Pimax Crystal Fails to Shine

Pimax has finally launched it's Crystal Headset to first wave buyers. But this launch had a plethora of issues and the product fails to reach its full marketed promise
bradsmells.com/patreon
#Pimax #Crystal #vr

[@LoganTheobald]

Hi Brad

[@thebeast7590]

hi toast

[@SadlyItsBradley]

Hi toast

[@waterflame375]

Hi, I'm not brad

[@Cheese_the_Magical_Avali]

Hi, Not Brad

[@laartwork]

Then I might take your opinion with more then a grain of salt.

[@supershad9855]

But are you?

[@kadincool]

Hi, I'm also not brad

[@MFinVR_uwu]

Hi not Brad. I’m hungry.

[@buenasondas1147]

This company should drop the 12k plans and make a Crystal that looks small enough for a normal human neck to support instead of one that only looks fitting for a 280 pound, 6' 8" professional wrestler.

[@laartwork]

Got to try it today. Very balanced. The most balanced geadset i have tried out of the box. My 4 year old plays a Quest with counterweights that is almost 2 lbs for an hour. Pretty sure you can handle this. I would get a comfort strap for the top to distribute the weight though so it's not all in the center stap top of your head.

[@utubby3730]

@@laartwork Letting a 4 year old use this should be considered child abuse. Their poor spine.

[@SyntheticSpy]

@@laartworkyou should not be letting your 4 year old use a vr headset. It is very problematic for people who are still developing to use one

[@claybomb1064]

Start pumping iron you girly boy.

[@buenasondas1147]

@claybomb1064 that's like justifying a 20 pound laptop via "Do you even lift bro"? Dumb logic, but you might be trolling and if so, well done. ;-)

[@kangjames2492]

Mine will be showing up hopefully within a week or so. I will judge for myself.

[@jasonleong6791]

Do give us a reply here on your experience after you receive it.

[@WhatsupAbroad]

Hope you love it!

[@datruth9607]

Yes please do I love my Pimax, opposite reaction of sadely

[@Pro720HyperMaster720]

I always had the sensation that all that Pimax launches is almost there, he says it, prototype, is like they always launch before it’s fully ready, I love the specs of the Reality 12K, but I know that 90%+ will not release complete, it will have caveats, I would love a future Reality 12K polished and as light as possible

[@hughmanwho]

It'll probably be heavier..

[@VRFlightSimGuy]

For flight simulation purposes, the Pimax Crystal is the best on the market right now. There are so many other qualities which you fail to mention. The image quality is sensational, especially when you consider the only other headset that compares is substantially more expensive. You save money here on base stations, audio, the mic is superb quality and the FOV is superb given the design of the lenses. The local dimming also works very well and I have not experienced any warping like you've mentioned. I can happily fly for hours with this headset since its very well balanced. It actually feels like putting on a helmet like you would in a real aircraft. I'm quite bemused why anyone would buy such a device to play beat saber, what a waste of a great display. I get it though, you're a VR chat dude, I'm a nerdy simmer. Two totally different perspectives, but equally valid. Thanks for the video.

[@StarCenturion]

They did say if you do simulation, this is worth looking at.

[@mostwanted2000]

I watch all your videos and I know that now this is your favorite headset. Previously it was the Aero. But do you notice the warping explained here when moving in the cabin?

[@Aku77777]

You are a Pi Max boy. Nobody cares about your opinion.

[@dtz1000]

It would have helped if Brad had actually played some games in it. VR Chat doesn't count.

[@clovis1109]

Thank you. There's a place for pimax in the market. I'm not a simmer but I love flat to VR and seated titles. I'm not into flailing about after working with my hands all day. I can't wait to get my Crystal, sit down and game. Pimax has their issues. They're a scrappy Rouge company and the antithesis of Meta, which I love. People are so quick to hasten the homogenization of VR. Eventually it'll look like the smartphone industry and we'll look back and miss a time when companies like Pimax were at least trying to do something different

[@archamian]

Did anyone really believe Pimax wouldn't screw up this launch? They have Apple aspirations but an Ali Express level of execution.

[@bartomiejgos6493]

AliExpress is faster :>

[@pielovervi]

@@bartomiejgos6493 that’s true

[@mikeb3172]

FOV was the one thing they had over other HMDs...

[@michaelcarson8375]

When have they gotten their launches correct? I don't pay to beta test products anymore because the promised fixes rarely come.

[@liamcollinson5695]

It's probably a insult to AliExpress

[@SkyKing-Opa]

Mine had no problems and I love it. ❤

[@cameronbutterfield4031]

Does your 120hz work? (I preordered as well (first 50)) and my strap was broken, but I played with it a bit as well as I could without a headstrap and 120hz wasn't working on mine either

[@SkyKing-Opa]

@@cameronbutterfield4031 Head strap wasn’t broken but my 120hz didn’t work. Don’t need but 90hz for my flight sim right now anyway.

[@WhatsupAbroad]

@@cameronbutterfield4031 The 120hz mode should function if you bypass the adapter and plug the cable directly into the headset. Updates will fix that limitation. We are also working on higher refresh rates than 120

[@TonyDrecaps]

​@@WhatsupAbroad awesome! ! I was hoping for the higher refresh rates

[@jodyschultz5870]

Does the Auto IPD work? Did you get both sets of lenses? What is the FOV on yours?

[@lovyNOM]

A late note from a VR dev, if you are using asynchronous time warp then you are rendering frames at a lower fps (say 60fps) and a wider/taller resolution then your display is rendering at (say 120fps). Then the headset will double render that same frame accounting for the rotation (but not translation) of your headset. That way as you turn your head you will perceive the full 120fps, even though your PC is only rendering at 60fps. This feature can help reduce motion sickness from turning your head, but has the risk of increasing motion sickness from translating your head and from virtual locomotion. I found implementing this feature is only useful if you are not able to render at the devices full resolution such as when the PC doesn't have the ability to maintain 120fps or the VR cable/network does not have the bandwidth to upload all those frames.

