The full HTC Vive Pro consumer kit is finally coming to the UK, and it still costs lots and lots of money.
A handful of UK retailers like Overclockers and HTC itself now have the kit up for pre-order at £1,299. For that price you get the Pro, which costs £799 by itself, along with two position-tracked hand controllers and two SteamVR 2.0 Base Stations. The Pro itself improves upon the original Vive with 3K resolution and integrated audio, with the next-generation base stations are smaller, more efficient and can support more than two stations across a wider tracking area (though you’ll need to buy more).
The full kit has actually been available for the same price as an Enterprise offering for some time, though this is obviously aimed at business use. We had hoped the consumer version would cost just a little less, but no such luck.
Vive Pro is clearly geared towards the professional user, though it still has some challenges ahead of it. For starters, it looks like Valve is finally ramping up production of its next-generation SteamVR controllers, nicknamed Knuckles. These new controllers improve upon the existing Vive wands with finger-tracking and a joystick. It would definitely sting to spend $1,400 on a VR system and then find yourself having to shell out yet more money for Knuckles in the coming months.
