Comparison Among Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Sony PS VR

With the release of the Sony PlayStation VR, three anticipated virtual reality headsets, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Sony PS VR, have all been brought to us. Virtual reality experience is attracting people around the world to pay for those high-end tech products. But, it's somehow driving us crazy when it comes to decide on which one to purchase. So, before making your choice, let's check out the difference among these attention-grabbing novelties.

• Part 1. Which One Enjoys a Higher Configuration?
• Part 2. Required Compatible Device
• Part 3. Which One Boasts Better Games?
• Part 4. Which One is At a Lower Price?

Part 1: Which One Enjoys a Higher Configuration?

Sony PlayStation VR is outfitted with a 5.7-inch OLED display with 960x1080 resolution per eye. The latency is 18ms. PS VR has a maximum 120Hz refresh rate and minimum90Hz. Also, it enables 360-degree positional tracking with nine LEDs around. It offers a 110-degree field of view and supports the motion-enabled Dual Shock 4 as well as PS Move controller. PS VR's size is 187x185x277mm at the weight of 610g. It is bundled with a stereophone supporting 3D audio and has HDMI port and an AUX cord. However, it needs a PS4 camera at extra charge to track movements.

Oculus Rift has two OLED displays with a total resolution of 2160 x 1200 and a 90Hz refresh rate, providing a 110 degrees field of view. It has its exclusive headphone which enables 3D audio. Apart from these, Oculus Company is developing Oculus Touch that works with the Rift. The Rift applies to optical tracking technology, using a tracking sensor to detect the movements via tracking the infrared LEDs embedded all the way round the headset.

HTC Vive also has two OLED displays with 2160 x 1200 resolution. It has a 90Hz refresh rate and enjoys a 110 degrees field of view. It's equipped with an accelerometer, a gyrosensor and laser positioning sensor so that it can precisely track the movements that you're doing. The Vive also has an extra front camera, which enables to show the outline of objects in real world without taking the headset off. It works with Chaperone technology, making users get rid of objects nearby when they're walking around.

Part 2: Required Compatible Devices

PS VR: It requires a PS4 console.

Minimum PC Specs for Oculus Rift:
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 970 or AMD 290 equivalent or greater
CPU (Central Processing Unit): Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
Memory: 8GB RAM or more
Video port: Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
USB port: 2x USB 3.0 ports
OS (Operating System): Windows 7 SP1 or newer

Minimum PC Specs for HTC Vive:
Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 or AMD Radeon R9 290 or better
CPU (Central Processing Unit): Intel Core i5-4590 or AMD FX 8350 or greater
Memory: 4GM RAM or more
Video port: HDMI 1.4, DisplayPort 1.2, or better
USB port: 1x USB 2.0 or faster port
OS (Operating System): Windows 7 SP1 or newer

Part 3: Which One Boasts Better Games?

Shuhei Yoshida, the president of Sony's Worldwide Studios for Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., has claimed that over 200 developers are dedicated to creating virtual reality games for PlayStation VR. There are 65 VR games that will be lined up in PS VR, of which there are many renowned ones. Games like Dynasty Warriors 7, Final Fantasy XIV, Summer Class, and Kitchen are landing on PS VR. Shuhei Yoshida also stated that GT Sport and Tekken 7 are also coming soon. In terms of the game pricing, Sony claims that it will be scaled from $10 to $60.

Oculus Rift has 30 games available at launch, with two original VR games, respectively Lucky's Tale and Eve: Valkyrie. Moreover, there are two exclusive games, The Climb and Edge of Nowhere. It's said that Mojang is developing VR version of Minecraft for Oculus Rift.

HTC Vive boasts 20 more games than the Rift, totaling 50. Before HTC Vive was open to booking, HTC held a small-scaled exhibition in which 12 VR games has been showed to all, Space Pirate Trainer, Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives, Arizona Sunshine, Final Approach, Audioshiel, Elite: Dagerous, Budget Cuts, The Gallery：Call of Starseed, Fantastic Contraption, Cloudlands: VR Minigolf, Hover Junkers, Tilt Brush.

You can also go to this site to check out what games are already available in Oculus Rift, HTC Vive or PlayStation VR.

Part 4: Which One is At a Lower Price?

When it comes to buy one of them, pricing must be of great concern. Now, let's take a look.

PlayStation VR: $399
Oculus Rift: $599
HTC Vive: $799

It seems that the pricing of PS VR is fairly lower than the other two. However, why? Because you need to pay for PlayStation Camera and PlayStaion Move at extra charge. With the price of PS Camera set at $60 and PS Move at $30, the total expense for the whole set of PlayStation is $489. It nevertheless is less pricey than others.

As opposed to PS VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive have no accessories at extra charge. The whole set of Oculus Rift includes a Xbox One controller, an Oculus remote, an Oculus sensor, a microphone and a headset. With the Oculus Touch coming soon this year, the pricing may have a bit increase. The whole set of HTC Vive includes two wireless controllers, two base stations, a link box and a headset.



Given that both HTC Vive and Oculus Rift require a high-performance computer to work with, which would at least cost around $900, PlayStation just needs a PS4 console set at $350. It seems that PS VR has the upper hand. However, it's totally up to you. Consider carefully and make the desirable choice.