The HTC Vive Pro pre-orders are now available for £800, with an April 5 release date

HTC Vive Pro angle

The new HTC Vive Pro is available to pre-order in super-limited quantities right now, for £800. The Vive Pro is an updated version of the original Vive, which has itself seen a price drop, down to £500.

You’re going to need a serious GPU to cope with the rigours of VR, so check out our best graphics card guide.

I had a play with the new Vive Pro at CES in January and came away very impressed with the new design. More impressed than I was about the new hardware update, if I’m honest.

The new Vive Pro display is offering an extra two million pixels compared with the original version, with a 1440 x 1600 resolution per eye compared with the 1080 x 1200 native res of the first Vive. But I was surprised at how little difference the increased resolution seem to make when I was actually wearing the headset.

The clarity of text was the main area where I noticed a big difference, offering a sharper image with less squinting to see what was written. But if you’re hoping for a big visual upgrade for virtual reality you might be a little disappointed.

HTC Vive Pro strap

You won’t be disappointed by the overall design, however. The new Vive Pro headset feels so much lighter than the first Vive, but it’s the better balancing of the headband that is arguably more important to the comfort of the fit. HTC have included all the goodness of the Deluxe Audio Strap to the Vive Pro, namely a more ergonomic tightening mechanism and built-in headphones.

There’s also extra padding at the back of the strap so it doesn’t feel like it’s trying to break the connection between your skull and your spine over a long VR sesh.

We now know when HTC’s Vive Pro is going to launch too – all orders will be shipped globally on April 5. And with Skyrim VR launching on April 3 you’ll have some fresh (old) virtual reality fantasy fun to play with your new headset too.