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HTC VIVE (2016) vs Oculus Rift (CV1)
Both devices below are described from their manufacturers’ own specification pages. Where a row does not apply to one of them, it says so rather than showing a dash — that is a different statement from “the maker does not publish it”.
HTC VIVE · Premium
Meta (Oculus) · Mid range
Differences you can see
Pictures first, table second. Every chart is computed from the same published fields you can read below it — nothing here is an illustration.
- HTC VIVE (2016)
- Oculus Rift (CV1)
Resolution per eye
Panels at true pixel scale, one inside the other.
The sharpest panel here has 0% more pixels per eye than the softest — that is what you gain on small text inside a scene.
Field of view
Seen from above. The grey area is roughly the human binocular field (~200°).
- HTC VIVE (2016)108° horizontal
- Oculus Rift (CV1)87° horizontal
The widest field here is 108°, the narrowest 87°. A pair of human eyes covers about 200° — even the best of these shows less than two thirds of that.
Launch price
On the whole catalogue’s scale, from $199 to $38500.
HTC VIVE (2016)$799
Oculus Rift (CV1)$599
$199$38500
IPD range
Against the 54–74 mm range most adults fall into.
HTC VIVE (2016)61–72 mm
Oculus Rift (CV1)58–72 mm
52 mm76 mm
The grey band is people, not hardware. Where a coloured bar stops short of it, that share of a team cannot set the headset to their eyes — and a badly set distance is the usual cause of headaches after twenty minutes.
On sale, and supported
Two different questions: how long you can still buy it new, and how long the manufacturer keeps updating it. The dashed line is the end of a three-year training programme (2029).
HTC VIVE (2016) sold 2016–2019 · no published end of support
Oculus Rift (CV1) sold 2016–2026 · no published end of support
20152030
Sold and supported are not the same thing. A model can leave the shelves while its maker keeps shipping software to the units you already own — and it can stay on the shelves with no published support commitment at all.
What actually differs
Computed from the two records, most decisive first.
Price band
- HTC VIVE (2016)
- Premium
- Oculus Rift (CV1)
- Mid range
Launch price
- HTC VIVE (2016)
- $799
- Oculus Rift (CV1)
- $599
Field of view
- HTC VIVE (2016)
- 108° horizontal
- Oculus Rift (CV1)
- 87° horizontal
Availability
- HTC VIVE (2016)
- Discontinued in 2019
- Oculus Rift (CV1)
- Discontinued
Manufacturer
- HTC VIVE (2016)
- HTC VIVE
- Oculus Rift (CV1)
- Meta (Oculus)
Announced
- HTC VIVE (2016)
- 2015-03-01
- Oculus Rift (CV1)
- 2015-05-06
Visible field of view
- HTC VIVE (2016)
- 108° horizontal · 97° vertical
- Oculus Rift (CV1)
- 87° horizontal · 88° vertical
Rendered field of view
- HTC VIVE (2016)
- 108.77° horizontal · 111.53° vertical · 113.18° diagonal
- Oculus Rift (CV1)
- 87.95° horizontal · 89.66° vertical
Binocular overlap
- HTC VIVE (2016)
- 93.45°
- Oculus Rift (CV1)
- 71.15°
Passthrough
- HTC VIVE (2016)
- Colour
- Oculus Rift (CV1)
- —
Tracking
- HTC VIVE (2016)
- SteamVR 1.0 base stations (2x Vive Base Station), marker-based outside-in
- Oculus Rift (CV1)
- outside-in, two Oculus Sensor base stations
Base stations
- HTC VIVE (2016)
- Required
- Oculus Rift (CV1)
- —
They match on 22 further specifications.
Full specification, row by row
23 of 87 rows differ.
