Pimax Crystal Light Review | The Best Visuals You Can Get in VR Without Breaking the Bank

[@carlosdominguez3108]

You're the most thorough VR KZbinr, thank you. I have an 8KX currently, there really is something I enjoy about the wide FOV, but I've been considering the Crystal. Only bummer is I have a hand tracking module and kind of tied that into DCS to have my virtual hands in VR track my SIMpit. I wish the Crystal light could use the hand tracking module.

[@Omniwhatever]

Ah, yeah. I never use the USB ports for anything, so I guess I forgot to mention the Light doesn't have any. It's definitely more expensive, but I believe the Crystal SUPER is supposed to have a USB port and might work with it. Plus, that'll, supposedly, have a decent bit wider FoV than the Crystal, if still falling a good bit short of the 8KX, but at least based on advertised numbers it'd be a good middle ground. If you don't wanna wait for the 12k for... WHENEVER THAT'S COMING sometime before the end of time, maybe that'll be worth checking out! I used to daily drive an 8KX and love my Crystal over it, but there's not a day that goes by I don't miss the FoV, I'll tell you. So I get it man.

[@carlosdominguez3108]

@@Omniwhatever What's your honest take on the battery situation with the Crystal since you daily drive it? I really boggles my mind Pimax released the Crystal expecting they'll support some massive standalone endeavor knowing how every one of their other launches has gone, and also require that you use the battery when plugged in for PCVR. Is it a nuisance to deal with or not that big of a deal?

[@stevetb7777]

Come back and comment if you get a Crystal. Curious how you like it compared to 8KX. I had a Varjo Aero and tried the Crystal at a road show. The 8KX gave me so much more immersion, I sent the Aero back. Looks like I need the mythical 12K.

[@rastapuff.]

I got the crystal light about a week and a half ago. I am coming from an index. I bought a quest 3 and gave it a full run through for about three weeks, returned it and ordered the light. I just cant do inside out tracking or deal with the latency and image quality of steaming to the headset. The Crystal Light is THE upgrade for an index user. Its fantastic. Surprisingly close to OLED. Dmas are a must. Stock audio is the absolute worst I have ever heard.

[@liebesmaennchen]

Wow, such great to see your review. I forgot how bad the mic sound, since I got the crystal light, the OG is just laying here....maybe I should give the og crystal some new love....

[@rfc5718]

Hot tip for low audio. If using Nvidia GPU there is long standing bug in audio driver which lowers the preamplifier stage by -6. Recommended "Equalizer APO" can adjust preamplifier stage + to suit, used this on Index and Crystal+Dmas with 3 generation Nvidia GPU. BMR speakers benefit from the increase in sound power truly come alive. Thoroughly enjoyed the review 👻

[@Omniwhatever]

I've heard of that. I don't THINK that's what's going on here because I've heard a few people complain about the audio on the SMAS and virtually every headset I've used, both VR or otherwise, has felt plenty loud and I've almost never needed to run it at 100% volume, with 1-2 exceptions I've always been lower than 50%, but it's something I'll try. If anyone else tries this and has it work, do share!

[@rfc5718]

@@Omniwhatever difference in impedance between the stock audio and the Dmas? Found Equalizer preamplifier tweak made the Dmas on my Crystal really impressive

[@angrybeaver6667]

Great review, I've had my light for a few months now and it is excellent. If the lenses were a bit better and the size was a bit smaller I would say its perfect for me. The super seems to help with both lenses and size so I will probably buy one and sell my crystal light when it comes out.

[@juccavtr]

Thanks for the review. Waiting for mine to come.

[@farmertrueVR]

