All > Valve Index
Valve Index
Retail Price
$999.99
Lowest Price
$920.00
Release Date
June 28, 2019
The Valve Index is one of the best virtual reality headsets money can buy, even nearly two years after it launched. Performance-wise, it has an ultra-crisp display that runs well with older GPUs, a wide field of view, a high refresh rate, and Valve’s ‘knuckle’ controllers, which can track each movement and everyone one of your fingers.
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Overview
- Price
- Build & Comfort
- Performance
- Overview
- Device Highlights
- Target Consumers
- Drawbacks
- Package Box
- Recommendation
- Positive
- Negative
Price - Considering all the performance improvements makes the price tag unreasonable as it isn't perfect.
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
Build & Comfort - Index delivers well in terms of build quality and comfort, one of the big things you're paying for.
IGN
06/29/2019
Performance - The Index is one of the best virtual reality headsets money can buy, even nearly two years after it launched. Performance-wise, it has an ultra-crisp display that runs well with older GPUs, a wide field of view, a high refresh rate, and Valve's 'knuckle' controllers, which can track each movement and everyone one of your fingers.
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
Overview - The Valve Index is the best option for prospective users who are not on a budget. It is expensive, but it is also a gateway into a whole new world, offering an exciting gaming experience, which you'll enjoy in comfort with its great ergonomics, immersive haptics, impressive performance, and audio. It has an IPD slider to adjust the lens width, has 2 forward-facing cameras for binocular pass-through video, and the LCD screen produces the best VR image, though not entirely free of god rays and halos when looking at bright lights or white text in the dark environments, it still looks great, and the screen door effect is similar. Additionally, it can switch between 80, 90, 120, and 144 FPS, has a base station 2.0, and has knuckle controllers with full-on finger tracking.
Device Highlights - It offers a better image, persistence, and first gen headsets. Performance-wise, everything looks sharp when you're moving your head, and most noticeably, it has a 130-degree FOV.
Engadget
06/29/2019
Target Consumers - It's the ultimate option for virtual reality users looking to get the premium experience with its bustling feature set, immersive controllers, and open-source philosophy.
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
Drawbacks - It's one of the best in the market, yet there are still some downsides, including the time-consuming setup, updates that can cause connection issues, and constant new errors.
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
Package Box - Valve makes it, and it came in a box with a "Companion Cube" label, an object from "Portal," a series of puzzle videogames made by Valve.
Bayaspirina_C
01/12/2021
Recommendation - It's best to wait for the next release of Valve if you want to upgrade.
GetHip
02/12/2021
Sources
Tags
- Price
- Build & Comfort
- Performance
- Overview
- Device Highlights
- Target Consumers
- Drawbacks
- Package Box
- Recommendation
Sources
- techradar
- YouTube
- SPACE.com
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
IGN
06/29/2019
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
SPACE.com - Jordan Oloman
11/17/2021
Chared_Assassin
12/14/2021
-Gh0st96-
12/14/2021
IGN
06/29/2019
GetHip
02/12/2021
Engadget
06/29/2019
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
Bayaspirina_C
01/12/2021
GetHip
02/12/2021
See All Sources
Cons & Pros
- Cons
- Pros
- Positive
- Negative
Cons - Some cons include its high price, occasionally frustrating tethered design, use of base stations, issues with SteamVR, lackluster game selection, and glasses do get in the way in it; there are cheaper options to get into virtual reality, but they come with compromises, and a new iteration could be on the way.
Pros - Some pros include the immersive, finger-tracking controllers, 120Hz refresh rate that delivers smooth motion, lots of VR software available on PC via SteamVR, wider field of view, 'Knuckle' controllers, room-scale VR, great audio, and superb ergonomics.
Sources
Tags
- Cons
- Pros
Sources
- PCMag
- techradar
- SPACE.com
See All Sources
Inclusions
- Base Station
- Foam
- Inclusions
- Positive
- Negative
Base Station - The Index uses base stations that are a 3x2.5x2.5-inch black box with a curved front for holding all of its sensors. Design-wise, they are sleeker, with a wider FOV. These must be placed in a room of your house and aimed at your play area so that even the most intricate movements can be tracked and replicated in-game. Performance-wise, they are functional and similar to the original, with the main new feature being that you can connect up to 4 of them to cover a huge 10x10-meter playable area, though most home VR users won't be able to make much use of that, though.
Foam - The included foam insert can be used to make it fit better on your head.
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
Inclusions - The package comes with the headset itself, the 'knuckle' controllers, the Version 2.0 Base Stations, a 16-foot cable that runs from the headset, around the left side of the harness, and out the back to connect to a three-foot breakaway cable, and a second cable that branches off into three connectors: DisplayPort, USB, and Power.
