About six months after originally unveiling its D2 Vanguard Edition virtual reality (VR) headset, the Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer 3Glasses has officially launched its latest creation. The device features a 2K resolution display (2560×1440 pixels, 534 pixels per inch) so its users can expect to receive two 1080p pictures, one for each eye. It also boasts a 60Hz refresh rate, is rather elegantly designed and generally looks more expensive than it actually is.
Speaking of price, 3Glasses stated that they’re aiming to create cheaper VR headsets in order to incentivize consumers to join the virtual reality movement as soon as possible and D2 Vanguard Edition seems to be designed with precisely that philosophy in mind. The gadget is priced at about $399, which is a respectable price considering its offerings. It’s not a stand-alone device and requires a PC to function, but it does offer the standard 110-degree wide field of vision (FOV) and comes packed with the aforementioned 2K display, two physical buttons, and a touch panel on the right size of its case. 3Glasses claims the 2D Vanguard Edition boasts latency of less than 13ms though note that independent tests are yet to confirm that. Just like other similar devices, the D2 Vanguard Edition is equipped with numerous motion sensors used to track your head movement and project an appropriate picture of your virtual environment. This latest VR headset also comes with some pre-installed software used to ease the navigation in menus, though it was apparently quite flawed during the beta testing period. However, latest reports suggest that most of the software-related issues of D2 Vanguard Edition were fixed in time for launch.
Since the device is not a stand-alone headset, keep in mind that you’ll still need a relatively powerful PC to enjoy the experience of gaming and consuming multimedia content surrounded by virtual reality. More specifically, 3Glasses’ recommended specs include Intel Core i5-4590, NVIDIA GTX 980, and 8GB of RAM, which definitely isn’t on the low end of the PC components price spectrum. Nevertheless, the D2 Vanguard Edition will still allow for a cheaper VR experience than a comparable device like HTC Vive. Of course, you won’t get any motion-tracking controllers with this one.