Fantastic in depth info and references per usual! My Crystal Light experience has been almost identical to yours. I was worried that the Crystal Light would make me not want to use my OG Crystal any longer, but it's actually made me appreciate my OG Crystal even more, which it was already my favorite VR headset available. I actually find my OG Crystal more comfortable after comfort mods. It has to do with the thicker head strap on the Crystal Light when being used with the top strap and studioform creative comfort pads. It's a little too wide to be paired together and prevents the adjustments I like. But if I take off the wider strap, then it doesn't fit my head like I prefer. Also, the back of the head feels better with the studioform creative pad with the OG IMO than it does wit the Crystal Light for my head. Another issue for me is with how my VR studio is set up for recording, play space, my PC, etc. I have to have the 6m fiber optic cable. The Crystal Light cable is a couple feet too short for my set up where the 6m fiber optic cable is perfect. But the Crystal Light doesn't support the fiber optic cable. I know you could get some extensions but when introducing extensions or adapters, things can get wonky. Besides comfort and the cable, like you mentioned, the mic quality is drastically different and becomes an issue for folks who value high end audio. If I were to use the Crystal Light for live streaming and content creation, I'd end up using my Antlion wireless mod mic over the built in mic. With the OG Crystal, the microphone is high end enough to where I can use the mic for VR content, and it does not bring down the high quality. I will say though, I was able to plug in the Crystal Light and be playing SteamVR games within 5 minutes where the Crystal initially gave me hours of troubleshooting. Could've been a fluke initially for my OG Crystal and may not happen again if I had to set it up all over, but the Crystal Light was as easy as it comes. I'm about a month with the Crystal Light and for the price it can't be beat. But for those who want the very best of PCVR and spending more isn't an issue, the OG Crystal is a better all around HMD and my personal favorite still to this day. Ready for the 5090 to be announced and released... Cheers Omni! *edit* Oh! And I forgot to comment, I am 100% with you on having quality QLED with local dimming a better visual and VR experience over OLED. I've been telling people that I have not fallen for the OLED hype that has been going around for quite some time now. I believe if folks were to try them, side by side without having their opinions skewed by social media, then most would also prefer the QLED with local dimming over oled for VR.

[@Omniwhatever]

Thanks for the indepth comment and addons, as always! Love seeing them. That's actually a fair point about the cable. I think the Light's is about 4.5m vs the 6m of the Fiber Optic. My playspace is, as seen from my videos, pretty goddamn small so I'm not as impacted by the cable length as somebody else with a wider one could be. So easy thing to overlook. I do hope the Super will have a 5-6m cable by default, or if it has a 4.5m one, Pimax will come out with an upgraded longer one. I hope they can get a solid microphone setup on that one, as while the Light is not exactly budget, I get cutting corners on a few places, namely audio, to get that price point and such high visuals. It's passable for some casual multiplayer chatting but for any serious recording it's... Oof yeah rough. Face shape variance is always such a tricky thing with VR, even the BSB's custom face gasket sounds like it's been a bit of a toss up with the material or thickness, and it's why I love places like studioform offering so many comfort mods to really dial a headset in without needing to spend a whole lot. 50~ bucks or so for a few mods, and some which can be used on more than one HMD, is great for the improvement. I'm SO glad to see somebody else with my that OLED is a bit overrated or isn't god's gift. I can respect people who prefer OLED, but it's got trade offs to it like anything else. uOLED, even if that's the trend the industry is chasing, has to work around such crazy small screens so stuff like high FoV isn't gonna happen any time soon on those. So for now, I'm perfectly happy with good QLED screens and high quality local dimming. Pimax has done a pretty good job on their LD and look forward to the Super with even more zones on it.

[@christycho9871]

Fantastic, detailed review. Subscribed

[@HeadsetHistorian]

Awesome video! I think you nailed everything, totally agree.

[@davo01BKK]

Great in depth review

[@Yoshimatsu414]

I can't wait to get mine, I think it might be in the US now, ordered a couple weeks ago. I was hoping I can use foviated rendering but seeing as I have an AMD GPU, looks like I'm not going to be able to use it, at least for now. I'm use to Pimax being behind when it comes to AMD support though, I've had a Pimax 5K Super for a few years now and when I first got it with my 6700XT at the time, I've went through a few things with Smooth Motion not really working but Pimax support was great and acknowledged the issues I brought up and did some changed with each Pitools update till they got it right. They also admitted to me at the time, they didn't have any AMD hardware to test before but that has changed in recent time, which is great. Regardless of missing out on some performance saving features, I've had a great experience with my 5K Super and now that I have a 7900XTX, I think that it should handle the Crystal Light just fine but hopefully they do starting bringing their AMD support more closer to the Nvidia stuff in near future. Great video, I think you have the most comprehensive video I've seen yet, thanks for the insight on what I have to look forward to 👍👍

[@djp1234]

When do you think the Crystal Super will come out? That's the one I'm really interested in.

