Microsoft HoloLens 2

Microsoft released the HoloLens 2 in November 2019 at $3,500 (Industrial Edition, $4,950), aimed at enterprise training, remote assistance and design review rather than consumers. A Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 paired with a second-generation Holographic Processing Unit drives real-time hand, eye and spatial tracking behind a 52-degree-diagonal waveguide display at 1,440x936 per eye, inside a 566g headset.

The developer story is the most open of any device in this batch: Microsoft ships free Visual Studio tooling, the open-source Mixed Reality Toolkit and native OpenXR support, with full documentation on Microsoft Learn. Skarredghost called the MRTK SDK 'outstanding,' and both Skarredghost and UploadVR praised hand tracking that, per Skarredghost, far surpasses typical consumer VR headsets.

The optics draw the sharpest criticism. UploadVR and Skarredghost both found the 52-degree field of view too narrow for immersive content, and Skarredghost reported visible 'rainbow vision,' chromatic aberration and a screen-door effect toward the edges. VR Expert added that the display struggles in sunlight, making the headset an indoor tool.

Battery life runs only 2-3 hours per charge across all three reviews, and Microsoft itself confirmed in February 2025 that it is exiting HoloLens hardware for good: production ended around October 2024, with no successor planned and software support running only through December 31, 2027. At 566g and a $3,500 launch price, it was never a device for casual buyers, and now it is not one a new buyer can purchase at all.