The VIVE XR Elite is a step toward making home VR headsets more popular

I am not a wealthy woman. I have neither the funds to invest in a virtual reality headset, nor the free leisure time to make the investment pay off. But if I did, the VIVE XR Elite would be a decent contender for my home VR headset.

As our own reality steadily loses appeal, the shining promise of a virtual one gains an increasing allure. Companies such as Facebook are looking toward the metaverse as the next evolution of the internet, while the COVID-19 pandemic has made us acutely aware of the need to virtually escape when we can’t do so physically.

Even so, I have never seriously contemplated buying a virtual reality headset. The prohibitive cost of virtual reality headsets paired with a relative dearth of software has kept VR largely a corporate domain, barring dedicated hobbyists and more moneyed individuals. Though VR is creeping further into domestic spaces, paying several hundred dollars for leisure equipment I will only rarely use on the occasional free weekend just isn’t a responsible financial decision for me at this point.

As such, the $1099 VIVE XR Elite is a delightfully fanciful and unnecessary luxury. It’s like the hardware equivalent of buying a gorgeous but impractical dress just to put it on and look at yourself in the mirror from time to time. All that is to say, I kind of want one anyway.

The VIVE XR is super easy to set up. (Finally.)

From the point of view of simply getting started, the VIVE XR Elite is a fantastic achievement. The headset’s ridiculously easy setup is primarily characterised by what it does not require. You don’t need a specced-out computer to run it, you don’t need to mount VIVE’s Base Station sensors around your room, and you don’t need to deal with a thick wire running from the headset like a leash. All you need is a smartphone and a decent Wi-Fi connection, and you’re good to go.

It took me mere minutes to set up the XR Elite, which primarily involved virtually drawing my play area so I didn’t walk into a table while in-game. This felt like magic to me, having previously spent significant time standing on chairs to physically set up other VR headsets’ sensors around the room. With the XR Elite I could just put on the headset, use a controller to define my boundaries, then dive straight into VIVE’s virtual living room and explore their library of content.

The XR Elite doesn’t even require you to fiddle around with separate headphones, or have attached audio gear to put over your ears. Instead, it features embedded speakers and microphones, which do a shockingly good job of delivering clear audio to the user without leaking too much noise. That isn’t to say absolutely no sound leaks, but what does is whisper quiet.

The VIVE XR Elite headset is surprisingly small and light, and uses its battery pack at the back to balance out the goggles at the front so you don’t feel lopsided. You can also disconnect the battery, replace it with arms akin to those on glasses, and tether yourself straight to a PC and power source, however this wasn’t my preference. The glasses’ arms felt a bit too flimsy for my taste, and the headset felt front-heavy without the battery for counterbalance.

The two controllers included with the XR Elite — the same ones used with the Focus 3 — are also very lightweight. In fact, the controllers are light enough that I initially wondered if they were missing their batteries.

They weren’t, but what the XR Elite does exclude is inbuilt eye tracking. It isn’t a heavily felt absence, and the feature is due to arrive in a later add-on accessory, but for now at least the $550 PSVR2 has a one up on VIVE in that department.

At a resolution of 1920 x 1920 pixels per eye, the XR Elite headset doesn’t have much in the way of peripheral vision. The 110 degree field of view paired with the magnetically detachable face gasket creates an effect as though you’re wearing a scuba mask. I also found that tightening the headset securely made the gasket dig into my forehead more than was comfortable, prompting a lot of fiddling and readjusting to try to fix it. 

Unlike other VIVE headsets, the XR Elite does not have a head strap running from the forehead to the back of the head. This does allow more room for various hairstyles or headgear, but it also means the only factor keeping the headset in place is how tightly you adjust it. It’s a bit like a head vice. 

These drawbacks were largely forgotten once I got immersed into a game, and became more preoccupied with shooting AR enemies than making sure my headset sat properly. Even so, I didn’t want to wear the XR Elite for too long.

One delightful feature was the XR Elite’s front-mounted camera, which lets you see the real world around you. All you need to do to get back to non-virtual reality is stick your head outside the predetermined play area, or tap twice on one of the headset’s buttons. 

I found this pass-through feature very useful whenever I needed to interrupt my playtime to engage with people around me, or simply wanted to grab a snack. The image quality wasn’t fantastic — while I could technically see my smartphone screen, it was incredibly difficult to read anything on it. But it was good enough that I didn’t feel trapped in my headset or forced to take the whole thing off just to find a bag of chips.

Specs on specs: The VIVE XR is also glasses-friendly.

Another feature that greatly excited me was the ability to adjust the headset’s focus to accommodate different optical prescriptions. In VR headsets of yore, people with spectacles had to choose between either an uncomfortable arrangement of goggles over glasses, or taking off their eyewear for a blurry virtual reality experience. Like the VIVE Flow before it, the XR Elite addresses this by providing dials that allow you to adjust the pupillary distance and diopter, basically correcting your vision in the headset itself.