[@Omniwhatever]

Based on current things I've heard/seen Pimax say and if all goes well, end of year doesn't sound like too much of a pipe dream. Though, I'm conservatively thinking more like end of year a few samples go out to external beta testers and/or reviewers, then perhaps January/Early February most normal orders start getting units.

[@RoarMcRipHelmet]

I know that nobody asked me, so feel free to ignore :) But based on pure gut feeling I would guess the Crystal Super comes out sometime in 2025, with the OLED panels being significantly delayed after release.

[@AlejandroLopez-wy2st]

Good review. I agree with you that audio (SMAS) and microphone are completely flawed in the Light. It is definitely so bad for social VR, people will need to get a Bluetooth microphone and speakers from Amazon

[@Omniwhatever]

Modmic wireless is a pretty good microphone replacement for VR. Not as good as some wired options you can get, but it's still pretty good and only beaten by the current best ones while having great convenience due to the wireless. Know a number of VR content creators who use it for recording during gameplay. Little bit expensive though.

[@robertrent5218]

Good job, liked and subscribed. Kudos.

[@SpringChickensOnlyMan]

Hey I saw a top cushion on top of your head while you’re wearing the OG Crystal. Where can I get that? I wanna use it with my crystal light?

[@Krulaks]

Have you used the vive pro 2 by any chance? The pro 2 has a very small sweetspot, so I'm wondering how small the pimax crystal light sweetspot is. I'm not sure if it's smaller or the same as the vive pro 2 then

[@acratone8300]

I love the Crystal Light which I have. I used to have the Reverb G2 which is nowhere near as good. I don't have the D-mas upgrade audio pods, and would not use them if they were free. I think there is a better solution for any VR headset. The same teeny tiny bluetooth ear pods that people with Ipods use. They are less cumbersome than having two arms hanging down on the built in audio (like I had with the stock Reverb G2). When I remove the headset and go putter around on the computer, I forget I have the pods on an walk away from the computer and go down stairs before I remember to take them out. And by the way, the audio through my Soundcore Liberty 4 NC is way better than the sound through the excellent G2. No sound solution that is on ear can match a good in ear device for frequency response fidelity and lack of distortion. But there are many choices in bluetooth earpods.

[@Shalashaska111]

Would be interested to know what hfov/vfov/overlap you get with the Quest 3, and how that compares.

[@tetsuo2222]

wow, that was great.

[@kbelcar]

Hi, I have a problem with the delivery of Pimax Light - after more of 40 days of waiting (I also pay preorder fee 5 months ago), the distributor promises delivery for the fifth time but still nothing - what to do?

[@ryanchenoweth5673]

Thanks for the honest review. Just wondering if the Glasses On app is accurate for ipd? 🤔

[@Omniwhatever]

I haven't had my IPD measured by an optometrist so there's an *, but using Glasses On I always got around 67.5-68.5mm or so, and after fiddling around with numerous VR headsets I've had 67-68mm always feel "right" and the auto-IPD on the Crystal's eye tracking put me around there too depending on the facepad. So, I'd say it's at least reasonably close or a good starting point to fiddle around with +/- 2mm from.

[@JoDa-q1i]

Very good summary and review, thanks. I want one but I can’t afford it unfortunately. I have a Quest 3 now but a bit disappointed with it (it’s buggy and needs to restart all the time and biggest downside is colors and blacks). Would a PSVR2 + PC adapter be a downgrade/sidegrade/upgrade in your opinion? Usecase is mostly sim racing, some sim flying and some VR gaming.

[@Omniwhatever]

Honestly, the PSVR2 was incredibly disappointing for me and I could only rec if it you value colors and contrast ratio, which is still blunted by how bad the MURA IS, over literally almost everything else that makes a good VR experience. I got a PSVR2+PS5 for slightly more than the price of a brand new PSVR2 at MSRP and I still am not sure if it was worth it. I'd just save your money. I don't think it's better than a Quest 3 unless you religiously play horror games or your wireless setup is completely cursed and unable to function. Or you hate the Zuck.

