The future is here. It's called the HTC Vive and it is incredible. It is the most exciting piece of tech I've used in a while and it's not even close. Let's back up a little bit though. I've been a big fan of the Oculus Rift and it's goal of bringing of VR to the masses.

Seeing and touching virtual worlds is an incredible VR experience.

Amazing VR; Room scale; Motion controllers; Comfortable

Tracking issues

If you've tried Google Cardboard, Gear VR or the Oculus Rift and think you know what virtual reality has to offer, then prepare for a rude awakening. The HTC Vive delivers the most immersive virtual reality experiences available right now.

Incredible; immersive free-moving VR; Intuitive controllers with good battery life; Solid selection of games already available; Nothing else quite like it

Pain to set up; Software is buggy; Expensive and needs lots of space

The HTC Vive is the most expensive option in the current virtual reality headset line-up, beating the £499 Oculus Rift and £350 PlayStation VR . But why the high price The HTC Vive offers an unparalleled experience by providing users with the opportunity to not only look around the virtual...

Despite some drawbacks with its hardware, the HTC Vive is an avenue to incredible VR experiences.

The HTC Vive offers the best in-home VR experience yet, but it's too unwieldy to truly enjoy for extended play sessions.

Sharp and incredibly immersive VR; Head tracking is superior to Oculus Rift; Whole-room VR is impressive; Motion controllers work well

Expensive; Tricky setup; Uncomfortable to wear for long periods

I tested the HTC Vive Pre development hardware just last month, and now the final, consumer-ready version of the Vive is here. HTC's $799 virtual reality (VR) system is expensive, but it includes the works: a headset, motion controllers, and even external sensors for setting up a virtual room to...

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

Expensive; Tethered headset makes whole-room VR tricky

I took a walk through the future, and I want more. Instead of rooting you to a fixed point in your room and wrapping a 360-view around you, the $799 HTC Vive lets you stand up and explore it.

Room-tracking technology is eerily accurate; Smooth graphics with little latency; Touch controllers are easy to use and highly adaptable; Large library of games

Requires a lot of space and electrical outlets to use; No built-in audio; SteamVR Interface can be difficult to navigate

A few weeks back, we gave you virtual reality kit. While we were able to explain the Vive's specifications, setup, configuration, and give some opinions on the experience, at that point, we hadn't had the kit long enough to form any solid, concrete opinions.

KitGuru Says: The HTC Vive is a truly wondrous product that shows us what the future of virtual reality is going to be. There are plenty of games to play and the hardware works well for the most part, but just expect to eat into your kid's college fund before you have an adequate game library.

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...