The Best VR Headsets You Can Buy in 2021 – RevAdvert
VR Headsets
As you can probably imagine, the cost of VR is one of the most important parts of this section. With different headsets ranging from $200 to nearly $1500, this could mean that you won’t be able to see the headset when buying the first few headsets for the price of one HTC Vive, or Oculus Rift, or even HTC Vive Pro. We’ll show you the best value and see what’s out there so far, but for the most part, there will be a VR headset at the bottom of each list, whether it’s in the sub-$200, $100, $150, or $200 range.
At first, we recommend picking up the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR, or Windows Mixed Reality headset, then the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and then the PlayStation VR if you’re going for PC VR. Once you’ve tried all three, you should pick the one you like the most.
Why Is Now the Right Time to Buy a VR Headset?
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Beyond the novelty of wearing a virtual reality headset, VR has a lot to offer — and the best examples out there are now affordable enough for almost anyone to afford. But you need to know what to look for, what to avoid, and what to expect.
And when we say “VR,” we’re talking about anything that’s capable of tricking the human brain into thinking it’s a computer-generated environment. It’s an important distinction, because some current VR headsets are capable of a lot more than others. Here’s what you need to know before you invest in a headset — in particular, you should know whether you need a mobile or PC-based experience.
The Best Budget VR Headsets
After many years in the spotlight, virtual reality (VR) is finally getting more of a mainstream spotlight. With the launch of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive in 2016, virtual reality has entered a new era. Unlike the experimental VR we saw in the 90s, the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are more easily accessible and considerably more accessible to the general consumer. Both systems boast a release window of 2016, though Oculus hasn’t settled on a specific date. Oculus plans to unveil its consumer version of the Rift in March. HTC is aiming for a June release of its Vive, though HTC recently delayed the Vive’s release to the third quarter of 2016.
The Oculus Rift and HTC Vive both work in very different ways.
The Most Affordable Low-End VR Headsets
The Most Affordable Low-End VR Headsets
1. Sony VR headset
The Best VR Headsets You Can Buy in 2021
Project Morpheus (right), which Sony acquired last year, is poised to give us our best and most affordable VR experience.
At the moment, the most affordable virtual reality headset for consumers is Sony’s PlayStation VR, a virtual reality headset that will hit the market for $199 this holiday season. It will come with the PlayStation 4 and a pair of motion-tracking PlayStation Move motion controllers. Sony has plans to extend the PlayStation VR ecosystem to include additional games, movies, and other forms of entertainment.
The Most Affordable Low-End/Mid-Range VR Headsets
More on Virtual Reality
One of the most exciting aspects of virtual reality is the ability to immerse yourself in a simulated world and travel beyond the boundaries of our planet. However, few headsets are capable of delivering what you might hope, and there are concerns about reliability and practicality in many ways.
The best VR experiences currently available are often too expensive, have poor audio and visuals, and only allow for short interactions (great if you want to experience VR but don’t necessarily want to spend a ton of time with it). What’s more, many of them require specialized computers and sensors.
Smartphones That Can Run Conveniently on a Low-End Setup
Virtual Reality is truly coming in our lifetime.
In the very near future, we’ll be able to take our place in an entirely new digital world by strapping on a headset and sliding into a fully immersive virtual reality. The promise of fully immersive virtual reality, or even a non-immersive VR, can be compared to the rise of movies and television, which completely changed the way humans interact with the world. The days of watching regular old TV sets will be long gone, we’re guessing, and the tablet computer has become an indispensable tool in the average family’s life. You can’t read a book on your tablet, but at least you can take a seat and be transported to another world.
This year, we expect to see two VR headsets hit the mainstream that are both fairly inexpensive.
The Best Mid-Range VR Headsets
The Best VR Headsets You Can Buy in 2021 (and Beyond)
Last year was a huge turning point for virtual reality.
The Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR (PSVR) were all released in the latter half of 2016 and instantly became must-have devices for PC-based VR. The value proposition for virtual reality is simple: you put on a headset and you experience the world and its characters as if you were really there.
But not everyone has a high-end PC to run all those headsets and all those games. That’s where the best mid-range VR headsets come in. The first wave of devices are hitting the market this year, and we already know the best of them (namely, the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift). But as the year goes on, new, more affordable options will hit the scene.
High End Options for Serious Gamers and Techies
The race for the best VR headset is one we haven’t seen before. The market is growing at a fever pitch, and a number of headsets were announced at CES in January and at this year’s CES, or at least will hit the market soon. When you get past the novelty factor and low prices, many of these units stand to offer what we would expect from high-end gaming devices.
Still, no one quite knows what we will think of them when they launch. The consumer appetite is largely untested, and there’s a lot of room for things to go wrong. Even those that seem poised for success still have questions to answer.
Conclusion
VR is a multi-decade journey, and while the industry is still largely a testbed for technology that could, at some point, affect our day-to-day lives, it’s never too early to start planning your purchase.
What are some important considerations for your VR purchasing decisions? Let’s dive in, and identify the top VR headsets you can buy right now—and in the next few years.
1. Get Comfortable
Most of us take for granted our inability to move and get out of our chair without having some sort of support. The same goes for wearing a VR headset—we don’t wear our full-body suits at the gym, or regularly go out in the sun. If you’re not used to a VR headset or walking around wearing a HTC Vive, or any other VR HMD, this can lead to some discomfort.