Varjo VR-3 — specification and verdict
The VR-3 puts a small, sharp focus display at 70 pixels per degree in the centre of vision and surrounds it with a 2880x2720 LCD per eye across a 115 degree horizontal field at 90 Hz. A trainee can read a printed instrument label, a control-panel legend or a serial plate without leaning in, which is the thing mainstream headsets still fail at. Eye tracking drives foveated rendering, so the picture is affordable at all only because the GPU renders sharply where the trainee actually looks. Hand tracking comes from Ultraleap Gemini, so bare-hand procedures work without controllers, which this headset does not include. None of it is standalone: the VR-3 is a tethered PC headset and renders nothing on its own.
Every VR-3 seat is a workstation: a Windows PC with a strong GPU, DisplayPort and USB cabling to the headset, and SteamVR base stations mounted and powered in the corners of the room. That makes it a fixed installation, not something a trainer carries between sites. Varjo sold the headset at 3395 USD with a mandatory first-year software subscription on top, and those subscriptions are no longer sold at all. There is no vendor MDM and no kiosk mode, so a fleet is managed as PCs rather than as devices, and hygiene comes down to wiping the foam facial interface between users.
Do not buy a VR-3 in 2026. Varjo ended software support on 1 January 2026, stopped supplying spare parts and out-of-warranty repairs, and is permanently sold out, so a second-hand unit is frozen on a 2025 software stack. If you already run working VR-3 seats, an existing pinned setup keeps going; if you need this class of resolution for new work, look at Varjo's XR-4 line instead.
How it compares within its class
The axis runs from the lowest to the highest published figure among the VR — PC-tethered devices in this catalogue. The grey tick is the median of that class.
Median for this class: 62 PPD, from 4 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: 110°, from 39 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: 500 g, from 26 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: $899, from 45 models that publish the figure.
Controllers and hand tracking
Controller
6DoF
Sold separatelyHow it is tracked
Base stations (Lighthouse)
Base stations sweep the room with lasers. Coverage comes from where the boxes are mounted rather than from what the headset can see — occlusion stops being a problem, and the boxes are a second purchase.
Other controllers
Any SteamVR (Lighthouse) controller
Index Controller · HTC Vive controller
Bare hands
Full hand skeleton
The application receives a jointed hand pose, so a scenario can check what the fingers are doing and draw the hand as it moves.
Hand tracking SDK: Ultraleap Gemini (v5)
Full specification
An em dash means the manufacturer does not publish that figure.
- ManufacturerWho makes it — and who you buy support from.
- Varjo
- CategoryWhich kind of product this is. It decides which rows below make sense at all.
- VR — PC-tethered
- Device typeWhere the computing happens, and therefore what you need to run it.
- PC-powered VR
- AnnouncedThe day it was shown, which is not the day it shipped.
- 2020-12-01
- ReleasedYear the model went on sale. Older is not automatically worse in this category.
- 2021
- AvailabilityWhether you can still order it new today.
- Discontinued
- Support endsThe date the manufacturer stops supporting it. Decisive for a fleet you are about to buy.
- 2026-01-01
- PanelThe screen type. micro-OLED gives deeper blacks and higher contrast; LCD is brighter and cheaper.
- LCD
- 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
- Eyes coveredOne eye or both. Over a full shift this is a real difference in fatigue.
- Both eyes
- Resolution per eyePixels delivered to each eye. Higher means small text and labels stay readable.
- 2880x2720
- Refresh rateImages per second. Higher feels smoother and helps people prone to motion discomfort.
- 90 Hz
- Field of viewHow much of your view the image covers. Bigger is more immersive, not automatically better for work.
- 115° horizontal
- 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.
- 70 PPD
- BrightnessIn a plant or outdoors, brightness decides legibility more than resolution does.
- Brightness: not published by the manufacturer
- WeightThe device alone. Anything above roughly 150 g is felt within an hour.
- 558 g
- Visible field of viewWhat the eye actually sees through the optics, by axis.
- Visible field of view: not published by the manufacturer
- Rendered field of viewWhat the device draws. Never smaller than what you see.
- Rendered field of view: not published by the manufacturer
- Binocular overlapWhere both eyes see the same thing — this is where depth happens.
- Binocular overlap: not published by the manufacturer
- Average pixel densityPixels per degree across the image. More is sharper.
- 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
- Subpixel layoutHow the coloured dots sit in a pixel. A stripe looks cleaner on text than PenTile.
