Last month, virtual reality heavyweight, Oculus, debuted its new Oculus Rift S head mounted display (HMD). The new flagship headset is now available through the Microsoft Store. While that’s not big news in itself, the price of the device is.
Oculus Rift S is available for $399, which puts it directly in line with Microsoft OEM partner build Windows Mixed Reality HMDs. It is also significantly less that the launch price of the old Rift, which cost $599 when new.
It is worth noting the Oculus Rift S is currently only available for pre-order. When the device was launched in Marsh, Oculus was vague about its launch date. The company would only commit to a spring release for the headset.
Microsoft seems to have confirmed the date in its listing. The page says the device will start shipping from May 21.
While the price of the Rift S is less than the original Rift, as we reported the device makes some compromises. The Oculus Rift S makes several changes to the previous model, including a resolution increase from 1080 x 1200 to 1280 x 1440 for each eye.
Other changes include a framerate drop from 90hx to 80hz, while Oculus has used the same LCD screens it uses on the non-tethered Oculus Go, replacing OLED. Speaking of the Oculus Go, the Rift S sadly loses the on-ear headphones of the older Rift and replaced them with near-ear speakers like on the Go.
Won’t Work for Some
Also in March, Oculus founder Parker Luckey said the new device will only work for 70% of users.
He puts this limitation down to the adjustment system on the new hardware. The original Rift used a mechanical IPD adjustment system that allows users to move the lenses between 58mm and 72mm eye distances. For the Rift S, Oculus has not included this adjustment, opting for a fixed 64mm distance.
