Upcoming VR Headsets (WIP Discussion).

VRXVR

This discussion is about upcoming VR headsets. The Confirmed, Rumored and Purely Speculated. Inspired by our friend @sogman

Everyone is welcome to contribute and most importantly correct and renew this info if I missed something as I wrote this post from my mind and from what I recall through the years of reading VR news.

1- Valve Deckard: Rumored to be released in late 2025. I strongly believe it will be the best one if you're into Gaming and Media consumption. It will be both Standalone (Running Steam OS 3.6+ Like in Steam Deck) and a PCVR Headset connected via DisplayPort. Specs still not known.

2- Pimax Crystal Super: Shipping in Q1 2025 with multiple screen types of multiple resolutions and multiple price points depending on the "Optical Engine" you choose. You better do your research first. It's Pimax and it's still a headache, and this comes from a Pimax Crystal Light owner (Review is coming soon).

3- Pimax Crystal Air: Very light PCVR Only headset with micro-OLED 3840×3552 resolution rumored to ship in May 2025.

4- Apple Vision Pro 2: Rumored to be released in mid 2025. This time with the more capable M5 chip and with a cheaper price. Specs still not known.

5- Samsung XR Headset: A Standalone headset running the new Android XR OS. Still vague when it comes to specs, as they can be different/ more advanced than what it leaked now. So we have to wait for actual shipping units to know.

6- Asus ROG/ Lenovo VR Headsets: All I know about them is they will run Meta Horizon OS (like in Quest 2/ 3) so they're standalone headsets that can connect to PC similar to Quests and "maybe" they will have a DP connection (just speculation).

7- Meta Quest Pro 2: Is a possibility to happen this year, but it will be focused on AR/ MR more than VR, and of course more business oriented.

8- Pico 5: With high resolution is also a possibility despite they released Pico 4 Ultra 6 months ago as of writing.

doublevr

It's less of a hardware question, more of all the tech heavy features and devs/apps eco-system only Meta and Apple can do. Especially given there's no economy nor there's an easy way everyone hoped for back in 2015s.

VRXVR

doublevr Valid points from a business standpoint. As for us, the consumers, we should not swallow whatever Meta or Apple trying to shove in our throats.

Apple in particular with their "Spatial video" and computing...etc....
It's just a way around to position themselves in the XR market after they missed the ride.

Just to be different and fool their cult and the unsavvy mainstream by claiming this is a new tech invented by them or something. This is pure marketing deceiving.

If they want a place in the XR market, they have to be both different and most importantly "better" not just only different.

Even Meta trying to hide the word "VR" now! They are using "Mixed Reality" to main both MR And VR. Basically going the Apple route.

Instead of these companies using the term Virtual Reality, they now use "spatial computing" and mixed reality which is ridiculous and not accurate at all of what VR really is, especially for guys like me who tried all of this AR/ MR games and videos and never impressed nor attracted by them at all.

They just want to leave us behind by not only the shift in terminology, but shift in direction.

I'm a VR ONLY guy and will remain that way regardless of the power and influence of these companies like Apple or Meta and I'm sure I'm not alone with this opinion.

Thankfully we have many other options and I don't care if I'm in the minority when it comes to market share. It's all about fun for me. And the only fun I had/ still have is with Pure VR. Nothing else is even close.

fenderwq

Yeah, apple is the best at doing something somebody else pioneerd and acting like they invented it by slapping on a new name haha. But yeah, that avp, cool and all but I hate the apple ecosystem so I'd never buy it.

Don't want to wait another 2 years or so before we get a new quest successor either. Also, I want something more high end that supports 8k+ video, has 4k per eye and a decent fov. Even the moohan headset will still be limited by the Qualcomm chip. Looks like I will be getting back to a pcvr headset. Hope vavle will come and safe the day with something amazing soon.

Lots of interesting pc vr headsets comming out lately with amazing screens though. Like the ones mentioned also there is the meganex superlicht 8k.

VRXVR

fenderwq Yes, It's called the MeganeX superlight 8K. It's manufactured by the Japanese Shiftall Inc. A subsidiary company of Panasonic if I recall correctly. It's not upcoming headset since it's actually shipped starting in February 2025.

In terms of visuals. Currently, nothing can beat a headset that sports Micro‑OLED screen with 7320x3200 Total resolution like AVP.

