HTC this week confirmed that the upcoming Vive Cosmos will support the existing official Vive Wireless Adapter.

Vive Cosmos is HTC’s next consumer targeted PC VR headset. This confirmation means it could be the only 2019 consumer PC VR headset with a wireless adapter option- at launch at least.

Index, Rift S, WMR: Wired Only

Neither the Oculus Rift S or Valve Index have a wireless adapter available, and there is no adapter for any Windows MR headset either.

Valve did however recently state it is “looking into several methods” for wireless on Index. The company’s CEO Gabe Newell stated back in early 2017 that wireless was “a solved problem”.

Facebook’s Oculus division has no announced plans to make Rift S wireless. Oculus currently offers a room scale wireless experience through the Oculus Quest, but that’s a standalone headset, not PC connected. Facebook does however hold a number of patents related to wireless PC VR which indicate it is heavily researching the technology, such as positional tracking guided beam forming.

Wireless Adapters Today

There are 3 wireless VR adapters on the market as of July 2019; the official Vive Wireless Adapter, the TPCast for Oculus Rift, and TPCast for HTC Vive. Both wireless adapters for Vive retail for $299, whereas the Rift wireless adapter retails for $319.

The official Vive Wireless Adapter also works with the Vive Pro (and Cosmos too), but TPCast’s adapters only work with the original Rift and HTC Vive, not the Rift S or Vive Pro.

Of course, $299 is still a steep price for wireless (assuming HTC isn’t planning a price cut). The entire Oculus Rift S system is just $100 more.

But there are a number of VR enthusiasts with a wireless Vive Pro who won’t want to go back to the shackle of a cable. For them, Cosmos could be a much more compelling option than anything from Facebook or Valve this year.