The Lynx-R1 is finally shipping! But may no longer be geared towards consumers

All of the best VR headsets can be a ton of fun to use. Even the Vision Pro, with its focus on “grown up stuff” such as work and multitasking will be, ultimately, capable of providing you with an immersive movie experience or some next-gen gaming.

And with the success that headsets like the Quest 2 are seeing — and the hype around successors such as the upcoming Quest 3 — it’s not that easy to notice, but I’m sure that the keen-eyed among you have indeed noticed.

A ton of, initially, user-oriented XR headsets have silently switched to being aimed at enterprise clients. And in that growing line, the Lynx-R1 is the latest such example. While the reasons may be numerous, let’s take a moment and ponder the situation of the Lynx.



If you are one of the people who closely follow the XR scene, then you’ve likely heard of the Lynx. It’s a Kickstarted product, which was announced in early 2022. Some of the unique features of this XR headset include:

• Smaller form factor
• Focus on ergonomics
• Controller-free, gesture controls (much like the Vision Pro)
• A combination of rich AR and VR capabilities
• Full PC VR capabilities

And, remember, this was all planned in 2021.

The campaign officially became a success in October of 2022, when the startup raised about $775,000, with the goal of getting headsets in people’s hands by April of the same year.

Which, as you can tell by the current date of September, 2023, didn’t exactly go according to plan. But hey! That’s not something rare for Kickstarter products. As such, the question really changes to: what happened?

We don’t really know, but we’re uncertain about something else too: will the Lynx-R1 even be available again for new customers? After all, the original goal was for the Lynx to be sold to businesses for about $1,500. But then, the Kickstarter thing happened and on that platform, your project is accessible to everyone.

Right now, however, the expected price of the Lynx is stated to be €1,299 (about $1,400 when directly converted). A developer kit is also available for about $900. But to whom will it be available?

So is the team behind the Lynx-R1 quietly changing strategy in accordance to the now — absolutely honestly — totally different XR landscape? Is this all with the aim of evading competition with the Quest 3 in favor of doing so with the Vision Pro?

Time will tell, now that the Lynx-R1 has finally started shipping. Naturally, Kickstarter backers will get their units delivered first. That will certainly take awhile, so the company will have some time to consider things before it makes its next move. And when that happens, we’ll make sure to let you know.