Facebook Oculus Price: Company Plans To Release $200 Wireless VR Headset In 2018, Report Says

Facebook Inc. is reportedly working on a new standalone wireless Oculus Rift VR headset that would arrive in 2018. This new standalone VR headset will work without a PC or smartphone, and will only cost around $200.

The new wireless Oculus Rift headset will apparently be unveiled later this year, according to a report by Bloomberg. Facebook and Oculus allegedly wants to popularize VR the same way Apple made touchscreen smartphone popular by introducing this more affordable headset.

Facebook’s new headset will apparently sit between high-end VR headsets like the Rift or HTC’s Vive, and headsets that require smartphones to work, like Samsung’s Gear VR (also co-developed by Oculus). This is also the reason why the new wireless VR headset comes with the more affordable price tag.

READ: Microsoft Focusing Its VR Efforts For PC, Not The Xbox One Consoles Yet

The Gear VR costs $130, while the current Oculus Rift costs $399. The Oculus Rift also requires a high-powered PC in order to work, which could cost more than $1,000. A new standalone VR headset with a $200 price tag seems to be the sweet spot.

“We don’t have a product to unveil at this time, however we can confirm that we’re making several significant technology investments in the standalone VR category,” Oculus told TechCrunch. “This is in addition to our commitment to high-end VR products like Oculus Rift and mobile phone products like Gear VR.”

The new headset is said to be marketed for immersive virtual reality gaming like Oculus’ current products. The headset is said to be currently codenamed as “Pacific,” and will look like a more compact version of the Rift, while still being lighter than the Gear VR.

The idea behind a smaller VR headset is to enable users to pack it inside their bags. Since it’s a standalone VR headset, users would be able to simply pull it out of the bag and start using it. Users won’t have to worry about inserting a smartphone or connecting it to a PC.

The new Oculus Rift headset is also said to have the same similar interface to Samsung’s Gear VR. It was also mentioned that it would be controlled it with a wireless remote. However, the design and features for Facebook’s new VR headset hasn’t been finalized yet. This means that the final consumer-ready product might still look and function differently.

As for specs, Facebook is planning to power the new VR headset with one of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors. People familiar with the matter said that it would be more powerful that the Gear VR, but won’t have any advanced tracking technology that’s on the current Rift VR headset.

READ: Samsung's Prototype Standalone VR Headset Comes With Eye-Tracking Technology

For manufacturing, Oculus will be working with the Chinese phone maker Xiaomi to produce the headset. Around the world, the new headset will feature Oculus branding, but in China, it will carry the Xiaomi branding and will run some of Xiaomi’s apps.

Facebook and Oculus is said to be planning on briefing video game designers and developers about the new headset this coming October. This is part of the plan to make sure that the VR headset’s app store will be ready to launch with compatible games. The app store will also be accessible through the VR user interface, as well.

There’s no word on an exact date for the new standalone wireless Oculus Rift headset’s reveal, but it should be announced before the end of 2017. The new headset is expected to ship sometime in 2018.