Sony SRH-S1

Sony SRH-S1
Basic Info
VR/AR	Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality
Type	Head-mounted display
Subtype	Standalone VR, Mixed Reality
Creator	Sony
Developer	Sony
Manufacturer	Sony
Announcement Date	January 9, 2024
Release Date	February 2025
Price	US$4,750
Versions	SRH-S1 (Siemens NX bundle), XYN (content creation)
Requires	Siemens NX Immersive Engineering software (SRH-S1 configuration)
System
Chipset	Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2
Storage
Display
Display	Dual 1.3-type Micro-OLED (Sony ECX344A)
Resolution	3,552 x 3,840 pixels per eye (approx. 13.6 megapixels per eye)
Refresh Rate	90Hz
Image
Optics
Optics	Flip-up visor
Ocularity	Binocular
IPD Range	Hardware-adjustable
Passthrough	Color (video see-through)
Tracking
Tracking	6DoF, inside-out tracking
Eye Tracking	Yes
Hand Tracking	Yes
Audio
Camera	Six cameras and sensors
Connectivity
Connectivity	Standalone, plus PC streaming
Power	Rear-mounted battery
Device
Headstrap	Halo strap
Color	Grey
Input	Pointing controller, ring controller, hand tracking, eye tracking

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Sony SRH-S1 is a high-end mixed reality head-mounted display developed and manufactured by Sony for professional 3D content creation. It pairs a standalone headset built around dual 1.3-type 4K Micro-OLED panels with two unconventional controllers, a pen-like pointing device and a finger-worn ring, that are designed for manipulating virtual 3D objects rather than for gaming. The SRH-S1 was sold first as the dedicated hardware for Siemens NX Immersive Engineering, a suite of computer-aided design (CAD) tools, and shipped from February 2025 at a price of US$4,750.

The headset is the productized form of the "spatial content creation system" that Sony first announced at CES 2024. Sony positioned it as a precision tool for designers, engineers, and other creators rather than as a consumer device, and at that price it launched more expensive than the Apple Vision Pro.

History and development

Sony announced development of the spatial content creation system on January 9, 2024, ahead of CES 2024, describing an XR head-mounted display with 4K OLED microdisplays and a video see-through function, paired with controllers "dedicated to interaction with 3D objects". At that stage Sony said the system would arrive "later in 2024" and named Siemens as its exclusive launch partner, integrating the hardware with NX Immersive Designer software from the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio.

A prototype was shown to press at AWE 2024 in mid-2024. In a hands-on, Road to VR praised the sharpness of the display and the edge-to-edge clarity of the optics, comparing the lenses favorably to the Meta Quest 3, but found the controllers imprecise: the pointer was less accurate than a typical Quest controller and the ring suffered from jitter. Color passthrough was not ready to demonstrate at that event, and the demo unit ran below a steady 90 frames per second, which hurt head tracking.

At CES 2025, Sony and Siemens detailed the finished product. The headset received the model designation SRH-S1, was given a CES 2025 Innovation Award (Best of Innovation in the XR and spatial computing category), and was confirmed for release. Sony and Siemens opened orders for businesses on January 23, 2025, with shipping due to begin in February 2025 at US$4,750 for the headset and controllers.

Alongside the Siemens-bundled SRH-S1, Sony showed the same hardware under a new consumer-and-prosumer brand called XYN (pronounced "zin"), aimed at broader 3D and spatial content creation such as film production and design. UploadVR reported that "the XYN headset is based on SRH-S1, but differs in that it is not integrated with Siemens' NX Immersive Engineering software suite." Sony presented the XYN headset itself as still being a prototype at CES 2025.

Hardware

The SRH-S1 is a standalone device powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 platform, the same class of chip Sony cited as Qualcomm's latest XR processor. It can also be driven by a connected PC over a compressed video stream for heavier workloads.

Each eye is served by a 1.3-type micro-OLED panel. Independent reporting identifies the panel as Sony's own ECX344A and gives a per-eye resolution of 3,552 x 3,840 pixels (about 13.6 megapixels per eye), with a 90Hz refresh rate, peak brightness around 1,000 nits at a 20 percent duty cycle, and 96 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut. Sony's own materials confirm the 1.3-type 4K microdisplays and the 96 percent DCI-P3 figure, and credit a proprietary rendering technology with split rendering that allows large 3D models and detailed textures to be displayed in real time.

