VIVE Focus 3 — specification and verdict
VIVE Focus 3, on sale from June 2021, was HTC's answer to enterprise VR and it still reads well: 2448 x 2448 pixels per eye at 90 Hz behind dual-element Fresnel lenses, up to 120 degrees of field of view, and a Snapdragon XR2 with 8 GB of memory, 128 GB of storage and microSD support up to 2 TB. The details that matter in a shared room are the physical ones. The 26.6 Wh battery is removable and swappable, so a charged pack drops in and the session continues; face and rear cushions attach magnetically and wipe clean; the 150 mm facial interface accommodates wide eyeglasses; an active cooling mechanism holds temperature over long sessions; and interpupillary distance runs 57 to 72 mm on a dial you can turn while wearing it. Hand tracking is built in at 26 points. Pass-through is monochrome — HTC lists four tracking cameras and no RGB camera, which is exactly what separates it from the Focus Vision.
HTC's own product page now opens with "VIVE Focus 3 is no longer available" and sends buyers to the Focus Vision, so this is a fleet-management story rather than a purchasing one. The management layer outlived the hardware on the price list: VIVE Business+ and the device management service still cover it, HTC documents kiosk mode, and there are step-by-step guides for enrolling it in Microsoft Intune and VMware. Commercial use was always tied to activating the two-year Business Warranty & Services account within 90 days of purchase, which is a detail worth checking on second-hand units. Our courses run on it — it is Android-based standalone XR, the platform we build for.
If you have a room of Focus 3 headsets, keep running them: the hot-swap battery and the wipeable magnetic cushions still solve problems that newer consumer hardware does not, and existing fleets deliver training perfectly well. Do not chase them on the used market for a new programme — the successor is the Focus Vision, which keeps the swap battery and adds colour pass-through, eye tracking and motorised IPD, with a warranty you can actually claim.
How it compares within its class
The axis runs from the lowest to the highest published figure among the VR — standalone devices in this catalogue. The grey tick is the median of that class.
Median for this class: 102°, from 24 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: 180 min, from 24 models that publish the figure.
Full specification
An em dash means the manufacturer does not publish that figure.
- ManufacturerWho makes it — and who you buy support from.
- HTC VIVE
- CategoryWhich kind of product this is. It decides which rows below make sense at all.
- VR — standalone
- Device typeWhere the computing happens, and therefore what you need to run it.
- Standalone VR, also PC-powered
- AnnouncedThe day it was shown, which is not the day it shipped.
- 2021-05-11
- 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.
- Support ends: not published by the manufacturer
- 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.
- Fresnel lenses
- Eyes coveredOne eye or both. Over a full shift this is a real difference in fatigue.
- Eyes covered: not published by the manufacturer
- Resolution per eyePixels delivered to each eye. Higher means small text and labels stay readable.
- 2448x2448
- 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.
- 120° 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.
- 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
- WeightThe device alone. Anything above roughly 150 g is felt within an hour.
- Weight: not published by the manufacturer
- 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.
- 117.22° horizontal · 96.46° vertical
- Binocular overlapWhere both eyes see the same thing — this is where depth happens.
- 79.13°
- Average pixel densityPixels per degree across the image. More is sharper.
- 20.4 PPD horizontal (computed)
- 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
- Foveated renderingWhether detail is dropped outside where you look, to save performance.
- Foveated rendering: not published by the manufacturer
- PassthroughWhat the front cameras give you: colour, grayscale, or nothing.
- Grayscale
- 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.
- 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.
- 57–72 mm
- Works with glassesWhether people who wear glasses can use it — fits over them, or takes prescription lens inserts.
- Yes
- 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.
- Dimensions: not published by the manufacturer
- Weight with strapWith the strap it ships with — the weight you actually wear.
- Weight with strap: not published by the manufacturer
- 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 · magnesium alloy frame · PU leather 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.
- inside-out 6DoF
- Base stationsWhether boxes have to be mounted on the walls before it works.
- Not needed
- Tracking camerasHow many cameras it uses to know where it is.
- 4
- Tracking rateHow often position is recalculated. Higher is steadier.
- 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
- Hand trackingWhether bare hands can operate the interface, without a controller or the phone.
- Yes
- Eye trackingThe headset knows where the trainee is looking. Enables sharper rendering where they look, and attention analytics.
- No
- 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.
- Yes
- Controller modelThe manufacturer's own name for the controller.
- Vive Focus 3 Controller
- Controller tracking6DoF controllers track position and rotation, so a hand reaches in space; 3DoF only point. “None” means hands only.
- 6DoF
- Finger tracking on the controllerWhether the controller senses individual fingers, and how.
- Capacitive (partial)
- Controller inputsButtons, sticks and triggers the controller offers.
- Capacitive face buttons · capacitive joystick · capacitive touch pad · capacitive index trigger · middle finger trigger
- Controller hapticsVibration feedback in the hand.
