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VR and AR headsets

Varjo Aero

6owners with an opinion
83%of verdicts positive
1/1positive/negative since 2024
0happy after 3+ years

Praised for display and comfort; criticized for value and software.

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What people wrote

Doesn’t like it
I fancy myself a "VR for productivity" enthusiast. I own a PCVR setup, an Areo by Varjo[1]. And I do not use it. My cost out the door was higher than the cost of the Vision Pro and I learned some very painful lessons: 1) For VR productivity, I need my desktop application windows to run native in a VR 3d window manager. So far, all I've found are variations on the following: you get to remote into your existing desktop window manager which is projected as a 2d plane into your 3d space. This is practically useless. To actually use VR for productivity... I need to have my task windows not be co-planer. 2) Last time I checked up on this, practically no one [2] is working on this, I have stopped even watching the VR space. The hardware is here, but no one is making the software I want. 3) Vision Pro (as I understand it) is not a productivity VR headset. It's an ipad on your face that can remote into your desktop - but not in a way that integrates into the 3d window manager. [1]: https://varjo.com/products/aero/ [2]: Okay, techincally SimulaVR is working on a native 3d window manager, but they opened preorders years ago and still don't have a ship date.
Likes it
for sibling, as I'm over my post quota: https://imgur.com/a/l6nqhvX Yeah, Vive -> Index -> Quest 2 -> Varjo Aero[^1] -> Quest 3 -> Vision Pro. Yeah FOV is worse, yeah it costs more, virtually order of magnitude more. People are responding to "The quest 3 does essentially the same at roughly 10x lower price.", i.e. dismissal of there being a significant qualitative difference. I never, ever opted into watching video on any headset until now. Like, yeah, I tried it. I watched stuff. This is organic "I want to watch stuff, where's the VR headset?" instead of "here's a VR headset, I can watch stuff" Something that escaped me until a week ago was a good visualization of the pixel density. I thought the Aero was amazing. It is/was. I assumed Vision Pro was marginally more or less than the Aero. Actually, Aero::Vision Pro is roughly Vive 1::Aero. [^1] that one is important, that's real street cred, you know I care, invest, and know what I'm talking about
Likes it
> we know already means it will not be a viable monitor replacement for extended use. This opinion is deeply subjective. I have a Varjo Aero, and I can use it as a daily driver (for productivity), no problem. The Vison pro looks to be lighter... and so would have better ergonomics. Notice, I don't even mention eye strain... because I personally don't experience any.
Doesn’t like it
TLDR: I found things, yes. But they weren’t a fit for me. Things I found: ### SimulaVR [1] A linux native VR headset with an entire open ecosystem of software. On the plus side: they actually have an open source VR native window manager!!! Cons include: The hardware hasn’t shipped yet. The hardware is already multiple generations behind. (11th gen intel NUC). For productivity – I think video pass-through is essential. Which both this and the Aero lack. Tragically, the software stack for developed by Simula is not compatible with the Aero. Because the Simula Window Manager is linux native, and the Aero is Windows Native… (damn, I bought the wrong hardware.) ### Immersed [2] This is a software solution that basically lets you remote into a desktop running an appropriate server to sling pixels at your VR headset. It’s heavily oriented towards FB headsets. The Aero isn’t supported. So I’ve never tried it. Also, it’s required that you are serving up actual screen pixels… so If you want to run headless there are wierd display port dongle hacks… ### UltraTerm / CyberGem There is a developer that has a terminal running in the unreal game engine. In this case you can essentially design a level that is your workspace… It feels weird to even be talking about this, but if you just want linux terminals in VR… this can get you there in a very unique way. I have to say there’s a part of me that’s super into the idea of designing a virtual scene with embedded computing. ##…
Doesn’t like it
