HTC Vive Flow review

The Vive model has had an fascinating few years; regardless of big curiosity from customers within the early days of VR, the model has shifted extra in the direction of the B2B market over the previous few years with the likes of the Vive Professional and Vive Focus 3.  

That’s set to alter with the Vive Circulation, a VR headset that isn’t actually a VR headset. As an alternative, HTC describes its newest headset as a pair of “immersive glasses”, sporting a sunglasses-like design and a powerful light-weight construct. Intrigued? Confused? The entire above? Nice, then let me clarify.

Design & construct

• Sun shades-style design is exclusive
• Not front-heavy like normal VR headsets
• Revolutionary lens focusing system ultimate for glasses-wearers
• Wants an exterior energy supply to perform

The Vive Circulation isn’t your bog-standard VR headset, and that’s most evident from its design. It’s nearer in look to a pair of sensible glasses than a full VR headset, sporting giant brightly colored reflective lenses that look nearly trendy – if not a bit superhero-esque.

It’s not only for the type both; there are many advantages that come from a decidedly extra streamlined design.

The obvious profit is that it’s rather more light-weight than alternate options, weighing in at simply 189g – the burden of a mean smartphone – however there’s extra to it than that. The design means the headset doesn’t wrap across the prime or again of the pinnacle like different headsets, making it really feel extra comfy when worn.

That’s complemented by a soft-touch face gasket that snaps into place through magnets, or if you would like a extra open expertise, there’s additionally a nostril insert within the field.

That each one equates to a headset that’s a lot much less front-heavy than alternate options, and that expands potential use – in idea, anyway.

The draw back, for me not less than, is the inflexible arms that maintain the headset into place. They’re styled like sun shades arms however they’re longer, thicker and tighter on the rear, with a noticeable build-up of strain on the again of the pinnacle after round half-hour of use.

Accentuating the uncomfortable arms is a USB-C cable that runs from the proper arm. What’s the cable for, you ask? It’s wanted to energy the headset. Yep, the headset doesn’t include a built-in battery – or one which’ll final various seconds with out energy, anyway. How else may HTC make a headset that weighs simply 189g?

Lewis Painter / Foundry

The excellent news is that it solely wants a 7.5W energy supply to perform, which suggests you need to use your smartphone, a battery pack or virtually any USB-C port, although it’s not as handy as a built-in battery.

The show housed inside is pretty spectacular, boasting a 3.2K decision roughly cut up at 1.6K per eye, with a mixture of a 100-degree subject of view (FOV) and a 75Hz refresh charge.

It is available in at barely decrease than Meta’s standalone headset, however with a narrower subject of view, there isn’t a discernible distinction in general high quality. It’s vivid, vibrant and lots detailed for the VR experiences on supply.

The place the Circulation beats the Quest and virtually each different headset is within the lens division, with an intuitive focus system that’s ultimate for glasses-wearers.

Fairly than forcing glasses-wearers to put on the Vive Focus over their current glasses, the Circulation provides a large handbook focus vary (from 0 – +6) that negates the necessity for glasses completely. As somebody that wears glasses each day, it’s an enormous deal, and one thing I’d like to see on different VR headsets in future.

Setup & compatibility

• Solely appropriate with a small choice of Android smartphones
• Easy setup course of
• iPhone help coming someday sooner or later, however no phrase when

If there’s one sticking level for the Vive Circulation, it’ll little doubt be its compatibility.

HTC claims that the Vive Circulation doesn’t want a top-end smartphone to energy the headset, offering a £409/$425 Samsung Galaxy A52s together with the headset for evaluate, and that declare is essentially true – I did use the A52s for many VR experiences, and it ran simply fantastic.

Lewis Painter / Foundry

The issue is that the Vive Circulation isn’t appropriate with all Android smartphones, and there’s no hard-and-fast rule about which handsets do and which don’t. HTC gives a listing of confirmed fashions on its web site, however in comparison with the broader telephone business, it’s a small fraction.

It’s not even assured on top-end smartphones, as I attempted utilizing the Vive Circulation with the likes of the Oppo Discover X5 Professional and Asus ROG Cellphone 5 to seek out out that they don’t help all options and performance of the headset.

The suggestion the Vive Circulation gives when it tells you this throughout setup? To make use of one other smartphone. Contemplating most customers gained’t have a number of telephones laying round to make use of, it’s essential that you simply verify whether or not your telephone is appropriate before you purchase.

