If you order the HP Reverb G2 now you might get it by December

The HP Reverb G2 was first unveiled back in May
(Image credit: HP)

The VR market is in surprisingly rude health. There's been high demand for headsets ever since Half-Life: Alyx dropped, indeed since it was announced, and there are still long wait times for anyone wanting to pick up a Valve Index. But it would appear that the high demand isn't just limited to Valve. HP announced some choice details about it's imminent Reverb G2 headset in a blog post:

'Demand has been high so all pre-orders made starting today, September 24 will start arriving to customers from channel partners in early December.'

On top of that, anyone that had already pre-ordered before yesterday's announcement can expect to get delivery of the new Reverb G2 'this fall, starting in early November 2020.' Which isn't any day now. These pre-orders will be processed according to when the order was received as well, so those that put their money down sooner, should get their headsets closer to the start of November.

We're still waiting to take a look at the new headset ourselves, and so don't recommend pre-ordering until you've read our review, but going from what we've seen so far, and the specs on offer, this does look like it could well be the headset to build your dream setup around.

Virtual reality

(Image credit: Valve)

Best VR headset: which kit should you choose?
Best graphics card: you need serious GPU power for VR
Best gaming laptop: don't get tied to your desktop in VR

HP worked with Valve and Microsoft to develop the Reverb G2, with Valve lending its expertise to develop the optics and the audio. The big headline grabbing specification though, is the per eye panel resolution of 2160 x 2160. 

There were a couple of updates in the post that concern the headset itself, including updated lenses to reduce Fresnel ring reflections and improve clarity; a slight tweak to the menu button; the inclusion of a USB Type-C to USB Type-A adapter in the box; and that in order to lower persistence, the unit will now need to be plugged into the wall. Which doesn't seem ideal, but we'll have to wait and see.

Alan Dexter

Alan has been writing about PC tech since before 3D graphics cards existed, and still vividly recalls having to fight with MS-DOS just to get games to load. He fondly remembers the killer combo of a Matrox Millenium and 3dfx Voodoo, and seeing Lara Croft in 3D for the first time. He's very glad hardware has advanced as much as it has though, and is particularly happy when putting the latest M.2 NVMe SSDs, AMD processors, and laptops through their paces. He has a long-lasting Magic: The Gathering obsession but limits this to MTG Arena these days.