New Vive Pro bundle cuts headset price by $100
HTC marks VR device's second anniversary with new offer to clarify upgrade confusion
The price of entry for the premium Vive Pro has been lowered with the announcement of a new bundle.
In an official blog post, HTC unveiled the Vive Pro Starter Kit, which will be made available through the Vive website from Friday, April 5th.
It contains the Vive Pro headset, two Vive 1.0 controllers and two 1.0 base stations for $1,099. Given that the HMD was only recently priced at $799, and the controllers and base stations sell for $129.99 and $134.99 respectively, that trims the Pro's price by $100.
The bundle has partly been introduced to clear up confusion that surrounded the Vive Pro's announcement. The upgraded headset marks a significant change over the original, but it seems some customers are unsure whether it works with the established accessories.
In addition to a 78% increase in resolution over the current Vive headset, the Vive Pro also features integrated, noise cancelling headphones with a built-in amplifier along with a redesigned head-strap that balances the weight of the headset more evenly.
Vive reiterated that the Pro is "an HMD-only upgrade because it represented the quickest path to market for the new headset."
Further down, the firm wrote: "We've got more in store soon on the full 2.0 Vive Pro kits, but it was important to us to get this out as quickly as possible."
Price has always been a major barrier to entry for virtual reality, and HTC has slashed the price of the original Vive several times in order to lower that barrier. Most recently, it cut the price to $499 after announcing the Vive Pro.
The company still expects Vive to "sevre as the entry point for most people into room-scale VR."