Now that both the Vive and Rift are out and both systems have their own motion controls for full functionality, they end up looking very similar on paper. The Vive has the benefit of whole-room VR, though cable management is inconvenient if you're lurching blindly around a room.

Immersive experience; Includes motion controllers and external sensors for whole-room VR

Expensive; Tethered headset makes whole-room VR tricky

HTC Vive provides the VR experience I've been dying to have at home. If you feel like splurging, have the space for Room Scale and are invested enough to drill holes into your walls, by all means, it's a truly immersive experience that you can't miss.

Incredibly immersive; Room Scale VR; Comfortable headset; Superb tracking; Front facing camera

Very expensive; Need lots of room for Room Scale; Set-up may involve holes in walls; Slight stuttering; Games aren't polished

it is a great . took me awhile to figure it out but once I did it has been a lot of fun. My grand son has a lot of fun playing it also.

HTC Vive: Room-scale VR is an experience like no other, and the HTC Vive is made even better at just £400

The best room-scale VR experience available; HTC is investing in the Vive ecosystem; Can be used either seated or standing

Most expensive headset on the market, Still aren't quite enough killer apps out there, So; Many; Cables

At the end of my testing period with the Vive, as I look at it on my desk and consider how much I will use it now that I do not have to for work, I find myself in a bit of a love/hate relationship with it.

Room scale is hands down; the best VR experience you can have; Motion controllers make interaction in VR natural; Tracking is almost flawless with proper sensor placement; Chaperone gives you confidence to move around in VR; Headset is comfortable over long play sessions; Zero motion sickness...

Clearing space can be a pain; especially in smaller British homes – but it is worth it; Set up can be a bit fiddly; Steam VR still crashes; Lens contours can occasionally be seen in scenes with bright light sources; Headset weighting needs improvement; Crisp; bright screen makes pixels a little more...

The HTC Vive is the sci-fi, virtual reality future we've all been waiting for, but if developers and content creators don't embrace it, all the technological innovation in the world won't save it from the scrapheap.

Incredibly immersive

Expensive; Requires a lot of space; Cabling can be awkward; Lack of stand-out games and apps

It asks more of you than Oculus does, but Vive also rewards you with an even more immersive, transformative VR experience

Room-scale is the best kind of VR; Motion controllers make you feel even more immersed; Steam support means it's easier to get games

Heavier; less secure on your bonce than Oculus Rift; Fiddly firmware and a mess of cables; Currently lacking fully formed games

it's a wonderful bit of kit and while not perfect still blows anything else vr out of the water. feels surreal to use you have to try it to understand.

HTC’s latest headset is a baffling mixture of good, bad and ugly but the overall impression is a positive one

Excellent built-in speakers; Comfortable visor; Gorgeous display;

Small sweet spot; Not compatible with all Steam games; Too expensive;

The Vive Cosmos is comfortable to wear, capable thanks to high-end specs, easier to setup than ever before, and a great alternative to the Oculus Rift S. The obvious highlights include: inside-out tracking, meaning no base station faff; new and improved controllers, including over the air firmware...

Snazzy new design; Inside-out tracking cameras means easier setup; Awesome-looking controllers; Comfortable fit; Superb flip-up visor

Lacks Mini DisplayPort adapter in the box; Some of the design feels flimsy; White room setup can be an issue