HoloLens 2 dev kits: $3,500, or $99/month, with Azure credits, Unity trials

The second-generation HoloLens 2 was announced back in February. At the time, Microsoft only disclosed commercial pricing for the greatly improved augmented reality headset: $3,500. This is $1,500 less than the commercial edition of the first edition but $500 more than the developer edition.

Today, the company revealed the developer pricing.

It’ll be that same $3,500, or $99 per month. Whichever payment option is chosen, the development edition will come with a few extras that the commercial edition does not: $500 of credit for Azure services as well as three months of Unity Pro and the PIXYZ CAD plugin. The developer headset will also be limited to one per person and won’t be licensed for commercial usage, though as best we can tell, the hardware will be literally identical.

Monthly pricing is available for the commercial edition, too: for $125/month, you get a HoloLens 2, along with one license for Dynamics 365 Remote Assist.

Compared to its predecessor, HoloLens 2 is substantially more comfortable; it’s only a fraction lighter, but the weight distribution is much more even. Its field of view is significantly improved, and it also includes surprisingly accurate gaze tracking, so it knows exactly what you’re looking at. HolonLen 2 is also much better at mapping out the world around it, including skeleton tracking that can model all 10 fingers. This enables much more natural interaction with virtual objects.