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Replace damaged or missing screws securing the headphones to a Deluxe Audio Strap for a HTC Vive headset, a Vive Pro headset, or a Vive Pro Eye headset.

On March 1, 2015 at the Mobile World Congress, electronics manufacturer HTC unveiled the Vive, a VR headset co-developed with Valve, a video game developer/digital distribution company. The Vive features two 1080p AMOLED displays that support a 110º horizontal field-of-view. Motion tracking is powered by two Lighthouse base stations, which emit a field of IR beams to track the headset in full 360º motion.

The Vive can be distinguished from other VR headsets by the numerous depressions on the front of the device. HTC"s name is printed on the top of the device, and the strap hinges have the word Vive written on them.

The HTC Vive is an impressive piece of kit, but it"s far from simple. A diagram reportedly included in an email to early adopters this week made that fact very clear by detailing the no fewer than twenty separate items included with the consumer edition. Much of this is the same as the development kits we"ve already tested (in fact, early models had even more wires), but it"s still something else to see a consumer product other than a Lego set shipping with so many pieces.

Much of the complexity is due to the kind of virtual reality experience offered by the Vive. Unlike the PlayStation VR or Oculus Rift, it offers a room-scale virtual reality setup, thanks to the laser tracking system powered by its lighthouse boxes. Those boxes need to be set up and plugged into the wall, and a large tether connects the headset your PC. The Vive also has two custom controllers. All of that means lots of power cables, USB cables, mounts, and more.

On paper, the HTC Vive Focus 3 is easily the best VR headset in the standalone form factor (no connection to a system required) that has ever been released. It is precisely what we"d expect from a high-end VR system for gamers with deep pockets and a desire for the best of the best.

The Vive Focus 3 is HTC"s third standalone VR headset, but it is the first one to get an official Western release. Sadly, HTC targets businesses with the Focus 3, which is not meant for a consumer audience, which is a shame because it is a capable device that gamers would appreciate, if not for the hefty $1,300 price tag.

The Focus 3 features the same 2448 x 2448 per eye RGB displays as found in the Vive Pro 2, although the standalone device"s refresh rate is limited to 9 0Hz. The headset also features HTC"s newly developed dual-element lenses, which give you a wide, 120-degrees field of view. On the bottom, there"s an analog IPD adjustment dial, which provides you with a range of 57 to 72mm.

The front of the headset features a glossy section with the Vive logo. The rest of the visor is constructed of lightweight magnesium alloy. The material helps keep the weight to a minimum while also facilitating cooling for the internal components. In addition, HTC installed a heatsink inside the visor, which you can see through vent holes on the top and bottom of the headset, which is actively cooled by a small fan. When the headset is running, you can hear the fan spinning.

The next step is to connect the controllers. The process is simple and involves pressing the Vive logo button on the right controller and the hamburger button on the left controller. The pairing process took less than a second.

The Vive Focus 3 home looks like a modern office space that overlooks a desert scene. The environment is fancy, but the menu system is relatively basic. We could log in to our Viveport account; However, it did not give us access to the Viveport marketplace. You can access the content library, which provides you with a tiled listing of the installed software. You also get a settings menu to adjust some of the configuration options for the headset.

The Vive Focus 3 is a Snapdragon XR2-based headset, the same processing hardware found in Facebook"s Oculus Quest 2. Therefore, games built for Quest should theoretically be compatible with Focus 3 with minor changes from the developer. Furthermore, Qualcomm developed a wireless streaming feature for the XR2 platform, so Focus 3 should be capable of streaming PC VR games wirelessly to the headset.

At present, neither of those two options is possible. However, we did locate an option in the system settings that suggests a future software update could enable SteamVR streaming in the future. If that happens, the Vive Focus 3 could develop a niche following of enthusiast gamers. However, most of these headsets will be used for business training, remote collaboration, product design or in location-based entertainment facilities.

One of the most prominent things that stood out about the Focus 3 is how fast it is. From a cold boot, the headset takes just a few seconds to get you right to the home environment. The screens turn on immediately and the Vive logo spins in front of you while it boots, giving you something visually interesting to look at while you wait. At no point did it feel like we were waiting around too for something to happen.

As mentioned, we tried out the apps pre-loaded for reviews on the Vive Focus 3 to get an idea of the experiences business users can expect. HTC told us that the Vive Focus 3 would be compatible with SteamVR content with use of something called the Vive Business Steaming cable. The company didn"t provide additional details about the cable, but we imagine it would be similar to Facebook"s optical USB Link cable for the Quest 2. A wireless streaming app is also in development, and HTC said it would be available soon.

Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass is a VR tour of part of the Louvre in France. The courtyard is fully rendered in near-photorealistic detail, and you can explore all around it via teleport. You can move right up to the paintings hanging in the Grand Gallery, and with the clarity of the Vive Focus 3’s screens, you can see enough detail to appreciate these masterpieces. For each painting, there is an accompanying narrative clip explaining the significance.

HTC put together an excellent package with the Vive Focus 3. Businesses that adopt this platform will undoubtedly love the features and the performance. It"s a shame that gamers won"t see the benefits of a healthy competitor in the standalone consumer VR space just yet.

