18 Mar A beginner’s guide to finally buying a virtual reality headset
It’s finally happening: After years of promises about virtual reality for the everyday person, this year will actually bring shoppers a variety of options.
In truth, there are probably a lot of people who have no interest in these headsets — which is totally understandable with a new technology. But if you are interested in being an early adopter, here’s a quick guide of the basics, plus a little input from my experiences with these products.
Sony Playstation VR (PS VR)
Sony’s virtual reality headset was just announced this week and is launching in October.
Pros: It’s comparatively cheap. The PS VR is $400, and it works with the Sony PlayStation 4 ($350), which may be sitting in your home now. Even if it’s not, it’s still far less expensive than the $1,000-or-so computer that you’d need to run some of the PS VR’s high-end competitors. And with Sony behind the wheel, you can probably expect that there will be good things to play and watch coming soon, thanks to Sony’s long-standing relationships with game developers and moviemakers.
Cons: It’s coming out a little later than some of the other big headsets, meaning that you may grow impatient while waiting for your device to ship. It could also deliver a slightly lower-quality experience compared to its pricier competitors. In testing it last year, I found that Sony still had some kinks to work out when it came to motion sickness — something Sony itself has acknowledged.
Buy if: You have a PlayStation already, or are looking to make a slightly smaller investment.