Sources
Tags
- Base Station
- Foam
- Inclusions
Sources
- PCMag
- SPACE.com
- YouTube
- techradar
See All Sources
Build & Design
- Build - Material
- Buttons
- Camera
- Charging & Battery
- Connectivity
- Controller
- Design
- Harness
- Headphones
- Speaker
- Thumbstick
- Wire
- Positive
- Negative
Build - Material - It's covered with a super-soft fabric that helps it sit comfortably on your face and head without your skin touching any hard plastic or sharp edges.
SPACE.com - Jordan Oloman
11/17/2021
Buttons - The underside features a utility button that launches the SteamVR overlay, a sliding switch for adjusting IPD, and 2 pinhole microphones. On the right is a knob where the strut for the harness connects that adjusts the lens distance.
Camera - The dial on the left side changes the physical distance from the lens to your eyes, and the dial on the back makes the headband tighter or looser. The 2 cameras below the front plate provide a unique room in SteamVR, and they highlight nearby objects with 2D or 3D outlines, letting you know when you're near anything.
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
Charging & Battery - It's recharged from a USB-C port on the bottom of the handle, and the battery life is 7 hours.
IGN
06/29/2019
Connectivity - The front section is mostly matte black plastic with a glossy black front panel that contains the USB port called the "frunk."
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
Controller - The controller has sensors that individually track each finger. There's a large grippable handle, a front trigger, a circular control surface on the top with 2 face buttons, a system button, an analog stick, a touch-sensitive strip, and a large plastic arc mounted on the outside for tracking the controller's orientation and position. Overall, it relies on the 87 sensors to track your finger movements, opening the door for new VR interactions. Performance-wise, games can tell if you're, holding your thumbs up or if you're just waving to another character. Pressure sensitivity lets games detect when you're gripping extra hard, and better haptic support gives a sensation of touching and holding objects.
Design - The Index is a PC-tethered VR headset with a large face-mounted display connected to a sturdy adjustable head harness. The entire assembly is black and features a reserved, cool design that won't make it a gaudy feature in your living room. It has a slightly shiny plastic finish with the front-mounted glass panel giving it the appearance of a futuristic astronaut's helmet, while the front has a glossy plastic faceplate.
Harness - The headset's harness has 2 large curved plastic bands for the back of the head and is padded with soft memory foam covered in anti-microbial fabric and a fabric strap that goes over the top of the head. The harness' sides connect to the headset through thin, stiff plastic bands that offer a few springy inches of give.
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
Headphones - The built-in headphones don't touch the ears at all, which makes it comfortable, yet the sound quality and positional 3D audio are not compromised with not much sound bleed. However, the gasket touches the face and is attached magnetically, making it easy to remove.
IGN
06/29/2019
Speaker - The 2 near-field speakers hang off the ears and are designed to function slightly above the ears sitting on rotating arms, slightly further back on the struts. Performance-wise, they produce a high-quality sound. The plastic arcs on the back of the harness have a dial for tightening the headset and Velcro fasteners to adjust the top fabric strap's length.
Thumbstick - The thumbsticks click properly, but there's no drift.
GetHip
02/12/2021
Wire - It's a wired PC headset that relies on external sensors, meaning it has the downsides of buying a set since it needs a high location for the 2 base stations.
Engadget
06/29/2019
Sources
Tags
- Build - Material
- Buttons
- Camera
- Charging & Battery
- Connectivity
- Controller
- Design
- Harness
- Headphones
- Speaker
- Thumbstick
- Wire
Sources
- SPACE.com
- PCMag
- techradar
- YouTube
SPACE.com - Jordan Oloman
11/17/2021
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
IGN
06/29/2019
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
Engadget
06/29/2019
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
Engadget
06/29/2019
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
SPACE.com - Jordan Oloman
11/17/2021
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
IGN
06/29/2019
SPACE.com - Jordan Oloman
11/17/2021
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
Engadget
06/29/2019
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
GetHip
02/12/2021
Engadget
06/29/2019
See All Sources
Display & Graphics
- Refresh Rate
- Resolution
- Positive
- Negative
Refresh Rate - The LCDs have a 120Hz refresh rate, that's also compatible with 80Hz, 90Hz, and 144Hz modes.,
See All Sources
Features
- Finger Tracking
- SteamVR
- Positive
- Negative
Finger Tracking - The finger tracking made grabbing guns out of the enemy's hands and throwing knives at them more visceral.
Engadget
06/29/2019
SteamVR - The SteamVR library has almost every popular virtual reality experience, like Pavlov, Beat Saber, VRChat, Blade & Sorcery, and more.
SPACE.com - Jordan Oloman
11/17/2021
See All Sources
Performance, Setup & Specs
- Audio
- Comfort
- Grip
- Interaction
- Performance
- Performance - Half Life: Alyx
- Performance - Moondust
- Periscope Effect
- Setup
- Specs
- View
- Positive
- Negative
Audio - The speakers can provide a booming, deeply-engrossing sound and more details without distortion.
