S S The This Pimax “5K” and “8K” were even wider, but are no longer in production and had significant distortion in the periphery.
This focus on expanding field of view is why Somnium VR1 is so bulky in an era of far slimmer pancake lens headsets.
Meta
Quest 3Somnium SpaceSomniummonster spec sheet for the timeVR1ultra-high endApple
Vision ProPimax CrystalTypeApple Vision ProStandaloneVarjo XR-4Native
Tethered
PC VR
Lenses
Pancake
Aspheric Pancake |
Maximum Field of View |
110degx96deg 130degx105deg |
|
100degx87deg (est) | Displays | 2064×2208 LCD 2880×2880 |
QD-LCD |
w/ Mini-LED | 3660×3200 | Micro-OLED | Maximum |
Refresh Rate 120Hz |
120Hz | (144Hz “experimental”) | 100Hz |
Like Valve Index and Bigscreen Beyond, Somnium VR1 uses SteamVR Tracking. That means you’ll need at minimum one | , and ideally at least two, alongside your own input devices such as Valve Index controllers. Pricing & Variants Revealed |
Somnium has revealed the pricing and configuration for the eight variants of VR1, which it calls editions. Eye Tracking |
Hand Tracking |
Passthrough Price |
Classic |
EUR1900base stationStriker
EUR2300 |
Visionary |
|||
EUR2500 | Titan | |||
EUR2900 | Specter | |||
EUR3100 | Ultimate | |||
EUR3500 | Translucent | (Limited) | ||
EUR3990 | Military | (TAA) | ||
TBA | The base Classic Edition is priced at EUR1900, and a range of editions with combinations of eye tracking, hand tracking, and passthrough are offered from EUR2300 to EUR3500. | One hundred units of a Translucent Edition that also has all three features are being sold at EUR3990, with the “clear” look that was a niche trend in consumer electronics in the early 2000s. Given how few are being made, it’s likely to sell out rapidly. | ||
Finally, a Military Edition with all three features and TAA compliance will be available through VRgineers, Somnium’s hardware partner. Somnium Space founder Artur Sychov wearing the Translucent Edition. |
Editions with eye tracking have a 120Hz infrared camera for each eye which can be used for foveated rendering and to drive your avatar eyes in platforms like VRChat. | The hand tracking sensors and software are provided by | , with a coverage field of view of 170degx170deg and 120Hz update rate. | The passthrough cameras are 12 megapixels and support foveated transport on editions that also have eye tracking. |
Launch Set For July 12 Existing reservation holders are now gradually being invited to choose their edition and place an order. |
If you haven’t already, you can | until July 10 to be able to place an order 24-48 hours before it goes on general sale, which is set to happen on July 12. | Somnium warns that new orders placed on July 12 will take weeks to ship, so recommends reserving a slot soon. | I will be attending Somnium’s launch event on July 12, and afterwards I’ll bring you my hands-on impressions of VR1, including whether its lenses live up to Somnium’s tantalizing claim of having the widest undistorted field of view of any consumer headset to date. |