I own a Varjo Aero. A comparably priced PC VR headset (after including graphic cards costs) that runs only under windows. I bought this setup for productivity – not gaming. I want to give a quick reaction to apple vision pro from that perspective. On the Aero, under windows I quickly came to learn that while the screens were clear and legible… The primary drawback was lack of software. Specifically there was no true 3d window manager. I couldn’t arrange 10 different programs spatially around me, like some cliché virtual hacker’s den. I couldn’t layout a pillar of source code that expanded hundereds of pages above and below my current focus… I was locked into looking at my 2d windows desktop, projected onto a plane, in a 3d virtual space. I wasn’t in 3d at all. I was still trapped in 2d. --- The window manager in apple vision is already far better than that! So, here’s my prediction. Just like when microsoft sat out the race to mobile (iphone v. android), they are decidedly on the sidelines here too. VR productivity seems to be almost exclusively apple’s for the taking. (yes, I’m aware that FB has some offerings in this space, but no way in hell do they get telemetry on my literal eyeballs). Just as products like the ipad haven’t exactly challenged microsoft windows, they have diminished it’s roll in people’s lives, apple vision seems to be a product with that kind of potential. – Last but not least, in the old days, I owned an ipad pro, which I supposedly bought f…
Recommends it
Commenting because this somehow hasn't come up, but Quest Pro is not the headset that you're potentially looking for. (And not just because the Quest Pro only gets ~2hrs battery life.) What you're really looking for is the Varjo Aero: https://varjo.com/products/aero/ The Aero has 35PPD, automatic IPD adjustment and incredibly good eye tracking. It is on an entirely different level than the Quest Pro. It's also significantly more expensive, but it is the only VR headset that I've ever been able to work comfortably in (coding) for long periods. You can use it with a laptop that has a sufficient GPU. The Quest Pro confuses me because I don't think the perfect customer exists. Anyone who needs it and can afford it is going to be 10x happier with an Aero. The only thing more expensive [at this part of the market] than an Aero is buying a Quest Pro first.
Likes it
That's a hard question, as they are all a little flawed in some way. Something like: Varjo Aero - probably the nicest overall, but quite expensive. HP Reverb G2 - nice for sit-down VR like simulators etc. Not great for general VR so much. Meta Quest 2 - good entry level for general VR as it can be stand-alone (no wires!) or PC linked and is probably the best value overall. Valve Index - probably the nicest stand-up VR overall package due to its tracking tech, but getting long in the tooth now and needs a revision.
Likes it
I have a Varjo Aero, which is visually excellent but very expensive and probably not portable enough for your use case. The problem is that it depends on Valve’s lighthouse trackers, so unless you’re willing to pack one and a tripod in your luggage it’s a pretty stationary rig. It also needs a 30-series nvidia gpu, which would limit your laptop choices. All of that said, I mention it anyway since it’s the only headset I’ve tried that feels comfortable for reading text on a giant virtual screen. A 4K virtual screen doesn’t look quite as sharp as a 4K display in real life, but you can tell the difference between a virtual 1080p screen, whereas on a quest 2 there’s no point rendering higher than 1080p. The Simula is available in a “tethered only” model for $2k, which is the same price as the Varjo. It uses inside-out tracking though, and it has a pass through camera if you want to see your keyboard occasionally, so it might be a better option. It’s still pre-order only though, so it might be worth waiting for project cambria or whatever Meta’s new thing is.
Likes it
I didn't see display resolution (or the model of HMD) mentioned in the video. I'm using Varjo Aero, which has 2880x2720 per eye, which is almost quapruple (per eye) compared to Valve Index. I think this resolution is enough for a good VR experience; pixels are almost invisible, and even small text is readable. However, HL Alyx doesn't run at 90 fps on full resolution.
Doesn’t like itDoesn’t say they own it
The Varjo Aero has the same PPD as the Simula One :] So if you are able to daily drive it for productivity, that's a good sign you would be able to do the same with our headset. The problem with the Varjo Aero is that's it's a cord-tethered headset which needs to be attached to a powerful GPU. It doesn't run Linux Desktop natively (nor even when attached to a host) since it doesn't have Linux support. So in our opinion it doesn't actually replace a laptop, which we're taking as the "holy grail" of VR computing.