HP Reverb G2 — specification and verdict
Two 2.89-inch LCD panels at 2160x2160 per eye with a full RGB stripe put the Reverb G2 among the sharpest headsets ever built for reading text: a trainee can make out procedure cards, gauge faces and small labels that blur on most 2020-era hardware. The Valve-designed fresnel optics and 90 Hz refresh hold up over hour-long sessions, and the speakers sit 10 mm off the ear, so an instructor standing next to the trainee is still audible. Against that, the hardware IPD slider covers only 60 to 68 mm, which leaves a real share of adult trainees outside the adjustment range. There is no eye tracking and no hand tracking, so every interaction runs through the two AA-powered controllers. None of that decides the matter for us: this is a PC-tethered display with no Android runtime, so Skillsive courses do not run on it at all.
Every headset needs its own VR-capable PC. HP's stated floor is 8 GB of RAM, a DisplayPort 1.3 output and a USB 3.0 Type-C port, with a GeForce GTX 1080 or RTX 2060 SUPER class card to drive full resolution and a GTX 1060 class card only at half resolution. The captive 6 m cable ties each trainee to one machine, so a room for ten means ten PCs, ten cable runs and ten things to trip over. Hygiene is the one bright spot: HP specifies replaceable, magnetically detachable face cushions, so swapping between trainees is quick. There is no vendor MDM, no kiosk mode and no fleet console, because Windows Mixed Reality never had one. In Poland and Germany only the second-hand market is left now that HP's product pages have been taken down, and each controller eats two AA batteries.
Do not buy this for training in 2026. Windows Mixed Reality was removed in Windows 11 24H2, so the headset runs only on a frozen 23H2 install, and Microsoft ends the platform on 1 November 2026 for consumer editions and 1 November 2027 for commercial ones. If you already own a shelf of them, treat them as demo hardware on a machine you keep off the update channel, and put the budget into standalone Android headsets, which is what our courses actually run on.
How it compares within its class
The axis runs from the lowest to the highest published figure among the VR — PC-tethered devices in this catalogue. The grey tick is the median of that class.
Median for this class: 500 g, from 26 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: $899, from 45 models that publish the figure.
Controllers and hand tracking
HP Reverb G2 Controllers
6DoF
HP redesigned the Windows Mixed Reality pad for the G2: the touchpad went, an A/B and X/Y layout came in, and the lights moved to a shape the headset’s four cameras can read. 167 g each, two AA cells, about 15 hours.
In the boxHow it is tracked
Headset cameras
The headset watches markers on the controller, so it loses a hand held behind the back or low at the hip until it comes back into view.
The controller itself
- Controller weight
- 167 g
- Controller power
- AA batteries
- Controller haptics
- Yes
- Controller inputs
- thumbstick · analog trigger · analog grip · A/B and X/Y buttons · menu button · Windows button
Other controllers
Specific controllers from another maker
Windows Mixed Reality motion controllers (Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, ASUS)
Bare hands
No hand tracking — a controller is the only way in.
Full specification
An em dash means the manufacturer does not publish that figure.
- ManufacturerWho makes it — and who you buy support from.
- HP
- CategoryWhich kind of product this is. It decides which rows below make sense at all.
- VR — PC-tethered
- Device typeWhere the computing happens, and therefore what you need to run it.
- PC-powered VR
- AnnouncedThe day it was shown, which is not the day it shipped.
- 2020-05-28
- ReleasedYear the model went on sale. Older is not automatically worse in this category.
- 2020
- AvailabilityWhether you can still order it new today.
- Discontinued
- Support endsThe date the manufacturer stops supporting it. Decisive for a fleet you are about to buy.
- 2026-11-01
- PanelThe screen type. micro-OLED gives deeper blacks and higher contrast; LCD is brighter and cheaper.
- LCD
- OpticsThe lenses in front of the panel. Pancake stays sharp closer to the edges than older Fresnel, which decides how much a trainee has to aim their head to read something.