| Specification | HTC VIVE (2016) HTC VIVE | Oculus Rift (CV1) Meta (Oculus) |
|---|---|---|
| ManufacturerWho makes it — and who you buy support from. | HTC VIVE | Meta (Oculus) |
| CategoryWhich kind of product this is. It decides which rows below make sense at all. | VR — PC-tethered | VR — PC-tethered |
| Device typeWhere the computing happens, and therefore what you need to run it. | PC-powered VR | PC-powered VR |
| AnnouncedThe day it was shown, which is not the day it shipped. | 2015-03-01 | 2015-05-06 |
| ReleasedYear the model went on sale. Older is not automatically worse in this category. | 2016 | 2016 |
| AvailabilityWhether you can still order it new today. | Discontinued in 2019 | Discontinued |
| Support endsThe date the manufacturer stops supporting it. Decisive for a fleet you are about to buy. | Support ends: not published by the manufacturer | Support ends: not published by the manufacturer |
| PanelThe screen type. micro-OLED gives deeper blacks and higher contrast; LCD is brighter and cheaper. | OLED | OLED |
| OpticsThe lenses in front of the panel. Pancake stays sharp closer to the edges than older Fresnel, which decides how much a trainee has to aim their head to read something. | Optics: not published by the manufacturer | Optics: not published by the manufacturer |
| Eyes coveredOne eye or both. Over a full shift this is a real difference in fatigue. | Both eyes | Both eyes |
| Resolution per eyePixels delivered to each eye. Higher means small text and labels stay readable. | ≈1080x1200*VRcompare | ≈1080x1200*VRcompare spec sheet |
| Refresh rateImages per second. Higher feels smoother and helps people prone to motion discomfort. | ≈90 Hz*VRcompare | ≈90 Hz*VRcompare spec sheet |
| Field of viewHow much of your view the image covers. Bigger is more immersive, not automatically better for work. | ≈108° horizontal*VRcompare estimate | ≈87° horizontal*VRcompare spec sheet |
| Pixel densityPixels per degree of view — the honest way to compare sharpness between a headset and a pair of glasses. Higher is sharper. Only shown where somebody published it; we never compute it ourselves. | Pixel density: not published by the manufacturer | Pixel density: not published by the manufacturer |
| BrightnessIn a plant or outdoors, brightness decides legibility more than resolution does. | Brightness: not published by the manufacturer | Brightness: not published by the manufacturer |
| WeightThe device alone. Anything above roughly 150 g is felt within an hour. | Weight: not published by the manufacturer | Weight: not published by the manufacturer |
| Visible field of viewWhat the eye actually sees through the optics, by axis. | 108° horizontal · 97° vertical | 87° horizontal · 88° vertical |
| Rendered field of viewWhat the device draws. Never smaller than what you see. | 108.77° horizontal · 111.53° vertical · 113.18° diagonal | 87.95° horizontal · 89.66° vertical |
| Binocular overlapWhere both eyes see the same thing — this is where depth happens. | ≈93.45°*VRcompare | ≈71.15°*VRcompare spec sheet |
| Average pixel densityPixels per degree across the image. More is sharper. | Average pixel density: not published by the manufacturer | Average pixel density: not published by the manufacturer |
| Peak pixel densityThe sharpest point, usually the centre of the lens. | Peak pixel density: not published by the manufacturer | Peak pixel density: not published by the manufacturer |
| Subpixel layoutHow the coloured dots sit in a pixel. A stripe looks cleaner on text than PenTile. | PenTile · 2 subpixels per pixel | PenTile · 2 subpixels per pixel |
| Foveated renderingWhether detail is dropped outside where you look, to save performance. | Foveated rendering: not published by the manufacturer | Foveated rendering: not published by the manufacturer |
| PassthroughWhat the front cameras give you: colour, grayscale, or nothing. | ≈Colour*VRcompare | Passthrough: not published by the manufacturer |
| Passthrough camerasResolution, density and frame rate of that camera feed. | Passthrough cameras: not published by the manufacturer | Passthrough cameras: not published by the manufacturer |
| IPD adjustmentMatching lens spacing to the eyes. Motorised is fastest when one headset passes between people. | Manual | Manual |
| IPD rangeHow far the lenses travel to match eye spacing. A narrow range excludes part of any group of adults, which matters when one headset is shared. | 61–72 mm | 58–72 mm |
| Works with glassesWhether people who wear glasses can use it — fits over them, or takes prescription lens inserts. | Works with glasses: not published by the manufacturer | Works with glasses: not published by the manufacturer |
| Vision correctionHow somebody who wears glasses uses it, and in what dioptre range. | Vision correction: not published by the manufacturer | Vision correction: not published by the manufacturer |
| DimensionsWidth, height and depth of the device itself. | ≈190 × 117 × 140 mm*VRcompare | ≈171 × 88 × 140 mm*VRcompare spec sheet |