[@julianmazzola]

I think I speak for everyone when I say that the enthusiast community trusts and values your unfiltered expertise above all other outlets. What I think a lot of us are wondering the most, while anxiously trying to decide which pre-order to keep, is how do the raw visuals compare to the Beyond? Excluding the comfort and all of the other issues, I think we confidently know what to expect in those departments, but purely in terms of what you see and your immediate visual impressions compared when putting on either of the two headsets. I'll be keeping my Beyond pre-order, but will continue to keep an eye on the Crystal as it matures and the promised features roll out.

[@Nobody-Nowhere]

Crystal has higher resolution, and much higher brightness. And it has eye tracking that is kinda important in a high resolution headset.

[@julianmazzola]

@@Nobody-Nowhere I get that, on paper the Crystal sounds like a significantly better visual experience, and yet thus far it seems every content creator who's tried both seems to strongly prefer the Beyond. So I'm just trying to get a feel for exactly how different the visual experience is between the two, which is obviously hard to know without trying them both for yourself

[@laartwork]

This is the best headset visuals by far that I have seen.

[@NarwalPower]

You really know your stuff! I love this channel and have been watching for a while. You're amazing keep up the amazing work!

[@bluebell1]

Pimax needs to concentrate on ONE product. To ship units out that are not as described and use old packaging that’s too small is why they will not be here for the long haul. The software is also glitchy so there’s that.

[@theriddick]

They CANT! They must continuously release products or go bankrupt, at least that is my theory to what's going on.

[@bluebell1]

@@theriddick unfortunately they’re going to lose money if they keep making promises they can’t keep and sending out units that don’t even have the promised hardware. I feel bad for them because they can’t compete easily with big tech companies but they have to make 1 hmd that’s quality and delivers on their promises.

[@theriddick]

@@bluebell1 Well whoever is running the show at Pimax is a VERY confused person and doesn't know their market and seems to think doing everything and delivering on nothing is fine. The world is rapidly moving on, soon Pimax will be the only one in the industry with all outdated and old spec hardware and features! Lets put this in perspective here; their main feature was LARGE FOV VR with decent quality. They have ditched that and are now going narrow fov with decent LCD but horrible LENS but retain the same SUPER HEAVY weight and size. I expect their next headset to just be a 48" OLED that you duct tape to your face at this rate!

[@WhatsupAbroad]

@theriddick We have multiple high fov headsets in development. The release of a single more standard FOV option, with extremely high quality visuals I might add, does not reperesent a departure from our high FOV aspirations at all.

[@talking2388]

Thank you for your honesty. There are some KZbinrs that will put a stamp on a pile of Cow Dung. ( No offence to cows)

[@hughmac7423]

I think with Pimax, that you need to wait for the second generation of there headsets before getting one. I have later 8KX and I really like it, although they do take a lot of setting up, firmware and software connection problems.

[@stoned_kakapo8736]

Old one seemed to work better than the new one, but on the plus side, the newer one had the higher hz option

[@Kiribruh02]

Yay a video!

[@Lao_lu]

I'm going to get a chance to try this out today at a pimax event.

[@JasonXBeats]

how was it?

[@intetx]

Thatˋs definitely the review, that lines up most with my experience trying it. The small distortion sweetspot and bad strap design, is what killed the headset for me. I like Pimax headsets, and I had personally a good experience with both software and support even tho people say constantly that Pimax is bad in that regard. I think probably the best Pimax ist the 5k Super with the soft strap. The last time I looked into it you were still able to buy the softstrap from support, even tho it is not on the website. I still like the 5k headsets a lot, they are quite light and the fov is really game changing, a better visual experience then the Index to me. It‘s like the difference between diving goggles and ski goggles.

[@dtz1000]

Same here. That distortion sweetspot really surprised me when I tried the Crystal recently as most reviewers failed to even mention it in their reviews. I will never trust them again.

[@liamjoseph992]

Yes i can only agree. I was expecting this edge to edge clarity aswell.. And it doesn't exist. No one is mentioning it?? The distortion is constant and i also have a motion blur.. Persistence blur. Again noone mentions it.

[@tHoM0r]

I got the geometric distortion in the HP g2 reverb. Did you get the same? I doubt I was ever positioned correctly, but something so sensitive is basically unusable

[@ghoste7546]

Hi Brad, you mentioned Pimax Crystal has good visual. But how is it if compare to Varjo Areo? Thanks!

[@MadJackChurchill1312]

Wild that people are still falling for Pimax’s stunts.

[@edwardv.9654]

They can get away with it since they do offer replacements and what not rather quickly, but launch are so bad. Unfortunately there aren't better headsets, as someone who's had.multiple headsets since the OG vive. G2 for example, is hot garbage.

[@glenfoxh]

This is why I went with the HP Reverb G2 instead of the Pimax 8K, when I was deciding what one to get. The cost was much lower, and had far fewer issues. Many issues the Pimax 8K had. Not to say the G2 didn't have it's issues. I had to go online and find out how best to optimize for quality VS performance, for my PC can handle it. The other big issue is the controllers. I had a form of outside sensor tracking with my old Oculus Rift. And that was fantastic. And the controllers for the Rift has a simple form of finger tracking, just below what can be done with the Index controllers. Quite nice for it's time. The inside-out controller tracking for the G2 sucks ass. I lose tracking a lot. Unless I keep those controllers out in front. And there is no form of finger tracking at all. Making the G2 controllers a big step down over all to me old Rift controllers. Not good for something new that had time to make improvements over something older already out on the market. The best thing to me to the G2 is the display. Going from the Rift to the G2 did feel quite next gen, when it comes to how good things look on it. I could see details that mad me feel I was going form a 720p display to a 4K display by comparison to just how much better everything looked on it. Have been considering going with the Pimax Crystal, as my next upgrade to my HP Reverb G2. But with all the issues I have been seeing all over about how bad it is, at launch, it costs way too much to be dealing with all of that mess, just to have a slightly better display than the G2. If I get anything new, it will likely be the Quest 3, for an overall upgraded to everything else, other than resolution. For the display for the G2 at 2160 x 2160 and Quest 3 at 2064 x 2208, looks to be a bit similar, yet a bit different at the same time. Sad, for as much as I wanted to get the the Pimax Crystal, at it's currant state, it not be worth it at it's price. Not to me. Perhaps they can work out all the bugs, and make it all they said it will be, before the finish with the 12K headset, and use all they learn for that next one. And if the 12K proves to be the improvement I'd be looking for, then the 12K it is, when it comes out, and the reviews for it is good. Or the new Index might prove to be something worth getting instead. Time will tell.

