HTC Vive Pro pre-orders start at $799, original Vive gets a $100 price drop

The HTC Vive Pro, which was unveiled at CES back in January, finally have a price and release date. HTC is now accepting pre-orders for the HTC Vive Pro which has a retail price of $799 in the US and £799 across the pond in the UK with an April 5th shipping date.

While some may think that the HTC Vive Pro is a second-generation VR headset from HTC, it offers the same Vive experience, with a few upgrades. The main one is the Vive Pro’s higher-resolution displays which sport a combined resolution of 2,880 x 1,600. That’s not a huge bump from the original Vive’s 2,160 x 1,200 resolution, but it’s enough to help reduce the screen door effect quite a bit while also improving the legibility of text within different VR experiences and games. The Vive Pro also has a new strap which helps distribute the weight of the unit better on your head, built-in headphones with 3D audio and noise cancellation capabilities and two depth-sensing cameras on the front. HTC hasn’t revealed how the two cameras will be used, but some are speculating that it will allow the Vive to be used as an augmented reality headset, allowing virtual content to be overlayed on the real world around you.

At $799, the HTC Vive Pro is definitely not cheap, but HTC is taking the launch of the Vive Pro to make its original Vive more affordable. The price for the Vive is dropping by $100 from $599 to $499. The price drop should allow the Vive to gain back a bit of market share that it has lost to the Oculus Rift over the past few months. The $499 HTC Vive is still $100 more expensive than the Oculus Rift, but HTC’s VR offering delivers a full room-scale experience – something that Oculus simply can’t compete with.

What’s still unknown at this time is when the HTC Vive wireless adapter will ship or how much it will cost. The Vive accessory also includes a battery pack which keeps the Vive powered up since there are no wires which connect the headset to the PC, so we’re expecting HTC will charge at least $100 to $150 for it.

Source: HTC Vive