Somnium VR1 headset launches next month, great specs and really high prices
The Somnium VR1 headset is launching next month on July 12, 2024. It’s launching in eight different variants (ouch) and every version is also quite expensive. Somnium VR1 is designed first and foremost for delivering the best PC VR experience.
The cheapest variant, Somnium VR1 Classic Edition, will cost 1,899 Euro (around $2031 USD). For comparison, a Meta Quest 3 costs $499 for the 128 GB variant. HTC Vive Pro 2, HTC’s best VR headset, costs $1,399. And the HTC Vive XR Elite, HTC’s best MR (Mixed Reality) headset, costs $999.
Other editions of the Somnium VR1 are:
The cheapest variant, Somnium VR1 Classic Edition, will cost 1,899 Euro (around $2031 USD). For comparison, a Meta Quest 3 costs $499 for the 128 GB variant. HTC Vive Pro 2, HTC’s best VR headset, costs $1,399. And the HTC Vive XR Elite, HTC’s best MR (Mixed Reality) headset, costs $999.
- Striker Edition — €2,299 (around $2,459 USD)
- Visionary Edition — €2,499 (around $2,673 USD)
- Titan Edition — €2,899 (around $3,100 USD)
- Specter Edition — €3,099 (around $3,314 USD)
- Ultimate Edition — €3,499 (around $3,742 USD)
- Translucent Limited Edition — €3,989 (around $4,265 USD)
- Military Edition — Price not published yet
I do think so many variants will just confuse consumers.
What the variants mostly differ in is what they offer instead of differing specs. All variants of the Somnium VR1 will ship with the following specs:
The main deciding factor between the variants is choosing what packaged features are worth the money for you. While the Classic Edition simply offers VR, other variants come with different combinations of VR, eye tracking, Ultraleap’s hand tracking and passthrough.
The Translucent Limited Edition is the same as the Ultimate Edition but with a transparent look. And the Military Edition is the same as the Ultimate Edition but is TAA-compliant, i.e. eligible for procurement by the U.S. government.
Somnium promises a next-level VR experience, and with specs like these I find it hard to doubt them. The VR1 might even end up as one of the best VR headsets of 2024. But their pricing model is definitely giving the Apple Vision Pro a run for its money.
- Two (2880 x 2880) QLED MiniLEDs
- Aspheric lenses
- 130° horizontal and 105° vertical FOV (field of view)
The main deciding factor between the variants is choosing what packaged features are worth the money for you. While the Classic Edition simply offers VR, other variants come with different combinations of VR, eye tracking, Ultraleap’s hand tracking and passthrough.
The Translucent Limited Edition is the same as the Ultimate Edition but with a transparent look. And the Military Edition is the same as the Ultimate Edition but is TAA-compliant, i.e. eligible for procurement by the U.S. government.
Then again, it is a high-end headset for PC VR games. So these prices, at least for the first few variants in the list above, are expected.
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