With two great virtual reality headsets in the market in the form of the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift, it is time to compare what customers will be getting when they invest in them.

Design

Both these headsets require a computer and therefore employ cables for tethering. As for the HTC Vive, it is heavier and looks a lot bulkier, but even people who wear glasses will find it comfortable to use. There are controllers included in the package for this headset that allow for users to truly immerse themselves in the game. This particular headset also has the Lighthouse base stations that need to be installed within the room that users plan to use and would allow them to move around a 15 x 15 feet space when playing games. Finally, there is a Chaperone camera system installed in the front of the HTC Vive, which ensures that people do not trip over objects in the room when they are wearing the headset or bang into walls. Coming to the Oculus Rift, it can only track people over a space of 5 x 11 feet, but it has no front-facing camera and its Constellation sensors for tracking are attached to the PC.

Display

When it comes to the resolution of the display, each of these headsets is similar as they have 1080p per eye. Coming to field of view, it is 110 degrees for each and the headsets have a similar 90 frames per second refresh rate.

Hardware

There are no headphones built into the HTC Vive, but the Oculus Rift has a pair while both have microphones. The Oculus Rift needs a computer with an Intel i5-4590 chipset and a minimum of 8 GB RAM to function and it also needs to have a NVIDIA GTX 970 or AMD R9 290 graphics card at the minimum. As for the HTC Vive, it requires an Intel i5-4590 chipset at the minimum, along with at least 4 GB RAM. Coming to the graphics card, it requires an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 version or a Radeon R9 290 version.

Sensors

In terms of sensors, there is an accelerometer, laser position sensor, gyroscope, and Chaperone camera on the HTC Vive, while the Oculus Rift has an accelerometer, gyroscope, and optical sensor.

Price

Comparing price, the HTC Vive, along with controllers, is priced at $799, while the Oculus Rift is priced at $599. If users need to buy a compatible computer, they will have to shell out between $949 and $999 for each.