- Fresnel lenses
- Eyes coveredOne eye or both. Over a full shift this is a real difference in fatigue.
- Both eyes
- Resolution per eyePixels delivered to each eye. Higher means small text and labels stay readable.
- 2160x2160
- Refresh rateImages per second. Higher feels smoother and helps people prone to motion discomfort.
- 90 Hz
- Field of viewHow much of your view the image covers. Bigger is more immersive, not automatically better for work.
- ≈98° horizontal*VRcompare measurement
- Pixel densityPixels per degree of view — the honest way to compare sharpness between a headset and a pair of glasses. Higher is sharper. Only shown where somebody published it; we never compute it ourselves.
- Pixel density: not published by the manufacturer
- BrightnessIn a plant or outdoors, brightness decides legibility more than resolution does.
- Brightness: not published by the manufacturer
- WeightThe device alone. Anything above roughly 150 g is felt within an hour.
- 550 g
- Visible field of viewWhat the eye actually sees through the optics, by axis.
- 98° horizontal · 90° vertical · 107° diagonal
- Rendered field of viewWhat the device draws. Never smaller than what you see.
- 98.85° horizontal · 90.85° vertical · 107.52° diagonal
- Binocular overlapWhere both eyes see the same thing — this is where depth happens.
- ≈84.31°*VRcompare measurement
- Average pixel densityPixels per degree across the image. More is sharper.
- Average pixel density: not published by the manufacturer
- Peak pixel densityThe sharpest point, usually the centre of the lens.
- Peak pixel density: not published by the manufacturer
- Subpixel layoutHow the coloured dots sit in a pixel. A stripe looks cleaner on text than PenTile.
- RGB stripe · 3 subpixels per pixel
- Foveated renderingWhether detail is dropped outside where you look, to save performance.
- None
- PassthroughWhat the front cameras give you: colour, grayscale, or nothing.
- Passthrough: not published by the manufacturer
- Passthrough camerasResolution, density and frame rate of that camera feed.
- Passthrough cameras: not published by the manufacturer
- IPD adjustmentMatching lens spacing to the eyes. Motorised is fastest when one headset passes between people.
- Manual
- IPD rangeHow far the lenses travel to match eye spacing. A narrow range excludes part of any group of adults, which matters when one headset is shared.
- 60–68 mm
- Works with glassesWhether people who wear glasses can use it — fits over them, or takes prescription lens inserts.
- Works with glasses: not published by the manufacturer
- Vision correctionHow somebody who wears glasses uses it, and in what dioptre range.
- Vision correction: not published by the manufacturer
- DimensionsWidth, height and depth of the device itself.
- 186 × 75 × 84 mm
- Weight with strapWith the strap it ships with — the weight you actually wear.
- Weight with strap: not published by the manufacturer
- Head strapSoft band or a rigid one. Decides how the weight sits over an hour.
- Headband
- MaterialsShell and facial interface, in the vendor’s words.
- plastic · foam facial interface
- ColoursColours the manufacturer sells it in.
- Black
- Haptics in the headsetVibration in the headset itself, not in the controllers.
- No
- TrackingWhether content stays put in the room (6DoF), follows head rotation (3DoF) or is simply fixed.
- inside-out 6DoF
- Base stationsWhether boxes have to be mounted on the walls before it works.
- Not needed
- Tracking camerasHow many cameras it uses to know where it is.
- 4
- Tracking rateHow often position is recalculated. Higher is steadier.
- Tracking rate: not published by the manufacturer
- Depth sensorA dedicated sensor for distance, on top of the cameras.
- No
- Hand trackingWhether bare hands can operate the interface, without a controller or the phone.
- No
- Eye trackingThe headset knows where the trainee is looking. Enables sharper rendering where they look, and attention analytics.
- No
- Face trackingTracks facial expression — for avatars, not for training scenarios.
- No
- Body trackingHow much of the body the device knows about. Estimated legs are not tracked legs.
- None
- Controllers includedWhether motion controllers come in the box, or are bought separately — or the device is hands-only.
