Price Hike: Somnium VR1 Base Model Now at €3000

Somnium, the Czech startup known best for its social VR platform Somnium Space, decided to shake things up in late 2021. They announced the Somnium VR1 headset, a piece of tech boasting incredible specifications for the time. Teaming up with VRgineers, renowned for their top-tier XTAL headsets used in enterprises, Somnium initially planned the VR1 as a hybrid headset. It was supposed to have standalone capabilities thanks to an onboard Snapdragon XR2 chipset. However, in 2022, they shifted gears, deciding to concentrate on developing it solely as a PC VR headset.

The VR1 comes equipped with the same 2880×2880 QD-LCD panels featuring Mini-LED technology that you’d find in the Pimax Crystal. The displays provide a striking 20000:1 contrast ratio through local dimming, cover 100% of the NTSC color gamut, and offer refresh rates of 72Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz. For the adventurous, there’s an “experimental” 144Hz mode. With an output brightness of 210 nits, it’s about twice as bright as the Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro, meaning your visuals are going to pop.

The displays are complemented by large dual-element aspheric lenses, which Somnium proudly claims deliver a field of view of approximately 130° horizontally and 105° vertically. That’s broader than anything else currently available. While the Pimax “5K” and “8K” headsets were wider, they aren’t being made anymore and were somewhat notorious for peripheral distortion.

This emphasis on a wider field of view explains why the Somnium VR1 is a bit on the bulkier side, especially when you compare it to the sleeker, modern pancake lens headsets now popular in the market.