[@drmikehuntphd7905]

No one cares lol holy essay

[@dathyr1]

Your video is great and I have the same opinions of PIMAX as yourself. I am very hesitant in getting any kind of PIMAX Crystal VR headset - and now they are advertising the Crystal Lite versions having similar specs but missing some features. I am not too fond of having that large a VR headset on my head for hours on end. PIMAX to me is they produce all these variations of VR hardware, send/push them out to buyers, and don't really focus on one quality made the right way product to make the customers happy and that it works properly on the day they get them I feel the Crystal lite variations will be the same way. I am waiting for the releases of these products and the Video reviews. of them. Will reviewers tell the honest truth about them or are they PIMAX Fanboys. I never buy any product on day one knowing there will be issues and problems. Thanks for your very honest video and take care.

[@vr4ever645]

Hi, you’re great!

[@dan3a]

Hi dad

[@blaxxun75]

I love the part where you say: WE ARE NOT BETA TESTERS FOR YOUR CRAPPY PRODUCTS. Thank you for that! Because we are NOT

[@peteostro]

That’s why you NEVER, ever, ever preorder a Pimax product!

[@float32]

@@peteostro it’s been this way for YEARS.

[@arkstone]

F**k it, canceling my pre-order now. I was in doubt before but now I'm sure as hell don't want 1+ kg on my head. Even my Q2 felt heavy before I bought new Halo style strap. Well that and I think I can live with my Q2 till Valve releases something, hopefully this year.

[@kangjames2492]

Dont do it. Find out first hand. There are to many with awsome reviews. Everyone's experience is different

[@arkstone]

@@kangjames2492 And spend ~2k euro, no thanks.

[@user-yy8ln9rg4s]

@@kangjames2492 That’s the exact problem with Pimax HMD, experiences will differ based on which headset you receive. Almost no two headsets perform the same.

[@kangjames2492]

@@user-yy8ln9rg4sMost praise the Aero but I don't like it. Most reviewers love the Crystal but Bradley doesn't. This is my point. Varjo claimed dynamic foviated rendering, and after 2 years it still hasn't happend.

[@kangjames2492]

@@arkstone 1,500$

[@WolvenSwiftwind]

At least Pimax is getting better and better with each release. Im really rooting for this company, they have a lot of cool ideas. That and Id love for them to take on quest one day, especially since HTC keeps dropping the ball.

[@delvallo9652]

cool ideas but poor execution and very misleading claims leading into a launch.

[@InvidiousIgnoramus]

Isn't that kind of what the Portal does, although somewhat poorly?

[@Shoniforce]

you should own one, that will change your mind lol. i was this optimistic before getting my Pimax 5k+ back then. F

[@mortygotvr-4672]

I was about to order for beat saber, thanks Brad!

[@edwardv.9654]

Just get an old V1 quest for beat Saber, no point in higher end VR headsets if you're just doing beat saber

[@mortygotvr-4672]

@@edwardv.9654 I already got better then that.

[@oorcinus]

You can either use the microLEDs to do low persistence (what Varjo is doing) OR you can use it to do local dimming. You can't do both - or you'll get horrendous artifacting and weirdness, not to mention the algorithm to drive that would be hideously expensive. Instead of going for the sensible choice (low persistence blanking), Pimax, as usual, went for the marketing bait, i.e. local dimming.

[@liamjoseph992]

Is this the incurable motion blur im experiencing?

[@oorcinus]

@@liamjoseph992 I mentioned no "incurable motion blur" anywhere in my comment. What i did mention is that combining local dimming with low persistence blanking is not very feasible.

[@liamjoseph992]

@@oorcinus hurm.. Well I have this motion blur with my brand new pimax crystal and it kinda ruins the imagine. Cos unless your head is dead still.. The image is not sharp. Persistence blur is the only explanation..and that will not be fixable it is a trait of the display panel

[@oorcinus]

@@liamjoseph992Haven't had a chance to give it a try myself, so no clue how bad the blur is. But they could just ditch the local dimming and start doing the blanking and that would likely make it much better. IMO, local dimming in general usually isn't worth it anyway, as it leads to glow/halo around bright objects on dark backgrounds, making any bloom, god rays, etc. look worse.

[@oorcinus]

@@liamjoseph992 Or, heck, make it a toggle - want HDR, pick local dimming; want less persistence, pick blanking.

[@The_Creative_Workshop]

I love what Pimax tried to do early on, but it is never going to happen for them now. Just seeing at Brad with that massive thing on his head is ridiculous, it's like a bad 70s sci-fi costume.

[@Tom--Ace]

You're the first review I saw that mentioned the distortion - distortion very similar to the 5k+ and why I hated that headset. Thankyou for sparing me this crap!

[@Tom--Ace]

Is the distortion with the plastic or glass lenses btw?

[@toasterbomb135]

Wow! This does not seem like a premium product.

[@JacobTJ1]

well.. Varjo Aero it is then, thanks for the honest review

[@liamcollinson5695]

As headsets now concentrate on getting smaller the pimax head sets feel less relevant particularly with headsets like the bigscreen beyond that looks so comfortable

[@ParadiseDecay]

Cheers Brad.

[@JasonXBeats]

did you get this headset? any videos on it?

[@ivaniuk123]

Isn't pimax crystal not fully out yet? I went on their website and it only allows you to pre-order.

