Upcoming Pico 4S mixed reality headset rivalling Meta Quest 3 revealed in leaked images
Meta isn’t the only social media company that’s investing heavily in the VR/mixed reality space. TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, after acquiring XR company Pico, had released the Pico 4 mixed reality headset in 2022 as a direct rival to the Meta Quest 2. The company recently announced a launch event on August 20 for a new headset, believed to be the Pico 4S. Now, a set of images have leaked that show the device in detail.
The overall design of the Pico 4S (or Pico 4 Ultra, in some markets) appears to be only sightly changed from its predecessor’s, most noticeably adding a stereoscopic pair of cameras to the front glass. This will presumably improve the mixed reality or pass-through experience, for which the Vision Pro has set such a high bar. It retains the padded rear-mounted battery which helps with better weight balance.
The controllers are now ‘ring-less’, but otherwise appear unchanged. However, a significant addition is that of two sensor-equipped wrist straps, which could enhance hand tracking or enable it in scenarios that don’t require the controllers.
Previously, a regulatory filing in South Korea had revealed that the Pico 4S will feature the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 – an upgrade from the Gen 1 version used in the Pico 4. This is the same chipset found in the Meta Quest 3 (available on Amazon), but paired with 12 GB of RAM instead of 8 GB.
The Pico 4 used a pair of 2.56-inch 2160 x 2160 LCD screens with upto 90 Hz refresh rate, sitting behind compact pancake lenses for a 105° field of view. It also featured motorised inter-pupillary distance adjustment, simplifying a rather important setting, and spatial audio via in-built speakers. These specs and features indicate what we can expect to see in the Pico 4S.
While the Pico 4 had received overall positive reviews, its availability was initially limited to Europe and East Asia, leaving interested American buyers in the lurch. That has since changed, and the Pico 4 currently retails on Amazon for $475. Hopefully that will continue with the Pico 4S upon its launch. Wherever it's made available, one thing that's certain is that it will go head-to-head with the much-rumoured and budget-friendly Meta Quest 3S, design renders of which have also just been leaked.
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