- Yes
- 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.
- 142 g
- Other input methodsWays in beyond controllers and bare hands.
- Other input methods: not published by the manufacturer
- PerformanceHow much the headset can run — sharper scenes, more objects, smoother mixed reality. Higher is better.
- Basic
- ProcessorThe processor and memory inside. This is what the performance grade above is derived from.
- Snapdragon XR2
- CPUCores and clocks, where the manufacturer publishes them.
- Octa-core Kryo 585 (1 x 2.84 GHz, 3 x 2.42 GHz, 4 x 1.8 GHz)
- GPUThe graphics part of the chip.
- Adreno 650
- MemoryRAM on the device. Together with the chipset it sets how complex a scene can be.
- 8 GB
- PlatformThe platform an application is built against — and what an MDM has to speak.
- Android
- StorageOn-board space for downloaded courses. More matters for an offline library in several languages.
- 128 GB
- SD card slotWhether storage can be added with a card.
- Yes
- BatteryRuntime as the manufacturer states it. A hot-swappable pack matters more than the figure.
- 120 min
- 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 (mAh)The same fact in the other unit vendors use. We never convert between the two.
- 7000 mAh
- Charge timeFrom empty to full. Rarely stated by the manufacturer, so it usually comes from whoever timed it.
- 90 min
- ChargerPower of the supplied charger — it decides the charge time above.
- 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
- Charging caseExtra runtime carried in the case the glasses ship with.
- 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.
- Yes
- Runs Skillsive appsOur own statement about whether Skillsive training applications run on it today.
- Yes
- Suitable for trainingOur judgement on whether it survives real deployment: comfort, hygiene, fleet management.
- Yes
- Kiosk mode / MDMVendor tooling to enrol devices, push an app and lock the headset to it. Practically required above ten devices.
- Yes
- Business tierAn official business tier, so devices belong to the company rather than to employees’ personal accounts.
- Yes
- Swappable facial interfaceRemovable, wipeable face padding. A consumable, and the difference between shared use and complaints.
- Yes
- 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.
- 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C
- Wi-FiThe Wi-Fi generation — it decides how well wireless streaming holds up.
- WiFi 6E
- BluetoothFor controllers, headphones and accessories.
- Bluetooth 5.2
- Video from a computerWhether a computer can drive it, over a cable or wirelessly.
- Over a cable · Wireless (Vive Business Streaming)
- AudioBuilt-in sound. Matters most where somebody has to hear a remote expert while working.
- Built-in speakers · 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.
- Launch price: not published by the manufacturer
- 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
Average pixel density is our own arithmetic: panel pixels divided by the field of view on the same axis. It is the standard approximation, and it runs lower than a published peak figure because a lens packs pixels denser at the centre.
Who this device is for
Focus 3 is the previous generation of the business VIVE, and a lot of company fleets are still built on it: 2448x2448 per eye, a 120-degree field of view, a hot-swappable battery, device management and enterprise licensing. Our courses run on it. HTC has discontinued it, so this page is for the organisations that own one and are deciding when to move to Focus Vision.
How it differs from its predecessor
Against VIVE Focus Vision the panel resolution is identical, and what the newer model adds is eye tracking, a second refresh rate, the DisplayPort mode for wired PC VR and a newer processor. Focus 3 keeps one advantage many buyers miss: the swappable battery, which is why a hall full of them can run all day.
What is missing, and what the manufacturer does not publish
Discontinued, so support, spares and batteries come from the channel that is left. There is no eye tracking, no wired PC VR mode, the refresh rate is a single 90 Hz, and storage is 128 GB. The Fresnel optics also show more glare than the pancake stacks that replaced them.
VIVE Focus 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
The launch review that put it where it belongs: a business headset first, and only then an enthusiast option. Useful for the swappable-battery and comfort sections, which are the features it was actually designed around.
Watch on YouTube - Cas and Chary XR2021
A full review a few months after release, calling it the best standalone of its moment and then explaining the buts. The image-quality passages still describe a 2448x2448 panel that outclasses far newer devices.
Watch on YouTube
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VIVE Focus 3 — frequently asked questions
- Is the VIVE Focus 3 battery really swappable during a training session?
- Yes — the battery sits at the back of the strap and comes off without tools, so a charged one goes in and the session continues. In a full-day training hall that is the difference between one set of headsets and two, and no other device in this catalogue does it as simply.
- Should a company with VIVE Focus 3 headsets upgrade to Focus Vision?
- Only if eye tracking or wired PC VR is on the requirement list. The panel is the same 2448x2448 in both, so trainees will not see a sharper image; what changes is the tracking data you can collect and the ability to drive the headset from a PC.
Compare this device
Consider these too
The nearest devices in the same class, ranked by availability and launch price — not by our opinion of them.
Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-07-30. Manufacturer's specification
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.