If you’ve planned to explore the virtual reality world and you want to begin with Windows Mixed Reality. Here I’m going to tell you 7 Cheapest Windows Mixed reality Headset that you can also use for Steam VR.
Windows Mixed Reality is hosting tonnes of Games and other Productive App which you can use using Your VR headset. And Choosing a cheap and best VR headset is really important to enjoy your VR experience.
Headset Name | Our Rating | Buy Now |
HP - WMR Headset | ||
Lenovo Explorer Windows Mixed Reality Headset | ||
Dell VRP100 Visor with Controllers | ||
Acer Windows Mixed Reality | ||
Samsung HMD Odyssey+ |
Contents
Windows Mixed Reality Headset PC requirement
Windows Mixed Reality is One of the popular VR platforms. and I can say most popular for PC based VR experience. It has lots of games, entertainment, and productivity apps.
According to Microsoft, You’ll experience either Window Mixed Reality or Window Mixed Reality Ultra according to your system specs.
With Ultra Version You get more features and more Graphics intensive Apps and Games. Also It give you super Crisp image quality with 90 Frame Per second Refresh Rate.
So It’s clear the more advance your PC and Graphics Card is, The More You’ll Enjoy VR. So If you’re considering upgrading your Graphics Card then I would suggest you Check this Article.
Also, You get A feature of Mirror to show exact same thing on your PC desktop what you see on VR. Also, you can record and share your gameplay or app that you use in your VR headset.
HP – WMR Headset and Controllers
HP is a known face in the tech industry. This Headset of HP is one of the affordable WMR Headset in the Market. It can comfortably support almost all games in Windows Mixed Reality.
Its design feels quite premium, It’s build quality is quite superior to Acer. You will see two cameras at the front side of the Headset, which will help in tracking your movement.
It has a nice Padded Headband to give you a comfortable experience. So Overall Looks and Feel Of the headset is quite good and feels like a premium device.
If we talk about its front Visor which you can open up, if you want to see the real world in between you’re playing games. It just gets lifted up. So this is a plus point and it gives you the freedom to not remove the headset to just see the outside world.
Although It does not provide in build Audio option, You get a 3.5mm audio output jack Which you can use for headphones.
It also has quite enough room to accommodate glasses, So If you wear glasses, Most people will not see any issue in using it over the glasses. It’s so comfortable that you may even forget that you’re wearing glasses.
HP Controller
If we talk about it’s tracking and it’s the controller; You get Two infrared Cameras in front which helps in tracking your movements. It’s an “in-out” tracking so you don’t need any external tracking accessories at all. And it does its job quite perfectly.
But you may sometime see a little bit lag when your VR room is not perfectly lighted and has not tracked the room perfectly.
Wireless Controller works quite perfectly and you won’t see any lap most of the time. but when your controller is not visible to your headset then it may not work as it should. However as soon you bring your controller in front of the headset it starts working perfectly.
One Important thing to Keep in mind before purchasing is that, the word Mixed Reality Is not related to Augmented Reality.
Many Times Buyers get confused that it is also a Mixed reality platform and the Front Camera is somehow related to it. But It’s only a VR Headset and the camera You see is just for tracking purposes. So The Cameras can not be used to see the real-world in Augmented reality form.
Lenovo Explorer Windows Mixed Reality Headset
If We Talk About Tech Accessories Lenovo is also a very know brand. It is another Headset that is budget-friendly in the market.
This particular Lenovo explorer is Very much similar Like the HP, It also uses inside out tracking which makes it very easy to set up and ready to go. It also has Flip Us Visor so you don’t need to pull out the whole headset to look into the real world.
To connect with your PC it provides you a Y cable with HDMI and USB 3 Port, Just Plug in into your computer and you’re ready to dive into the VR world.
Again, Tracking of Lenovo Explorer is very similar to HP, You gets two cameras in front side which helps in scanning your VR room as well as capturing the movement of your controllers.
To truly enjoying VR, Without getting irritated because of the weight you carry on your head. Lenovo has addressed this aspect quite well and made this headset very light only weighing 380g.
It has an LCD display with a resolution of 1440 x 1440 px which gives you quite a sharp image. But it’s not much better than the HTC and Samsung HMD.
It has not in build audio output. However, you get a 3.5mm jack which you can use for earphones and microphones. Which is not that big issue headset doesn’t provide inbuilt audio in this price range.
One thing also to notice that. If your face is small or even medium sometime you’ll get outside light into your eyes which will prevent you from fully immerse into the VR.
Dell VRP100 Visor with Controllers
Another Awesome Product available in the market is the Dell Visor for the WMR. It was First launched in 2017. Its design gives quite a premium look. You get a white shining color with more compact in design.
