Hereby my review of the Pimax Crystal. They launched the product in a terrible state, so bad that I wasn't even able to use the Crystal. Their first software version caused big constant stutters/freezes with the provided optical cable and the poly lenses were terrible. But everything is solved now, so it's time for a review:
Display: Very good colors and great contrast, doesn't get better then this probably(The Crystal's got 104% DCI-P3 color coverage, it actually rivals and even beats some OLED VR panels in its color gamut). Great brightness/nits amount(one of the most important things for sim racing imo), the best of the industry. You really feel the difference when you're driving under trees for example or when it's sunset, really amazing, I never experienced that with my G2 or with the Aero. No motion blur at all as I had with the Aero.
Local dimming: When using "highlights" local dimming setting, it has no visible blooming at all. But with the default extreme setting it has blooming and it loses black detail. The blacks are still great with the "highlights" setting so that's my choice for sim racing.
Lenses/distortion profile: Amazing, by far the best lenses of the industry. Super clear, no distortion/warping as with the Aero. Good stereo overlap(most important for me, since I saw a black spot between my eyes with the Aero because of it's stereo overlap), good vertical FoV, okay horizontal FoV. The best barrel distortion profile of the industry. But not perfect; there is still minor blue shift and red shift, but not as close as bad as the Aero, same for the CA, but minor CA at the edges of the display only also way way less then the Aero but it's noticable. No fogging of the lenses(my G2 fogged). The lenses are for ~70-80% clear, all corners/sides are slightly blurred compared to the middle but the whole center is super clear and the colors etc are equal over the whole lens/panel.
Display and lens wise it's not even comparable to the Aero in my opinion. It's simply a different league.
Performance/software: biggest surprise, I can run native resolution(~4300x5100px) with 2xMSAA with all sim racing titles except ACC, this while keeping 90fps/hz locked. This combination feels around ~60% sharper then my supersampled Reverb G2 @ 3400x3400+8xMSAA. This with OpenXR toolkit/PimaxXR 0.39/V1.12 of Pimax play and slight FFR(one ring at 71%, not visible at all). This combination gives perfect stability for sim racing until now, no stutters etc. I never expected this to be possible, I thought that I would need a 5090 to run this resolution for 90fps locked, but it simply works with the oced 4090. Other/older software combinations(Pimax Play V1.11 and before and the previous PimaxXR versions) gave me stutters/issues but these issues are all solved now, the issues got solved much faster then I expected because of all the negativity that I read about Pimax.
Comfort: Also a big surprise: better then my Reverb G2 with comfort mod and the Aero for me! The weight is NOT an issue at all. It balances perfectly on my head and the provided(big) foam gives a good fit(only the big foam, the tiny foam is horrible). I expected issues here but it's simply great. It stays in position without tightening the knob on the back massively. It gives no pressure on my forehead(an issue that I had with the G2 and the Aero) and there is way less heat then with the G2, the cooling works great.
Battery: not an issue at all since I received the powered hub. It gives me around 6-7 hours.
HMD tracking: Good but not flawless, I've lost tracking a few times. It still has one serious issue: when the camera's get blocked (when you lay it down for example) it loses floor level. Not an issue in sim racing(recenter button works always), but it's an issue with roomscale gaming. It never lost tracking "during the race" but it lost tracking a few times after just putting the headset on my head(first ~half minute).
Controllers (tracking): Not usable, that simple. Horrible controllers and tracking compared to the Index knuckles. If you want usable controllers, wait for the lighthouse module. It's now a sim only headset.
Warranty/build quality: BIG issue, you must be carefull with this. Pimax provides only one year warranty which is imo insane for a almost 2000 euro/usd device(with tax/shipping). Yes Varjo does this too(US customers) is always the argument, but that doesn't make it less of an issue. It's imo a major issue of the Pimax Crystal because the build quality is ok but I don't have the feeling that it lasts forever. The Aero has a better build quality. If you're from the EU then find a reseller because they have to offer 2 years warranty by EU law. (Pimax also must do this according to EU law, but they simply ignore this law. Since they are based in China they get away with it)
By far the best sim racing experience you can get now. This is how VR is supposed to be. It's absolutely VR at it's next level. So if you want to experience sim racing as good as it can be, buy the Crystal and a 4090 and you'll be happy. Even people that disliked VR before in sim racing for various reasons(blur, distortion, heat, sde, visuals etc.) could like and prefer now with the experience that the Crystal has to offer. But don't expect the controllers to work but besides that(and the controller issue will be solved), it has far exceeded my expectations especially after all the negativity that I've seen about Pimax(especially from that Bradley guy, not sure what's wrong with him).
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