Amazing how far virtual reality has come in such a short time, isn't it? In just a few years, immersive headsets have gone from Kickstarter fever dream to some of the most innovative, cutting-edge gadgets a tech-lover can own. Nearly every major company is now offering a virtual reality headset (save for Apple). And, each year, those headsets are getting better and better.
The tech as advanced quickly. Just a few years ago we got the final consumer version of the Oculus Rift, the first iteration of the HTC Vive and, to top it all off, the first console-powered VR headset, PlayStation VR.
Now, the market is flooded with new mobile headsets, including the Samsung AUKEY VR and Google Daydream View, and just this year we've seen the upgraded, second-generation HTC Vive, called the HTC Vive Pro.
The only problem with all this newfound technology is that it can be tough to choose which one is the best on the market – a decision that becomes even more difficult when you look at each of their sticker prices.
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You can skip down below to see our choices and explanations in depth, but there's one tried and true piece of buying advice that everyone should know when it comes to picking out the best VR headset: You get what you pay for.
That said, the three best on the market right now, the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR, are unsurprisingly also the most expensive. These three offer unparalleled immersion through superior refresh rates, extremely high resolutions and both the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift offer room-scale tracking and motion controllers for your hands right out of the box.
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Each headset has its own distinctive strengths and weaknesses, and if you're not aware of these before you buy, it could be a very costly mistake to make. But that's exactly why we put this guide together.
The best VR headset: HTC Vive
When it originally released, the HTC Vive was streets ahead of its nearest competitor, the Oculus Rift. It supported room-scale tracking out of the box, and came with two motion controllers that allowed it to offer a much more immersive experience.
Now, however, the gap has narrowed. Nowadays the Oculus Rift matches much of the Vive's functionality and includes two motion controllers of its own.
But the Vive still has the edge over the Oculus because, for our money, the room-scale tracking is that much better. The feature allows you to walk around a space that's 4.5 x 4.5m big, adding another dimension to the feeling of presence that you experience while using it; you're not just pressing up on an analogue stick, you're using your legs to walk.
That's if you have enough space in your real room, that is.
The headset itself contains two 1080p screens which makes for a very crisp image. Unfortunately it's not quite high-resolution enough to prevent you from being able to discern individual pixels when you wear it, but this is still the highest resolution headset on the market right now alongside the Oculus Rift.
The Vive's downside, however, is its price. Despite its price cuts, it's still expensive, more than the price of the most expensive console that's currently out, and equivalent in price to the kind of beastly gaming PC you'll need to run it.
The original HTC Vive could also soon face some serious competition from the HTC Vive 2, which is called the HTC Vive Pro. The new headset features built-in headphones and a resolution upgrade to 2880 x 1600. What we don't know yet is the price of the Vive Pro, which could end up being too high for most.