[@JoDa-q1i]

@@OmniwhateverHmm ok! Thanks for the input. It’s rather confusing because some are of your opinion and others praise it lol. I got the idea when trying Cyberpunk in VR, which was amazing but the colors were so washed out on the Quest 3. Also stumbled upon this guy who says PSVR2 is even better than the BSB because of less mura and persistence..! kzbin.info/www/bejne/jnSXg4qlgrSYhJIsi=361sq5VqZyD0cEqi For sim racing the Quest 3 is just fine though so not sure what I’ll do. I’ve spotted a used PSVR2 that I can get for 300 eur so might buy it to try out and then sell it in case it’s underwhelming.

[@jeffblackwell1688]

Very informative video! In your opinion: I have a Quest 3 and I use the link cable for use with flying and racing sims. Would you recommend upgrading to the pimax crystal light? I want more clarity on gages

[@Omniwhatever]

I find the Crystal is a pretty big step up from the Quest 3, personally. I dunno if I'd say almost 1000 bucks better if you already own a Quest 3 though, unless you've already got a good bit of cash to spare and not worry about cost much. I'm a little bit stingy despite having high end stuff though. Part of how I AFFORD said high end stuff.

[@markchurch5273]

I found with the light I no longer need to wear my glasses? G2 and the pico 4 glasses is a must for me. But for some unknown reason I don't need them with the light!

[@tapasero]

The best visuals you can get in VR without breaking your neck *

[@christianrrx]

Good video. Can you tell me how the Pimax Crystal together with the Audeze Maxwell sits on your head? and can you also make a review video of it?

[@Omniwhatever]

No, because I'm never going to use my own audio solution with another headset again lol. I had to do that on the PSVR2 a bit and it was a truly horrendous experience I never want to do again, no matter how good the headphones are. The Light's headstrap is pretty big and doesn't seem the most accommodating of headphones, from what I've seen others post though. I'm not much of an audio guy so not planning on any headphone reviews, sorry.

[@Wooskii1]

Great video, subbed. Unfortunately I need a wireless headset due to not having the space for my PC, monitors, desk, and peripherals anywhere next to an open play space. Maybe I could make it work? in an obtrusive, ugly, and janky way but I'm just waiting for a new wireless PCVR solution (that doesn't use streaming with Bluetooth casting type performance). I keep thinking about getting a Quest 3 while I wait (anticipating whatever Valve does next) but that starts to add up fast for a temporary compromise- Head strap, extra batteries, dedicated router, and another $300 on top if I decide I want the pro controllers. That's close to a thousand bucks! Or GPU upgrade money.

[@Omniwhatever]

For what it's worth, I have a pretty tiny as hell playspace I kind of make work, but I at least have a couple feet of open space to sort of move around a bit in. Not a lot, but it's SOME room. A pully system was one of the best investments I ever made, look up the VR Wire II or Kiwi Pulleys if you haven't, maybe it'll help. The OG Crystal is also coming out with the Wigig module that'll have much higher bandwidth and fidelity, Pimax CLAIMS it'll do full resolution at 90hz due to using eye tracking to compress where you're not looking vs the whole compressed image of the Quest, but that might be out of your budget because you need the original Crystal+300 dollar addon module. That's a hell of a lot! You could buy a Super for that price. I'm planning to review it when it comes out at some point, see if it ends up as good as claimed. I'd sure hope so, since at least the Crystal will have a niche then.

[@Wooskii1]

@@Omniwhatever I'll definitely be waiting for your review! (I subbed right away because I appreciate the detail you put into on this review, down to the software). I just have a hard time trusting PiMax, but if they're first to market with something that checks all the boxes I'll have to take them seriously... I do have a couple places I can do a bit of "room scale" (like think "Space Pirate Trainer", not "Tea For God") but my PC setup would encroach heavily on that little space, and pulleys are out of the question (I 100% would have already if I lived alone) so I think I'm stuck with wireless- PC in the next room over, run a few wires, then hide the router and/ or a couple base stations in the corners behind family photos 😁 I'm in no hurry (got into VR with PSVR-1 then Quest 1) and have other hobbies. I just want to do it right, even if that means a sim only setup in the basement (with the really low celling) and upgrading my 3080Ti. Fingers crossed 🤞 on a good wireless module!

[@bigbangerz5856]

Do you find the IPD settings in the Crystal match your IRL IPD or do you have to offset it a bit?

