Last month, Valve officially announced their new foray into the virtual reality space with the Valve Index. Now, Valve has officially unveiled the price, specs, and planned ship date of the new headset. The Valve Index will be the company’s first VR headset of their own following their partnership with HTC for the HTC Vive. The Valve Index is suppose to bring the best VR experiences to its users.
We’ve pushed visual, audio, and ergonomic technologies to create the best-in-class VR experience.
The Valve Index can be purchased by itself or as part of two different packages. First, the headset alone will be available to purchase for $499 USD. Another option will be the headset and controllers package. This package is priced at $749 USD. Finally, the full Valve Index VR Kit which includes the headset, controllers, and two base stations will cost $999 USD. The controllers and base stations can be purchased separately as well. The controllers by themselves will cost $279 USD and one base station will cost $149 USD. The controllers and base stations will also be compatible with HTC Vive devices.
Valve also provided the specs of the new headset as well. The Valve Index will have dual 1440×1600 RGB LCD screens. This will be better than OLED screens found in other devices. According to Valve, “In addition, the fill-factor is three times better than OLED, greatly reducing “screen door” effect.” The headset is also set to run at 120 Hz with an experimental 144 Hz mode. This will allow for a more stable and comfortable experience for users. The headset will also include off-ear headphones for increased audio quality.
The controllers were also detailed. The controllers will have 87 different sensors with the ability “to track hand position, finger position, motion, and pressure to determine user intent.” This allows for more natural handling feel in VR games. Players will be able to customize controls for games when using the controllers as well. The base stations now provide a better all around field of view, and up to four can be placed in a room to provide a 10m x 10m area of play.
You can check out the official Valve Index page for more information. Preorders for the Valve Index go live tomorrow, and Valve states the headset will ship by June 28, 2019.