Optus Mobile Review ALDI Mobile Review Amaysim Mobile Review Belong Mobile Review Circles.Life Review Vodafone Mobile Review Woolworths Mobile Review Felix Mobile Review Best iPhone Plans Best Family Mobile Plans Best Budget Smartphones Best Prepaid Plans Best SIM-Only Plans Best Plans For Kids And Teens Best Cheap Mobile Plans Telstra vs Optus Mobile Optus NBN Review Belong NBN Review Vodafone NBN Review Superloop NBN Review Aussie BB NBN Review iiNet NBN Review MyRepublic NBN Review TPG NBN Review Best NBN Satellite Plans Best NBN Alternatives Best NBN Providers Best Home Wireless Plans What is a Good NBN Speed? Test NBN Speed How to speed up your internet Optus vs Telstra Broadband ExpressVPN Review CyberGhost VPN Review NordVPN Review PureVPN Review Norton Secure VPN Review IPVanish VPN Review Windscribe VPN Review Hotspot Shield VPN Review Best cheap VPN services Best VPN for streaming Best VPNs for gaming What is a VPN? VPNs for ad-blocking Now after more than three years on the market as the most affordable ticket to HTC’s primo tech, the standard Consumer Edition model is being phased out by a new $1,299 base model that HTC hopes will open up a whole new world of versatility and upgrades for its loyal customer base: the HTC Vive Cosmos. We got the chance to spend a few hours with HTC’s modular Cosmos with a small handful of games and experiences. Here’s what we think of the new base model so far. That’s on top of the more expensive bottom-tier entry free for HTC VIVE now that the Cosmos ($1,299) is phasing out the Consumer Edition ($939). The headset itself offers a lovely suite of quality of life improvements but there just isn’t a single mindblowing feature that would swing me to upgrade if I were an existing VIVE user. Read on for a more detailed hands-on with the HTC VIVE Cosmos.
Flip-up hinge Modular faceplate Improved controllers Display quality
With that said, I did get a small glimpse at one possible reason this approach hasn’t worked before. The headset flipped up and down with no issue at all, which is great for someone who panics every time someone goes to adjust the band on the PSVR headset. But when I flipped the headset back down and continued to play, I noticed I couldn’t quite eliminate the light bleed around the edges, despite flipping it up and back down again multiple times. Now, I’ve always had trouble getting these headsets to fit snug over my nose and we were playing under some intense fluorescent office lighting so this isn’t as much of a red flag as it is a cocktail of personal circumstances so the light bleeding might not be an issue for those playing at home. Apart from that slight awkwardness, the hinge itself was a godsend. Particularly in a product demo where you’re surrounded by other people and pricey gear. Ho boy, that’s a lot of words about a hinge. Moving on. That’s not the only change. The tracking halo at the head of the controller has been flipped, with the tracking ring facing forward (instead of up). The new thumbsticks and a few additional face buttons are placed inside the tracking halo. Besides that, you’ve still got the triggers underneath so you still feel super cool when you’re running around your empty spare bedroom shooting robots and the like. Overall, the new controllers just feel a good deal lighter and more compact than the original VIVE controls. The comparison picture below barely does it justice but the old controller feels unwieldy after testing out the Cosmos controls. The biggest surprise for me was how sturdy the headset felt, despite its detachable components. Though, only time will tell if that sturdiness holds after a couple of years of usage. The biggest issue is that, while a customisable headset is very promising, the HTC VIVE Cosmos hasn’t launched with a whole lot to show for it. An External Tracking Mod is coming soon that will let you combine the headset’s inside-out six-camera tracking with traditional lighthouse tracking (those little black tracking boxes) for more accurate tracking overall but that’s not released yet. There’s also support for last year’s VIVE Wireless Adapter mod that’ll let you go wireless but it will set you back an additional $479. Which exemplifies our biggest issue with the VIVE Cosmos: these expensive mods will ultimately increase the price of your HTC VIVE Cosmos, which is already a few hundred dollars more than the standard Consumer Edition (which is still selling at Harvey Norman for $939). With just a few mods, you could probably cover the cost of a Consumer Edition VIVE and then some. Again, these are optional upgrades and time will tell if they’re worth it or not but I can’t help feeling that, at the very least, HTC could have included the Wireless Adapter with the Cosmos to sweeten the deal a little bit. This more natural-looking display is an instant buff to the immersion factor and its made possible thanks to the Cosmos’ new 2800 x 1700 resolution, plus updated LCD and RGB panels. The upgrade to the headset’s visual fidelity offers a strong case to upgrade for VR fans but again, it didn’t feel like anything revolutionary and I can’t say for sure if that was down to the ultra-bright environment we were playing in, the quality of the content we previewed (a couple of VIVEPORT titles) or whether the light bleed is a proper issue. We’d have to spend some more time with the Cosmos to know for sure. Otherwise, you can check it out at EB Games if you’d prefer to pick it up from a physical location.