[@DasJev]

the displayed, physical and reported IPD don't match for me, I have to offset manually by doing the controller thingy than checking by rotating my head to see if it rotates correctly or my ipd is off

[@Omniwhatever]

I think they do, at least from what I know and have measured it. I haven't had it measured by an optometrist, so take with a pinch of salt, but some third party apps and the auto IPD on the Crystal's eye tracking have put it around 67-68.5 and around 67-68 has generally felt "right" and comfortable for every headset, Crystal included. Give or take a little depending on the facepad I use.

[@nubanimator]

Did Pimax Play v1.33.01 improve the tracking? Or were you using that already in the video?

[@Omniwhatever]

It's what I was using in the video.

[@lofej]

Can i use the headset without using the pimax software, not even for setup at first use?

[@Omniwhatever]

No. Software is required to use.

[@rnf123]

This guy definitely has the script of the video displayed on the screen of the headset 😂😂😂

[@Omniwhatever]

I'm decent at improv with all the acting I've done, but I'm not THAT good to say all this without a script lol. I got enough to say when scripting it out in a coherent manner, this video'd be an hour long if I just rambled without organizing my thoughts first!

[@pamo5900]

Do you use exactly the same ipd value on crystal light as the normal crystal measure you?

[@Omniwhatever]

I do and everything felt good there. It's the exact same optical stack, so no surprises there though.

[@dharkbizkit]

tiny sweetspot and "just" 58mm ipd size, seems to be another downer for my wife, who has an 55mm ipd and gets eyestrain /crosseye fatigue on our index after 15 minutes. this still leaves the beyond as the only headset that might suit here, because smaler female ipd ranges, are not what the company are building, instead they go higher to accomodate more big guys

[@JaapGrolleman]

OMG I see an 0K headset

[@Omniwhatever]

It'll always have a special place of honor. I loved that April Fool's joke.

[@liebesmaennchen]

hahhaha...very good. One user said "Pimax knows you, so you always get the "better" hardware" ....:D

[@D-money813]

nah bruh i was wrong about the crystal being a flop but WHERE IN THE F IS THE 12KX????? You can still trade in a 8kx, right??? ahahaha

[@Omniwhatever]

Far as I know, but we haven't gotten any 12k details in ages and I don't expect to till after the Crystal Super launches. Really, reaaaaaaally missing my huge and wide FoV.

[@D-money813]

@@Omniwhatever ok ok, the 12x had such a brilliant presentation. i was soooo sold on it. i use the aero so im used to the kylo ren helmet fov ahaha sigh

[@SargonDragon]

Would be interested to hear your take if you got a Bigscreen Beyond and compared it against the Crystal Light. I ran Pimax headsets for years including the Crystal and moved to the Bigscreen Beyond myself. The main thing that drove me to it was frustration with all the bugs, reliability problems, and general hair pulling of Pimax products. Beautiful displays, but you suffer for them. I was tired of suffering. By its specs, I expected the Beyond to be a downgrade, but maybe it would be less buggy. The Beyond turns out to be rock stable with excellent customer service behind it. And as for the display, it's almost as good as Crystal. Closer than I expected. Better in same ways, worse in others. The audio in the Beyond (both microphone and speakers) is much better than the Crystal Light. Even better than the Valve Index, actually. And all that is even before considering the massive size and weight difference between the Beyond and the Crystal Light. The amount of punch this tiny headset has is wild. It's not just powerful for its size, it's powerful period. Pretty much if you want to graduate from the Quest 3 to a higher end headset, I think the only real considerations right now are the Pimax Crystal Light or Bigscreen Beyond. And soon maybe the Somnium VR1.

[@Omniwhatever]

I don't have a BSB and no intentions of getting one as if you asked me to design a headset I'd want that's possible with the current technology limitations and would go for around 1500ish or so, it's literally everything I would NOT make in a headset. That's a surprising claim to hear on both the visuals and headphone audio though, as virtually every single person I've seen try both always said the Crystal was much better on pure visuals. And almost every review I've seen of the audio headstrap has said it's been pretty average and nothing exceptional. Microphone's the best around though.