- RGB stripe · 3 subpixels per pixel
- Foveated renderingWhether detail is dropped outside where you look, to save performance.
- Eye-tracked
- PassthroughWhat the front cameras give you: colour, grayscale, or nothing.
- Passthrough: not published by the manufacturer
- Passthrough camerasResolution, density and frame rate of that camera feed.
- Passthrough cameras: not published by the manufacturer
- IPD adjustmentMatching lens spacing to the eyes. Motorised is fastest when one headset passes between people.
- Motorised
- 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.
- 59–71 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
- Vision correctionHow somebody who wears glasses uses it, and in what dioptre range.
- Vision correction: not published by the manufacturer
- DimensionsWidth, height and depth of the device itself.
- 200 × 170 × 300 mm
- Weight with strapWith the strap it ships with — the weight you actually wear.
- 944 g
- Head strapSoft band or a rigid one. Decides how the weight sits over an hour.
- Rigid strap with a dial
- MaterialsShell and facial interface, in the vendor’s words.
- plastic · foam facial interface
- ColoursColours the manufacturer sells it in.
- Black
- Haptics in the headsetVibration in the headset itself, not in the controllers.
- No
- TrackingWhether content stays put in the room (6DoF), follows head rotation (3DoF) or is simply fixed.
- SteamVR 2.0 base stations (SteamVR 1.0 also supported)
- Base stationsWhether boxes have to be mounted on the walls before it works.
- Required
- Tracking camerasHow many cameras it uses to know where it is.
- Tracking cameras: not published by the manufacturer
- Tracking rateHow often position is recalculated. Higher is steadier.
- 1000 Hz
- Depth sensorA dedicated sensor for distance, on top of the cameras.
- Depth sensor: not published by the manufacturer
- Hand trackingWhether bare hands can operate the interface, without a controller or the phone.
- Yes
- Hand tracking detailHow much of the hand reaches the application: a pinch, or a jointed hand pose a scenario can read.
- Full hand skeleton
- Hands and controllers at onceWhether a controller in one hand and a bare hand in the other work at the same time.
- Hands and controllers at once: not published by the manufacturer
- Hand tracking SDKThe SDK an application reaches the hand tracking through, and any named modes that change how it behaves.
- Ultraleap Gemini (v5)
- Eye trackingThe headset knows where the trainee is looking. Enables sharper rendering where they look, and attention analytics.
- Yes
- Face trackingTracks facial expression — for avatars, not for training scenarios.
- No
- Body trackingHow much of the body the device knows about. Estimated legs are not tracked legs.
- None
- Controllers includedWhether motion controllers come in the box, or are bought separately — or the device is hands-only.
- No
- Controller modelThe manufacturer's own name for the controller.
- Controller model: not published by the manufacturer
- Controller tracking6DoF controllers track position and rotation, so a hand reaches in space; 3DoF only point. “None” means hands only.
- 6DoF
- Controller tracking methodWhat establishes where the controller is. It decides whether the controller keeps working behind your back or down at your hip — “6DoF” on its own does not say.
- Base stations (Lighthouse)
- Other controllersWhether the headset works with controllers other than the ones it ships with.
- Any SteamVR (Lighthouse) controller — Index Controller · HTC Vive controller
- Finger tracking on the controllerWhether the controller senses individual fingers, and how.
- Finger tracking on the controller: not published by the manufacturer
- Controller inputsButtons, sticks and triggers the controller offers.
- Controller inputs: not published by the manufacturer
- Controller hapticsVibration feedback in the hand.
- Controller haptics: not published by the manufacturer
- Controller powerDisposable cells or a built-in rechargeable — a fleet question.
- Controller power: not published by the manufacturer
- Controller weightOne controller, as the vendor weighs it.
- Controller weight: not published by the manufacturer
- Other input methodsWays in beyond controllers and bare hands.
- Other input methods: not published by the manufacturer
- Runs Skillsive appsOur own statement about whether Skillsive training applications run on it today.
- No
- Suitable for trainingOur judgement on whether it survives real deployment: comfort, hygiene, fleet management.
- No
- Kiosk mode / MDMVendor tooling to enrol devices, push an app and lock the headset to it. Practically required above ten devices.
- No
- Business tierAn official business tier, so devices belong to the company rather than to employees’ personal accounts.
- 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
- CertificationsIndustrial certifications stated on the manufacturer's own page. Empty means unconfirmed, never "probably fine".
