>>410285835
tl;dr yes the index is worth it

Longer answer: The 'new one' is rumoured to be the deckard. It only exists in rumours, and patents, and how valve works is that until something is annouced it's liable to be dropped when the team's ADHD meds wear off. It has not been announced. Which means it is a year off at minimum. Plus since all we know is rumours, there isn't a great deal about it that we know reliably. 

As for other competitors to the headset, there are headsets with better screens, there are headsets that are wireless, but they all have something tricky about them. For example some headsets imply are harder to drive because they have too many pixels; the index is 'good enough' to where you don't see them unless you look, which is easier on the GPU. Some have worse sweet spots, no IPD adjustment, worse sound, worse tracking (and no lighthouse system which is a big minus) or worse comfort or one of a dozen things that reduces the appeal. The index is a well rounded VR package that excels in nothing but is good in everything. Most of this community uses an index or a quest 2. For good reason.

Headsets of note: G2 (good screen, good sound, no lighthouse tracking). Quest 2 (good screen, ok sound, wireless, controllers track okay, but no lighthouse, needing to stream video over wifi reduces much of the benefit of the better screen, and facebook cuckery) and pico 4 (similar to Q2 but without facebook cuckery it's actually a half decent option).