HTC Vive Focus 3 Review

Share

Tweet

HTC's latest all-in-one VR headset features a number of significant improvements for an equally high price.

HTC's Vive Focus 3 is officially available on the

HTC website

Starting today, and with its all-new lightweight design, improved specs, AI-powered inside-out tracking, magnetic seal, and swappable battery, this headset offers big improvements over its predecessor, for a price.

The Vive Focus 3 offers two 2.88-inch LCD panels with a resolution of 2448 x 2448 pixels per eye and a 90Hz refresh rate powered by Qualcomm's platform

Snapdragon XR2

specially designed for XR. The dual-element lens provides an ultra-wide 120 degree field of view, allowing you to work comfortably in VR for longer periods of time.

The headset also features a unique directional speaker design to prevent sound leakage, but maintain environmental awareness. This means you can have conversations with your colleagues without having to worry about people around you overhearing sensitive information. At the same time, you can hear sound from the headphones without being distracted by real-world sounds.

These are some of the hard facts about the all-in-one headset. Now let's move on to our hands-on review.

Image credit: HTC

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

Inside the box, you'll find the Vive Headset Focus 3, two controllers, a battery, a battery charger, a controller charging cable, and a standard cleaning cloth. The first thing you'll notice when you pick up the headset is how light it feels in your hands. This is due to the new magnesium alloy chassis; the Focus 3 is 20% lighter than HTC's previous Focus headset. It's also 500% stronger than traditional plastic, just in case you drop it.

DESIGN

In addition to its weight, the Focus 3 is extremely well balanced. HTC placed the replaceable battery in the back of the headset, greatly improving the overall weight distribution. The unique 45 degree arm design also helps create a comfortable balance point.

If you're a glasses wearer like me, you'll appreciate how the Focus 3 allows for 150mm wide glasses. However, I felt a little discomfort. When you put the headset on and turn the knob on the back to tighten, the Focus 3 pushes your goggles down slightly on the bridge of your nose. The discomfort is minimal, but noticeable nonetheless. Other than that, the seal on the front of the helmet and the padding on the back allow for an overall comfortable fit.

Image credit: HTC

The Focus 3 offers the largest IPD adjustment range available on any VR headset at 57mm to 72mm, making the headset comfortable for everyone, regardless of head size. To adjust, simply turn the dial located under your nose until it fits your eyes perfectly.

SOUND

The sound of the Vive Focus 3 is spectacular thanks to the design of the directional speakers. In VR, I was able to listen to conversations between two bickering employees in the app

body swaps

and not miss a word. I even had music in my office at a fairly high volume and could still hear the content. On the other hand, I watched music videos at full volume on YouTube through the app

Firefox Reality

in virtual reality, and it didn't bother my wife who was sitting next to me watching a movie. There was a bit of bleeding in both situations, but not enough to warrant any kind of negative feedback.

FANS, CONTROLLERS AND BATTERY

The Vive Focus 3 is a work tool designed for long sessions in VR. To help combat discomfort, HTC has created a ventilation system that pulls air in from the bottom of the headset and blows it out the top. You can definitely feel air blowing through the helmet, but there's a catch. When active, you can hear the fans running. It's not loud, more of a soft hum similar to what you would hear from a regular fan.

Image credit: Bobby Carlton

Vive Focus 3 controllers feel great in your hands. They're slightly longer than the Oculus Quest Touch controllers and feature decent haptics. They've also been redesigned to better reflect your hand gestures. The longer handle lets you move your hands in a way that feels natural in VR. HTC claims that a fully charged controller can last up to 15 hours on a single charge. After using the Vive Focus 3 for several hours a day for the past week, I still haven't had to charge my controllers. In fact, my controllers are both sitting well with nearly 40% battery life remaining.

The helmet itself is a similar story. HTC said that a fully charged battery will give you the headset for 2 hours with heavy usage. I managed to get more than that on a full charge, but I don't know if the way I use the Focus 3 would qualify as "heavy use" by HTC's standards. It might give different results if I was working on a big project that required a lot of collaboration, but depending on how I used the headphones, the battery life exceeded expectations.

Image credit: HTC

Speaking of battery life, the removable battery design is awesome. If your job requires you to spend a lot of time in virtual reality, this headset makes it easy to keep working. If you happen to run out of battery life, you can easily swap it out by removing the pad from the back and putting on a new one. It will take a little over an hour for your battery to be fully charged.

I really loved this design and hope to see it incorporated into other VR headsets in the future.

THE

VISUALS & TRACKING

The Vive Focus 3 features dual LCD panels and the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2, delivering an impressive visual experience.

Engaged

the new Space Hub, the medical center The VR trainer

Virti

and

Long Live Sync

look absolutely stunning on the helmet. Games such as

HyperDash

also look great (yes, you can play games on the Focus 3!). However, as the

Vive Pro 2

, if you don't wear the headset in a particular way, the visuals can get a little blurry. So be sure to spend the necessary time tweaking your helmet to fit properly.

The four onboard cameras provide impressive AI-powered indoor-outdoor tracking. I didn't experience any type of lag or issue with controller tracking in VR. That being said, it would be interesting to see how a more demanding experience, such as

Half-Life: Alyx

would work on the Vive Focus 3.

Image credit: Bobby Carlton

THE MAINTENANCE

Keeping the Vive Focus 3 clean is super easy thanks to the front magnetic seal and removable back padding. Simply take them out to clean them, then put them back on when you're done. These magnets provide tremendous holding power, so you don't have to worry about parts moving around while you're in the headset, even during the most active sessions.

THE VERDICT

All in all, the Vive Focus 3 packs a big VR punch. But is it worth the price of $1300? Let's just say this headset isn't meant to replace your Oculus Quest 2. If you're looking to socialize and play games strictly, this isn't the headset for you. The Vive Focus 3 is a workhorse designed specifically for professional use. It's comfortable, fast, and has the potential to be a great tool for the workforce.

Image credit: HTC

But that doesn't mean HTC's newest standalone VR headset might not be your day-to-day work/play system either. During an interview with VRScout, Dan O'Brien, Global Head of Enterprise at HTC, spoke about the company's new line of Vive VR headsets, saying it's all about "pushing technology forward so that it can benefit humanity through imagination, VR/AR, 5G, AI and blockchain. »

The lightweight design, replaceable battery, and 5K resolution with a 120-degree field of view make the Vive Focus 3 a great VR solution for enterprise customers, and if you need a little extra power, you can Always connect the headset to a VR-ready PC using the HTC Vive Streaming Cable.

the

Vive Focus 3

is available now for $1300, which also includes 24 months of VIVE Business warranty and services.

Featured Image Credit: Bobby Carlton

Share

Tweet

Reddit< /p>

E-mail