Every thing we all know thus far and what we wish to see

Regardless of launching over 4 years in the past, the Valve Index stays one of the vital superior PC VR headsets. Competitors within the high-end section has slowed down fairly a bit, with Meta giving up the Quest Professional sequence in an effort to shift focus to cheaper VR headsets just like the Quest 3. This might all change sooner or later, particularly with Apple’s high-end Imaginative and prescient Professional on its approach early subsequent 12 months. Will Valve launch an Index 2 in an effort to keep aggressive? Good query.

Right here’s the whole lot we all know in regards to the Valve Index 2 and what we’d prefer to see from it.

The VR business continues to be a rising and evolving market with its personal distinctive ebb and movement. We frequently see new merchandise just like the PSVR 2 and Meta Quest 3 spark new curiosity from mainstream shoppers, just for VR to considerably fade into the background as soon as extra. Rinse and repeat.

As we talked about briefly above, the market might warmth up as soon as once more with Apple’s upcoming entrance into the area. This would possibly drive Valve into releasing an Index 2. Whereas there aren’t any official particulars about Valve’s plans, at the very least just a few rumors counsel Valve is engaged on one thing.

A South Korean radio certification for a Valve product referred to as 1030 has surfaced. This aligns with Valve’s earlier inside labels for merchandise, because the Steam Deck was listed as 1010, and the unique Valve Index was beforehand listed as 1007. Judging by the numbers, that is extra more likely to be tied to the Steam Deck, however once more we are able to’t say for positive.

Extra compelling, Steam knowledge miner Brad Lynch famous the Steam shopper’s September replace included quite a lot of VR-specific strings associated to batteries, supporting the concept Valve may be engaged on a standalone VR headset. Would this headset exchange the Index or increase it as a less expensive cell possibility? That’s more durable to guess.

What we do know is that the Valve Index continues to be thought-about one of the vital highly effective options for VR. This makes it not solely widespread with VR lovers but additionally with companies adopting VR for causes past leisure. That stated, perhaps they’ve seen the Quest’s success on the low finish and wish to go after a extra mainstream viewers.

Given this early proof, we’d say it’s fairly possible an Index 2 will occur, it’s simply a lot more durable to gauge whether or not it should find yourself titled as a full successor or simply the launch of a brand new product line. For now, we’ll proceed to confer with it because the Valve Index 2 on this submit, only for simplicity.

What’s the most probably Valve Index 2 launch date?

• Valve Index — June 28, 2019

The unique Valve Index arrived in June of 2019 and is the primary and solely member of the Index household thus far, making it onerous to attract any conclusions on when the Valve Index 2 launch date may be.

There have been rumors earlier this summer season claiming an Index 2 launch would occur this 12 months, nevertheless it’s getting very near the tip of the 12 months now. If a launch continues to be taking place, it must occur imminently. In spite of everything, in the event that they wait any longer than late October or early November, it could be too late to make its approach onto any vacation procuring lists.

If Valve chooses to attend till subsequent 12 months, we’d say an early to mid-2024 launch could be very attainable. Once more, that’s actually simply based mostly on hypothesis.

What specs and options might the Valve Index 2 have?

Thus far, the rumors haven’t given us too many particulars, aside from the beforehand talked about code machine suggesting it might need its personal battery. It’s additionally onerous to say whether or not this is able to be a real stand-alone or simply one thing that doesn’t require direct tethering.

There have been just a few current patents for VR headset designs from Valve in 2023, however patents typically are nearly testing new issues and don’t essentially translate into real-world product adjustments. Nonetheless, it’s value noting probably the most current patent render didn’t look a lot totally different from the Valve Index — suggesting Valve is both taking part in its playing cards near its vest, or it isn’t possible going to rock the boat an excessive amount of on design.

Past that? If Valve is planning a extra moveable possibility, it’s attainable it’ll make extra modest adjustments to issues just like the show know-how and field-of-view (FoV) to maintain prices from ballooning an excessive amount of. Valve continues to be among the finest with a 130-degree FoV, so it may not be essential to revolutionize this facet. Then once more, if Valve goes all in, it’d determine that conserving pricing down isn’t as necessary as staying on the bleeding fringe of VR.

We additionally think about Valve would at the very least wish to match or barely exceed the Quest 3’s 2,064 x 2,208 pixels per eye.

