Upcoming VR Headsets 2026: New Releases and What's Coming Next

Last updated: September 26, 2026

Part of our Best VR Headsets buyer's guide.

Valve's Steam Frame launched on September 14 at $1,059 and is reaching buyers through Valve's reservation list, the biggest headset launch of 2026 so far. Next on the calendar is Pico's Space Pro, pushed to Q4, alongside a fall wave of smart glasses. Meta's next headset is not a Quest: Meta VR Glasses, announced at Connect on September 23, go on sale in spring 2027 for $1,299.99, and the gaming-focused Quest 4 is a second-half-of-2027 story at the earliest. This is our running guide to the newest and upcoming VR headsets, updated as they are announced and released. For exact dates across every category, including games and accessories, see our VR release dates tracker.

Recently launched

Valve Steam Frame. The most anticipated headset of the year launched on September 14. Valve priced it at $1,059 for 256GB and $1,299 for 1TB (1,049 EUR, 889 GBP, 1,529 CAD, 1,609 AUD, and here is how those compare net of tax), with Half-Life: Alyx and a Wi-Fi 6E wireless adapter in the kit and no power supply; Valve sells a 45W unit for $29. The official spec line is a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, 16GB of LPDDR5X, two 2160x2160 LCD panels at 72 to 144Hz, a 21.6 Wh battery, eye-tracked Foveated Streaming and over 100 Standalone Verified games. Tracking runs on four monochrome cameras, and for color passthrough Valve lists the $149 Arcturus Vision camera, which plugs into the headset's PCIe expansion port, as a compatible accessory. There is still no open checkout. Reservation signups closed on September 17, purchase emails have gone out in waves since September 18, and units ship as they become available, with everyone past the first batches on a waitlist. Valve has already shipped its first SteamOS update for it, and iFixit's teardown found a glued battery behind otherwise repairable parts. Our Steam Frame hub, release date tracker, and verified games list have the rest.

Samsung Galaxy XR. The flagship of Google's Android XR platform, on sale in the US since October 2025 and in the UK since July, with eye and hand tracking and Gemini-powered spatial AI. At $1,799 it is the most credible Apple Vision Pro alternative in the Android ecosystem. It is our top Android XR pick in the best standalone VR headset guide.

Bigscreen Beyond 2. At 107 grams it is the lightest and one of the sharpest PC VR headsets ever made, aimed at enthusiasts. It now starts at $959, after Bigscreen swapped the standard face-scanned cushion for a universal one on August 31. See where it lands in our best PC VR headset guide.

Apple Vision Pro (M5). Apple refreshed its spatial computer with the faster M5 chip in October 2025, keeping the class-leading micro-OLED displays and visionOS. It remains a premium media and productivity device at $3,699, after a June price increase, rather than a gaming headset. Apple streamed four live MLB games in immersive video between August 28 and September 18, weeks after cutting back the teams behind its immersive video and games.

Pimax Dream Air. Pimax's compact micro-OLED PC VR headset has shipped. The company cleared its preorder backlog in August, so it moves out of the waiting list and into the ultralight PC VR race alongside the Bigscreen Beyond 2. The Dream Air SE starts at $899.

On the horizon

Meta VR Glasses. Meta's next headset is not a Quest. Announced at Connect on September 23, Meta VR Glasses are the device reported for months as Project Phoenix: about 100 grams on the face, with compute, battery and storage moved into a roughly 300-gram puck on an optical tether. They cost $1,299.99 and go on sale in spring 2027, with no exact date and no preorders yet. The micro-OLED displays reach 37 pixels per degree, sharper than Quest 3, but the field of view is 70 by 66 degrees against roughly 110 by 96. Touch Plus controllers are sold separately (Quest 3 and 3S controllers pair), and Meta says more than 75 games will be playable with hand gestures alone at launch. Meta rates the battery at up to three hours of media playback, which says what the device is for: movies, live sports and fitness first, games after. Our Meta VR Glasses hub tracks the price, specs and release date, alongside our launch report and a Quest 3 owner's take on whether 100 grams makes headsets obsolete.

Pico Space Pro. Project Swan has a name but no longer a date. Pico cancelled its September 2 Beijing launch event and moved the headset to Q4 2026, citing a late software upgrade, and price and regions went with it. The claimed sheet is a 4,000 PPI micro-OLED panel, dual-chip compute at 12ms perception latency and 270 grams, none of it confirmed outside Pico. Two devices cleared the FCC on September 1, a headset and a tethered puck that carries the Wi-Fi radios, which points to a US release without dating one.

Meta Quest 4. Not a 2026 device, and not at Connect: Meta announced no new Quest on September 23. Reporting points the gaming-focused Quest 4, codenamed Griffin, to the second half of 2027 at the earliest. Our Quest 4 tracker sorts every claim into confirmed, reported, or rumor. Until then, the Quest 3 and Quest 3S are the current Meta headsets, and there is no need to wait if you want one for games now.

The smart-glasses wave. Beyond full headsets, a growing category of glasses is arriving this fall. Snap's Specs start at $2,195, or $2,395 with a cellular charging case, and Snap still gives no ship date beyond later this fall, with public demos opening October 1 at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles. XREAL's Android XR glasses, AURA, are due this fall at no more than $1,500 for the base model and have passed 10,000 reservations. Samsung named its Android XR glasses Intelligent Eyewear at Unpacked in July, as a display-free first model with no price yet. The cheaper display-glasses branch is already on shelves: Viture's Pro 2 landed in August at $299 for a 146-inch virtual screen at 63 grams, and RayNeo put two new pairs on sale on September 4. These are complementary to VR rather than replacements. We track them in our best AR glasses guide.

Should you wait or buy now?

For games, there is no reason to wait. The headsets shipping today are excellent, and the gaming-focused Quest 4 is a 2027 story at the earliest. The one upcoming device worth holding out for is Meta VR Glasses, and only if you mainly want movies, live sports or workouts: they are far lighter than any Quest, but they arrive in spring 2027 with a 70-degree field of view and no controllers in the box. If you want a headset now, start with our best VR headsets guide or the best standalone and best PC VR picks. We update this page as new headsets are announced, so check back for the latest.

Recent headsets at a glance