The HTC Vive Flow helmet makes a fly look, but makes virtual virtual reality

If pointing your Android device does not offer the same level of precision as a controller designed for (no trigger or possibility of catching virtual objects for example), it is largely enough to stroll from an application to another one. Too bad the reset of the view is sometimes bugged, which can force the helmet to restart so that the calibration of the position of the smartphone works properly. We also appreciate the possibility of revealing the screen of your smartphone in the helmet and piloting it in virtual reality, so as not to be disconnected from the world of virtual reality.

HTC Vive Flow

On paper, HTC Vive Flow has everything of the good idea: here is an ultra compact VR headset, which slips into a small pocket, which weighs less than 200 grams and which is used with a smartphone. Of the virtual reality to be taken everywhere, practical for consuming content in all circumstances. Yes, at the base, the Vive Flow starts from a good intention. The concern is that nothing is going – or almost – in execution. Story of a big failure.

Summary

• Presentation and characteristics of HTC Vive Flow
• Design, comfort: an ultra compact helmet, but not so comfortable
• Image: a good sharpness, but a limited FOV
• User experience and uses: and this is the accident

Presentation and characteristics of HTC Vive Flow

Vive Flow is undoubtedly the lightest and most compact virtual reality headset on the market. With only 189 grams on the scale, it is doing much better than the oculus quest 2 (503 grams). We will come back to this later, but the design is also quite notable, with a VR helmet for the first time that looks like a (large) pair of glasses and puts on the same way, thanks to two plastic branches. No attachment system above the skull, not “strap” at the back. Here, just put it on your nose to start using it.

You will see, this design on very interesting paper, obliges many sacrifices from the manufacturer, starting with the absence of integrated battery. To use the Vive Flow, you must: connect an external USB battery, use your smartphone as a battery or connect it to an electric source.

Specifications
Compatibility	–
Screen	Double LCD RGB with low persistence
Resolution	1600 x 1600 pixels per eye
Refreshment rate:	75 Hz
Field of view	Up to 100 degrees
Audio	Integrated speakers, Bluetooth
Weight	189g
Connections	Bluetooth, USB-C inlet female (for battery)
Sock	Snapdragon XR1
Storage	64 GB

Design, comfort: an ultra compact helmet, but not so comfortable

With the Vive Flow, never a virtual reality headset has been so close to a pair of glasses. “XXL” glasses, of course, but a simplest system and a lightness which, let’s face it, is quite impressive. HTC had the good idea to opt for very light and “anti -sweating” fabric, which will apply well around the eyes, while very effectively blocking exterior light. This area around the eyes is also magnetic, is therefore recovered and withdraws very easily and offers simplified access to lenses (practical for cleaning).

At the front, the glasses grow up and the facade adopts a “chrome” effect which almost gives a retro side to the design, with the impression of wearing a gigantic pair of “pilot” Ray-Ban. The effect is sympathetic, we certainly look a bit like a fly that would be taken for Tom Cruise in Top Gun, but the result remains more convincing than on any other VR headset.

This good first impression unfortunately targets as soon as the flow is put on. The fault is not to be attributed to the coating around the eyes, very pleasant, or to the lightness of the whole. No, we plague here against his damn branches far too stiff and who press too pronounced on each side of the skull. From the first seconds, we feel discomfort, as long as we don’t have a lot of hair in this place. After twenty minutes, the pressure is really unpleasant and we then want to remove the helmet … for a product intended to be used for several hours, especially to watch movies, you will agree that it is a bit of a shame.

If you looked at the photos before reading this text, you may be wondering what the cable is used for from the left branch. We quickly mentioned it at the start of the test: the small size of the flow requires sacrifices and the biggest is undoubtedly the absence of integrated battery. Suddenly, we find ourselves having to connect an external battery (which seems to us more practical if we want to keep a minimum of freedom of movement). If you use it “fixed”, without really moving, you can also connect it to any powered port, so you never run out of battery. Finally, there is the solution to use your smartphone as a battery, but you are advised: the terminal also serves as a controller and its battery will quickly run out.

In short, we go here from a helmet which is supposed to be 100% autonomous to a kind of hybrid which will, in any case, ask you for a thread and an external power supply to operate. In itself, we understand completely that HTC must have sacrificed this aspect in order to maintain dimensions and, above all, a weight so low. But, in use, it is frankly not practical.

For the rest, there is a ignition button on the upper right edge, as well as a volume adjustment button. Both are very accessible. On the branches, two speakers deliver a rather convincing sound given their small sizes, both powerful and quite well spatialized. The sound experience is however somewhat spoiled by a ventilation which sets out very quickly and which will emit a completely audible sound … Again a choice of design that spoils the experience. Note that there is no jack for a helmet, but that you can connect one in Bluetooth.