Unfortunately, you can’t simply get your glasses prescription, plug the numbers into your headset, and call it a day. The XR Elite isn’t a medical device and doesn’t support all optical prescriptions, so some spectacle users will still be out of luck. I also found the numbers on the headset’s focus adjustment features didn’t quite match up to the format on my prescription, so I instead had to manually fiddle with the dials until the image was sharp. But once I was set up, I was happy to be able to use the headset without having to deal with my glasses.

Of course, the ability to finetune the XR Elite’s focus means that swapping between different players on the fly isn’t very practical. But it’s a game changer for individual glasses users who are tired of VR headsets smashing their spectacles into their face like a high school bully with a cafeteria tray. Fingers crossed that VIVE eventually implements different profiles with customised presets the headset can automatically adjust to when selected.

Apps, apps everywhere, but not a game to play.

Unfortunately, while I was generally impressed with the VIVE XR Elite’s ease of use, I struggled to find games that did it justice. Lack of content is an ongoing issue across all VR, with software development continuing to be both difficult and expensive. Creating VR games generally isn’t an appealing financial decision either, as the small number of headsets in circulation means a significantly reduced pool of potential players compared to PC or console games.

The VIVEPORT store is home to “thousands” of games, apps, and experiences, from 3D drawing in Tilt Brush to mixed reality bullet hell Yuki VR. Individual titles can be purchased, or a significant library accessed via a paid VIVEPORT subscription. But much like dating, you don’t need thousands of options if there are just a handful of excellent ones. In my case, I struggled to find The One.

One of the best games I tried was Down the Rabbit Hole, an Alice In Wonderland-inspired adventure that had me guiding characters through puzzles in a diorama-like fantasy setting. I spent the most time in this one, peeking in hollow trees and around dreamlike teacup rides like a nosy giant. However, skipping through other titles left me cold.

You’d be best off already knowing exactly what games you’re going to use it for, rather than hoping to stumble across a VIVEPORT gem.

Visual novel TOKYO CHRONOS doesn’t quite work in VR, leaving players to stand around and read floating text boxes while character models cycle through poses. And numerous applications in the VIVEPORT library were more akin to virtual scenery than games, their minimal gameplay losing all novelty after a few minutes. Some were specifically targeted at meditation, such as cave diving game DEEP, but I found swimming through an underwater cave to be less relaxing than was likely intended.

Of course, you can also hook up the VIVE XR Elite to your PC, which will open up a world of other VR games for you to try out. But if you’re considering getting yourself a headset, you’d be best off already knowing exactly what games you’re going to use it for, rather than hoping to stumble across a VIVEPORT gem.

The VIVE XR is a stealth win for Kpop fans.

As such, while I loved the VIVE XR Elite headset itself, the software available left me slightly underwhelmed by the experience. That is, until I remembered an old YouTube video from 2018.

I am a K-pop fan. Specifically, I am a fan of Stray Kids, the eight-member boy group behind bangers such as “MIROH,” “Back Door,” and “Thunderous.” I have followed them practically since their debut, and watch their content daily. 

As such, I originally saw Stray Kids’ STATV 360 video appearance when it first came out in 2018, which featured the group dancing to their song “I am YOU” while encircling a 360 camera. However, absent access to a VR headset, I was reduced to clicking and dragging the YouTube video in order to change its framing and see the entire ring of rookie idols.

Now thanks to VIVE XR Elite, I finally got to experience my favourite K-pop boys as God and STATV intended: in glorious virtual reality. 

To my surprise, the experience was incredibly realistic. It did feel as though I had a group of charming Korean boys singing and dancing in a circle around me, accompanied by animated exclamations and hearts. It was enough to prompt a rather undignified noise from me that sounded akin to revving a baby chainsaw. If Stray Kids could film more VR content I’d greatly appreciate it.

I investigated a few other VR videos as well, both on YouTube and VIVEPORT. Unfortunately many of these had moving cameras and/or cuts, which ruined the immersion. Stray Kids’ 360 performance was by far the best I saw, even without taking into account my status as an avid fan.

I wouldn’t recommend paying $1099 for the XR Elite just so you can have your favourite K-pop group virtually circle you like a maypole for three and a half minutes. As thrilling as it may be, I will concede that purchasing a VR headset solely for this purpose would not be a sound financial investment.

But if you are looking for a PC-compatible VR headset, know what software you want to run on it, and have some cash to burn, the lightweight and easy to use XR Elite makes a fair case for itself. While I’m not quite ready to splurge on a VR headset for myself just yet, it has nudged me that little bit closer to envisioning my future with one in it.