Oh, and in case you’ve obtained an iPhone, you’re fully out of luck – for now, anyway. HTC has teased that iPhone help is on the way in which, however there’s no phrase when that is perhaps.

When you’ve confirmed you’ve obtained a appropriate smartphone, the setup is a breeze. Merely obtain the Vive app from Google Play and observe the on-screen directions.

It’ll take you thru the preliminary login course of, allow you to regulate focus, check whether or not your telephone is absolutely appropriate with its telephone mirroring mode, and it’ll present you easy methods to use the controls too.

The entire course of shouldn’t take longer than 5 minutes or so, and then you definitely’re free to discover the Vive Circulation’s digital world.

The Vive Circulation expertise

• Makes use of smartphone as a controller with on-screen controls
• VR expertise is nearer to first-gen VR headsets than 2022 competitors
• Cellphone mirroring is nice for watching motion pictures, however not enjoying video games

On the coronary heart of the Vive Circulation is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR1 chipset, which got here out means again in 2018 and is fairly underpowered in comparison with the upgraded XR2 chipset discovered within the likes of the standalone Meta Quest 2 and HTC’s personal Vive Focus 3.

For that cause, the VR expertise isn’t fairly as high-end as Meta’s possibility, operating a customized model of Android with help for 2 important capabilities; immersive VR experiences and the power to reflect your telephone’s show nearly.

It’s the latter that’s most fascinating for customers, however there’s loads to unpack first.

Monitoring

Firstly, two embedded cameras mounted within the lenses of the sunglasses-style VR headset allow positional monitoring in an area of as much as 4m x 4m.

It’s the same system to the Quest 2 and HP Reverb G2, however with far fewer cameras than alternate options, the Vive Circulation’s positional monitoring can typically really feel floaty and extra akin to a primary 3DoF smartphone VR viewer than a ‘correct’ VR headset.

Lewis Painter / Foundry

It has even misplaced monitoring fully every so often, inflicting an error to pop up on display screen till monitoring is resumed.

It’s controversial that the linked nature of the headset means it’s higher suited to sit-down experiences, and this doesn’t impression the general expertise too a lot, however the hit-and-miss monitoring means you gained’t really feel comfy getting up and transferring round in VR even in case you needed to.

Controller

You may’ve observed that I’ve but to say the controller used with the Vive Circulation, and that’s as a result of there isn’t one. As an alternative, you work together with the digital world utilizing your linked smartphone as a controller.

The concept appears strong, particularly when you think about that the majority use instances for the Vive Circulation are whenever you’re travelling, because it means you don’t want to hold round a further controller in addition to the headset, your telephone and doubtlessly a battery pack too.

Nonetheless, the implementation is much from ultimate.

As soon as arrange in your smartphone, the digital controller UI ought to seem on-screen whenever you put the Vive Circulation on. Activate it by holding two fingers on-screen and disable it by swiping down from the highest of your show.

Lewis Painter / Foundry

The smartphone controller primarily gives a laser pointer and 4 buttons – System Menu, Choose, Set off (which is interchangeable with Choose relying on the app, confusingly) and App Menu. The issue is that you simply’re sporting a VR headset and you’ll’t really feel the completely different buttons on a flat touchscreen, so mispresses are annoyingly commonplace.

The larger concern is that, with out a devoted controller, the system is restricted to utilizing the gyroscope of your telephone to trace its place, and meaning it doesn’t present true 1:1 monitoring.

Your telephone is perhaps in a single place in VR and one other in the actual world, making for a disjointed, floaty expertise, additional pissed off by awkward UI placements that typically make it onerous to navigate throughout digital menus with out having to awkwardly angle your controller.

Basically, it’s extra according to the 3DoF controller of the Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream, headsets that have been launched means again in 2016, and may actually detract from the VR expertise – particularly in devoted VR apps.

HTC claims that hand monitoring is coming, however as with iPhone help, there’s no phrase as to when to count on it.

VR apps

You may entry HTC’s Viveport VR storefront from inside the headset, permitting you to put in a variety of VR apps. However, in case you’re picturing titles like Beat Saber and Resident Evil 4, you’ll doubtless be dissatisfied.

As an alternative, the providing is extra akin to that of early VR viewers like Google Cardboard and Gear VR, with primary look-and-shoot video games, on-wheels VR experiences and different simplistic VR apps.

