HTC stops selling its VR headset Vive Cosmos
HTC has quietly pulled the Vive Cosmos from its western stores: It's no longer available in the U.S. and Germany.
HTC's Vive Cosmos PC VR headset had a difficult start in 2019. Unlike Metas Quest or Rift S, HTC did not yet succeed in realizing error-free inside-out tracking with the built-in cameras in this model. This was especially true for difficult moments like shooting with both hands or with crossed arms. The steep starting price of 800 Euros probably did not help sales either.
The consumer headset now disappeared from some official stores, such as in the US and Germany. The company confirmed the discontinuation of the Vive Cosmos in the US to RoadtoVR. We asked HTC if the same applies to Germany and will keep you updated.
Farewell to a problem-plagued VR headset.
The withdrawal is also likely here, since the standard model of the headset also no longer has an official store appearance in Germany.
Only the Vive Cosmos Elite variant with Lighthouse tracking is still available there at a reduced price of 649 instead of 999 euros - including two free months of the VR gaming subscription Viveport Infinity. This version of the VR headset comes with the matching front attachment for tracking with Lighthouse base stations, which works much more precisely. External tracking cubes are required for operation, similar to the original HTC Vive or Valve Index.
The standard model of the Vive Cosmos with inside-out tracking is only available at a few German retailers like Media Markt.
In recent years, HTC has focused more on the business customer segment and VR enthusiasts - most recently with the Vive Focus 3, which is widely used in VR arcades, or the Vive XR Elite.
You can read our review of the Vive XR Elite here, which is very slim thanks to modern pancake lenses, but was not convincing in some other areas.
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