If you have the Vive Wireless Adapter, you can put it in the mix as well: do you want a wireless headset that works with the Knuckles? You can. Do you want to play wirelessly with your Vive Trackers and do a backflip in VR? Well, why not?

The Vive Cosmos works with the Vive Wireless Adapter, the same that was already compatible with the Vive Pro (but it may need an adapter to work, as pointed out by Upload VR). That’s very interesting: in the reddit communities, I have read that the Vive Wireless Adapter is maybe the best reason to own a Vive Pro… and the fact that it is compatible with the Cosmos is a great news for all HTC Customers (also because the Cosmos is far cheaper than the Vive Pro).

USB-C port

The device features an onboard USB-C port. I think it can be used to add even more customizations. For instance, it can be used to connect some eye-tracking devices, like the ones by 7Invensun.

Mixed Reality

As the developer of a mixed reality fitness game for the Vive Focus Plus (HitMotion: Reloaded), I can only praise the fact that the Cosmos comes with front RGB cameras, exactly as the Vive Pro and the Valve Index. I’m pretty sure that they will be accessible via the SRWorks framework, so developers will be already able to create mixed reality applications for them. This is not possible most of other headsets. What is crucial here is the position of the cameras: since they are in the same position of the eyes of the user, the Mixed Reality offers a realistic vision, while with other headsets (like the Index or the Quest), since they are in other positions, they offer distorted visuals to the user.

And then there is also the hands-tracking SDK, that already works on this new device…

Phone Connectivity

HTC has not revealed any additional details about the phone connectivity of the headset. That’s a pity, because I think that that feature can be overly interesting.

Not because of the possibility of using VR through a phone (I guess that the problems of GearVR have already demonstrated that VR and smartphones together are not a perfect match), but because of the 5G antenna that the connected phone could have. Thanks to the phone connectivity, the headset could be able in the future to stream VR content via 5G, and so let people experiment with the future of VR.

Vive Reality System

Vive Cosmos will be the first headset by HTC to work with the Vive Reality System environment. VRS is new Vive home environment for the VR user: a 3D virtual place where the user can stay and also launch the VR applications in a natural and immersive way, as if he/she were “stepping between worlds”. If you have ever used Oculus Home or Steam VR Home, you know what we are talking about.

Finally, we have some new information about the Vive Reality System:

Cosmos will feature a redesigned user interface called Lens to easily navigate XR and Viveport Infinity applications, and a new, dynamic home space called Origin. The Origin space is the launchpad for VR applications and interactive experiences that will grow over time.

Price and availability

The headset will cost $699/€799/元5899. It is available from preorder starting from today September 12^th on HTC Website and through selected retailers. Shipping will start worldwide from October, 3^rd.

Every person that will preorder a Cosmos until October, 2^nd will get one year of free Viveport Infinity, HTC Vive’s subscription service for gaming. People that will get a Cosmos after the preorder stage, will only get 6 months.

The External Tracking Mod will be available from Q1 2020 for an undisclosed price under $200.

Who should buy the Vive Cosmos?

Personally, I have not tried the headset yet, so I can’t tell you my first-hand impressions on it. But I can comment on it basing my impressions on the specifications and the price.

The Vive Cosmos has in my opinion two problems regarding its commercialization:

1. It has been announced after the Valve Index and the Rift S and so many people have already upgreaded their headsets. True, these headsets are hard to find in China, where HTC will continue to rule, but maybe in the West, the Cosmos should have been revealed earlier;
2. The Cosmos is the best in class in almost no feature. The cheapest headset is the Rift S, the one with the highest resolution is the Reverb, the one with the highest FOV and the best audio is the Index. So, it is difficult to find a tagline for it. On the consumer side, the cheap Rift S will steal customers from it with its affordable price tag, while on the prosumer side, the over-engineered Valve Index will steal its scene.

I think that the Cosmos is a device for who doesn’t want “the best” in a certain category, but wants “a very good headset” in most things. The Cosmos may have a worse resolution than the Reverb, but has better controllers and tracking. It may be much more expensive than the Rift S, but the Rift S is a quite poor headset, technically speaking (Cosmos has 33% more pixels than it, more framerate, more open-ness, etc…). The Index is a superb device (soon I will publish a review about it!), but the full package costs $1000 and the headset+controllers cost $750, while the full Cosmos setup costs $700 and is far easier to setup, thanks to its inside-out tracking technology.

The Cosmos seems a very solid headset for what concerns the specifications, a device that can provide very good visuals, good tracking, good comfort, and good ergonomic controllers. It is also another “hackable” system (in complete HTC style): I am much intrigued by the possibility of combining it with SteamVR tracking (and so Vive Trackers) and Vive Wireless Adapter, for an experience of full freedom. And I want to know more about the phone connectivity for the future, because I want to experiment with 5G, that is already available in my city.

I see the ideal customer of the Cosmos as a tech guy that wants a solid device that can be versatile and adapt for every kind of possible use, from full mobility to configured room-scale setup. I envision also its possibilities in enterprises, arcades and research centers. HTC may not have the best track for what concerns customers assistance, but for sure the Taiwanese company knows how to behave with enterprise customers and always offers a clear business licensing for its hardware. In this sense, Valve, that seems the direct competitor, is quite behind: there is not a clear program for assisting companies, and the Index has not a business licensing (I tried contacting Valve in this sense in every way, but I got no answer).

I don’t see instead as a customer the more average consumer user, that will look for the cheaper Rift S. And I don’t see as a customer the hard gamer, that will trust good guy Valve and will look for the great experience of the Valve Index, and its upcoming Half Life VR game. I see it more as a device for the VR professional, that may need to use the device in various different contexts (e.g. in the office, in exhibitions, for gaming, for developing, etc…).

Additional References

• Vive Cosmos official website (where you can but it): https://www.vive.com/cosmos/
• Hands-on by UploadVR, that shows how it is a very good headset: https://uploadvr.com/htc-vive-cosmos-hands-on/
• Hands-on by my review hero Ben Lang of Road To VR: https://www.roadtovr.com/htc-vive-cosmos-hands-on-preview/
• Hands-on by Venture Beat: https://venturebeat.com/2019/09/12/htc-vive-cosmos-ships-on-october-3-for-700/
• Hands-on by Engadget: https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/12/htc-vive-cosmos-hands-on/
• The Story of Vive Cosmos promotional video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UDJ9RzC32w

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The Cosmos seems a great headset and I really wish that it will be able to find its sweet spot in the VR market. Good luck, Vive Cosmos! 😉

(Header image by HTC)