Editor"s Note June 28, 2021:This review was originally published on June 24, 2021 and was updated on June 28, 2021 to include information on the Micro SD card slot.HTC Vive Focus 3: Price Comparison

The HTC Vive Focus 3, the company"s latest and highest-powered untethered VR system yet. New controllers, improved internal specs... and a very high MSRP of $1,299.

The Vive Focus 3, HTC"s newest "all-in-one" untethered VR headset, competes directly with the Oculus Quest 2, but it costs a whopping $1,000 more than the Facebook-branded option, at $1,299 MSRP. And the Vive Pro 2, a long-overdue spec bump to 2018"s Vive Pro, resembles the earlier model all too much while costing either $799 by itself or $1,399 for its "full kit."

Those high prices aren"t accidents, as the HTC Vive department is full-speed ahead with a focus on business, enterprise, and public entertainment centers (aka "VR-cades").

When pressed, Vive General Manager Dan O"Brien confirmed that this month"s event has zero announcements in store for its Vive Cosmos line of headsets—which he also admitted is the company"s "consumer offering for PC-VR." That"s not great news for VR fans outside the enterprise sphere. The Cosmos" default inside-out tracking remains wonky, even after getting firmware updates, and its default controllers are an unfortunate mix of heavy and power-inefficient. Something like ViveCon would"ve been a great time to offer assurances for either current or future Cosmos customers. The silence there, as far as I"m concerned, speaks volumes.

O"Brien is instead bullish about targeting companies in the manufacturing and intensive training sectors who "can find the return-on-investment (ROI), their savings on efficiencies, and time to market, within six months of buying" Vive headsets. Advertisement

But follow-up questions reveal that HTC isn"t necessarily interested in consumers who are willing to spend more for untethered Quest-like options. On paper, the untethered Vive Pro 3 sure seems like a sexy jump from Quest 2. The only spec they have in common is the Snapdragon XR2 as an SoC. Vive Focus 3 is otherwise an across-the-board jump: a 120-degree FOV (compared to Quest 2"s 92 degrees), a default refresh rate of 90 Hz (up from Quest 2"s 72 Hz default, which can scale up to 90 Hz and beyond), 8GB of RAM (up from Quest 2"s 6GB), and a "5K" display that offers a 170 percent jump in pixel resolution over Oculus" latest model.

I"m cautious to call Vive Focus 3 superior to Quest 2, since I"ve yet to test the headset, but I can already call out one major issue: HTC"s unwillingness to unlock its tethered, Android-powered software suite for consumer-facing software. O"Brien confirms that this decision has enterprise in mind, because HTC "doesn"t want to put any concern for our business customers... that their users would access consumer content." Womp, womp.

Same SteamVR-friendly tracking dimples. (Not included anywhere in HTC"s press materials: a visual reminder that the Pro 2 will ship with the same dated wands that came with 2016"s original HTC Vive.)

The biggest difference comes from the new fast-switching LCD panel, whose pixel density is much higher than the original HTC Vive, now clocking in at 4,896x2,448 pixels combined.

Meanwhile, Vive Pro 2 only improves upon the original HTC Vive Pro by boosting its frame rate and pixel count—and that"s good news for anybody who has stayed within the Vive ecosystem (complete with its tracking boxes and compatible accessories) and simply wants to jump to 120 Hz refresh and a 260 percent higher resolution than 2018"s Vive Pro. But that assumes you"re a fan of the Vive Pro"s design, weight, strap, FOV, and built-in speakers—and that you"re not interested in perks found in 2019"s eye-tracking Vive Pro Eye. Advertisement

I"ve yet to test Vive Pro 2, but on paper, its resolution is arguably the only real selling point compared to the Valve Index headset, which retails for $499 by itself (and, in my humble opinion, surpasses the original Vive Pro"s elements in every way imaginable, especially FOV). When pressed on one of the Vive Pro"s worst aspects—its dated, heavy wand controllers—O"Brien basically tells consumers to buy Valve"s Index Controllers. I"m not kidding: "Customers have gravitated to the Knuckles, and we want to be supportive of that," he says. (Sadly, this means anyone buying the $1,399 "full kit" is getting saddled with the old wands—and that means the kit in question is arguably targeted to non-gaming customers by default.)

HTC could astound us all by announcing another Cosmos headset or update by year"s end—or maybe resurface its augmented reality-minded prototype, the Vive Proton, though O"Brien didn"t mention the latter in our call. Even if that were to happen, I was left with a clear indication that HTC is done with the consumer-facing sector. He had much longer answers to offer about business strategy and enterprise customers than he did about consumer-facing products and plans.

If you"ve been holding out for a great, forward-thinking home-VR option from the HTC Vive division, think of this year"s ViveCon as a very, very loud breakup letter. It"s over.

Valve has developed custom lenses that work with both LCD and OLED display technologies and is making these lenses available to purchase for use in SteamVR compatible HMDs. These lenses and Valve’s unique calibration and correction software are designed specifically to be paired with several off-the-shelf VR displays to enable the highest quality VR visual experiences. These optical solutions currently support a field of view between 85 and 120 degrees (depending on the display). The lenses, which are designed to support the next generation of room-scale virtual reality, optimize the user’s perceived tracking experience and image sharpness while reducing stray light.