| Weight with strapWith the strap it ships with — the weight you actually wear. | ≈555 g*VRcompare (2016 model figure) | ≈470 g*VRcompare spec sheet |
| Head strapSoft band or a rigid one. Decides how the weight sits over an hour. | Soft strap | Headband |
| MaterialsShell and facial interface, in the vendor’s words. | plastic · foam facial interface | plastic · foam facial interface |
| ColoursColours the manufacturer sells it in. | Black | Black |
| Haptics in the headsetVibration in the headset itself, not in the controllers. | Haptics in the headset: not published by the manufacturer | Haptics in the headset: not published by the manufacturer |
| TrackingWhether content stays put in the room (6DoF), follows head rotation (3DoF) or is simply fixed. | SteamVR 1.0 base stations (2x Vive Base Station), marker-based outside-in | outside-in, two Oculus Sensor base stations |
| Base stationsWhether boxes have to be mounted on the walls before it works. | Required | Base stations: not published by the manufacturer |
| Tracking camerasHow many cameras it uses to know where it is. | Tracking cameras: not published by the manufacturer | Tracking cameras: not published by the manufacturer |
| Tracking rateHow often position is recalculated. Higher is steadier. | ≈1000 Hz*VRcompare | Tracking rate: not published by the manufacturer |
| Depth sensorA dedicated sensor for distance, on top of the cameras. | Depth sensor: not published by the manufacturer | Depth sensor: not published by the manufacturer |
| Hand trackingWhether bare hands can operate the interface, without a controller or the phone. | No | No |
| Eye trackingThe headset knows where the trainee is looking. Enables sharper rendering where they look, and attention analytics. | No | No |
| Face trackingTracks facial expression — for avatars, not for training scenarios. | Face tracking: not published by the manufacturer | Face tracking: not published by the manufacturer |
| Body trackingHow much of the body the device knows about. Estimated legs are not tracked legs. | Body tracking: not published by the manufacturer | Body tracking: not published by the manufacturer |
| Controllers includedWhether motion controllers come in the box, or are bought separately — or the device is hands-only. | Yes | Yes |
| Controller modelThe manufacturer's own name for the controller. | HTC Vive controller | Oculus Touch (first generation) |
| Controller tracking6DoF controllers track position and rotation, so a hand reaches in space; 3DoF only point. “None” means hands only. | 6DoF | 6DoF |
| Finger tracking on the controllerWhether the controller senses individual fingers, and how. | Capacitive (partial) | Capacitive (partial) |
| Controller inputsButtons, sticks and triggers the controller offers. | trackpad · face buttons · index trigger · grip buttons | capacitive face buttons · capacitive thumbstick · capacitive index trigger · middle finger grip trigger |
| Controller hapticsVibration feedback in the hand. | Yes | Yes |
| Controller powerDisposable cells or a built-in rechargeable — a fleet question. | Built-in rechargeable | AA batteries |
| Controller weightOne controller, as the vendor weighs it. | 203 g | 169 g |
| Other input methodsWays in beyond controllers and bare hands. | Other input methods: not published by the manufacturer | Other input methods: not published by the manufacturer |
| ProcessorThe processor and memory inside. This is what the performance grade above is derived from. | Processor: not published by the manufacturer | Processor: not published by the manufacturer |
| CPUCores and clocks, where the manufacturer publishes them. | CPU: not published by the manufacturer | CPU: not published by the manufacturer |
| GPUThe graphics part of the chip. | GPU: not published by the manufacturer | GPU: not published by the manufacturer |
| MemoryRAM on the device. Together with the chipset it sets how complex a scene can be. | Memory: not published by the manufacturer | Memory: not published by the manufacturer |
| SD card slotWhether storage can be added with a card. | SD card slot: not published by the manufacturer | SD card slot: not published by the manufacturer |
| BatteryRuntime as the manufacturer states it. A hot-swappable pack matters more than the figure. | Battery: not published by the manufacturer | Battery: not published by the manufacturer |
| Battery capacity (Wh)Energy in the cell. Bigger is longer, given the same power draw. | Battery capacity (Wh): not published by the manufacturer | Battery capacity (Wh): not published by the manufacturer |
| Battery capacity (mAh)The same fact in the other unit vendors use. We never convert between the two. | Battery capacity (mAh): not published by the manufacturer | Battery capacity (mAh): not published by the manufacturer |
| Charge timeFrom empty to full. Rarely stated by the manufacturer, so it usually comes from whoever timed it. | Charge time: not published by the manufacturer | Charge time: not published by the manufacturer |
| ChargerPower of the supplied charger — it decides the charge time above. | Charger: not published by the manufacturer | Charger: not published by the manufacturer |