- Yes
- Controller modelThe manufacturer's own name for the controller.
- HP Reverb G2 Controllers
- Controller tracking6DoF controllers track position and rotation, so a hand reaches in space; 3DoF only point. “None” means hands only.
- 6DoF
- Controller tracking methodWhat establishes where the controller is. It decides whether the controller keeps working behind your back or down at your hip — “6DoF” on its own does not say.
- Headset cameras
- Other controllersWhether the headset works with controllers other than the ones it ships with.
- Specific controllers from another maker — Windows Mixed Reality motion controllers (Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, ASUS)
- Finger tracking on the controllerWhether the controller senses individual fingers, and how.
- Finger tracking on the controller: not published by the manufacturer
- Controller inputsButtons, sticks and triggers the controller offers.
- thumbstick · analog trigger · analog grip · A/B and X/Y buttons · menu button · Windows button
- Controller hapticsVibration feedback in the hand.
- Yes
- Controller powerDisposable cells or a built-in rechargeable — a fleet question.
- AA batteries
- Controller weightOne controller, as the vendor weighs it.
- 167 g
- Other input methodsWays in beyond controllers and bare hands.
- Other input methods: not published by the manufacturer
- Runs Skillsive appsOur own statement about whether Skillsive training applications run on it today.
- No
- Suitable for trainingOur judgement on whether it survives real deployment: comfort, hygiene, fleet management.
- No
- Kiosk mode / MDMVendor tooling to enrol devices, push an app and lock the headset to it. Practically required above ten devices.
- No
- Business tierAn official business tier, so devices belong to the company rather than to employees’ personal accounts.
- No
- Swappable facial interfaceRemovable, wipeable face padding. A consumable, and the difference between shared use and complaints.
- Yes
- CertificationsIndustrial certifications stated on the manufacturer's own page. Empty means unconfirmed, never "probably fine".
- Certifications: not published by the manufacturer
- PortsPhysical sockets and charging contacts.
- DisplayPort 1.3 · USB 3.0 Type-C · power adapter
- Wi-FiThe Wi-Fi generation — it decides how well wireless streaming holds up.
- Wi-Fi: not published by the manufacturer
- BluetoothFor controllers, headphones and accessories.
- Bluetooth: not published by the manufacturer
- Video from a computerWhether a computer can drive it, over a cable or wirelessly.
- Over a cable
- AudioBuilt-in sound. Matters most where somebody has to hear a remote expert while working.
- Built-in speakers
- MicrophoneBuilt-in microphone — the other half of talking to a remote expert.
- Yes
- MicrophonesHow many. An array picks a voice out of a noisy hall; one does not.
- Microphones: not published by the manufacturer
- Price bandThe band it sits in, rather than a price that goes stale.
- Mid range
- Launch priceThe manufacturer's launch price. Fixed history, so it never goes stale.
- $599
- Price by configurationWhat each configuration cost at launch.
- Price by configuration: not published by the manufacturer
- Price todayApproximate current net price in USD — a general figure, since these barely differ between regions once tax is stripped out. A snapshot from the date shown, not an offer.
- Price today: not published by the manufacturer
- Comfort (from reviews)How it wears over a full session. Scored from agreement between independent reviewers, not from our own testing.
- 3 / 5Road to VR called it comfortable enough and better than the G1, without moving the bar for VR comfort; Pocket-lint put a comfortable fit among its pros and the velcro head strap among its cons. At 550 g it sits in the middle of the field.Road to VR review,Pocket-lint review
- Edge clarity (from reviews)Sharpness away from the centre of the lens. Scored from agreement between independent reviewers.
- Edge clarity (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer
- Tracking reliability (from reviews)How tracking holds up in poor light and fast movement. Scored from agreement between independent reviewers.
- Tracking reliability (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer
- Hand tracking quality (from reviews)How usable controller-free hand tracking is in a training scenario. Scored from agreement between reviewers.
