The Somnium VR1 PC VR headset will finally launch in July

Holders of early pre-orders for the Somnium VR1 can finally order the headset, and it will go on general sale in July.

Who is Somnium and what is VR1?

Somnium is a Czech startup previously focused only on its social VR platform Somnium Space. But in late 2021, it announced the Somnium VR1 headset with a monster spec sheet for the time, in partnership with VRgineers – known for its ultra-high-end XTAL enterprise headsets. The Somnium VR1 was originally pitched as a hybrid headset with standalone capabilities via an onboard Snapdragon XR2 chip, but that idea was scrapped in 2022 to focus on making it solely a VR headset for PC.

The VR1 uses the same 2880×2880 QD-LCD with Mini-LED panels used in the Pimax Crystal, which should tie it as the third-highest resolution headset on the market, behind the Apple Vision Pro and Varjo XR -4.

The displays have 20000:1 contrast, 100% NTSC color gamut and support 72Hz, 90Hz and 120Hz, with an experimental 144Hz mode also available.

Brightness to the eye is 210 nits, about twice the brightness of the Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro.

These displays are paired with large dual-element aspherical lenses that Somnium claims offer a field of view of around 130° horizontally and 105° vertically. This is wider than any other VR headset on the market. Pimax 5K and 8K were even wider, but are no longer in production and had significant peripheral distortion.

This focus on expanding the field of view is why it’s so heavy in an era of thinner headphones with pancake lenses.

	Meta Research 3	Somnium VR1	Apple Vision Pro
Business	Independent	DOMESTIC Connected PC VR	Independent
lenses	pancakes	Aspheric	pancakes
Field of view	110°×96°	130°×105°	100°×87° (estimate)
SHOW	2064×2208 LCD	2880×2880 QD-LCD with mini-LED	3660×3200 Micro-OLED
MAX Refresh rate	120 Hz	144 Hz	100 Hz

Like Valve Index and Bigscreen Beyond, Somnium VR1 uses SteamVR Tracking. This means you will need at least one base station – and ideally at least two – along with your input devices such as Valve Index controllers.

Prices and variants revealed

Somnium has revealed pricing and configuration for eight variants of the VR1, which it calls editions.

	eye TRACKING	Doran TRACKING	I pass through	PRICE
classical	❌	❌	❌	1900 €
attacker	❌	👐	❌	€2300
Visionary	👁️	❌	❌	2500 €
titanium	👁️	👐	❌	2900 €
The spectrum	❌	👐	📷	€3100
Ultimate	👁️	👐	📷	€3500
Transparent (Limited)	👁️	👐	📷	3990 €
Military (TAA)	👁️	👐	📷	TBA

The base Classic edition is priced at €1,900 and a range of editions with combinations of eye tracking, hand tracking and pass are available from €2,300 to €3,500.

One hundred units of a see-through version that also has all three features retail for €3,990, with the “clear” look being a particular trend in consumer electronics in the early 2000s. Given how few are being made, there’s likely to sell quickly.

Finally, a Military Edition with all three features and TAA compatibility will be available through VRgineers, Somnium’s hardware partner.

Eye-tracking editions have a 120 Hz infrared camera for each eye, which can be used for open rendering.

Hand tracking sensors and software are provided by Ultraleap, with a coverage area of ​​170°×170° and 120 Hz update rate.

The pass cameras are 12 megapixels and support proper transport in all editions that also have eye tracking.

Launch set for July 12th

Existing reservation holders are now being gradually invited to select their edition and place an order.

If you haven’t already, you can reserve a slot until July 10th to place an order 24-48 hours before it goes on general sale, which will happen on July 12th.

Somnium warns that new orders placed on July 12 will take weeks to ship, so it recommends reserving a spot soon.

I’ll be attending Somnium’s launch event on July 12th, and then I’ll bring you my hands-on impressions of the VR1, including whether its lens lives up to Somnium’s misleading claim of having the widest field of undistorted viewing of any consumer headset to date. .