This is the ultimate guide to the latest entrant in the VR headset industry: HTC Vive Flow. In this article, we will break down the most talked about points about the much-awaited headset. Also, we will cover some of the best tips and tricks for HTC Vive Flow to take your gaming experience to a whole new level.
We’ll cover the following in this article:
- What is the HTC Vive Flow?
- How to buy the HTC Vive Flow?
- HTC Vive Flow photos and videos
- HTC Vive Flow features
- HTC Vive Flow technical specifications
- How to set up the HTC Vive Flow
- How to preorder the HTC Vive Flow?
- Things we don’t know yet
If you have any other questions, comment down below at the bottom of this guide!
What is HTC Vive Flow?
HTC’s newest addition to the VR suite of products, the HTC Vive Flow VR headset, has finally been officially launched. The much-talked-about VR headset is finally making its way to the market and the VR world is all excited about it. HTC has for long been teasing the launch of the product with a tagline that reads “Go with the Flow.”
Vive Flow is HTC’s endeavor to advance in the consumer VR market. Lifestyle images of the device have been surfacing for quite some time now featuring a cylindrical case with a carrying strap. The device’s focus is on the working professionals and parents to help them take care of their mental well-being.
Must read: Oculus Quest 2 vs HTC Vive Pro 2: Which Headset is Better?
How to Buy the HTC Vive Flow?
Currently, you can buy the Vive Flow from the official HTC website.
HTC traditionally has its VR hardware for sale on Amazon, which allows them to ship worldwide. As soon as the Vive Flow is added to Amazon, we will update this guide with a link on how to buy from there.
Price
The cost of the Vive Flow is $499 USD. For this price, HTC is also including a number of bonus items with each purchase:
- Carrying case
- 2 free months of Viveport Infinity
- 7 launch titles
HTC notes that the bonus items are for a limited time only, so buy the device today in order to take advantage of this deal.
HTC Vive Flow Photos and Videos
Take a look at the HTC Vive Flow with these mesmerizing pictures and videos.
HTC Vive Flow Features
The following are the top features of the HTC Vive Flow as revealed in the official launch video.
Immersive spatial audio
The Vive Flow is equipped with full spatial audio in order to give users an immersive VR experience. Spatial audio allows VR users to listen to sounds in a 360-degree environment around them.
Previously an Apple-exclusive feature, immersive spatial audio is gratifying for VR users as well and HTC has made sure to delight its users by adding it to the Vive Flow.
Be it playing games or meditating in a calm environment, you can expect a theater-like experience to the activity you’re doing on your headset.
Dual Hinge Folding
The headset sports a dual-hinge design which lets it fit comfortably in the case and also fit nicely to different head shapes and sizes. The hinge allows the Flow to fit inside of its compact carrying case which is included with the device.
This is surely a feature to look for in the upcoming competing headsets, especially as the weight of VR headsets comes down in the future..
Seamless phone pairing
You can dive right into your comforting environment with Vive Flow by simply connecting it to your phone via Bluetooth. Once synced up, you can use your phone as the controller in your VR environment. Plus, you can seamlessly stream media from your phone to your headset (more on that later).
It is important to note that only Android phones running OS P or higher are supported at launch. iOS devices are not currently supported with the Vive Flow, which is a real bummer. HTC promises an update soon to increase the compatibility of the hardware.
Adjustable diopter lenses
Finding the right focus has been a problem in most VR headsets to date. However with Vive Flow’s adjustable diopter lenses, that has become a thing of the past.
You can adjust the focus on the adjustable diopter lenses on a scale of 1 to 6 and never have to worry about blurred vision. The dial is easy to change when you have friends and family try out and use the headset as well.
Miracast compatibility
Vive Flow lets you cast your phone on your large screen with the Miracast capability. Phone to VR streaming just got easier with this feature as it lets you stream VR content right from your mobile device.
All you need to do is to mirror your phone to the TV, start playing your favorite videos and games and put on the Vive Flow to immerse yourself in. You can watch all sorts of media on the Vive Flow, including pictures and videos.
Apps and Games
HTC will have its own set of games that are designed and optimized for the Vive Flow. At launch, HTC promises that 100 titles will be available. There will be 150 apps and games for the Vive Flow by the end of 2021.
The following games and titles have been announced:
- Space Slurpies
- Healium
- Visitations
A lot of the apps are based around meditation, yoga, and therapy for your body and soul.
Vive Sync
The HTC Vive Flow has full support for Vive Sync, which is a remote work collaboration tool. It allows you to virtually sit in the same room as work colleagues and create ideas together. Vive Sync is well-made for the Vive Flow, which is a much lighter device than the Vive Pro 2 or Vive Focus 3.
