Product Comparison: Oculus Rift vs HTC VIVE

Advertiser Disclosure

This site is a free online resource that strives to offer helpful content and comparison features to its visitors. Please be advised that the operator of this site accepts advertising compensation from certain companies that appear on the site, and such compensation impacts the location and order in which the companies (and/or their products) are presented, and in some cases may also impact the scoring that is assigned to them. The scoring that appears on this site is determined by the site operator in its sole discretion, and should NOT be relied upon for accuracy purposes. In fact, Company/product listings on this page DO NOT imply endorsement by the site operator. Except as expressly set forth in our Terms of Use, all representations and warranties regarding the information presented on this page are disclaimed. The information which appears on this site is subject to change at any time. More info

Best Pick

Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset

Check Price

HTC VIVE Virtual Reality System

Check Price

General Specifications

Brand

Oculus

HTC

Model

Rift

VIVE

Origin

USA

China

About the Product

Step into Rift. Whether you're stepping into your favorite game, watching an immersive VR movie, jumping to a destination on the other side of the world, or just spending time with friends in VR, you'll feel like you're really there.

Create an immersive experience with this HTC Vive virtual reality system. The VR headset with 110-degree field of view and front-facing camera provides an enhanced visual experience through a mix of virtual and actual surroundings. This HTC Vive virtual reality system includes two base stations and two wireless controllers for a complete game-ready setup.

Key Specs

Movement Tracking

Yes

Control Type

Motion Controllers

360-degree controllers and headset tracking

Sensors

Proximity Sensor

SteamVR Tracking, G-sensor, Gyroscope, Proximity

Wireless

Movement Tracking
Wireless

What customers say about "Key Specs"

Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset

Its a great product.
Warning to anyone afraid of heights! It seems real! Also have to avoid the games with fast movement because I get motion sick, but I love most of the games!
The games like Rec Room are probably better when you have 360 sensors, but I've not bought the 3rd sensor for 360 gameplay.
The sensor worked well. I wish there was a way to set my screen in any orientation I wanted. IE calibrate the screen for sideways viewing especially for beds since my room was a BED-room.
I think that you need to add more movement to the VR to get a better sense of immersion, similar to the HTC Vive with room detection.

HTC VIVE Virtual Reality System

The tracking is excellent for the HMD and the wands.
The tracking speed of the controllers is also quite good. I did have a few instances where the wands would disappear unexpectedly. However, again, this is no different than my experience with the Oculus Touch controllers
Easy to use; The controls are intuitive, the user interface is intuitive, so the HTC Vive is very accessible.
Graphics; Surprisingly good graphics. With supersampling, you can increase the quality of the graphics as well.
I have had my Vive for a month or so and it has been quite the experience. When it works it is great, when you lose tracking of the headset and/or controllers, not so much.
Tracking: I am sure they spent a ton of money on getting this right. And it does work 70% of the time. But when the sensors can't find you, it turns your vision off. You have to stand still and wait while you die in the game, until the sensors pick your position up again.

Size & Weight

Color

Black

Height

6.5 in.

7.5 in.

Width

15.4 in.

5 in.

Depth

12.1 in.

5 in.

Weight

18.32 oz.

19.5 oz.

What customers say about "Size & Weight"

Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset

Now ive read alot about glasses problems. I wear glasses and i can say that I have no issue with using the oculus. I have a smaller head and wear kid size glasses though.
Sound is actually quite good for it's size, so no need to use a headphones and that simplifies usage a lot.
VERY well built for such a delicate device.
Can only take an hour or so, after head and eyes starts to hurt

HTC VIVE Virtual Reality System

The headset wasn't heavy at all for me.
The Deluxe Audio Strap is a wonderful addition and adds comfort and integrated headphones to the Vive.
It's not heavy and It's comfortable for relatively long sessions.
The headset is very comfortable and smooth in play. I play for hours and don't have any comfort issues. My wife and son also play and there are no issues switching from user to user
Weight-the headmounted piece could be lighter and smaller, while keeping the same features, that would be really nice.
A bit bulky and cumbersome with all the cables

Display

Display Type

OLED

Dual AMOLED

Field Of View

110 °

Focus Adjustment Wheel

Interpupillary Distance Adjustment

Yes

Features

Buttons

D-Pad, L/R Sticks, YXBA buttons, L/R Triggers, L/R Bumpers, Connect button, Start button, Back button, X-Box guide button, Select button, Touch Surface, Home button

Grip buttons, Dual-stage trigger, System button, Menu button

Extras

Intuitive Exploring with Oculus Remote, Integrated VR Audio, A Sensor Designed for VR, Great Games Deserve a Great Controller, Featured VR Games

Wireless controllers, Compatible OS, Works with a USB 2.0 or newer port, Free Trial to VIVEPORT Subscription, Powered by SteamVR, Chaperone play area boundaries and front-facing camera, Micro-USB charging port

Adjustable Headband

Yes

Integrated Speaker(s)

Yes

Integrated Microphone

Power Source

Integrated Speaker(s)
Integrated Microphone

What customers say about "Features"

Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset

Sound quality is very good.
It fits almost perfectly, you can customize it so well.
Limited VR software availability, and what there is, well much of the software is only of passing interest.
Setup was easy, using the Oculus store is intuitive and the free apps can fill your first day experimenting.
The image was blurry and poorly resolved in just about all the positions I tried wearing it. Ghosting was pretty noticeable. Glare was also an issue.

HTC VIVE Virtual Reality System

The display is just about perfect. Some people complain about the resolution, but I don't think there is anything wrong with it. I am sure you could make it more detailed, but for me it is already amazing.
The immersion is complete with room scale VR. Nothing can describe how awesome sauce it is to interact with the world around you.
Lots of games out for how new the tech is. Granted most of them are "early release" there are some absolutely incredible games to be played.
Doesn't take a super beefcake CPU. I have an old i7 3770K and it runs fine with no apparent bottlenecks to the GPU
Charger for each controller (I'd think most companies would try to get away with just one for two controllers so way to go HTC)
Sweat; After a length of time, and lots of movement, you can start to sweat on the VR device. Make sure to wash with alcohol in-between use.
The headphones that come with the HTC Vive fall out a lot. I bought myself my own pair of over-the-ear headphones to use with my HTC Vive.
Internal controller batteries (once they're dead, check warranty, go to ifixit or toss them)
Play space has a minimum size but its not listed in the box

Warranty / Certifications

Manufacturer Warranty

1 year(s)

Certifications

Other Information

Manufacturer

Link

Manual

Download