But, best visuals are just one part of the whole story when it comes to VR you know. At 3500 USD, it's supposed to be an enthusiasts VR headset. But there are many cons to AVP that don't appeal to the majority of VR enthusiasts like:

Closed and very restrictive ecosystem as you mentioned.
Overpriced for what you can really do with it compared to other way cheaper VR headsets like Quest 3 regardless of visual quality.
Can't decode and smoothly play AV1 Videos with high resolutions like 6K+ So, it's stuck with HEVC to do that.
With the wired battery pack required to power it, I don't see how it's different than any PCVR threaded headset IMHO.
Doesn't run at its full native resolution, it uses Foveated rendering all the time even for light tasks @90Hz instead of the maximum 100Hz.
And let's not bring VR gaming to the table, even with the support of PlayStation VR2 controllers in the future.

I'll just bring this upcoming VR headset for comparison, because if it's shipped soon. AVP will no longer be the king of the hill when it comes to Visuals, let alone anything else this VR headset can do.

Pimax Dream Air:
Micro‑OLED
7680x3552 Total resolution @90Hz
Opened ecosystem (since it's a PCVR headset).
No problems/ limitations with hardware decoders, since it's all done by the PC.
Can actually run at full native resolution @90Hz with powerful PC equipped with RTX 4090/ 5090 for light to mid tasks and very close to native resolution for heavy tasks like VR games.
Eye tracking for Dynamic Foveated Rendering and auto IPD adjustment.
All that with a headset weighs less than 200 grams.
Shipping in May 2025 with a total price of 1991 USD.

If this headsets really shipped in May this year. As a VR enthusiast, I can't see how anyone will choose AVP over it to be honest.

fenderwq

VRXVR Yeah but Pimax... take everything they say with a HUGE grain of salt. We're still waiting on the 12k that should have been release what is it? 2 years ago now. And yeah there are plenty of reviews out on the MeganeX like on MRTV. Looks nice. Not sure if it's my headset though.

Hairsational

The main things I'm looking for in a new headset are:

3-4K per eye micro OLED displays
AV1 decoding
A modest FoV increase over current gen headsets
Standalone capable
Good system software/ecosystem
Not Apple

Hopefully someone can finally show up with a decent headset that doesn't require compromises.

fenderwq

Hairsational yeah same, but I'd like passthrough and 8k+ decoding too. The FOV + OLED is pretty much out of the question short term though if you have been following what they released at display conventions. OLED screens are still too small for bigger then around AVP FOV.

VRXVR

fenderwq Damn, you still remember the 12K with 200° HFOV. I almost forgot about it! lol

I agree with you about Pimax. This is why I said "If this headset really shipped in May this year".

As for the MeganeX superlight 8K, it's a great PCVR headset, but unfortunately, what turned me away from it is Its use of Outside-in tracking which will require the use of base station/ lighthouse 1.0 or 2.0 tracking units like the Valve Index and the old generation PCVR Headsets from Vive.

Yes, It's still the most accurate tracking available till now, but it's inconvenient at least for me and I don't own them obviously. Add to that, I have to buy 2 Valve Knuckles or the older generation VIVE controllers, I don't like these controllers personally.

Other than that, it's really a great headset IMHO.

sogman

fenderwq I would love to try a pimax just for that huge fov they claim. Even if the image quality isnt all that without a mac daddy pc that I dont own.

Still, the pricetag is steep even with one of the lower tier ones, and honestly they look a bit cheaply made

fenderwq

VRXVR Yeah same, my old base stations also developed a whine which is super annoying. Not worth the hassle anymore imo

fenderwq

sogman used the 8kx for the longest time and that had an amazing FOV. That truly massive fov was amazing for porn even though it was blurry on the edges. At some point though video quality became greater then those displays can handle. Now I don't think it's a good tradeoff anymore.

As for the newer pimax headsets like the crystal. They state a massive fov but they aren't nearly as massive as they say (Pimax hugely inflates their fov in their marketing). It's more similar to index level FOV which makes sense when you cosider that the crystal has the exact same amount of pixels as the 8kx. You can't have the same pixel while increasing quality and remaining the same FOV.

Still their FOV is bigger then quest and the headset has much better screens. That's nice of course. The upcomming super will increase that by a lot again. All though that will need truly next gen video quality to be an advantage for porn over the crystal I suspect. Then there are these announced headsets that don't seem real yet so I don't really consider them as such with their track record.

Anyways, I wouldn't buy an 8kx at this day and age. Hope a better next gen high fov headset will come along though. Technically the somnium vr 1 fits this bill somewhat but it's too expensive for what it is imo.