It also uses Inside out tracking. So It also needs a lighted room to work it properly and not have any lagging issues.
If we talk about its weight then it’s neither Very Light nor very Heavy. So We can say it’s in the mid-range weighing around 590grams. So if We talk about Comfortability with this weight, then I would say it’s not that uncomfortable.
It has a nice weight transfer design which transfers weight to your forehead or says top head. There is no such comfortability issue but yeah like other headsets you’ll feel a little weight in your front side.
It also has a 1440 x 1440px screen resolution, which you also get in other competitor products. The image in the Center or sweet spot is very sharp and it gets blurry on the edge of the screen.
Dell Visor has 110 degrees of max field of view which is quite good. You get 3 meters of Combined HDMI and USB 3 Cable which you can plugin into your computer to start using the headset.
If you love to play games for a long duration and enjoy coffee and Cookies in Intervals, Then It has a nice Flip-up option that you can use to switch to the real world.
One thing that is a disadvantage of this headset is, it doesn’t come up with the IDP Adjustment Mechanism. So You’ll have to use software adjustment, which sometimes it’s a lengthy process. It has no build-in audio but you of course get a 3.5m audio jack.
Controller:
If we talk about the controller, The material of the controller is not impressive. it could have been better. It uses Bluetooth to connect with the PC.
Although Controllers are smooth. However, if you see any lag then you can try this, You just check if there is any other Bluetooth device is not paired with your PC. Because Bluetooth has very limited bandwidth capacity and the controller sends quite a large number of tracking data.
so you should not pair any other device which causes the distribution of bandwidth.
Acer Windows Mixed Reality Headset (AH101-D8EY)
Acer was the first WMR headset that came along with Microsoft’s Windows Mixed reality headset. It gave hope that Windows Based VR is going to economic and budget-friendly option.
It has a fairly Nice display of resolution 2880 x 1440 px with 100 degrees of field of view. Which is a little lesser than Samsung HMD.
The design of the headset with a blue and black plastic outlook gives a vibrant feeling compared to other flat colored headsets like Oculus Rift and Lenovo explorer.
If we talk of its comfortability, it’s quite promising, Visor and Headband can be adjusted with the tightening of the screw wheel at the back of the head.
It comes with 11 feet of cable with USB 3.0 and HDMI cable which is a good length. At this length, you can freely do your movement while gaming. Again you don’t get any in build Headphones but yeah you get a 3.5mm audio jack which of course you can use for external earphones or headphones.
The performance of this device is average which will support almost all the WMR games. You can also use this to play Steam VR games however it’s not that great with steam VR. You’ll feel lag once in a While.
This device gives the advantage of fairly easy to set up because of In-out Tracking. The controller of this device is average, But again like other devices if you’re controller is not in headset coverage you’ll see lag.
Samsung HMD Odyssey+
If you have the budget then this headset is worth buying. This headset is more superior to the other we talked earlier.
The first Noticeable improvement you’ll see is its display. It has 2880x1600px of resolution which is far better than HP and Lenovo Explorer. And a Refresh rate of 60/90Hz which is good. So If you’re a fan of the sharp and big screen then this headset is made for you.
However, Its Field of View is 110 degrees which could have been better. Sometimes it looks like you’re looking out of any whole. but overall you’ll enjoy a crisp and sharp view.
Another Major improvement you’ll see in this VR headset is build-in Headphones which you don’t see generally. Its sound quality is quite good which gives you 360 degrees of sound experience.
This headset in itself is a complete piece as it offers inbuilt audio and an awesome controller with a Nice Display, So you truly enjoy using it.
If we talk about its design and comfortability and build quality material of the controller. The Headset in itself is nothing exceptional in design just you get a flip-up visor with a rounded headband. Which nicely distributes the weight of the headset to your head. And it feels very comfortable with weighing less than 1.5 pounds.
Controllers are also made with good quality material but one downside I see is no improvement in its design which looks quite old-fashioned to me.
This headset also uses Inside out tracking thus it also loses tracking when your controller is not in view of the headsets. as this is a limitation of inside-out tracking.
Conclusion:
We are seeing Microsoft is pushing windows mixed reality by adding more and more VR games and APPs in its library. We search for the suitable and cheapest windows mixed reality headset which can fulfill the requirement to use VR apps.
I also included some of these headsets in 7 Way To Play Beat Saber. So do check if you’re a fan Of the Beat Saber Game.
Initially, Microsoft came with the Acer VR headset. But as of now, Many brands are producing their version of the Headset with the parameter set by Microsoft. So all the listed above headsets can easily support almost all games. WMR also requires you to have a good gaming PC so also keep this in mind before you purchase the headset.