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by dkonofalski 3259 days ago
Why do you say that the Rift takes it comfort-wise?I'm only curious because I take issue with the OP for exactly this reason. The latest Vive release ways less than the Rift (according to their specs) for which the hardware has changed very little. They were so focused on the controllers that they haven't bothered to update the main hardware and I think their win with the controllers will be short-lived.
1 comments

As I understand it, the Rift's weight includes the weight of the integrated headphones.

Also, the actual HMD (excluding strap, headphones, cable hooks, etc.) of the Vive is still about 40% heavier than Rift's, so there's still more "face tug" and fatigue over longer sessions.

Again, I have not directly tested this, but it makes sense as there's substantially more plastic in the Rift's strap system (i.e., back of the head) than Vive's.

Where are you getting that info? According to the specs on both sites, the Vive is lighter than the Rift (although you're probably correct that this includes the weight of headphones whereas the Vive only comes with the in-ear buds). That to me makes it seem like the HMD hardware has gotten lighter because I can't imagine that they would make the straps less sturdy to shed weight. I could be wrong, but that doesn't make sense to me.

Edit: It seems the initial Vive release was heavier than the Rift but the latest release is lighter.

According to Palmer Luckey[1], the Rift strap assembly (including back of head counterweight and earphones) is about 150g. That puts the HMD portion at about 320g.

The new Vives weigh about 468g. According to Amazon, a replacement back strap weighs 1.8 ounces (51g)[2]. The Vive HMD w/out strap would be - at the least - about 417g.

Even at a 417g weight, that's about 30% heavier than Rift's strapless weight. Since the 1.8g may include packaging, the HMD may weigh a bit more, bringing the % up to 40% or so.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/47rb3m/the_rift_cv1...

[2] http://a.co/6PUVw7v: "Package Dimensions 4.2 x 3.9 x 3.9 inches; 1.8 ounces" (so 1.8 ounces may include packaging).