Is VR dead?

[gamma123152]

Just for reference, my zero issues combo consists of:

- optical cable
- my own cheap (and old) powered USB 3.0 hub
- Quest 2 strap for the back of the head - increases stability
- Apache strap - slightly increased comfort, but I could go without it

For me, the headset was comfortable from the beginning, the add-ons help, but would not be a must.

Agree. No issues with comfort for me too, in fact, it's even more comfortable for me than my G2, because it gives me less heat and less pressure on the forehead, I can drive for hours without issues. But it's not the case for everyone, wadjo or something here at RD also returned his crystal because of his headshape. Not everyone seem to have a headshape that fits the crystal well and many seem to be helped by the Apache strap. If they included that by default then they had less returns and more happy crystal users.

My optical cable is probably broken, but the copper cable has a other advantage: 2* usb instead of one, so a longer batter time. I never have an empty battery.

I wrote those suggestions because not everyone has a great experience like the two of us... Also the software part, zero issues here(but massive! issues before 1.11) and no usb issues too but I still read to much about those issues.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Here is my take on this.

1. I do not consider his experiences typical.

2. I do not consider him a technical person who did any research ahead of recieving his unit.

3. I do consider him representing a percentage of the population that is not prepared to own a Crystal.

That review does not invalidate any positive experiences.

 

[gamma123152]

All true. I've watched some of his reviews and they were one of the worst reviews that I've seen, he's not the type of guy that I would take advice from when it comes to purchasing a sim racing / vr product.

But if Pimax did their homework better then these issues and therefor reviews could be avoided. The same story goes from Will/Boosted, his review was also positive if he didn't experience the mentioned issues.

 

[cnhoff]

That might be smartassing on my side, but I noticed right away he had not pulled the FRONT of the headstrap tight and that was the key for me and others to actually pull the headset up off your nose. Otherwise it is horribly uncomfortable.

 

[wajdi]

This headset doesn’t fit to some head shape as his and mine . I don’t understand why are you so negative with him?!!
He did a honest review based on his own personal experience.
He is right about the fact that the headset should be much smaller for the FOV it has. It has slightly wider FOV than my G2 with FOV gasket …i had my self a lot of USB disconnections.

 

[RCHeliguy]

 

[RCHeliguy]

This headset doesn’t fit to some head shape as his and mine . I don’t understand why are you so negative with him?!!
He did a honest review based on his own personal experience.
He is right about the fact that the headset should be much smaller for the FOV it has. It has slightly wider FOV than my G2 with FOV gasket …i had my self a lot of USB disconnections.

Look at 28 minutes into this last video and you see that this guy who is a previous 8KX owner is saying that the Crystal is the most uncomfortable headset that he's ever worn and the only headset that he's had to take off because of discomfort.

He says with the new headstrap he put in he can now handle up to 2 hours vs. 1 hour, but still has to take it off because of discomfort.

He's ordered a 15mm gasket for it to try to keep his prescription inserts from digging into his brow and he is committed to making this work for him.

 

[cnhoff]

Look at 28 minutes into this last video and you see that this guy who is a previous 8KX owner is saying that the Crystal is the most uncomfortable headset that he's ever worn and the only headset that he's had to take off because of discomfort.

He says with the new headstrap he put in he can now handle u

p to 2 hours vs. 1 hour, but still has to take it off because of discomfort.

He's ordered a 15mm gasket for it to try to keep the insert from digging into his brow and he is committed to making this work for him.

So you win?

 

[RCHeliguy]

So you win?

This isn't a win or lose situation.

Some people have made the Crystal work well for them and he has ordered a thicker facial interface to keep his prescription inserts from digging into him. He has said that he will find a way to make this work for him. He is invested.

Some people will not want to invest the time needed to make the Crystal work for them. Others will.

He seems very level headed about this situation. He is very happy with the visuals and will do what it takes to make this work for him, but he also is aware of the issues that others are having and the fact his out of the box experience wasn't very good.

That sounds empirical rather than fanboyish.

I'm willing to bet that he will get it to work for him the way he wants and his comments about it will grow more positive after that.

 

[cnhoff]

Yeah 1% of the price of the headset...

 

[cnhoff]

 

[RCHeliguy]

View attachment 686901

Yup, and Shark who is an admin on this discord replied with all the issues Pimax still needs to work on.

Why can't all this be true at the same time?

This guy is a previous Pimax owner and he has seen all the posts/issues and solutions presented on the forum there. He walked in with his eyes open and he will make the Crystal work for him.

 

[cnhoff]

It can haha

That question surprises me a little bit with the ratio of good-to-bad posts you have been doing here and in several other places about the Crystal.

 

[gamma123152]

View attachment 686901

This is exactly the main point. In every Discord you can find such comments about any headset. Yes Pimax should have done certain things much better, I also had two(now solved) massive issues in the beginning.

But to me, the Crystal is the best thing that EVER happened to VR. Now VR is finally as good as I want it to be!

Finally after so many years of constant gpu upgrading and tweaking the G2, it was never good enough. Never as good as I wanted VR to be, but the Crystal finally is. I thought before that the Aero would be the one to be as good as the Crystal is and I was super hyped about it before I ordered it, but it was a major disappointment, the biggest disappointment I've had in tech even.