[@SINfromPL]

pimax products are never fully out

[@EazyE11]

I'm one of the lucky ones who received the broken strap.

[@WhatsupAbroad]

Thats unfortunate. Have you reached out to support for your replacement unit?

[@EazyE11]

@@WhatsupAbroad Yea they said they were working on it. I asked if I have to cover shipping to send it back but got no answer.

[@hughmanwho]

The problem with them releasing early with lots of bugs is that they don't have it listed as a warning on their product page. Maybe they mentioned it somewhere but it didn't get across to every buyer. Should've released as a 'beta' and then they announce the 'actual release' when it's actually customer ready.

[@alcardianzilthuras2396]

So happy I dodged that bullet. If the product ever fixes their issues that they claim are going to be fixed I might revisit buying it. I'm not buying a product for the features advertised to be promised "soon". I'm buying a product for the features & functionality it has today.

[@b34k97]

All I care about is flight sims. Is this the one to get? The Varjo Aero? Something else?

[@potatopilot1699]

If you are a flight simmer like me who plays DCS or other sims, then this the best out right now.

[@MikeCore]

MORE BRADDDD

[@aftsfm]

0:09 bro whats going on in the background 💀

[@Sparky_007]

Good video

[@HamVR]

Thanks Brad!

[@cyclechris6591]

Thanks for saving me a load of money. What to buy or wait for?

[@brettgrieves]

Big Screen Beyond... its shaping up to be the headset of 2023

[@dmand1111]

Wow. That is quite the horrible launch. Honestly I don't think these mistakes were an accident. I think they were counting on some customers not noticing

[@seattime4075]

As a original 8KX backer, I knew this launch would be a shit show, so decided to wait 6 months or more before considering if I would buy this headset.. Also lots of other cool headset about to hit the streets 🙂.

[@mrbilginc]

Don't wait anymore,.just forget about it!

[@seattime4075]

@@mrbilginc Yes, I think your right, these big heavy headsets are going to be a thing of the past.

[@kangjames2492]

Headsets like what, other than the quest three which is not a pc headset.

[@seattime4075]

@@kangjames2492 Big screen...

[@user-yy8ln9rg4s]

@@kangjames2492 somnium VR 1 is entering mass production phrase according to themselves. Very comparable specs to Crystal without shit like you can’t use without battery.

[@tommykarrick9130]

Pimax is a bizarre company because they have all the trademarks of a rug pull vaporware company but instead of not releasing anything at all they just release something extremely underwhelming compared to their promises year after year

[@user-yy8ln9rg4s]

Pimax is not replying on customers to survive atm, they promised a bunch stuff, released some sort of prototypes so they can keep to receive money from investors.

[@WhatsupAbroad]

@user-yy8ln9rg4s Our headsets are not "prototypes". In our official announcement of the Crystals existence we even noted that standalone and other features would not be available at launch and would be added in an OTA. We addressed that specific issue over 1 year ago. The headsets work great. They do need further development and we are working to bring the remaining features to them as quickly as possible. But to claim we are sending out prototypes is just rude and uncalled for. All users affected by the plastic lens shipment are receiving glass lenses, we are already shipping replacements, and we are addressing the top strap issues with a no questions asked immediate replacement of the device.

[@yobuilder186]

@@WhatsupAbroad That is a long and funny way to say prototype 🤔

[@tommykarrick9130]

@@WhatsupAbroad I think you guys are doing generally good things for the industry by providing for a specific niche of vr users, I think I’m more just criticizing the way you market your products. People get hyped up thinking the industry is about to change forever and the headset comes out and it’s just like an alright upgrade for a certain kind of VR users. I can criticize the other players like Meta the same way, over promising for the future while only delivering small upgrades in practice. I like that you guys are the scrappy devs trying to make uncompromising headsets with crazy specs at early adopter prices, you should wear that on your sleeve instead of trying to pretend you’re Apple or something.

[@HectorYague]

​​​​​@@WhatsupAbroad I dont mean to be rude, but you have pretty much described a product in beta stage. You say that "the product needs further development" and that you are "working to implement missing features". You also admit that customers are "receiving replacements for faulty straps", and that "those who receieved plastic lenses are now being shipped glass lenses" (WTF plastic lenses?! how is that possible guys?!). Again, all that speaks to a product that didnt seem to be fully ready to take customer's money, and it hurts your reputation as a company. You just CANT take people's money and not expect a bitter reaction if what they receieve doesnt match expectations - that is how the market works. So, please, in future lunches pay attention to the details so you dont alienate potential future clients.

[@k0lpA]

it looks so big

[@ColinDyckes]

Your experience seems very different to that of some other KZbinrs. Could it be that the lenses in your unit aren't parallel to the display and hence the distortion. I'm still using my G2 and waiting for 4K, micro oled displays with adjustable dioptre aspheric lenses. It does exist!

[@ji3200]

Bigscreen is what you should get

[@brettgrieves]

A lot of other you tubers, get carried away with the hype or are in the pockets of Pimax.

[@ColinDyckes]

@@brettgrieves There's certainly some truth in that if a KZbinr has been given a Crystal, or has it on 'extended loan' then I take any review with a pinch of salt (as definitely happened with the Aero reviews). Bradley's review did seem to go to completely the other extreme though. Unfortunately those reviews are all we have until PiMax start shipping in volume which could be many months away if the first batch was just 50 units as I read. The Crystal isn't for me as it stands at the moment.

[@brettgrieves]

@@ColinDyckes Agreed re taking things with a pinch of salt. But the crystal is an ugly collection of parts that currently doesnt work. The volume of complaints on various aspects of the hadset is worrying. Its should never have been released. You cannot compare and the Aero and Crystal releases they are in a different ball park. Now the Aero does have some issues which are still not full resolved. But all the essential stuff works and works very well. The Red and Blue shift stil needs to be sorted. Local dimming hasnt been enabled but I have a feeling there is a very good reason for this and thats to do with the panels that are in the Aero. I think there is blooming and artifacts when local diming is enabled and Varjo doesnt want complaints about it. The distortion profile was changed about a year ago and its much better. There is very so slight bluring when you move you head which some think was introduced with the new distotion profile. I have no real compaints about my Aero, but thats not to say I woudlnt try something new, like the Beyond for examp[le, which Ive pro-ordered. :) There currently isnt a perfect headset, they all come with pros and cons, BUT Pimax released an unfinshed shit show of a product, this should not happen!