- Certifications: not published by the manufacturer
- PortsPhysical sockets and charging contacts.
- DisplayPort · USB Type-C · headphone jack
- Wi-FiThe Wi-Fi generation — it decides how well wireless streaming holds up.
- Wi-Fi: not published by the manufacturer
- BluetoothFor controllers, headphones and accessories.
- Bluetooth: not published by the manufacturer
- Video from a computerWhether a computer can drive it, over a cable or wirelessly.
- Over a cable (DisplayPort, USB-C)
- AudioBuilt-in sound. Matters most where somebody has to hear a remote expert while working.
- Headphone jack
- MicrophoneBuilt-in microphone — the other half of talking to a remote expert.
- Yes
- MicrophonesHow many. An array picks a voice out of a noisy hall; one does not.
- Microphones: not published by the manufacturer
- Price bandThe band it sits in, rather than a price that goes stale.
- Enterprise
- Launch priceThe manufacturer's launch price. Fixed history, so it never goes stale.
- $3395
- Price by configurationWhat each configuration cost at launch.
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
Who this device is for
This was built for people whose training content is a rendered CAD model or a simulator cockpit: flight and driving simulation, design review, surgical and defence work, anywhere 70 pixels per degree in the centre of vision is the reason for the purchase. It suits a permanently installed lab with base stations on the walls and a workstation-class GPU behind every seat. It does not suit a mobile safety trainer with a case of standalone headsets.
What is missing, and what the manufacturer does not publish
Varjo publishes resolution and pixel density generously but no battery, storage or chipset figures, because there are none: everything is computed on the PC. We could not establish the year production ended, only that the model is permanently sold out and support stopped on 1 January 2026, so no discontinuation year is recorded here. The VR-3 also has no video passthrough of the XR-3 kind; VRcompare lists passthrough via the tracking cameras while Varjo's own page does not present it as a feature, so the field is left empty rather than guessed. The single panel-type field flattens a headset that genuinely uses two different panels per eye, uOLED in the focus area and LCD around it.
Varjo VR-3 in independent reviews
Reviews we consider worth your time, each with a note on what the reviewer actually tested and why it matters for a training rollout. We do not own this hardware, so the tests are theirs — the reading of them is ours.
- MRTV - MIXED REALITY TV2021
An unboxing and first impressions of a headset sold only to businesses, which is why footage of one is scarce. He walks through the human-eye-resolution display stack and the aspheric lenses — the two things this line was bought for.
Watch on YouTube - NextGenVR2021
Asks whether a business headset is any good outside the business — pros and cons, plus practical notes on comfort and distortion. The answer matters to a training buyer because a device nobody wants to wear does not get worn.
Watch on YouTube - UploadVR2020
Covers the VR-3 alongside its mixed-reality sibling at announcement, and is the clearest short account of what separated them: automatic physical IPD adjustment, eye tracking and foveated rendering as standard rather than options.
Watch on YouTube - TrackTime TV2021
A review from inside sim racing, with a chapter list that runs through specifications, pricing, displays and — importantly — system requirements. That last one is the part most reviews skip and the part that decides what PC you also have to buy.
Watch on YouTube
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Varjo VR-3 — frequently asked questions
- Does the Varjo VR-3 still work after support ended on 1 January 2026?
- Yes, an existing installation keeps working with any version of Varjo Base released before the end of 2025; the last compatible release is 4.14. What stopped is everything around it: no further updates or security fixes, no new subscriptions, no developer support, and no out-of-warranty spare parts or repairs. Varjo does not guarantee compatibility with future Windows builds, NVIDIA drivers or SteamVR updates, so plan on freezing the PC beside the headset.
- Do I need SteamVR base stations for the Varjo VR-3?
- Yes. The VR-3 has no inside-out tracking and depends on SteamVR base stations, 2.0 recommended and 1.0 supported, mounted and powered in the corners of the training room. The tracked volume is therefore a fixed installation, and mounts, base stations and cabling come on top of the headset price. Varjo's later XR-4 series dropped this requirement and tracks inside-out.
- Can I run standalone VR safety training courses on a Varjo VR-3?
- No. The VR-3 is a tethered PC headset with no onboard Android platform, so our standalone training courses do not run on it at all, and no deployment path exists that would change that. If you want our courses, buy a standalone Android headset and keep the VR-3 for the PC simulation content it was bought for, for as long as its frozen software stack holds.
Compare this device
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Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08. Manufacturer's specification
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