Buying A VR Head Strap - The Hidden Cost Of Virtual Reality Headsets

From the mass marketed Quest 3 to the extremely expensive Apple Vision Pro, there is one universal problem that tech reviewers and even VR enthusiasts have with most VR headsets on the market.

They’re uncomfortable.

Whether that’s because the headset itself is too heavy for your face that day or not, many VR lovers and those who briefly try a Virtual Reality headset end up with a similar issue, and that’s that the headstrap doesn’t feel comfortable.

This issue might manifest itself in various forms. Your ears burning, a headache, motion sickness, eye strain, chafing, and other uncomfortable symptoms. All of them easily able to take you out of the immersion of a Virtual Reality experience, ruining the entire point.

Why is this? The default head strap on many commercially sold headsets is absolutely inadequate and will become annoying to use well before the user gets wants to take the headset off or the battery runs out of power. There are tricks to make the default head straps slightly less uncomfortable. What any heavy VR user will inevitably say is, just get a newer, better one.

There are a ton of third party headstraps for sale, and even improved and more comfortable versions sold by the companies that make the headsets.

Promotional image for a Bobo VR headstrap including a battery. A popular third party VR headstrap.

So… why not give first time VR users a better impression of your headset by making the head strap it comes with actually good and comfortable to use?

Well, to drive down production costs of course. While there is no definitive answer here on how improving the head straps that ship with VR headsets would change the cost of the headset, there is the possibility that the headset could still be sold for the exact same amount.

Then again, an additional accessory can be sold for more money on its own and generate a whole new line of profit. While the consumer is already spending several hundred, or well over a thousand, dollars on a piece of tech. What’s seventy or a hundred more on accessories?

Until default head straps improve to the point where they don’t become immersion breaking and annoying so easily then keep in mind that if you really want to get your money’s worth out of that expensive VR headset there is an additional cost.

The cost of buying a headstrap that makes using it comfortable.