[@Mkwhite1974]

It's because he's biased

[@metalcrow6306]

Hi Brad, are we going to have an updated version of your review of the Light version? I'm looking forward to have your opinion and seeing if Pimax has fixed it with its newer version!

[@mattcy6591]

BiggestScreen Beyond

[@exodous02]

When I was researching for my first PCVR headset I looked into pimax and it required extra software to work, not just Steam, so that pushed me away. I ended up getting an Index, I know it is outdated but it looked like it had the least issues than any other PCVR headset, as far as working without tweaking.

[@fffrrraannkk]

I've got an Index too. It's proven to be a solid headset for most people. It still performs well and the fov is a nice bonus.

[@justaguydoinstuff]

Ya index is good but you would be blown away by the difference in clarity. Game looking vs real life looking. It's another planet of visuals.

[@SoggyMicrowaveNugget]

@@justaguydoinstuff I'd rather have a Quality Headset that works than one that looks like "Real life" and barely functions as promised.

[@justaguydoinstuff]

@@SoggyMicrowaveNugget it functions just fine lol. Just more and better stuff coming as well. That's ok with me.

[@Vr_Demon_]

I have an index and it gave me the least problems out of all the headsets I've owned. I'm fine using my index still until the Deckard releases. Valve just knows vr better than anyone else. Have the money but want to see what the 12k offers. But most likely its going to be the Deckard because I trust valve

[@peshozmiata]

Everything here is all pretty on-brand for Pimax, i don't know if anyone genuinely expected them to do it right this time around.

[@hiro_two]

Gotta appreciate the viewer that borrowed you the headset!

[@3lbios]

This is a simmer's headset that you can of course use for other things too, but I believe its primary market will be simmers looking to upgrade from the G2. The G2 was also the king of clarity and sucked at everything else and it also had quite a cult following.

[@khaledassaf6356]

This, and it seems that practically all the simmers I know that have it are loving it. I will also add that if you added base stations and Index controllers to the G2 (and third party software) then it's basically one of the best all around headsets. The Crystal will have that functionality, too, with their Steam faceplate once it's out.

[@EazyE11]

Lol G2. I'm coming from Rift S.

[@peshozmiata]

@@khaledassaf6356 How much would it weigh with that lighthouse addon though... It probably requires an immensely muscular neck

[@khaledassaf6356]

@@peshozmiata Wouldn't know, since we don't really have much info on that, but it appears that the part of the front plate with tracking cameras might be removable, and the module slotting in its place, but that's purely speculation. Either way, weight seems to be roughly the same as a motorcycle helmet, hardly neck breaking. As long as it's properly balanced, of course.

[@Loopan68]

Thank you so much sir for your honest video! I'm sick of all the glorified videos from other youtubers! I was close to choose the crystal over the Aero because I wanted to get in the VR world mainly for DCS and all the promisses Pimax did were tempting. But in the end I followed this hunch in my stomach and went wirth the Aero and I'm so happy with it! I got it a couple days ago and it was this awesome almost undescribable feeling I had when I entered the VR-World in DCS for the very first time 😲 It's so important that there are YTers out there like you, who are just honest in their reviews and unfortunately that's not the case for many others. btw. the thing that would make me so angry the most, is the fact, that not every owner get the same product! so it's pure luck if you get the better glass lenses or the cheap plastic ones and believe me this, I don't have luck very often with this kind of things 🙂 so thanks again and I hope my english was understandable and has not to many errors......greetings from switzerland

[@pumpkineater23]

It's massive! Something a bit 'Betamax' about it.

[@BLACKSYNTH]

Glad I never pre ordered. I was tempted. We need like an Apple of the PC world to put a solid product out. OLED , light weight, better lenses, true 120+ FOV Yano like my old DK2 but with better resolution. It’s been like almost 10 years.

[@ivaniuk123]

I believe what you are referring to is the Valve decard. If it ever comes oout...

[@nightthemoon8481]

The apple vr is none of that but except the oled part

[@BLACKSYNTH]

@@nightthemoon8481 I’m speaking in terms of a good product with little to zero flaws

[@nightthemoon8481]

@@BLACKSYNTH every product has many flaws tbh, the apple vr thing for example is only 90hz, average fov, pretty much no practical use cases (no integration with 3d apps for example) and obv no gaming, no controllers, and no freedom

[@carlhil2]

But not at Apple pricing...

[@InvidiousIgnoramus]

the idea of using a fiber optic cable with a VR headset in anything other than seated play sounds incredibly stupid

[@stranger.granger]

My Pimax 5K XR is cool, but it's a pain getting the IPD correct, because it's impossible to get correct. When things look blurry 10 feet away, they look clear 3 feet away. When I tinker with the IPD, I can get it to look clear at 10 feet away, but now everything is blurry 3 feet away. The headset is also extremely large, as if it's made to fit on a basketball instead of a human head. There's a light gap on each side so large that I can fit all my fingers through each side at the same time. This also makes it extremely wobbly. I've had it for almost 4 years, but I've probably only used it 5-6 times, all of which were mostly tinkering rather than playing games. I guess I actually like the 'idea' of it more than actually using it.

