Depending on who you speak to, Mixed Reality is either the next big thing that will replace your smartphone and PC, or just a toy which you will very soon get tired of.

Windows users will soon have a chance to decide for themselves, as a wave of affordable 3rd party Windows Mixed Reality headsets are expected to hit the marker over the next year, powered by the Windows 10 Creators Update.

One of the companies set to ship such a device is Lenovo, who showed off their headset at CES.

The device is tethered and is lighter than most at around 350g. It features two 1440 x 1440 OLED display panels, delivering a higher resolution to each eye that the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, and offers 6 degree inside-out tracking meaning users are fully tracked in space without any external tracking devices or camera, much like the Microsoft HoloLens. It also features two front-mounted cameras which enable augmented reality applications even without direct external vision.

The headset does not come with any motion controllers but will be compatible with other Windows Holographic peripherals. It will also work with Windows Store apps and some HoloLens software.

Till today we did not know when to expect the headset, but speaking to Twice.com Mike Abary, VP of Lenovo’s North America consumer business revealed the device will hit the market in time for back-to-school season, ie. the tail end of summer and before mid-August this year.

Abary confirmed that the headset would be priced below the Oculus Rift, currently on sale for $499. Earlier reports had pegged the device between $300 to $400, and closer to the lower number, which would be ground breaking for such a highly specified device.

At such an affordable price, will any of our readers be ordering a taste of the future this summer? Let us know below.

Image credit: The Verge