HTC Vive Pro Now Available for Pre-Orders, HTC Vive Price Slashed

HTC Vive Pro, the latest virtual reality (VR) headset by the Taiwanese giant, is set to hit stores for a price as high as $799 (approximately Rs. 52,100). Pre-orders for the headset are already live through the Vive site and authorised retailers, while its shipments will begin on April 5. With this, HTC has also dropped the price of the original Vive headset to $499 (roughly Rs. 32,500) - down $100 from the current price. The company is also offering a free six-month trial to Viveport Subscription service for customers buying the Vivo Pro by June 3. The service will offer up to five titles per month from a collection of more than 400 titles available at the initial stage.

Vivo Pro purchases made after the first 60 days of orders will come with a free two-month trial. The price of Viveport Subscription will increase to $8.99 (approximately Rs. 590) on March 22. However, current subscribers and those who sign up before the increase in its price will be locked in at the existing $6.99 (around Rs. 455) price through at the end of 2018, as per the company's official announcement through a blog post.

Announced at the CES in January, the HTC Vivo Pro features a dual-OLED display with a combined resolution of 2880x1600 pixels. This is a 78 percent increase in resolution over the original Vive model. Also, the head-mounted display has upgraded ergonomics, audio support, and two front-facing cameras to enable an augmented reality (AR) experience alongside supporting VR content. There is additionally built-in headphones along with an integrated amplifier.

"With the Vivo Pro, we are delivering the best quality display and visual experience to the most discerning VR enthusiasts. Our goal has always been to offer the most premium VR platform available and to drive adoption for VR," said Daniel O'Brien, HTC Vive General Manager, US. "By lowering the price of the current Vive, we are making VR more accessible while expanding the potential market for developers."

Apart from unveiling the Vive Pro at CES 2018, HTC launched the Vive Wireless Adaptor that is designed to offer a "truly wireless" VR headset integration for both Vive and Vive Pro users. The Adaptor uses Intel's WiGig technology and operates in the interference-free 60GHz band. HTC also released an upgraded version of its VR video player Vive Video as well as launched VR Previews on Viveport to enhance VR experiences.

Unlike the Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR that both are available at $399 (approximately Rs. 26,000), the $799 price of the HTC Vive Pro is certainly quite high. But HTC claims that it has more than 3,000 titles available and is operating the Viveport content platform in over 60 countries around the globe to cater growing demands of VR. The content platform by the company solely includes premium experience in a wide variety of categories, including entertainment, education, arcade, arts and culture, and enterprise.