- Hand tracking quality (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer
Who this device is for
Nobody who is buying new. The honest remaining audience is a simulation lab that already owns Reverb G2 units and a matched PC fleet frozen on Windows 11 23H2, typically flight or driving sim, where the 2160x2160 panels and readable instrument text still beat much newer standalone headsets. Anyone starting from zero, and anyone who needs a headset a safety officer can hand out and collect back, is in the wrong place.
How it differs from its predecessor
The Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition is the same optics, the same panels and the same four-camera tracking, with eye tracking, pupillometry, a heart-rate sensor and a face camera added for research telemetry. If you only want the Reverb image, the plain G2 is cheaper and far easier to find. Both stop on the same date, because both stand on Windows Mixed Reality.
What is missing, and what the manufacturer does not publish
HP publishes one rounded field-of-view figure, "~114 degrees", without naming an axis, while VRcompare's own measurement is 98 degrees horizontal and 107 diagonal, so the marketing number and the measured one are not describing the same thing; the two also disagree on mass, HP saying 550 g and VRcompare 498 g with the headstrap, which is why no with-strap weight is recorded here. Passthrough appears nowhere in HP's QuickSpecs: the tracking-camera view exists inside Windows Mixed Reality, but HP never specified it and no HP document told us whether that view is colour or monochrome, so we left the field empty. HP's own datasheet contradicts itself on eye relief, calling it "not a feature of this product" while advertising an adjustable eye relief facemask sold only on US units. There is no exact ship date in the record either, because HP promised only "fall 2020" and no HP page ever named a day, and no discontinuation year, because HP never announced one and the product pages now redirect to hp.com's home page.
HP Reverb G2 in independent reviews
Reviews we consider worth your time, each with a note on what the reviewer actually tested and why it matters for a training rollout. We do not own this hardware, so the tests are theirs — the reading of them is ours.
- The VR GRID2020
The fullest of the reviews here, and the one to start with. Independent coverage from The VR GRID, covering best-in-class clarity set against tracking and controller complaints, with through-the-lens footage. Worth the time if that is the part of the device your decision turns on.
Watch on YouTube - VR Flight Sim Guy2020
A second independent voice, which is what stops a single reviewer's setup reading as the device. Independent coverage from VR Flight Sim Guy, covering best-in-class clarity set against tracking and controller complaints, with through-the-lens footage. Worth the time if that is the part of the device your decision turns on.
Watch on YouTube - MRTV - MIXED REALITY TV2020
A third take, useful mainly where the first two disagree. Independent coverage from MRTV - MIXED REALITY TV, covering best-in-class clarity set against tracking and controller complaints, with through-the-lens footage. Worth the time if that is the part of the device your decision turns on.
Watch on YouTube
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HP Reverb G2 — frequently asked questions
- Does the HP Reverb G2 still work on Windows 11?
- Only on Windows 11 version 23H2 or older. Microsoft removed Windows Mixed Reality in Windows 11 24H2, and that took the Mixed Reality Portal and the SteamVR driver with it, so an updated PC will not start the headset at all. The platform itself ends on 1 November 2026 for consumer Windows and 1 November 2027 for commercial editions.
- Will Skillsive VR training courses run on an HP Reverb G2?
- No. Our courses are standalone Android VR applications and the Reverb G2 has no computer of its own. It is a display and a set of cameras on a 6 m DisplayPort and USB cable, driven by a Windows PC. There is no way to install our courses on it, and we do not ship a PC build of them.
- What IPD range does the HP Reverb G2 cover?
- HP specifies 64 mm plus or minus 4 mm on a hardware slider, so 60 to 68 mm. That is narrower than most current headsets and leaves trainees with wider or narrower pupil spacing without a sharp image, which matters when one headset is passed around for a whole shift.
Compare this device
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The nearest devices in the same class, ranked by availability and launch price — not by our opinion of them.
Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08. Manufacturer's specification
Product and company names used here are the trademarks of their respective owners and appear only to identify the hardware being compared. We are not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any of these manufacturers. Illustrations are our own.