There are a couple of exceptions to the rule, with (the aptly named) Circulation providing a novel method to meditate whereas protecting your eyes open, and the artwork type of Curious Alice gives a genuinely distinctive expertise (even when gameplay is relatively primary) but it surely’s definitely restricted in comparison with Meta’s providing.

Vive / Vive Arts

The opposite drawback is that the ageing Snapdragon XR1 chipset within the headset can typically battle to energy the experiences accessible on Viveport, with some struggling to keep up an honest 75fps (the broadly regarded minimal for VR with out inducing movement illness and discomfort).

The caveat to all that is that it has the potential to enhance over time, but it surely wants extra content material particular to the Vive Circulation and its distinctive capabilities. Extra meditation apps like Circulation, and fewer first-gen VR video games, please!

Cellphone mirroring

Whereas the library of standalone VR apps leaves a lot to be desired, the primary draw of the Vive Circulation for a lot of would be the capacity to reflect your telephone’s show inside the headset on a big, curved 100in show.

HTC opted to make use of Miracast mirroring know-how rather than utilizing the USB-C cable to reflect any linked show, primarily as a result of Miracast helps you to work together along with your smartphone show whereas in VR. It’s additionally by the way one of many huge limitations with smartphone compatibility talked about earlier, however hey, if it really works it really works!

Utilizing the smartphone controller, you may scroll by Instagram, TikTok and another app you will have put in in your smartphone. It’s absolutely appropriate with apps that use DRM like Disney+ and Netflix, permitting you to get pleasure from a cinema-esque huge display screen expertise wherever you’re.

Lewis Painter / Foundry

It additionally brings added perks in comparison with native VR counterparts for the likes of Netflix, with the power to browse for what you need to watch outdoors of the headset and save content material domestically for offline playback – if it’s in your telephone, it’s on the headset, prepared to make use of.

The backless design of the glasses additionally means it’s simpler to put again and luxuriate in an episode of Stranger Issues on Netflix than most different headsets.

However, in a operating theme for the Vive Circulation, there’s a caveat to the telephone mirroring capabilities.

Whereas Miracast undoubtedly has VR-focused advantages over utilizing easy USB-C show mirroring that isn’t interactive, it additionally means there’s a slight show lag. It’s lower than a second, however that delay means you may’t reliably play video games – native or cloud-based – on the Vive Circulation.

That’s an actual disgrace too, contemplating simply how giant that digital show is.

It additionally means you can’t mirror, say, a USB-C-connected laptop computer, increasing the Vive Circulation’s capabilities from leisure to work.

It’s price declaring that the Nreal Air AR glasses do use USB-C connectivity for show mirroring, and whilst you can’t work together with it in the identical means because the Vive Circulation, the low latency, nice show high quality and the power to play cloud video games like Pink Lifeless Redemption 2 on a digital show is an actual deal with.

If that’s extra your factor, maybe Nreal’s possibility is best suited to you – and it’s slightly cheaper too.

Lewis Painter / Foundry

Worth

The Vive Circulation is available in at a not-insignificant £499/$499, making it a tough promote when in comparison with the bulkier, but additionally far more succesful £299/$299 Meta Quest 2. Even the Nreal Air glasses, with lagless mirroring and AR capabilities, prices much less within the UK at £399.

If you’re tempted, you should buy the Vive Circulation from the Vive web site in addition to retailers like Amazon (albeit at a premium) with a free protecting case and a free Viveport Infinity trial to sweeten the deal.

To see how the Vive Circulation compares to the competitors, check out our choice of one of the best VR headsets.

Verdict

The concept behind the Vive Circulation is strong; supply an entertainment-focused digital expertise that doesn’t want the graphical grunt of the Meta Quest 2, saving on general weight and bulk for a extra comfy encounter.

The flexibility to reflect your telephone’s show is a superb contact, permitting you to stream from the likes of Netflix and Disney+ onto a curved 100in show in a digital area with out a cable – although you’ll nonetheless must plug the headset’s USB-C cable into one thing to provide it energy, missing an inner battery.

The issue is that the core VR expertise is extra akin to that of a first-gen VR headset than one thing accessible in 2022, whereas the telephone controller is a good suggestion with a considerably flawed execution.

Couple that with spotty Android telephone help, a excessive price ticket and mirroring lag that makes enjoying video games unattainable and it’s a fairly onerous promote, with Nreal Air providing a greater mirroring expertise and the Quest 2 providing a greater VR expertise, each at a less expensive value level than Vive’s possibility.