The headset uses color video see-through for mixed reality, drawing on six cameras and sensors, and supports head, hand, and eye tracking for control. Reviewers reported a field of view smaller than the Meta Quest 3 but still usable, a tradeoff that packs the pixels more densely for a sharper image. Ergonomic features include a halo-style head strap that removes facial pressure, a hardware-adjustable interpupillary distance, an eye-relief adjustment to bring the lenses close to the eyes, and a rear-mounted battery for weight balance. A flip-up visor lets the wearer switch quickly between looking at the virtual scene and at the physical world, including conventional monitors and face-to-face conversation, without removing the device.

Controllers

Instead of conventional VR gamepads, the SRH-S1 ships with two controllers built for fine 3D work. A pointing controller, shaped like a pen or stylus, is used for precise pointing and drawing, while a ring controller is worn on a finger and used to grab and manipulate virtual objects. Sony intends the pair to let creators sculpt and edit in virtual space while also using a keyboard, all while wearing the headset. In the AWE 2024 prototype hands-on, Road to VR found the star-shaped pointer reasonably good for pointing but less precise than a Quest controller, and reported significant jitter from the ring; both controllers also hid their physical buttons under the skin, which the reviewer found unintuitive.

Sony also tied the device into its wider spatial creation ecosystem. The XYN configuration works with Sony's XYN Motion Studio software and the company's mocopi body-tracking sensors, supporting up to 12 tracking points for motion capture, which UploadVR noted could be useful to filmmakers, artists, and social-VR users.

Specifications

Sony SRH-S1 key specifications

Component	Specification
Type	Standalone mixed reality head-mounted display
Chipset	Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2
Display	Dual 1.3-type Micro-OLED (Sony ECX344A)
Resolution	3,552 x 3,840 per eye (approx. 13.6 MP per eye)
Refresh rate	90Hz
Brightness	~1,000 nits (at 20% duty cycle)
Color gamut	96% DCI-P3
Passthrough	Color video see-through
Cameras and sensors	Six
Tracking	6DoF inside-out tracking, head, hand, and eye tracking
Optics	Flip-up visor; hardware-adjustable IPD; eye-relief adjustment
Head strap	Halo strap; rear-mounted battery
Controllers	Pointing (stylus) controller and finger-worn ring controller
Connectivity	Standalone, plus PC streaming over compressed video
Price	US$4,750 (headset with controllers)
Order date	January 23, 2025
Release	February 2025

Software and applications

In its SRH-S1 form the headset is the dedicated hardware for Siemens NX Immersive Engineering, a set of tools in the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio for working with 3D CAD data. Siemens described three components at CES 2025: NX Immersive Explorer, a headset-agnostic tool for design reviews and collaboration on 3D CAD data; NX Immersive Designer, which works exclusively with Sony's headset and lets engineers manipulate 3D models directly using the pointer and ring controllers, with support for augmented and mixed reality and a voice-command assistant; and NX Immersive Collaborator, for co-located and remote multi-user design reviews using cloud-enabled NX X. Bob Haubrock, a senior vice president at Siemens, framed the collaboration as a way "to deliver the industrial metaverse to our designer and engineer community".

Under the XYN brand, Sony aims the same hardware at a broader spatial content creation market that includes 3D modeling, film, and design work outside industrial CAD. The XYN ecosystem includes the XYN Motion Studio PC application and Sony's mocopi motion-capture sensors.

Reception

Coverage at announcement and at CES 2025 focused on the headset's high display quality, its unusual controller scheme, and its professional positioning and price. Digital Trends highlighted the 4K-per-eye micro-OLED panels and full-color passthrough and noted that the device costs more than the ultra-premium Apple Vision Pro, while pointing to the flip-up visor and halo strap as comfort-oriented design choices.

In the AWE 2024 prototype hands-on, Road to VR was impressed by the clarity of the display and the build quality but flagged unfinished elements: choppy performance that suggested the unit was not holding a steady 90 frames per second, controller tracking that needed work, and passthrough that was not yet ready to show. Sony's productized SRH-S1 was recognized with a CES 2025 Innovation Award in the XR and spatial computing category.

See also

• Apple Vision Pro
• Samsung Galaxy XR
• Meta Quest 3