| External batteryBattery on a cable or a puck instead of on the head. | External battery: not published by the manufacturer | External battery: not published by the manufacturer |
| Charging caseExtra runtime carried in the case the glasses ship with. | Charging case: not published by the manufacturer | Charging case: not published by the manufacturer |
| Hot-swap batteryWhether a charged battery can replace the empty one without ending the session. This is what decides if a headset can hold an all-day training station. | Hot-swap battery: not published by the manufacturer | Hot-swap battery: not published by the manufacturer |
| Runs Skillsive appsOur own statement about whether Skillsive training applications run on it today. | No | No |
| Suitable for trainingOur judgement on whether it survives real deployment: comfort, hygiene, fleet management. | No | No |
| Kiosk mode / MDMVendor tooling to enrol devices, push an app and lock the headset to it. Practically required above ten devices. | No | No |
| Business tierAn official business tier, so devices belong to the company rather than to employees’ personal accounts. | No | No |
| Swappable facial interfaceRemovable, wipeable face padding. A consumable, and the difference between shared use and complaints. | Swappable facial interface: not published by the manufacturer | Swappable facial interface: not published by the manufacturer |
| CertificationsIndustrial certifications stated on the manufacturer's own page. Empty means unconfirmed, never "probably fine". | Certifications: not published by the manufacturer | Certifications: not published by the manufacturer |
| PortsPhysical sockets and charging contacts. | USB Type-A | HDMI 1.3 · USB 3.0 |
| Wi-FiThe Wi-Fi generation — it decides how well wireless streaming holds up. | Wi-Fi: not published by the manufacturer | Wi-Fi: not published by the manufacturer |
| BluetoothFor controllers, headphones and accessories. | Bluetooth: not published by the manufacturer | Bluetooth: not published by the manufacturer |
| Video from a computerWhether a computer can drive it, over a cable or wirelessly. | Video from a computer: not published by the manufacturer | Video from a computer: not published by the manufacturer |
| AudioBuilt-in sound. Matters most where somebody has to hear a remote expert while working. | Headphone jack | Built-in speakers |
| MicrophoneBuilt-in microphone — the other half of talking to a remote expert. | Yes | Yes |
| MicrophonesHow many. An array picks a voice out of a noisy hall; one does not. | Microphones: not published by the manufacturer | Microphones: not published by the manufacturer |
| Price bandThe band it sits in, rather than a price that goes stale. | Premium | Mid range |
| Launch priceThe manufacturer's launch price. Fixed history, so it never goes stale. | $799 | $599 |
| Price by configurationWhat each configuration cost at launch. | Price by configuration: not published by the manufacturer | Price by configuration: not published by the manufacturer |
| Price todayApproximate current net price in USD — a general figure, since these barely differ between regions once tax is stripped out. A snapshot from the date shown, not an offer. | Price today: not published by the manufacturer | Price today: not published by the manufacturer |
| Comfort (from reviews)How it wears over a full session. Scored from agreement between independent reviewers, not from our own testing. | Comfort (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer | Comfort (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer |
| Edge clarity (from reviews)Sharpness away from the centre of the lens. Scored from agreement between independent reviewers. | Edge clarity (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer | Edge clarity (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer |
| Tracking reliability (from reviews)How tracking holds up in poor light and fast movement. Scored from agreement between independent reviewers. | Tracking reliability (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer | Tracking reliability (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer |
| Hand tracking quality (from reviews)How usable controller-free hand tracking is in a training scenario. Scored from agreement between reviewers. | Hand tracking quality (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer | Hand tracking quality (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer |
“—” means the manufacturer does not publish that figure. “≈” with an asterisk means it was measured by somebody else — follow the asterisk for who. Prices are an indicative net figure in USD, a snapshot from the date on each model page, not an offer.
Product and company names used here are the trademarks of their respective owners and appear only to identify the hardware being compared. We are not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any of these manufacturers. Illustrations are our own.