A pretty attractive new HTC deal bundles the Vive Wireless Adapter in the Cosmos Elite headset in the UK just ahead of the company’s Vive Flow announcement.
The deal, live from today on the Vive website until October 14, applies to the full Cosmos Elite package only, and not the headset-only option. We also don’t see the deal listed in the US yet but will update this article if that happens. The overall package gets you the headset, two Vive wands and 2 SteamVR base stations as well as the Wireless Adapter for £899. Usually the adapter is a hefty £359 itself, so you’re saving quite a lot there even if the headset itself is pretty expensive.
The Elite version of the Cosmos swaps out the base version’s inside-out tracking for the more reliable Lighthouse system from Valve. It’s essentially an upgraded version of the original Vive, though it’s also a step behind the recently-released (and even more expensive) Vive Pro 2 on the specs front.
Still, if you’ve been looking for a wireless PC VR setup and don’t want Facebook’s Oculus Quest — which has a built-in PC VR streaming option — then this could be a good choice. We reviewed the setup back in 2018 with a Vive Pro, which we thought offered a great but expensive experience. The Elite version of the Cosmos, meanwhile, was a solid upgrade, if not enough to make a real dent in the PC market.
It’s possible HTC is trying to sell off adapters and Cosmos units before its announcement later this month. The company’s teased an event for October 14 — the same day this deal ends — and we uncovered trademark filings for something called Vive Flow. Could Flow perhaps represent a new wireless solution? Or does HTC have other plans?