Chinese startup Pico, which develops virtual reality devices and was acquired by TikTok developer ByteDance last year, has introduced the Pico 4 VR headset. It will be sold in Europe from October 18 and will cost from 429 euros.

The headset has a stand-alone design, but can also be connected to a PC for enhanced virtual reality. The Pico 4 is smaller and lighter than its predecessor, the Pico Neo3 Link, which only debuted in May, weighing 295 grams without the strap and 586 grams with it.

The device uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 processor and has 8 GB of memory, as well as a display with a resolution of 2160×2160 points per eye. The amount of built-in memory is 128 GB, which costs 429 euros, and 256 GB for 499 euros. The Pico 4 battery provides three hours of battery life and is built into the headset’s back strap to balance it out.

Leland Hedges, general manager of Pico EMEA, describes the Pico 4 as “the first virtual reality headset” for a whole range of new users, targeting a mix of gaming, fitness and video. It works with SteamVR on PC and a dedicated Pico app store, and in 2023 the company is also launching a social environment called Pico Worlds. Since the startup acquired ByteDance, its headsets have also seen limited integration with TikTok: the user can additionally connect their TikTok account to the Pico video app to watch short videos on the headset.

ByteDance is implicitly positioning the Pico 4 as an answer to Meta’s entry-level Quest 2, so the latter will likely have to factor that into their meta universe strategy.