Varjo Aero

Zeeflyboy · 21 Oct 2021 at 13:30

So Varjo has a new consumer facing headset, the Aero.

Looks like mini led displays (2880x2720 per eye… 35ppd), aspheric lenses (little to no glare/god rays and better clarity), eye tracking and auto IPD… FoV allegedly 115 degrees.

No built in audio, but does come with earphones.

Lighthouse tracking, but if you don’t already have lighthouses and controllers you can add that to the purchase price.

price for just the headset a cool $2000

review from MRTV:

Through the lens comparison with G2 (doesn’t look a whole lot different from this imo so look forward to more reviews because through the lens is after all only part of the story).

I knew it would be pricey, but how ouch. Who here is going to buy one?

Full launch event in a couple of hours from Varjo themselves.

Edit - product page https://aero.varjo.com/product/varjo-aero/

Tykey · 21 Oct 2021 at 13:34

https://aero.varjo.com/

1990 euros PLUS tax! Plus controllers and basestations if you dont have them. Thats near 3k! Sorry, too expensive for me, and i have the money, but its just too much.

Ravenger · 21 Oct 2021 at 13:50

tyke_ said:
https://aero.varjo.com/

1990 euros PLUS tax! Plus controllers and basestations if you dont have them. Thats near 3k! Sorry, too expensive for me, and i have the money, but its just too much.

You can buy an Oculus Quest 2, Valve Index, and a HP Reverb G2 together and it's stlll cheaper than this headset!

Zeeflyboy · 21 Oct 2021 at 13:55

I knew it would be expensive, but I must admit I was hoping for a full package under the £1500 mark

I feel like this has a very niche audience at that price tag, even if it is amazing. I can’t see myself plumping up that much cash, there’s no single stand out feature that seems to make it worthwhile.

Roll on Pimax frontier and Facebook connect next I guess! (And I really hope valve spills some beans on index 2 plans shortly!).

stephenb · 21 Oct 2021 at 14:18

At that price too rich for me. Still looking like G2 in the near future unless Facebook pull out a surprise with a new PC VR headset.

Zeeflyboy · 21 Oct 2021 at 14:41

@stephenb Well worth waiting till the end of the month so we know what’s happening with Pimax frontier (25th now I think) and Facebook connect (28th).

I’m sure this thing is lovely, but for that price point I’d want the 4k uOLED and varifocal lenses teased for other upcoming headsets like the deckard… I just don’t see a wow factor justifying that price. But then I haven’t used one, so perhaps you just need to try one on before being convinced to open your wallet!

Zeeflyboy · 21 Oct 2021 at 15:02

More impressions

ShiWarrior · 21 Oct 2021 at 15:39

i still would rather have no wires, no base stations, no satellites

well, they wouldn't fit in here anyway !

im waiting for the Index 2 price

Vega · 21 Oct 2021 at 17:23

Ordered the Varjo Aero early this morning. Hopefully I am not too far down the list!

ShiWarrior · 21 Oct 2021 at 17:27

it looks really big

Ravenger · 21 Oct 2021 at 17:30

Vega said:
Ordered the Varjo Aero early this morning. Hopefully I am not too far down the list!

Nice! Will be great to hear your feedback when you eventually get it.

One of the good things about having an Index system is that I can always upgrade my headset later if something better comes along, but £2000 is very hard for me to justify.

Zeeflyboy · 21 Oct 2021 at 18:24

Vega said:
Ordered the Varjo Aero early this morning. Hopefully I am not too far down the list!

Awesome, look forward to your thoughts.

What VR headset do you have already (if any!?).

Alan McFall · 21 Oct 2021 at 19:22

Looks like a serious bit of kit, love the IPD setup, should now become a standard !

drakulton · 21 Oct 2021 at 22:33

These are still enterprise prices, only the hardcore VR-ist is going to bite. I will not be one of them.

Vega · 22 Oct 2021 at 00:47

Zeeflyboy said:
Awesome, look forward to your thoughts.

What VR headset do you have already (if any!?).

I think I've owned them all at some point?

Andy D · 22 Oct 2021 at 08:57

Seeing as this will probably be old tech after a year or 2 I wouldn’t mind spending this sort of money if resale value was good. A high end TV for example wouldn’t really need a change for a good few years.
This is compared to a GPU where you could get most your money back selling 2 years later.
Now a new Quest model every 12 months for £300-£400 would be much less painful.

BigBANGtheory · 22 Oct 2021 at 11:22

I find it interesting that the lens choice has apparently sacrificed FoV to gain clarity, and they've opted for mini-LED over OLED.

Cost isn't surprising as they cant undercut their enterprise offerings and they aren't looking to produce the volumes compared to Index and Quest... Its not a proper consumer headset imho but its good to see hardware improvements as they should filter down over time. I'd love to see one though in the flesh its hard to judge 2nd hand and MRTV tends to have a positive spin on all things VR

Valve Deckard even as a vapourware prototype has me more interested as a device to raise the VR enthusiast bar up to v2.0

smilertoo · 22 Oct 2021 at 16:08

£2400 is too much for me, especially as i need to add base stations and controllers to that.

Toekiller · 22 Oct 2021 at 17:23

Maybe if you have an index or a vive and have the controllers and base stations but to start from scratch, no thanks :/ From a headset point of view some of the specs certainly look interesting. Flat lenses, though do you need motorised IPD? New high resolution panels look interesting as well. Ultimately for me as a G2 owner, and the speed at which VR is progressing it's not worth it for the small jump in visuals.

My next headset will have inside out tracking, flat lenses ideally with IPD and distance correction, larger sweet spot, wider FOV and a small res bump.

Zeeflyboy · 22 Oct 2021 at 22:12

Pretty candid video about the shortcomings, but sounds like the visual experience really is something special...

So the real question, who is going to let me have a go on theirs?!