[@HowlerBikeVlogs]

i invite anyone to respond to my small book of a comment here... very torn between the crystal and the beyond, i mainly use vr for simming but i sometimes have people over to try out vr as well, i liked the better specs on the crystal while also being useable between multiple people unlike the beyond which is strictly personal. so not even my gf could use the beyond. but seeing the crystal have so many issues, broken promises and aftersales nightmares i wonder if it will be a worthwile buy. one thing to keep in mind here is that i'm currently on a valve index so any upgrade will be nice, but i'm not buying before the end of the year anyway so i have some time to see pimax develop and mature their logistics and software issues. all in all i have about 2 pages typed out with pros and cons on both headsets and basically boils down to me wanting to see the crystal evolve into a reliable product that meets the promises made on the website. or something in between beyond and crystal coming out in the mean time that gives 120hz, high res, max weight of 900gr, fov above valve index, steamvr ready and a non personal hmd so i can share the experience with friends. don't care for standalone capability, don't want to deal with charging batteries, dont need wireless capability. maybe i'm just listing up a spec list on a product that is allready out in the world, if anyone has suggestions i'm very willing to research other hmd's as well

[@dtz1000]

I just tried this headset today and I agree with almost everything Bradley said. It has too many drawbacks but I can see why simmers would like it. The lens is nowhere near as good as the one in the Quest Pro as it has a small distortion sweet spot. I probably wouldn't get the Bigscreen Beyond either as the screen is even dimmer than the one in the Crystal and I didn't think the Crystal had a particularly bright screen. I would get either a Quest Pro or Quest 3 until something really good comes along. You can also try the Crystal for free or very low cost in many countries. Definitely worth doing as I didn't believe this review until I tried it for myself, but the resolution still impressed me. So you never know, you might actually like it for the resolution, but try it first.

[@GCTubaTim]

We already know the Crystal is a prototype...for the 12K.

[@TheVeiledCollective]

Look at the size of that thing. Homeless people could live in that.

[@mesillahills]

I have gotten the new Crystal working in MSFS without any problems. The one area where they suck however is in running Oculus games, and especially linking the software to their run client. I have found no one who has successfully done either or can explain it. If there is a way they simply don't explain it. I may even wait until they really get their act together if I were doing it again. It works fine with Steam. And where do you launch or store these Oculus games.

[@Perenbarn]

I want to believe

[@C6v1999]

I wish Pimax had split the crystal into two distinct models - one with all this standalone stuff and then one for simmers without the huge case, the battery, the android chipset and just tethered. I considered the Crystal and bought the Varjo Aero and I'm glad I did. The next VR manufacturer that gets DFR with improvements on the Aero will probably get my business.

[@twack3r]

Let me know if you find smth suitable, I‘m looking for an upgrade to my VR-3

[@Hani_Santa]

So I think this headset has the potential to be the best headset for seated sim experiences. VR flight sim guy but also other people on sim forum allready said this is the sharpest headset with good fov. Better then the Varjo Aero in those specific areas. But I just don't understand how you can send the wrong lenses and cables. How is that even possible? After you already have a bad reputation and they claimed for months they are working on it. MRTV basically busted their balls and still you mess up the launch? People pay like 1800 euro and you send them plastic lensens instead of glass lensens 😂, fo real? LENSES hahaha the most important feature of a headset. Which cmnpany doesn't test there production units? It's literally the first thing you do. This is embarassing. I still think Pimax Crystal for simmers will probably develop to be the best headset for the coming years, but Pimax keeps surprising me, in a bad way 😅

[@WhatsupAbroad]

We are working on that. The lens replacements have already been sent out. Our new cables werent ready yet but we wanted to get them into users hands so they can start playing. They will receive new cables as well. We hope they can consider the extra lenses and cable as a free gift as way of apology for our untimely delivery.

[@Hani_Santa]

@@WhatsupAbroad this doesn't make sense I am sorry. No sane person believes this. And it's not a gift by any means, it's what people paid for.

[@WhatsupAbroad]

@@Hani_Santa All users are receiving the proper lenses and cables. They thought it would be a good idea to do it this way. They were wrong imo. However all issues have been sorted and users are all receiving the proper after sales support and shipping.

[@WhatsupAbroad]

@Hani_Santa An extra set of lenses on top of the two that the user paid for, and an extra cable which the user also didnt pay for are clearly freebies. Those can be considered gifts in every language I am aware of. While I understand that it is a bit of an inconvenience and that things shouldnt have been handled this way from the beginning I believe most of our users are happy with the outcome and our user feedback confirms that.

[@Hani_Santa]

@@WhatsupAbroad you can't be serious if that would be the case they would and should have informed the customer from the beginning. You can't just let people pay that amount of money and then let them discover themselves there product is of a lesser quality, this is totally ridiculous and you know it, honestly you are making things worse by claiming this was the intention of the company. Sending some b-spec components on purpose is not gifting the customer but deceiving the customer. Do you really believe there are people who think you know what, let's swap my glass lenses for the 'extra' plastic lenses and lesser cable and enjoy the 'gifts'? You made perfectly clear what kind of company Pimax is with your fake and misleading answers.

[@jamiesalmonsculpture8599]

I do wonder if Pimax will survive as a company once wider FOV and high resolution HMDs become more common place in the next few years.

[@ElNadaInLada]

They only survived because of funding by Chinese State. But with international and commercial success of the Pico i don't think they will get more funding since the Chinese don't need multiple horses running on the same ticket. I very strongly believe they will soon be absorbed by one of the bigger players in China that can also deliver an adequate software ecosystem. I could not use names of companies in this comment because it always gets automatically deleted...

[@laartwork]

Since 2017 everyone says will Pimax survive when new Vive, Oculus, Index, Varjo, XTAL etc comes out... they are still here and this is a much better headset than anything I tried before.

[@dtz1000]

If they don't make the move to pancake lenses then they won't survive. Pancake lenses are much better than the Aspheric lenses in the Crystal and it looks like Pimax is reluctant to evolve.

[@hubaswift7640]

I found the lack of comparison with the Varjo Aero odd, considering both headsets are closely comparable and marketed mainly towards sims. Is the Aero a headset you simply don't have much experience with?

