VIVE Focus Vision – New PC VR and All-In-One Mixed Reality Headset – YouTube
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With Trump’s tariffs on tech leading the PC gaming industry in uncertainty around potential price hikes, HTC Vive is taking advantage of the situation with a special sale. This gives anyone who didn’t manage to get themselves fully kitted out in some of the best VR machines on offer the chance to do so at pre-tariff prices. It’s a smart move, turning the impending price hikes into an opportunity for one last taste of affordable gaming for those in the US.
While we’ve definitely seen tech prices go up due to the tariffs, it’s worth noting we don’t know exactly how much HTC intends to price things in the future. As such, how much of a deal these regularly priced pieces of tech end up being is up in the air.
“Order by 5/31, we’ll cover the tariff cost!” boasts Vive’s sale site. Essentially it’s a sale, but for the prices you’d’ have expected to see before these announced taxes. The sale covers the Vive Focus Vision, Vive Ultimate Tracker 3+1 Kit, Vive Tracker (3.0), and the Base Station 2.0. This should let most people get setup for a full VR experience, or just grab those last bits before having to pay the extra on top.
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For those brand new to VR, the Vive Focus Vision might be the way to go. It’s the latest headset from Vive and works as a PC headset as well as a standalone VR machine. This means you can go via display port and have a wicked high fidelity experience with a capable PC connected or just go lite mode with what will run on the headset. It also offers mixed reality, eye tracking, and additional tracker support.
If you compare to the potentially more commonly owned Meta’s Quest 3 headset, it’s similar but more feature complete. Realy, the Vive Focus Vision looks more like what the Apple Vision Pro headset was claiming to be, only probably good. It currently goes for $999 on the website, so you’ve got until the end of the month if you want to pick it up before that price goes up.
The Vive Ultimate Tracker 3+1 Kit is a set of accessories that allows you to track more of your body than the standard setup. This one needs to be paired with a SteamVR compatible headset and controllers, so is better as an augment to a current setup, or an addon to the Vive Focus Vision. Once set up, it lets you track your head, hands, waist, and feet without lag. It’s worth being aware that the benefit of something like this will depend on the games you’re looking to play too. You can pick this up in the not-quite-a-sale sale for $599.
If that seems like a bit of overkill for your setup, then there’s the Vive Tracker (3.0). This is a cheaper tracker that works with base station-compatible headsets and allows you to replace controllers with your body movement. Again it’ll depend on what you’re playing and your setup as to whether or not this is worthwhile, but you can pick it up for $129 until the 31st.
Lastly, there’s the Base Station 2.0, which works with Vive Pro Series and Cosmos Elite headsets. This allows for higher precision wide-area tracking of up to Up to 1000 sq. ft, so it’s a good bet for those that have a whole room setup for their VR gaming shenanigans. This one is priced at $199, but at time of writing doesn’t appear to be in stock on the HTC website.
Whether or not Vive’s lineup is what you’re looking for in a headset, this sale makes a good point. If you’re looking to get into VR, or any other kind of gaming tech, it might be worth doing so before price hikes take hold if they haven’t already. Hopefully we’ll see some other companies follow in HTC’s footsteps here and offer some tariff sales to help offset the sudden shock these price hikes are likely to bring to the wallets of the general public.