Active cooling system
Yet another add-on to the headset, the HTC Vive Flow features an active cooling system. This makes your long VR exposure more comfortable by venting out the heat from the eye chamber.
The active cooling system is located at the frontal part of the immersive glasses at the juncture of the lenses within the frame.
HTC Vive Flow Technical Specifications
The following are the key technical specifications of the Vive Flow.
Compatibility
Currently, the HTC Vive Flow is only supported on Android P and above. This means that it is not compatible with devices running iOS or on Exynos CPUs. You can check if your phone is compatible with the Vive Flow or not here
Weight
Vive Flow is ridiculously light, weighing just 189g. This makes it one of the most portable VR headsets available on the market and much lighter than the 540 grams that the Oculus Quest 2 weighs. The 1.2M cable adds up 50g to the overall weight of the headset.
Memory and Storage
The Vive Flow comes with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage space. Although it is much lower than the competitors, it is quite decent considering the purpose and the pricing.
Resolution, Field of View, Refresh Rate
The headset supports peerless graphics with a sharp 3.2K combined resolution of 2.1-inch LCDs, a 100-degree wide field of view, and a fluid 75Hz refresh rate.
Hot swapping support
With its in-built power supply system, you can un-interruptibly run your device for five straight minutes. For usage, you must plug your Vive Flow into a power bank using the supplied cable.
Tracking
The dual cameras on the headset allow for inside-out 6 degrees-of-freedom tracking. This means you can track both the position and rotation without the need for the neck model to simulate the head movement. Head position and rotation are well known in 6DoF tracking.
Connectivity
The following connectivity options are available on the Vive Flow.
- WiFi
- Bluetooth 5.0
- USB-C
How to set up the HTC Vive Flow?
The setup process of the HTC Vive Flow is pretty simple. Follow the below 3-step guide to complete the setup.
Step 1:
Sign in to the VIVE app on your phone using a new or existing account
Step 2:
Pair your Vive Flow with your mobile phone. Check out the compatibility list here.
Step 3:
Connect both the phone and the Vive Flow to the same WiFi network and “go with the flow”
Note: Vive Flow only supports 5 GHz WiFi. So make sure you have an available 5 GHz WiFi network.
How to Buy the HTC Vive Flow?
You can buy the HTC Vive Flow on the official website.
It is priced at $499 and the carrying case comes free of cost at the moment. You also get 7 free game titles for free with your purchase of the headset.
Available payment options are to pay with PayPal, PayPal Credit, Pay with Wire Transfer, and Credit card. Hurry up and grab yours here.
Things We Don’t Know Yet
HTC is clearly trying to reach a more general consumer market with the Vive Flow. The headset is catered towards users who like the idea of VR, but don’t want to place a bulky headset on their face. Whether the Vive Flow is successful or not depends on a few things we don’t know yet and where HTC might take the device in the future.
Augmented Reality Support
Back in 2020, HTC previewed a concept headset that looks suspiciously similar to the Flow. At that time, they envisioned hardware that could be used for both virtual reality and augmented reality. The augmented reality features would overlay digital information in your vision, similar to what Facebook previewed in Project Aria.
HTC did not mention any augmented reality features in the Flow. Whether they add features in the future or introduce it in a version 2 of the headset, we have to wait and see.
iOS Phone Support
The HTC Vive Flow does not come with any VR controllers. Instead, you must use your phone as a controller to point, click, and navigate. However, iOS phones are not supported on launch, which isolates over half of the world’s consumers.
In order for the Flow to be successful, iOS phones MUST be supported in the future.
VR Game Support
In order for the Flow to be successful, it needs a healthy eco-system of apps and games and developers making content for the device. Virtual reality has multiple app stores and we want to know whether the Flow will support any of the games found on other stores such as:
- Viveport Infinity
- Sidequest
- Steam VR
HTC announced Viveport Infinity support for the Flow, but only on specific apps which are made for the device. We’d love to see more games and apps supported in the future. We’d also like to see mobile games for your phone be seamlessly compatible in the Flow’s display, which would be pretty sweet.
VR Controller Support
The Vive Flow does not come with any controllers. Only a compatible Android phone can be used at launch. This seems like a big missed opportunity for HTC to tie into existing VR technology. Even if the headset doesn’t pack a powerful processor, it would find a lot of value if it could be connected to a nearby PC for SteamVR play.
We hope to see VR controller support on the Vive Flow in the future.
Final Thoughts
There are still a lot of questions about the HTC Vive Flow. However, we just went over a number of key questions above:
- How to buy the headset
- Pricing
- Technical specifications
- Key features we like
- Things we don’t know yet
These details say a lot about the product, and the consumers can’t wait to know more about the Vive Flow. A number of HTC Vive Flow porn content is already available.
Are you excited to grab this VR headset? Let us know in the comments section down below.