[@SadlyItsBradley]

I do not have much experience with the Aero

[@stimpyfeelinit]

time for a haircut brother

[@delvallo9652]

Thanks for this honest review. From what I can see Pimax is a horrible company, or at least horribly unprepared to launch an expensive product. I'll stick to my quest pro for now, which is actually quite an underrated headset especially for MSFS. I love mine

[@dtz1000]

I tried it. It's not a terrible product, but not as good as my Quest Pro overall. Meta have improved the Pro a lot from when it was first released.

[@jakekisiel7399]

Hi, I’m not Brad. And, I liked your hair when it was shorter.

[@Tom--Ace]

Thankyou, a very honest review and much appreciated

[@Dht1kna]

Wow that fov is basically fraudulent

[@justaguydoinstuff]

Note that ALL headset companies exaggerate their FOV, including Valve. It's not unique to Pimax. I'm pretty happy with Index level FOV since it's far greater than the Quest, Varjo etc.

[@laartwork]

Quest says 110 but is 92. Index claims 130 but is 102... sadly Bradley won't mention that.

[@justaguydoinstuff]

@@laartwork exactly.

[@ColinDyckes]

​@@laartwork They 'exaggerate' by quoting diagonal field of view as opposed to horizontal. The numbers actual do work out. It's just like TV and Monitors using diagonal sizing.

[@able_archer_]

@@laartwork Where did Valve ever claim Index fov is 130°? Or ever made any claim about it's exact fov?

[@vega7865]

It's "pleth-ora"

[@peanutpomsky520]

Woof

[@EverythingGeek]

Lmao that headset is wayyyyyyy too big 😂

[@JFRA24]

Look forward to the Matteo311 convo

[@onura2710]

What is the female archer figure riding something in the back?

[@XalenMaru]

As someone who has owned 4 Pimax headsets, this is sad. It seems like the 8K is the apex of what they are able to offer. I don't know why they couldn't have continued to build on and refine that HMD. I have an 8K Plus with the 110 MHz refresh rate and the full 170 FOV and I love it. I guess I'll wait a year and circle back to this once they've had time to fix the issues.

[@WhatsupAbroad]

We have other products in development.

[@cheapcrackers4772]

I think I recall their reason for not continuing down that path was because they were having difficulty working with Valve regarding lighthouses and they wanted to be free of that constraint.

[@chrisr5675]

Once they have this ironed out, the 12k will be released. They are very similar so the fixes on this will carry over.

[@WhatsupAbroad]

@cheapcrackers4772 We are still supporting lighthouses. The Crystal with faceplate attachement and the 12k, and all other reality series headsets will support lighthouses. We moved away from lighthouses because they are the single greatest driver of customer complaints and returns. Our customers, by and large, hate lighthouses. Expensive, annoying to set up initially, delicate, cant be moved without setting them up again, useless for anything other than vr, etc. The market is leaving lighthouses behind because the market doesnt want lighthouses. Our enthusiast consumers want lighthouses, which is why we still support lighthouses. It is neither profitable nor in line with most of our customer desires however. The elimination of lighthouses is the single most common customer request we have received ever since launching the 5k.

[@WhatsupAbroad]

@cheapcrackers4772 We also feel that its kind of ridiculous for a customer to purchase a product and still HAVE to buy extras just to make it even function. Our Crystal works right out of the box (with a pc, later it will with standalone so TRULY out of the box). Thats the experience a customer should have with a product. They shouldnt need to buy a bunch of extras just to get the product to function. Lighthouses are an absolutely horrible customer experience. I wouldnt be at all surprised if Valves next headset also uses camera tracking, potentially with kighthouses as optional secondary tracking solution. People dont want to spend money on limiting and difficult to use lighthouses. Only Enthusiasts do. So we support both...because we are nice.

[@TonyDrecaps]

Good catches on everything👍 Especially the refresh rate. Hopefully it all gets fixed.

[@ElNadaInLada]

I would never buy a Pimax Headset. These are basically always tinkerers devices, hardwarewise. But buying a standalone-headset from them is complete madness. It's one thing putting together a semi-functional set of hardware for existing standards, but building a new software ecosystem behind it - you need experience and $$. I would even rather buy a 3D-Printer and start building a DIY-Headset than buying a Pimax Standlone honestly...

[@StarCenturion]

Pimax is definitely one of the VR companies that exists. They need to fix their reputation and processes as soon as possible, or they won't last another 2 years.

[@fffrrraannkk]

I agree. They come up with cool ideas, but if they focused on one idea at a time and refined it until it's perfect maybe they wouldn't have the rep they do. Just my opinion anyway. It seems like they are focused on quantity over quality.

[@joedunleavy841]

It's never going to happen. It's a top-down problem. When you have a company that never changes its ways despite years of people complaining about the same things, it's almost always that there is one guy, the CEO, who sits right at the top that will never change their ways ever. They don't owe anything to anyone and can't be removed from their position, they literally don't care and will carry on doing what they are doing until they go bust. I used to work for a company like this. What Pimax needs is a new CEO, but it won't happen

[@SoggyMicrowaveNugget]

Sadly I think they have found their Niche of Stockholm syndrome Fans and they will just keep doing this.

[@Nobody-Nowhere]

People seem to think that everyone is a baby and unable to adjust some settings. Pimax is one of the first VR companies and been in business for a decade. And they just put out the highest tier headset there is. Not everyone wants to larp as anime girl in vrchat .

[@michelverheijen6643]

​@@Nobody-Nowhere Ok you can have a opinion we life in a free world. But i don't think he likes to burn this device. But would you give a good review if you expected more and not all is working? Did you know president Roosevelt liked to wear woman's clothes. And to be honest didn't we all play as a woman when we played tomb raider. I don't care what people love aslong they don't harm others do your thing. Some people like feet. Some woman marry a "fool for president" for his creditcard ( could you imagine Trump's head hanging above you every night smelling like mac burgers). Make love not war bahahaha

[@adfrazie37]

Having owned many Pimax headsets when I saw the form factor of this relative to the fov numbers it didn’t give me confidence right from the start. I’m actually really happy to see that for some users they got a device that they prefer over their aero. Hopefully everyone else gets their glass lenses. Maybe this image quality puts the 12k on the radar where the fov could make the form factor a more worthy trade-off

[@user-yy8ln9rg4s]

This form factor is made for 12k, but they couldn’t make 12k, at least not with current graphics card. They have like two 12k prototypes and those require two cables but without DP2.1, the image is not stable enough. So they just use the 12k to make a half way product called this Crystal.