Image: a good sharpness, but a limited FOV

The HTC Vive Flow offers a “3.2K” LCD displaying 1600×1600 pixels per eye. It also benefits from a 75 Hz refreshment rate (one of the lowest on the market) and a field of vision (FOV) of 100 degrees. First good point: the possibility of adjusting the gap between the lenses and the screen, via two knobs inside the helmet. A very practical function that allows you to do without glasses, even when you are very myopic.

Interesting novelty: unlike most headsets on the market, which use fresnel lenses for the magnifying effect specific to VR, the flow opts for “pancake” type lenses. They are finer and allow, among other things, a much less gap with the screen. It is thanks to this, among other things, that HTC manages to offer such a compact helmet.

In use, the visual experience proposed by the Flow is satisfactory, but not devoid of faults we appreciate the excellent clarity, especially for the texts, and the almost total absence of grid effect. The image is quite bright is the “God Rays” (these chromatic overflows on the contours of the objects that we see on certain helmets, are generally invisible.

The fact that the refresh rate is blocked at 75Hz (against 90 Hz for the Oculus Quest 2) is also not embarrassing in use, since most of the things you will do with the flow do not require a rate higher refreshment (and it saves battery).

The only real problem comes from the FOV limited to 100 degrees, which remains too fair. To watch a movie on Netflix, for example, it will force: either back up the image and therefore lose the impression of XXL screen, or turn your head constantly to enjoy the whole image.

Again a defect to be attributed to HTC’s desire to offer the smallest possible virtual reality headset, which is starting to make a lot of constraints

User experience and uses: and this is the accident

You may have noted: the Vive Flow is not accompanied by any controller. You might think, at first glance, that the helmet uses “hand-tracking”, that is to say the hand and fingers in space. This is technically possible given the cameras on board the helmet, but this is not the case for the moment. HTC, however, said that this possibility will arrive, without giving more precision.

In the meantime, the only controller to use for the Vive Flow is his smartphone. Its use is simply essential for the operation of the helmet, in particular via the installation of the VIVE application. Once the helmet paired in Bluetooth, the smartphone appears in the virtual world and acts as a remote control.

From the start, several concerns appear. One, the detection of movements is only done on 4 axes (up, low, left, right) and the depth is not taken into account. The movements are therefore very quickly limited and we finally find ourselves with a simple pointer. Two: once in virtual reality, the surface of the smartphone screen is divided into four, each being a zone for a virtual button. One will be used to validate an action, the other to return to the reception, etc. You can also scroll by dragging your thumb. Let’s say it clearly: this system is a real ordeal of navigation. We regularly have a button, the responsiveness is not good and we spend our time having to calibrate the position of the phone in the space. Nothing is going.

In addition, if you thought you could use any smartphone with the Vive Flow, you will be disappointed. Forget the iPhone, already, since you need an Android Miracast compatible terminal, the ability to duplicate your interface on an external screen. HTC has published the list of compatible models: it is quite limited, but most of the big brands are there. However, it is essential to check the compatibility of your smartphone before a possible purchase of the Vive Flow. For the purposes of this test, the manufacturer has also sent us an HTC U12 smartphone+.

Once the smartphone and the helmet set up, you are in the virtual interface of the Vive Flow. After that ? Well … there is not much to do. The helmet certainly takes into account travel in space thanks to integrated sensors, but ultra limited controls necessarily have an impact on the variety of applications offered. You have access to the “viveport” portal, with video experiences, very simple games, interactive short films … but we quickly go around it.

Quickly, we realize that the only and main interest of the Vive Flow is in the use in “miracast” mode of its smartphone, which will allow you to launch Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube and others. The Netflix interface, for example, adapts well to the helmet and you will be able to modify the size of the image, adjust it in height and on the sides. The rendering is clear and we really take advantage of its content, especially since we have little to use the awful smartphone control system.

Now remains to answer this question: do you spend almost 550 euros for compact virtual reality glasses, just in order to watch movies is worth it ? It is difficult to see how to respond in the affirmative. 4 years ago, the Oculus Go offered the same experience, but with a dedicated controller, for less than 200 €. Here, we really do not understand where HTC wants to go: the flow is far too expensive for what it has to offer and displays too many faults to be a bit convincing.

The HTC Vive Flow helmet makes a fly look, but makes virtual virtual reality

Marketed at a rate of 549 euros, the HTC Vive Flow virtual reality headset is not like the others. Very light (189 grams), it was designed to be transported from everywhere, in the same way as a smartphone. A question then arises: do we want to wear this thing ?