Monitoring and controllers are different areas the place Valve is more likely to wish to make enhancements, which we’ll speak about a bit extra in our “What we wish to see” part.

What would possibly the Valve Index 2 value be?

The Valve Index wasn’t the most affordable possibility when it was first launched, and within the present panorama, the value of the Valve Index 2 could possibly be even larger. For one, the financial system has witnessed a rise within the pricing of VR headsets, as seen with units just like the Meta Quest 2, which elevated by $100 lengthy after its preliminary launch.

Moreover, we should have in mind Apple and its Imaginative and prescient Professional. The Apple VR headset is anticipated to value $3,499. Why is that this necessary? The Valve Index was one of the vital highly effective VR headsets at its launch, so it’s attainable that the corporate would possibly delve even deeper and ship a costlier headset to higher compete with Apple. If that’s the case, the value might simply vary from $1,200 to $1,600 and nonetheless be thought-about a extra reasonably priced different.

Nonetheless, let’s not neglect the rumors in regards to the subsequent Valve Index VR headset having a battery, which might make it extra moveable. At present, we don’t know if this implies Valve is planning to compete with the brand new Quest 3 or if it’s extra more likely to align with one thing just like the $1,099 Vive XR Elite.

If it’s the previous, we might count on Valve to maintain the value round $500 to $750. Whether it is planning a extra high-end standalone product just like the XR Elite, a price ticket of $999 or larger would make quite a lot of sense.

If you’re completely within the Valve Index sequence, sure, we’d wait. The Valve Index is at the moment virtually 5 years outdated, so it’s not well worth the hefty funding when it’s possible in its twilight years.

In the event you’re simply on the lookout for a high-end VR headset and don’t wish to await one thing that may not come anytime quickly, the HTC Vive Professional 2 ($1251.99 at Amazon) could be a good selection because it’s solely two years outdated and will have numerous help left.

What if you happen to’re hoping extra for a stand-alone possibility? The Meta Quest 3 ($499.99 at Greatest Purchase) could possibly be well worth the buy if you happen to don’t need one thing high-end. In the event you’re holding out hope the Index may have a higher-end stand-alone expertise, we’d really wait to see what Valve delivers earlier than contemplating one thing just like the Vive Elite XR.

Valve Index 2: What we wish to see

The Valve Index was an excellent headset, however VR know-how has superior within the final four-plus years. Base stations and tethers are not widespread. We hope to see Valve ditch these older applied sciences with their subsequent headset. Past that, some small controller enhancements could be good.

Most fashionable VR headsets have built-in cameras that assist orient the machine, eliminating the necessity for base stations within the course of. In distinction, the Valve Index requires you to put base stations round an area to ensure that it to trace the headset.

Whereas base station monitoring is arguably a bit extra correct, built-in digicam options have come a good distance lately. We’re hoping that the Valve Index 2 makes use of a digicam answer that’s efficient sufficient to exchange base stations altogether.

Valve’s controllers are a number of the greatest round, with nice finger-tracking help and a reasonably comfy design. That stated, they’re a bit bulkier than different VR controllers and a few buttons may be onerous to succeed in for these with smaller fingers. We don’t wish to see Valve dramatically change up its enter units, however it could be good to see just a few refinements to make them extra comfy for all hand sizes. Higher but, Valve might give us two totally different controller sizes for these with bigger or smaller fingers.

We’d prefer to see a tetherless design this time, and presumably two fashions

We now have already talked about the rumored Valve Index 2 battery just a few instances, and for good motive. A tetherless, battery-driven design is way simpler to make use of than one thing that has tons of wires operating out of it. I used to journey on my HTC Vive’s twine now and again and dreamt of the day that cords would go away on VR. We’ve already seen stand-alone designs which are really tetherless, however we’re hoping that the rumor is true and Valve goes all-in with the tetherless strategy.

On the identical time, we’re actually hoping that the Valve Index 2 isn’t a watered-down Meta Quest-style machine. The Valve Index is among the strongest VR headsets even immediately, and we hope to see the Valve Index 2 proceed specializing in the high-end market. In fact, the perfect of each worlds could be to have a high-end Index headset that may nonetheless work stand-alone much like the HTC Vive Elite XR, and a less expensive mannequin that works extra just like the Meta Quest 3.