Comfort - It feels well-balanced on the head with no front heaviness; thus, there's a huge emphasis on comfort. The head strap is easy to put on and can be secured by turning the dial, and there's no awkward velcro; there's enough cushioning surrounding the eyepiece and rear head strap. It's covered with a breathable microfiber cloth. Moreover, there's a dial to adjust the distance of the lenses to your eyes, which is helpful if you're wearing glasses. Overall, it's comfortable to wear even for long periods.
Grip - Going from a button grip to a haptic grip will take time to get used to.
Kaleb8804
01/12/2021
Interaction - It's hard to play games that don't have hands that reflect your IRL actions because you don't know if you are interacting with the button correctly.
ridik_ulass
01/12/2021
Performance - Even with all those features requiring extra horsepower under your PC's hood, it can work with an older Nvidia GTX 980 GPU.
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
Performance - Half Life: Alyx - Playing Half-Life: Alyx was great, though at a lower resolution. Nevertheless, the Index still produced a bright, colorful, and sharp picture with no significant pixelation or graininess, even in Aperture Hand Labs.
Performance - Moondust - Playing the Moondust demo looked great on a high-resolution screen and played without hitches, even on less-than-ideal hardware. It also feels more interactive with the Index Controller by releasing items by opening your hand. It is a natural experience in the real world but feels unnatural using regular VR controllers.
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
Periscope Effect - It has no periscope effect.
Engadget
06/29/2019
Setup - The setup was flawless, you just plug the PC and connect the cable that splits at the end into USB, display port, and AC power, and in less than 10 minutes, it was running. Specifically, plug the VR headset into a power outlet, attach the USB 3.0 port and the DisplayPort on your PC, plug in the base stations first, then connect the headset to your PC and the power adapter, open Steam, and install SteamVR. It should automatically detect the headset, base stations, and controllers. Additionally, you need to set the base stations in a way they point at your room-scale VR play area.
Specs - The Index is a tethered headset with a 1,600x1,440 per eye resolution, a refresh rate of 80Hz - 120 Hz, motion detection of 6DOF, controlled via the Valve Index controllers, runs on PC as a hardware platform and SteamVR as a software platform, and sold for $999/£919.
View - The view shows your hands, so you can accurately reach out for physical objects while wearing the headset.
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
Sources
Tags
- Audio
- Comfort
- Grip
- Interaction
- Performance
- Performance - Half Life: Alyx
- Performance - Moondust
- Periscope Effect
- Setup
- Specs
- View
Sources
- SPACE.com
- techradar
- YouTube
- PCMag
SPACE.com - Jordan Oloman
11/17/2021
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
Engadget
06/29/2019
Engadget
06/29/2019
SPACE.com - Jordan Oloman
11/17/2021
Kaleb8804
01/12/2021
ridik_ulass
01/12/2021
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
ProphetoftheOnion
12/15/2019
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
Engadget
06/29/2019
IGN
06/29/2019
SPACE.com - Jordan Oloman
11/17/2021
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
SPACE.com - Jordan Oloman
11/17/2021
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
See All Sources
Comparison
- Comparison vs Oculus Quest 2
- Comparison vs Oculus Touch vs Vive Wand
- Comparison vs Vive
- Options
- Positive
- Negative
Comparison vs Oculus Quest 2 - Index and Quest 2 are solid, but Quest 2 is worth the money Index is top of the line. Still, Q2 is recommendable for its price alone, but the Index provides the best VR experience.
TheFlashFrame
12/14/2021
Comparison vs Oculus Touch vs Vive Wand - Actions like throwing virtual objects are much more intuitive.
IGN
06/29/2019
Comparison vs Vive - The first batch of the Vive wasn't good, with controllers drifting. On the other hand, the Index has a head strap similar to Vive Pro with rigid side pieces tightened and loosened by a knob and a Velcro strap. It also has a wider field of view and an impressive 1140x1600 per eye resolution.
Options - Oculus seems like one of the next best options besides Index.
GetHip
02/12/2021
See All Sources
Affordability & Price
- Affordability
- Availability
- Price
- Sales
- Value
- Positive
- Negative
Affordability - It's not meant for everyone for $1000, which is not even vaguely affordable, especially when other headsets like the Rift S and Windows Mixed Reality are sold for $400 or less.
Engadget
06/29/2019
Availability - The Index is not available in Australia, and it's also tricky to find one as the stocks rarely come by in many regions.
Price - The full kit costs $999/£919/AU$1,425, which is not cheap, although you get what you pay for. However, it may be meant for boundary-pushing to keep the VR industry from getting stale.
Sales - The Index is being sold for every 20 of the current popular game. Thus, selling 6 Valve Index kits is the same as selling 100 copies of a $60 game.
