vive focus 3

Get Those Vive Focus 3 Pre-orders in Starting This Week

June 8, 2021 by GenVR

HTC’s first Vivecon event last month officially revealed the Vive Pro 2 and Vive Focus 3 headsets, showcasing the company’s intentions to deliver both consumer and enterprise compatible devices. While the Vive Pro 2 is now available, its all-in-one (AIO) sibling is due for release later this month, with pre-orders for the EMEA region going live later this week.

Unlike other standalone virtual reality (VR) headsets the HTC Vive Focus 3 is very much geared towards businesses, so the general public won’t be able to get their hands on HTC’s next-gen HMD. Companies that do want to order the new headset can place their pre-orders from 10th June, with the official launch scheduled for 24th June. The Vive Focus 3 retails for £1,272 GBP/€1,404 EUR.

In comparison to the previous Vive Focus model, the new design is far more compact and sleeker in appearance, looking much more professional in the process. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Platform the Vive Focus 3 provides users with 5K resolution visuals from dual 2.5K displays running at a smooth 90Hz refresh rate. And to help users feel even more immersed in a VR experience the headset boasts a 120-degree field of view (FoV).

When it comes to comfort and user-friendliness the Vive Focus 3 has a rear-mounted battery for even weight distribution, it can be swapped out for longer sessions or charged to 50% capacity in just 30 minutes. Users will also be able to adjust the interpupillary distance range between 57mm to 72mm plus the facial interface can easily be removed via a quick-release button for easy cleaning or swapping for a new one.

New open-back speakers featuring a pair of dual drivers help to deliver spatial audio without touching your ears. And a new headset also means new controllers, with each 6DoF controller having a built-in battery providing 15 hours of use per charge. And in the future the Vive Focus 3 will support hand tracking.

To complement the hardware the Vive Focus 3 will also feature the all-new Vive Reality System 2.0, providing a more streamlined and professional ecosystem for enterprise customers. For continued updates on the latest HTC Vive HMD models, keep reading VRFocus.

Vive Focus 3 Launches Pre-Orders In Europe This Week

June 8, 2021 by GenVR

HTC’s new enterprise-focused standalone headset, the HTC Vive Focus 3, launches pre-orders this week.

The headset will be up on HTC’s official site on June 10 for and £1,272/€1,404 in Europe. We’ve asked HTC if this is the same date for the US, where the kit costs $1,300. HTC previously told us that it will sell the headset via some commercial channels so that smaller businesses can pick up the headset too, but no details on that today.

The Focus 3 is impressive on paper – it boasts Qualcomm’s XR2 platform just like the Oculus Quest 2 but also delivers 2.5K per-eye resolution and a 120-degree field of view. There’s also four-camera inside-out tracking and built-in audio. You can get a full spec rundown right here. But, while these specs may indeed be impressive, the headset is strictly aimed at business use – it will launch with an app store of generalized apps including Vive’s own B2B software, but don’t expect any games or entertainment experiences.

When we asked earlier this year, HTC declined to confirm if there will ever be a consumer version of the Vive Focus 3.

The news comes as the first shipments of the HTC Vive Pro 2 started arriving. The PC VR headset is aimed at both enterprise and high-end consumers. We’re hoping to have impressions of the device with you as soon as we can.

Vive Focus 3 is HTC’s New Business AIO Headset With 5K & 120° FoV

May 11, 2021 by GenVR

The time has finally come for HTC Vive to reveal what its been teasing these last few weeks. As expected it’s a new all-in-one (AIO) headset designed for the enterprise market, the Vive Focus 3. The third-generation of HTC Vive’s standalone Vive Focus product line, the new device strikes a very different aesthetic to its predecessor, the Vive Focus Plus.

As a standalone headset for companies looking for the best quality virtual reality (VR) experience with any cables, the Vive Focus 3 certainly has the stats to raise a few eyebrows. Offering users 5K resolution from dual 2.5K displays with fast-switching panels combined with real RGB subpixels, there shouldn’t be any worry when it comes to the screendoor effect. This is in addition to a 90Hz refresh rate and a wider 120-degree field of view (FoV) to make collaborating with colleagues even more immersive.

The images showcase a radically overhauled design, with the magnesium alloy frame 20% lighter and 500% stronger than traditional plastics. There’s a new strap design with the weight balanced for premium comfort. Part of that is thanks to the rear-mounted battery which can be charged to 50% in 30 minutes plus there’s a power indicator so you know how much charge is left. And for the first time ever, the Vive Focus 3’s battery is swappable, so users can keep a spare on charge for those longer VR sessions.

Other features include a manual inter-pupillary distance adjustment between 57mm to 72mm, quick release magnetic front and rear face gaskets for easy cleaning, and new open-back speakers featuring a pair of dual drivers. Built into the side arms, the speakers are contact free so users can still hear the outside world whilst a special audio privacy setting means that VR meetings can’t be heard by others in the room.

All of this is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 platform with the Vive Focus 3 able to provide accurate inside-out tracking for its four cameras which utilise an AI algorithm. Rounding out the feature set are a new pair of 6DoF controllers which have built-in batteries providing 15 hours of use per charge. HTC Vive has also confirmed that Vive Focus 3 will support hand tracking in the future.

“Vive Focus 3 heralds a new era of business VR – crafted for stunning visuals while also being durable and lightweight, with superior comfort and ease of use. Our new VIVE Business solutions make it easier than ever for an organisation to use VR, so whether it’s a small start-up or a multinational, everyone can benefit from the transformative potential of VR.”

As an enterprise-only device, the Vive Focus 3 will go on sale from 24th June, retailing for £1060 GBP/ $1300 USD/ €1180 EUR – the price includes 24-month Vive Business Warranty and Services. Don’t forget to check out HTC’s other new headset, the Vive Pro 2, and for further updates from ViveCon 2021 keep reading VRFocus.

Report: HTC To Announce Vive Focus 3, Vive Pro 2 At ViveCon

May 5, 2021 by GenVR

According to a report from Protocol, HTC will unveil two new headsets at ViveCon next week – the Vive Focus 3 Business Edition and Vive Pro 2.

Protocol found mentions of both devices in company documents, and reports that both were also briefly listed on Alzashop, a European ecommerce site.

The Vive Focus 3 Business Edition will be a standalone enterprise headset following up the Vive Focus Plus, while the Vive Pro 2 will be a high-end PC VR successor to the original Vive Pro.

According to the Alzashop pages, the Vive Focus 3 Business Edition will retail for €1,474 (approximately $1770) and the Vive Pro 2 for €842 (approximately $1012). Protocol reports that both devices will be available to purchase by the end of the month.

HTC has been teasing hardware announcements for the last few weeks and confirmed it would unveil “game-changing” VR headsets at ViveCon next week, which runs from May 11-12.

Most recently, promotional GIFs gave a look at some of the upcoming hardware, including a view of the front of a headset and its tracking cameras, embedded above.

HTC’s previous comments suggested its standalone headset would not be a Quest competitor. This lines up with the Protocol report, which indicates that the Vive Focus 3 is aimed at an enterprise market and, priced somewhere around $1700, comes nowhere close to the Quest 2’s $299 starting price, and still more than double the $799 starting price of the Quest 2 business edition.

The Vive Pro 2 looks to be a successor to the original Vive Pro, which was mostly discontinued in March 2020, spare for a few Vive Pro Eye models.

Keep an eye out for more information next week at ViveCon – or more leaks before then.