The Crystal isn't a disappointment, it's absolutely amazing and nothing comes even close to it. The immersion and visual quality is just on a completely different level than any other headset on the market.

But yes it's only for the enthousiast, it's a device that you need to tweak to the max. to get it working right. For your computer, game or headshape; you must have some common sense to get it dialed in properly. It's a stupid assumption that "because it's 2k, it must work flawlessly out of the box". VR isn't as simple as that but some of these YouTubers seem to think that it is like that. It's simply not made for them.

And yes you could also just be unlucky to have a headshape that doesn't fit the Crystal even with all the mods(big exception when it comes to headshapes). But to my knowledge almost every other issue(except some color shifting and minor CA) is fixable. For me the comfort is better than my G2 and Crystal and also for everyone that tried it here(quite a lot of people).

In the end the Crystal is and stays miles ahead of everything else in the market.

Yes it's made by one of the most unprofessional companies in the industry (maybe even THE most unprofessional). But I had and still have a great experience and I had great fast support from them but I seem to be the exception. But this doesn't change the fact that you're simply not able to get a similar immersive VR experience with any other brand, it simply doesn't exist yet.

This all doesn't change, no matter how many negative things @RCHeliguy is able to find about the Crystal.

 

[wajdi]

I don’t agree… a next gen VR headset the costs 2K shouldn’t be heavy and bulky like that . I don’t see anything innovative in the Pimax Crystal expect the visual . Even the FOV is “ normal”. This is a Pimax 8K with a better lenses… this thing should cost no more than 800$.

 

[gamma123152]

I don’t agree… a next gen VR headset the costs 2K shouldn’t be heavy and bulky like that . I don’t see anything innovative in the Pimax Crystal expect the visual . Even the FOV is “ normal”. This is a Pimax 8K with a better lenses… this thing should cost no more than 800$.

Why should it not be heavy and bulky? It's impossible to have the same amazing visuals that the Crystal offers in a smaller headset. And it's the most comfortable to me, so the weight isn't even an issue for other users than you and some others. It's not for everyone but it's miles ahead of everything else and it will probably stay like that for a while(a year or maybe 2).

Nothing innovative "except the visuals". The visuals is what innovation in VR is mainly about to me. It just blows everything away in the market currently. Thats the main point.

It's clearly not an 8Kx with better lenses, the displays are on a completely different level than the 8Kx. That's the most stupid comment that I've read about it so far. It's a completely different hmd, the crystal is focused on the best visuals while the 8Kx was focussed mainly on the widest FoV and I understood from everyone that had both; that the Crystal is way more comfortable than the 8Kx and that the experience with the software is much better too.

To me it's a steal, if it was 1K more I would still have bought it. The Aero is the most overpriced and overrated piece of equipment in the VR industry that I've ever used, not the crystal, it's well worth the price.

Edit: I have the BOM of the Crystal, the costs are around 600USD without tax. So that's only the BOM, the employees aren't paid from that. So you like them to sell it without making a profit? Impossible.

 

[RCHeliguy]

His line up for the best VR headset

5. Reverb G2
4. Pico 4
3. Bigscreen Beyond
2. Pimax Crystal
1. Varjo Aero

 

[gamma123152]

His line up for the best VR headset

5. Reverb G2
4. Pico 4
3. Bigscreen Beyond
2. Pimax Crystal
1. Varjo Aero

Only because the Crystal has:
1. "quality control issues" and
2. because it has batteries
He puts the Crystal below the Aero he said.

But he doesn't think that the Aero is better. I think that he mainly did that because he's good friends with Varjo, he has been at their office and still has contact with Varjo so he tried to keep a good business relationship with them since he's the nr.1 youtuber when it comes to flight sims and that's the main market of Varjo.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Also because of the Aero's premium construction and his trust in its reliability.

He said that Pimax could have won this if they hadn't dropped ball in other areas.

He also said that he could see people wanting the BSB the most of that group because of its comfort etc...

The bottom line is there are a number of solid choices depending on your priorities.

 

[gamma123152]

The build quality of the Aero was the best that I've seen in VR for sure.

The Crystal is on G2 level but the Aero feels premium but through the lenses it's a other story.

Despite that, I had a terrible experience with the Aero when it comes to quality control because I had an dead pixel which could easily have been spotted and bad mura too; both unacceptable. And that was ~8 months or something after their launch.

So I think that he's "assuming things" based on the more premium feeling of the Aero compared to the Crystal. But this doesn't mean that their quality control is really better. I saw someone that had 4 Aero's in a row all with dead pixels, so many they he gave up and just refunded in the end.

The same goes for the link/cable box of the Aero, some overheated and seemed to give an extreme amount of motion blur while moving your head(I had motion blur too). This while some users didn't have a hot link box/motion blur and the saddest of all was that varjo stated at one moment that they acknowledged the issue but even after 6 months they still said that they were investigating it. Never a solution and nobody had been offered a replacement.

So premium feeling/looks doesn't mean premium build quality or support. So I don't share him opinion completely but I would have liked it if the Crystal had a more premium feeling too.