Is The Vive Cosmos Elite Wireless Still Worth It?
Wireless Adapter Overview
The Wireless Cosmos Elite Headset has been an outstanding piece of hardware.
Its tracked effortlessly, never really feels over encumbering, and the wireless capability for it has been worth every penny; and the freedom from cables has been nothing less than liberating.
Before we get into this any further, I want to say that I am running the HTC Vive Cosmos Elite with 2.0 SteamVR Base Stations and The Index Controllers (Index Controller Review Here). There was no compatibility issues when setting up without the Vive wands.
The HTC Vive Cosmos Elite tracking has excelled in every way the Original Cosmos has not. Compared to the original Cosmos (From which I upgraded from) with its blue face and 6 cameras, has been nothing short of a nightmare when it comes to competitive gaming and shooters.
Losing tracking though low light or when the sun goes down limited my accessibility to playing at anytime in the day. This was perpetuated by limited winter day light and default apartment light bulbs; forcing me to open my window blinds and buying brighter light bulbs for my apartment. Not to mention privacy.
Cosmos Elite Is the way to go if you are any kind of competitive gamer. It is an absolute must to have. The Base Station 2.0 tracking and set up is easy and the cable length is very generous for any apartment.
Steam VR set up is easy and very fast. You screw your mounts to the wall, or set up tripods, run your steam VR set up and you’re done. You place your headset in the middle of your play area and click a button. Then you place it on the middle of your floor to calibrate the floor and click a button. You also choose room scale or standing scale.
Standing scale gives you a big enough box for you to turn in, and the guardian is not intrusive at all.You can always go into the Steam Vr menu and “Reset Standing Position” at anytime.
The Vive Wireless Adapter
HTCs Wireless solution has been worth every pretty penny. Having the freedom to twist and turn and not be caught up in wires around your ankles at every step as been liberating. From going prone and crouching after hearing the first shot in Onward, to parrying and slicing though Skeleton Champions in Legendary Tales, it gives you a lot of freedom.
Set up is a process, and includes detaching some removable and upgrade-able parts anyway, so its not like you’re going to be damaging anything or nothing is ever going back in the right place again. Everything clips back together or velcos to each other, that’s it!
The Wireless Adapter Full Pack includes everything you need for your Vive Pro Or Cosmos Elite. It also comes with a MUCH shorter DVI cable, connecting from the headset to the wireless adapter, which then communicates with the PCIE card given in the box. Make sure you have a free x1 PCIe slot!
The wireless adapter does put off some heat, but its easily negated if you have a fan near by or play with your windows open.
It comes with a wireless battery pack that lasts for 2 hours, as well as a belt clip holder for it as well. You might want to buy 2 of these battery packs off of HTC if you are thinking about extended wireless play sessions.
Accessories
The Accessories that you can purchase for the Cosmos are modest enough. HTC has released their new Vive 3 trackers which are lighter and smaller than their 2.0 counterparts, and should offer a reduction in weight and encumbrance.
I have bought these with the upcoming Minnesota summers in mind. I can sweat a a lot even though i am balding, the heat from the wireless adapter does add to the uncomfortable factor a tad, but with these cool gaskets i was able to plug battery pack after battery pack without having to lift my headset to take a break from the sweaty foam inserts! The cool gasket pack comes with 2 inserts.
The wireless adapter I have already mentioned above, but it is almost needed to have a fully immersive experience, without having to keep your cables in mind in Virtual Reality.
Games
There are a ton of games to choose from on the steam store! Legendary Tales is already my favorite on the list of great games on steam VR. It combines the Diablo like item generator with the Oblivion Style Dungeon Crawling From the old Elder Scrolls Games while sword fighting in VR!
As VR gets traction on Steam, its best to checkout the store daily! There are a lot of great games that implement VR well, but there are also games that feel you are the camera and there are hands about as you place things, but to each their own. Give them a few minutes of your time and make your best judgement here. Some games seem like they are just a money grab.
ERGONOMICS
The HTC Vive Cosmos Elite sits on your head just fine. I have the oddest egg shaped head and i gotta say this thing sits on my head well.
Take it from a guy that has a crooked nose as well. (Thanks, Highschool) That the gap in the nasal cavity of the headset is big enough to account for huge noses like mine AND account for it being slightly off center.. So those that have huge, broken noses, don’t worry! You will be well taken care of.
The pupil adjustment feature is really nice to have as well, and just accounts for better ergonomics. It does not really feel to heavy at all, even with the added wireless adapter.
