Replacement parts for the Valve Index headset are now officially sold by iFixit.
iFixit is a website which offers free repair guides for a range of consumer electronics and sells repair parts and kit- including for the HTC Vive.
Valve Index launched in mid 2019. You can buy the headset, base stations and controllers separately or the full kit. Valve started selling individual controllers and the cable in mid 2021 – at the price of $149 and $129 respectively. The following parts are now available from iFixit:
Headset
- Tether and Trident Cables – $100
- Left Speaker – $50
- Right Speaker – $50
- Field of View Adjust Knob – $7
- Head Strap – $115 with tools
- Head Strap Adjust Knob – $7
- Left Eye Tube Assembly (Lens+Panel) – $135 with tools
- Right Eye Tube Assembly (Lens+Panel) – $135 with tools
- Face Gasket – $14
- Head Strap Clip – $4
- Head Strap Adjustment Pad – $13
- Front Cover – $15
- Power Supply (North America) – $30
- Power Supply (EU/UK) – $35
Controllers
- Lanyard – $6
- Left Controller Strap Adjustment and Elastic Band – $6
- Right Controller Strap Adjustment and Elastic Band – $6
Base Stations
- Power Supply (North America) – $30
- Power Supply (EU/UK) – $30
The “eye tube assemblies” – the lens and display panel – stand out as very different from the other parts offered. That’s not something we’d expected to be sold. Is it possible hardware hackers & modders could use this to build DIY headsets?
Sold at $999 for the full kit, Index has now been on the market for almost three years. It still has best-in-class tracking and audio quality but its 1600×1440 resolution has been leapfrogged both on the high end by HTC’s Vive Pro 2 (2448×2448) and on the low end by Meta’s $299 Quest 2 (1832×1920). The move to make replacement parts available definitely extends the Index’s lifespan, but there’s demand among VR enthusiasts for a new headset from Valve. Evidence found late last year suggests Valve is working on exactly that, but there’s no indication it will launch any time soon.
