Somnium, a startup from the Czech Republic initially dedicated to its social VR platform Somnium Space, made a significant pivot in late 2021 by unveiling the Somnium VR1 headset. This announcement, made in collaboration with VRgineers—renowned for their high-end XTAL headsets aimed at enterprise use—boasted impressive specs for its time. The VR1 was originally planned as a hybrid headset, equipped with standalone capabilities through an onboard Snapdragon XR2 chipset. However, Somnium shifted gears in 2022, deciding to concentrate efforts on making it a strictly PC VR headset.
The VR1 features the same 2880×2880 QD-LCD with Mini-LED panels that you’ll find in the Pimax Crystal. These displays offer a remarkable 20000:1 contrast thanks to local dimming, cover 100% of the NTSC color gamut, and support refresh rates of 72Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz. There’s even an “experimental” 144Hz mode for those who want to push the boundaries. With an output brightness of 210 nits, the VR1 is about twice as bright as competitors like Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro.
Pairing these displays are large dual-element aspheric lenses, which Somnium asserts deliver a field of view approximately 130° horizontally and 105° vertically. This makes it the widest among currently available VR headsets. Although the Pimax models labeled “5K” and “8K” offered an even wider view, they are no longer in production and suffered from notable peripheral distortion.
The drive to enhance the field of view is largely why the Somnium VR1 is bulkier than today’s trend of sleeker pancake lens headsets. It’s a bold move by Somnium to prioritize immersion over compact design in their VR1 model.