[@SargonDragon]

​@@Omniwhatever The quality of the Beyond's visuals is strongly affected by fitment. Much more so than any other headset I've tried. It's really important to have the IPD and eye relief dead on. The headset is not adjustable so you have to work with Bigscreen to get fitment issues dialed in. That part is definitely a drag, but the company is very willing to work with customers on getting the fitment just right. It just takes time and patience with shipping back and forth. Many of the reviews of the Beyond are coming from people where the fitment is not right. In some cases, you'll see a later re-review from the same person after they got their fitment sorted, and they'll say the visuals are so much better now and the headset suddenly became great. But in many cases, there's no follow up. With a properly dialed in Beyond, its visuals still aren't as good as Crystal, but they're close. The big downside there is the glare. Crystal has no glare at all. But Crystal gets chromatic aberration instead, which the Beyond does not suffer from. The glare is worse than the chromatic aberration though. It's otherwise a wash between them with the Crystal having a little higher resolution and the Beyond having OLED. Most of the reviews on the audio strap are against the prototypes, not the recently released final product. And I suspect most of those hadn't even listened to an Index to compare recently. I did actual A-B testing between the final audio strap and the Index and concluded that Beyond's audio was actually a little better. Mostly because it's on ear versus off ear, and so the Beyond has frequency response at lower frequencies for better bass. (It's less convenient to put on and take off though) Honestly, when I bought the Beyond, I was expecting it to be not nearly as good as the Crystal. I was expecting to trade away capability for stability. But the Beyond turns out to punch above the weight of its specifications. This headset is frequently underrated. Whether you'd personally prefer it to a Crystal, I don't know though. It would be a lot of expense and effort for what's mostly a sidegrade. For me I was very motivated by being fed up with Pimax's bugs and instability (and questionable honesty), but if you're good with that stuff there's not really a good reason to switch.

[@Omniwhatever]

@@SargonDragon Oh, I'm aware. But I'm also not even talking about "professional" reviewers, I'm talking about a decent chunk of people I know who've tried both and even used like 10 headsets, huge enthusiasts. And some went through multiple face gaskets or even units for the BSB entirely exactly because of that. People who spent hours and hours with numerous things trying to get it right. I respect your experience and I won't fight overly hard as I have not tried it myself, but I simply don't believe that all the people complaining about the image quality just don't have the fit right, especially when that experienced and with how many common complaints I've heard. Black levels excepting, which I've still heard can depend somewhat on the scene cause glare and I do believe that having tried the PSVR2 vs the Crystal. PSVR2 really disappointed me on contrast in that front with how people talked it up. I'm not talking about old, prototype reviews either for the audio strap. I'm talking about current, production reviews that've come out in the last 2-3 weeks. Not the hugest sample size, I will admit, but every person I've talked to who's tried the production audio strap said it was kind of just "eh" audio, and all of them had tried the Index. Including the person who I saw post the frequency graph and called it "30 dollar audio". I don't know them personally though, but they sure had evidence. Few used the Crystal. I totally respect your experience and I'm not going to argue a bunch saying it's all wrong as I haven't tried it myself and I know both the Beyond and Crystal are pretty temperamental, but I'm just saying it largely doesn't match with what I've heard many people say that're pretty experience in the VR space and have tried numerous headsets or audio solutions.

[@Goryglory0209]

Are you Sure. I need you to be sure.

[@Omniwhatever]

You can finish the video to know my full indepth thoughts if you want. It hasn't even been up long enough to finish. It's a mostly good headset with some cons to be mindful of.

[@user-wq9mw2xz3j]

depends on where you live. if average wage under 500usd, you might need to break a bank

[@aaronmast6437]

Is it worthwhile to buy a product from this company? They don't seem to answer product-specific questions on their website's contact form. It makes me think they're out to sell their latest stuff and don't really care about the consumer before/after a purchase is done

[@x32i77]

Crystal is just okay-ish. After you see the Somnium vr1 there is no going back

[@DasJev]

idk I rather wait for SomniumVR2 with better specs than PCL

[@Nobody-Nowhere]

With or without the NVidia sharpening?

[@x32i77]

@@DasJev Somnium vr2 will be released 2029 I can't wait so long . Vr1 is already epic from what I've seen at somnium Connect

[@x32i77]

@@Nobody-Nowhere both

[@adrenalinejunkie3828]

Somnium VR1 base model: $2116 with no controllers. 35 PPD. 2880 x 2880. FOV 120 (claimed). *Same display panel as Crystal. PCL with local dimming: $899 or $799 with no controllers. 35 PPD. 2880 x 2880. 103 FOV (tested independently).

[@crimsom2977]

man pimax is a mess.