HoloLens 2 has been available to Microsoft business partners and developers since last year, however anyone else interested in the augmented reality headset would have to jump through a few hoops first to get their hands on the device. Now Microsoft has opened sales of HoloLens 2 to anyone with the cash on hand.

Up until now, prospective HoloLens 2 owners would have to either contact an official reseller or sign up for a special developers program, making this the first time when John Q. Public could buy a HoloLens 2 direct from Microsoft without any additional fuss.

Customers will be able to buy the $3,500 headset itself and a host of replacement accessories including a carrying case, a USB-C charger, straps, and forehead pads of varying sizes. All of those come in the box already, but it’s nice to know you can buy a spare if need be.

Image courtesy Microsoft

Microsoft is only selling HoloLens 2 direct to online customers, so you most likely won’t be able to buy it in a Microsoft Store.

We first went hands-on with HoloLens 2 at Mobile World Congress (MWC) last year, and it proved to be a capable AR headset that, despite some misgivings on how the field of view was initial misrepresented at its reveal at the Barcelona-based trade show, showed some real material improvements over its predecessor.

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It packs in a number of features not present in the original 2015-era HoloLens, the most prominent of which is eye-tracking. Eye-tracking not only lets users select UI elements simply by looking at them, but also allows developers to know where a user is looking to better optimize AR apps by better understanding user behavior. Check out the full specs below:

HoloLens 2 Specs

Display Optics: See-through holographic lenses (waveguides)
Resolution: 2k 3:2 light engines
Holographic density: >2.5k radiants (light points per radian)
Eye-based rendering: Display optimization for 3D eye position
Sensors Head tracking: 4 visible light cameras
Eye tracking: 2 IR cameras
Depth: 1-MP Time-of-Flight (ToF) depth sensor
IMU: Accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer
Camera: 8-MP stills, 1080p30 video
Audio and speech Microphone array: 5 channels
Speakers: Built-in spatial sound
Human understanding Hand tracking: Two-handed fully articulated model, direct manipulation
Eye tracking: Real-time tracking
Voice: Command and control on-device; natural language with internet connectivity
Windows Hello: Enterprise-grade security with iris recognition
Environment understanding 6DoF tracking: World-scale positional tracking
Spatial Mapping: Real-time environment mesh
Mixed Reality Capture: Mixed hologram and physical environment photos and videos
Compute and connectivity SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 Compute Platform
HPU: Second-generation custom-built holographic processing unit
Memory: 4-GB LPDDR4x system DRAM
Storage: 64-GB UFS 2.1
WiFi: Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac 2×2)
Bluetooth: 5
USB: USB Type-C
Fit Single size
Fits over glasses
Weight 566g
Software Windows Holographic Operating System
Microsoft Edge
Dynamics 365 Remote Assist
Dynamics 365 Guides
3D Viewer
Power Battery life: 2–3 hours of active use
Charging: USB-PD for fast charging
Cooling: Passive (no fans)
Contains lithium batteriesSee more information >

Thanks to Jad Meouchy of the AR/VR data analytics company BadVR for pointing us to the news.

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Now this is welcome news! I’ve had the pleasure of using Hololens a number of times, it always impressed (despite the limitations), looking forward to trying Hololens 2

    Also been following the Integrated Virtual Augmentation System (IVAS), which is reaching 4th iteration already.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bb03dea81ea07351063cd0abdfeadaa86693700fdad541c356e30f1fbd75692d.jpg

  • Don Hopper Jr

    While I’m sure HL2 is cool it is still way too expensive for what you are getting right now. Anyone interested AR should do themselves a favor and check out the Nreal Light glasses… Same 52° FOV but clearer images and less bulk! Oh and when they launch later this year for only $499 I think MS is gonna have to rethink their pricing strategy! https://youtu.be/GCuw6NSw8wY

    • Andrew Jakobs

      Well, when I look at the site itself it says “what’s in the box” and only states “Glasses USB-C compatible” Nothing about the compute unit/controller. Also the HL2 is not meant for consumers and it does already come with very good support from Microsoft..

  • Bumpy

    I want to be able to effortlessly read a book inside the glasses. If that’s not possible, I’m not really interested.