The Oculus Quest 2 weighs 503 grams, but is however considered “light”. Suffice to say that when HTC offered us to test the Vive Flow, its virtual reality headset of only 189 grams, we were immediately intrigued. The promise is of course not the same between the two helmets, but the HTC Vive Flow is perhaps more close to the glasses of the future that all manufacturers promise us. We were therefore curious to see what the Taiwanese manufacturer was capable of 2022. Keep in mind, however, that we are only in the beginning of the miniaturization of this technology.

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Strong points

• Light and compact
• Cool to watch movies

Weak points

• Dependent on the smartphone
• Not always clear image
• Has badly on the head
• Limited power
• Do we want to have it on the face in public ?

Lightness to the sacrifice of comfort

Unsurprisingly, going from a 503 gram helmet to another from 189 grams is pleasant. In particular in hand, the Vive Flow impresses with its ultraportability. You can hold it with two fingers, put it easily in a bag and install it on your head very easily. Unfortunately, it is on the head that we discover his first faults.

Where a quest 2 is rather pleasant to wear (especially with the Elite strap, sold 50 euros), the HTC Vive Flow is not at all. Without the foam protection designed to improve VR immersion, it hurts the ears and the nose. Really. With the foam protection, which is magnetic and which one is supposed to put only when you want a total VR immersion, it is a little better, but the helmet remains a little too free since it is not hung on the skull. Suddenly, with each sudden movement, the screens in front of the eyes move. So we have the nausea a little too easily.

To make the lightest VR helmet on the market, HTC had to make many sacrifices. His live helmet Flow may look like real glasses, it is not very easy to put on the head. It’s quite a shame, since the angle of vision inside is far from being bad. It might have taken a better attachment around the ears ? And foam in all cases at the level of the nose ?

As long as we are there, note that we were not completely convinced by the view settings. Drinks allow it to be adapted to each eye, but despite our good vision, we have never managed to see perfectly clear with HTC Vive Flow. This is undoubtedly a question of proximity with the eyes, but it remains problematic for a gadget that we are supposed to wear for a long time. As it stands, we just want not to keep it too long.

Smartphone dependence, good and bad idea

To reach 189 grams, HTC has made two other sacrifices:

• The helmet does not have an integrated battery (finally a very small, anti-stack of current), which forces you to connect it to an outlet, an external battery or your smartphone in USB-C to make it work. All smartphones do not feed it with enough power, the external battery is therefore the best option.
• There are no controllers provided with the smartphone, nor. It is an application to install on your Android smartphone (no iPhone) that allows you to interact with the HTC interface in virtual reality. We then point the smartphone as if it were a controller.

Is it binding on a daily basis ? Yes and no.

• Yes, because it requires leaving a cable hang when using the Vive Flow, which is not hyper in tune with the promise of ultraportability.
• No because, in the end, we always have your smartphone on you.

If pointing your Android device does not offer the same level of precision as a controller designed for (no trigger or possibility of catching virtual objects for example), it is largely enough to stroll from an application to another one. Too bad the reset of the view is sometimes bugged, which can force the helmet to restart so that the calibration of the position of the smartphone works properly. We also appreciate the possibility of revealing the screen of your smartphone in the helmet and piloting it in virtual reality, so as not to be disconnected from the world of virtual reality.

It’s smart, especially since it allows HTC to bring unavailable applications to VR, such as Netflix, Video Prime, Disney+, Mycanal or Games, in its helmet.

Portable cinema, the real strength of HTC Vive Flow

Because yes, HTC Vive Flow is an incredible viewing device. Not thanks to the applications available on its Vive Port store, but thanks to the replication of the screen of its Android smartphone. All apps that are not found anywhere in VR (at Facebook either) can appear here, with exclusive functions such as local download. HTC has clearly thought of its helmet to use it on the move, on the train or by car (on the passenger seat . be carefull.), in order to watch a film without being embarrassed by the light through the windows.

A cool function, which could still be a little more pleasant if the helmet held better in the lead and its screens were of OLED technology and not LCD (the black funds are very blue). Anyway, it’s a real good idea. A kind of VR cinema for smartphone.

Only defect, the quality of the speakers in the branches is very poor. Better to connect headphones to your smartphone, since the helmet does not have a jack. It is also not easy to put in standby, which is unnecessarily heating on a desktop.

No mixed reality and it’s a shame

Finally, we wanted to approach one (other) of our disappointments with HTC Vive Flow: there is no mixed reality mode today. Unlike some of its rivals like that of Lynx, the Vive Flow immerses you in a completely virtual reality, with false images in front of your eyes. In view of its ultraportable character, we regret not seeing a replica of reality thanks to its cameras, which would have made it possible to keep it on your eyes while walking in the house. By removing the foam, we also have access to a small end of reality, but it is too small for us to walk with without hitting a wall.

We imagine that the second generation will take care of this aspect. Today, the many slowdowns and bugs we have met can attest, HTC Vive Flow is not powerful enough.