Oculus Rift vs. HTC Vive: Which is the one true VR headset?
Entry posted by Josh ·
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I recently picked up an Oculus Rift (CV1) in order to improve our support for this headset. It was easy to make my changes, but having the actual hardware on hand was invaluable in this process, and our support for the Rift is now much better because of this. I have now tried a total of five different VR headsets:
- HTC Vive
- Valve's duct-taped prototype that was the basis of the HTC Vive.
- Oculus Rift DK1
- Oculus Rift DK2
- Oculus Rift CV1
At one point Leadwerks Game Engine actually worked with the DK2 but at the time I chose not to release this feature.
So I've worked with a wide range of VR hardware going back several years, and here's what I think.
Ergonomics
The Oculus Rift has improved substantially over earlier prototypes with comfortable straps, built-in headphones, and an easy setup. The Rift feels like a polished consumer product while the Vive feels not quite as refined. The most annoying thing about the Vive are the earbuds, which add an extra cord and get tangled up in the headset cord going to the computer. Even worse, one of my earbud covers fell off, I lost it, and now I am using the included smaller set so the headphones tend to fall out of my ears while I am playing.
Winner: Oculus Rift
Ease of Setup
With the Oculus Rift, you just plug the headset into an HDMI port and a USB port, plug both motion trackers into USB ports, and you're done. The HTC Vive, on the other hand, can be overwhelming when you open the box. It uses a base station which increases the number of wires, and the lighthouse tracking units require some thought on how and where to put them. I bought two photography tripods and have my lighthouse units mounted on top of those.
The Oculus Rift involves a total of three cables, while the HTC Vive uses twice as many.
Winner: Oculus Rift
Display
Both headsets feature a 2160x1200 OLED screen. I feel like the screen-door effect is less severe on the Oculus but both are good. Contrast in lighting levels can cause reflections in the Vive that form concentric rings around your pupil. The Rift also has reflections but these take the form of "godrays" that appear to be moving in towards your eye.
Winner: Oculus Rift
Controllers
The Vive controller is like a combination of a Wii wand and a Steam controller. It's cool to see the haptic touchpad from the Steam controller onto something else. You can do some cool things like split the touchpad up into four buttons. The Oculus Touch controllers are really nice. You can make several poses with your hands including closing and opening your hands and pointing your index finger. The controllers aren't ambidextrous and they feel very different from the Vive wands. Plus, they only take up about half the space when you set them down on any surface. However, the pose they force your hand into feels unnatural and I can easily see how these would cause discomfort after extended usage.
Winner: Tie
Tracking
The HTC Vive is built for room-scale tracking. You can freely walk around an area up to 15'x15' and only have to worry about tripping over your cord or running into a wall. The Rift, on the other hand, uses two forward-facing motion trackers with a much smaller 7'x7' area. The most annoying thing about the Rift is you have to keep facing the motion sensors or you will lose tracking. Some games continuously warn you to turn around and face the sensors, which really limits the kinds of games you can enjoy with the Rift. So with the Vive you just have to worry about not running into walls, but with the Rift you have a smaller area and you also have to consider your rotation in VR and in the real world while playing, which really breaks the immersion.
Winner: HTC Vive
Conclusion
Both headsets are good. The Oculus Rift is a polished version of the original Oculus DK1, while the HTC Vive is a less refined headset with more advanced tracking capabilities. The Rift is $200 cheaper and is probably better for seated VR experiences, while the Vive allows room-scale games and experiences the Rift can't match with its limited tracking technology.
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