Value - Suppose you have the budget and space to accommodate it. In that case, the Index is worth every penny due to its excellent screen and wide field of view, best available controllers, 144 Hz refresh rate, and reliable tracking; hence, it justifies its $1,000 price.
Sources
Tags
- Affordability
- Availability
- Price
- Sales
- Value
Sources
- YouTube
- techradar
- SPACE.com
- PCMag
Engadget
06/29/2019
Bendingo
12/15/2019
Jbob1390
12/15/2019
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
SPACE.com - Jordan Oloman
11/17/2021
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
Engadget
06/29/2019
Clairvoyant_Potato
12/14/2021
salad_tongs_1
12/14/2021
IGN
06/29/2019
IGN
06/29/2019
SPACE.com - Jordan Oloman
11/17/2021
See All Sources
Miscellaneous
- Best Seller
- Future Improvement
- Game Unavailability
- Issues - Cable
- Issues - Errors
- Issues - Heat
- Issues - SteamVR
- Issues
- Issues - Controller
- Issues - QA
- Lack - Companion Cube
- Popularity
- Replacements
- Requirements
- Safety
- Target Market
- Valve
- Positive
- Negative
Best Seller - The best-seller list is a rolling window of the total revenue of a particular item in the store; since it's local vs global, 1 guy buying an Index will dramatically skew the total sales for that particular region.
satoru1111
12/14/2021
Future Improvement - Everything feels a bit closer to reality than just being stuck in a game, but there's still room for improvement with the Index, including a wireless option.
Engadget
06/29/2019
Game Unavailability - The Index didn't launch a full Finger-tracking VR game, which would have made the Index controllers feel more immediately important out of the box.
IGN
06/29/2019
Issues - Cable - The cable that runs from the headset to the computer is long, flexible, and comfortably rests on the floor without curling upwards.
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
Issues - Errors - The errors appear after some use though it's not much of a bother and can be fixed by Valve.
oopsEYEpoopsed
12/15/2019
Issues - Heat - The rest of the issues with Index are experienced by most users except for the extreme case of the display that feels like it's burning up the face.
GetHip
02/12/2021
Issues - SteamVR - The SteamVR doesn't always run the first time properly, telling you that something is disconnected, or that your firmware is out of date despite just being updated, or simply telling you the hardware can't be found.
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
Issues - There are a lot of issues with the Index, including the thumbstick drift display failure, base station death, poor cable management design, which causes the cable to degrade over a short period, and a display that burns up the face.
GetHip
02/12/2021
Issues - Controller - The Index controllers have minor frustrations, including the lack of 1:1 immersion, delicate finger flexes, especially in the middle, ring, and pinky finger, and the inability to type quickly.
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
Issues - QA - The initial batch of Index controllers had some QA issues where the thumbstick wasn't clicking on some controllers, and Valve seemed to have made a silent change in the manufacturing process to fix them.
r/pcgaming
12/15/2019
Lack - Companion Cube - Despite being expensive, it doesn't have an actual companion cube inside.
GIJobra
01/12/2021
Popularity - It's way more popular than non-VR people realize, as ordering before even took 8 months.
RageEataPnut
12/14/2021
Replacements - Valve has been sending out replacements related to the issues.
chrizbreck
12/15/2019
Requirements - Valve provided a minimum and recommended specs for a PC to get the best out of the Index, and it included a dual-core CPU with hyper-threading and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 or AMD Radeon RX 480 GPU as the minimum specs; and a quad-core CPU and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 or better GPU as the recommended specs.
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
Safety - It's scary to get it delivered as anyone will recognize from the box that it's the Valve Index.
HakbakOfficial
01/12/2021
Target Market - Valve's Index is a premium VR set.
IGN
03/08/2023
Valve - Valve doesn't seem desperate to sell the Index, as they have probably generated a lot of money already because of the price.
Puntoize
12/14/2021
Sources
Tags
- Best Seller
- Future Improvement
- Game Unavailability
- Issues - Cable
- Issues - Errors
- Issues - Heat
- Issues - SteamVR
- Issues
- Issues - Controller
- Issues - QA
- Lack - Companion Cube
- Popularity
- Replacements
- Requirements
- Safety
- Target Market
- Valve
Sources
- YouTube
- PCMag
- techradar
satoru1111
12/14/2021
Engadget
06/29/2019
IGN
06/29/2019
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
oopsEYEpoopsed
12/15/2019
GetHip
02/12/2021
techradar - Nick Pino
03/27/2022
GetHip
02/12/2021
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
r/pcgaming
12/15/2019
GIJobra
01/12/2021
RageEataPnut
12/14/2021
chrizbreck
12/15/2019
PCMag - Will Greenwald
07/13/2021
HakbakOfficial
01/12/2021
IGN
03/08/2023
Puntoize
12/14/2021
See All Sources
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