The Chinese PC giant is first out of the blocks at CES 2017 and it’s a big announcement: the new Lenovo VR Headset will cost half that of an HTC Vive.
18 months ago we reported on the announcement that Lenovo – the Chinese PC manufacturer out to conquer the world – was joining the Open Gaming Alliance. It was a nice gesture but it didn’t mean a lot in real terms, for the average PC gaming consumer.
At CES 2017 however, they’ve kicked it up a notch, with the announcement of the Lenovo VR Headset. Presumably it’s going to get a snappier name by the time they come to release it, which is planned to be sometime later this year.
What do we know about the Lenovo VR Headset so far? Not a great deal, but here’s what we do know:
- It’s going to be light – the Lenovo VR Headset is going to weigh approximately 350g on release. For context, the Oculus Rift weighs 470g and the HTC Vive tips the scales at a whopping 555g.
- It’s going to be comfortable – as well as weighing less than the competition, like the PlayStation VR headset, it’s going to carry the weight on the wearer’s forehead (rather than the bridge of their nose, which hurts after a short while).
- It’s going to be adjustable – the Lenovo VR Headset will have an adjustable dial on the back, a convenient design choice that will be familiar to anyone who’s worn a high-end sports helmet.
- It’s got dual front-mounted cameras – we don’t entirely know what they’re for yet, but the possibilities (room scale without external cameras, augmented reality) are exciting.
- It’s going to have nice screens – a pair of 1,440 x 1,440 OLED displays, in fact; the Vive is 1080 x 1200, for comparison.
- It’s going to be seriously cheap – while the HTC Vive headset comes in around $799 US, the Lenovo VR Headset is expected to be half that, around $400 US.
The final pricing, release date, and any additional peripherals – like touch controllers – for the Lenovo VR Headset are yet to be confirmed by the manufacturer. Based on what we’ve seen thus far, though, it’s a promising start.
We’ll keep you posted.
Source: Endgadget
Header Image: Also Endgadget
