Varjo Aero: historical specs, PC requirements and support status
What the Aero was
Aero was Varjo's lower-cost, VR-only product for advanced PC VR users, rather than the company's mixed-reality XR line. Varjo's launch announcement positioned it alongside professional simulation and creative uses, but its requirements still assumed a powerful Windows PC and separate SteamVR tracking hardware. The headset did not include a controller or base station in its launch price; those are setup considerations for used hardware, not optional specifications that can be inferred from the headset alone.
Verified headset specifications
| Item | Varjo-published detail |
|---|---|
| Display | Dual mini-LED LCD, 2,880 × 2,720 pixels per eye; 90 Hz |
| Optics | Variable-resolution aspheric lenses; 35 pixels per degree peak fidelity |
| Field of view | 115° horizontal; 134° diagonal at 12 mm eye relief |
| IPD | Motorized automatic adjustment; 57–73 mm supported range |
| Eye tracking | Built in, 200 Hz; one-dot calibration |
| Tracking | SteamVR Tracking 1.0 or 2.0, using external base stations |
| PC connection | 5 m USB-C cable to adapter; DisplayPort and USB-A 3.0 |
| Weight | 487 g headset plus 230 g headband, including counterweight |
| Audio | 3.5 mm audio jack; in-ear headphones with microphone were listed in the box |
These are published specifications, not a review of image quality, comfort, latency or application performance. Varjo's marketing page describes the display as 35 PPD peak fidelity; that figure is not the same thing as uniform resolution across the entire field of view.
PC and setup requirements
Varjo's Aero requirements page lists Windows 10 64-bit or Windows 11, 8 GB RAM, 2 GB storage for Varjo Base, a DisplayPort 1.4 output and USB-A 3.0/3.1. Its listed desktop minimum GPUs are NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, RTX 3050, RTX 2060, RTX A2000 or Quadro RTX 4000; listed recommended options include RTX 4070 Ti, RTX 3070, RTX 2080, RTX 6000 Ada, RTX A4000 or Quadro RTX 5000. Varjo states AMD graphics cards are not supported on this requirements page.
SteamVR is required when using SteamVR Tracking, and a compatible SteamVR 1.0 or 2.0 base-station system is separate from the headset. Laptop connections have additional constraints: Varjo documents either a directly routed USB-C port with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and the separately sold laptop adapter, or a tested Mini DisplayPort-to-DisplayPort adapter supporting 8K video, DisplayPort 1.4 and DSC. Used buyers should verify the adapter, breakout hardware, cable, power supply and base stations rather than assuming a headset-only listing is a complete system.
Price and lifecycle timeline
| Date | Verified status |
|---|---|
| October 21, 2021 | Varjo announced Aero; first customer shipments were scheduled for the end of 2021. |
| Launch | $1,990 / €1,990, with no annual software subscription; base stations and controllers were not included. |
| January 19, 2024 | Varjo told MIXED its webstore inventory was permanently sold out, while selected resellers could still have stock; support was promised through the end of 2025. |
| January 1, 2026 | Varjo Base support ended. Version 4.14 is the final compatible release. |
| October 11, 2026 | Varjo says Aero production is discontinued and it is permanently sold out; current manufacturing focus is the XR-4 Series. |
Source conflict and date boundary: the January 2024 reseller/support statement predates Varjo's later end-of-support notice. The current Varjo notice controls the present status: no new manufacturer stock, no Varjo Base updates or bug fixes, and no out-of-warranty technical support, spare parts for sale or repairs. Varjo says Aero can continue to run with Varjo Base 4.14 or earlier without licenses or login; it also says the extended compatibility package is for business customers only. A used unit may therefore be a workable legacy SteamVR device, but this page does not promise future software, repair or parts availability.
For comparison with current and historical models, see the headsets directory. Aero should not be confused with Varjo's XR-4 Series or with the separately named VR-3: the lifecycle notice groups those older models for support purposes, but it does not make their specifications interchangeable.