Asus arrives fashionably late to the party as its Mixed Reality headset goes on sale

Asus announced its contribution to the Windows Mixed Reality group last year, and now the VR headset is finally going on sale, making it the last of the announced lineup to do so. The Asus Windows Mixed Reality Headset HC102, as it's officially named, is now on sale for $429 in the US, a price that also bags you the controllers.

The name might lack some fervor, but the headset has a more unique design than its mostly bland stablemates, with a fancy polygonal 3D panel on the front. Specs, however, fall in line with the rest of the Mixed Reality lineup, with a 1440 x 1440 per eye resolution and a 105-degree field of view. It also supports six-degrees-of-freedom head tracking without the need to put down any sensors around your home.

Hands on: Asus Mixed Reality headset review

Uninhibited, inside-out tracking experience is what helps Microsoft's headsets stand apart from the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, though it's all virtual reality, despite the "mixed reality" branding.

Asus joins a group of headsets made in collaboration with Microsoft - Dell, Acer and Lenovo have all pushed out their own devices over the past few months. With Microsoft now supporting SteamVR content, Asus's headset comes with a library of games to play with out of the box.

But at $429, it's more pricey than all but the $499 Samsung Odyssey, and could prove tougher to shift with cheaper options available, including the now-, and very established, Oculus Rift.