[@_Dibbler_]

@@user-yy8ln9rg4s Remember how Pimax claimed the 12k would run perfectly fine on computers because of foveated rendering and VRSS2? Now the foveated rendering is of course not available for the Chrystal at launch.

[@x32i77]

The pimax crystal is the only hmd with good picture quality without distortions . Not even varjo managed to make such a distortion profile

[@lurchilurch5507]

​@@user-yy8ln9rg4sshould have made it half as big too

[@_Dibbler_]

@@x32i77 I dont see any distortions in the Aero anymore but maybe I got used to it. It think nobody complained about the clarity, it seems to be very good. But all the other issues a Pimax headset usually brings(including lots of missing promised features). That is the sad problem with them, they almost make great products if they would just spend some more time and effort to optimize them, but it seems they never do.

[@Cuperino]

Thanks for this video. Go get some sleep now.

[@nilsrossi4217]

Ciao Bradly! but what do you think if the first kind of use is with DCS or FLIGHT simulator and RTX 4090? for me the clarity for read the MFDs is very important.. the display is very good than the G2?

[@laartwork]

I tried it at the roadshow today. So controlled environment. They had it on Steam at 52% which is about right for the per screen resolution. I can compare it to Reverb G2. imagine the sweetspot of the G2 throughout the entire fov. Which is then much bigger. Seemed similar to Index. Great color and contrast. Zero godrays. The fov was square instead of the round so having corners seemed to make it even larger. Very well balanced. Weight was center top. Probably add a comfort strap to it. Crazy Bradley only mentioned things that aren't on it yet instead of just saying... yup best screen on a headset. But this crushes G2 but should at the price.

[@nilsrossi4217]

@@laartwork THANK YOU L.J. I live in Milan Italy and i cannot try it during the roadshow.. my priority is using the crystal on DCS and FLIGHT SIM basically i have to use it seated in my room using hotas and maybe the leapmotion/ultraleap controller. is very important the high resolution display and the sweetspot because reading fast the displays in the airplans is very important and is important too for the tartet spotting.. I think will open a review channel about vr for simmers in the future here in Italy

[@kilroy987]

$1600? eek.

[@rdaxthedog]

Mine no longer works after 3-4 months it’s a v large paperweight

[@zaelu]

As expected!

[@letsgobrandon6545]

If they used native steam driver and allowed to use it as PCVR without any batteries I wouldnt cancel my preorder.

[@justaguydoinstuff]

FYI the batteries last 6 hours and you get 2 to hot swap. Most people probably take a 2 minute break if they want to eat or pee every 6 hours maybe? Really a non issue I'd say.

[@King_Ddraig]

@@justaguydoinstuff I don't think that's the issue we have with the battery, people want tethered PC headsets cos higher quality we have powerful gaming rigs for VR stuff, yet we don't have high end VR stuff coming out cos everyone is going standalone, the battery, the on-board processors are all added weight that we don't need for PCVR stuff, I think that's what their issue is with the batteries, not how long they last

[@letsgobrandon6545]

@@justaguydoinstuff Current Li batteries degrade quite significantly over time, and this is additional weight. And CEO excuse why the cant pull required wattage over type C is a complete nonsense. Went w Beyond instead

[@justaguydoinstuff]

@@King_Ddraig Ya, I agree with you on the stand alone thing. It really degrades the quality of PCVR games which stinks, but it's how developers make money. But the Pimax having both is the best of both worlds to me, I can take or leave it but at least I have a choice. Plus the extra weight balances the headset so I'm ok with that.

[@laartwork]

​@@justaguydoinstuff I would be adding weight to the back anyways. My 5 year old plays a Quest that weighs 2 lbs because of the counterweight. More weight balanced feels much lighter.

[@blizado3675]

Thanks for your honest opinion. I don't know what I should say, I'm a bit speechless. It was clear it wouldn't be all ready for launch, but that they messed up the lenses, Software issues and then on top that also shipping issues with wrong cables, wrong lenses and broken parts... Simply "Wow...". 👀

[@richardPalmisano]

Actually, fix the shipping problem.

[@hiasausmwoid1247]

Hi, i am bread and got eaten 😊

[@davidlark4213]

Hmmm I'm not sure if your review is honest. I know a lot of others who have used the headsets and have a more positive review

[@SlushFiend]

that's probably a sign that it is honest

[@SINfromPL]

Oh wow, just like every single product ever? You "pimaxians" are different species, and don't believe someone could not enjoy pimax

[@fffrrraannkk]

My lord that headset is huge.

[@luckylanno]

Yeah, I can't imagine buying that at this stage. All-day comfort is my primary want these days.

[@able_archer_]

It's mostly empty too. They reused the casing for the far-away future maybe 12k headset to save on costs.

[@Garanault]

I just can't unsee how large this headset is compared to Bradley's head.

[@odourboy]

How to create a balanced product review. Step 1) please send me a list of your negative experiences with the Pimax Crystal.... 😂

[@joeymorris4863]

Hi…I’m not “not Brad”.

[@Thrawn655]

I am using my VR headset mainly for Sim games and am currently using a Pimax 8kx. Still happy with it and except a few very early pitool software issue- I had no problems with it. I got it for the big FoV, the large Sweetspot and high Res compared to my Odyssey +. I have been looking both at the crystal and the beyond and have to say they are both not quite there. After I saw your report on the 8k Micro OLED displays I knew what I am waiting for. I wish both pimax and bigscreen the best of luck but I don't think that I will get a new headset before the valve Deckard comes out or pc vr with those 8k micro oleds....

[@zardozx1370]

the same procedere like the last 10 years ... so much models by recycling !! the fake headsets - 100 % -