Pimax Crystal Review - A true G2 upgrade for Sim Players?

[@ufoguy]

The master of VR! Cheers buddy!

[@HamVR]

Thanks for the visit

[@ufoguy]

My pleasure :) @@HamVR

[@dathyr1]

Thanks for your review of the PIMAX Crystal. It is now April 2024 and I am looking at the newer Crystal lite VR headsets for possible SIM racing. The cost is cheaper at 699.00 dollars. I don't need a battery or Eye Tracking which the lower cost Crystal lite eliminates but it does provide the Display Port connection to my GFX card. Most the other specs are also similar to the full Crystal. It will also be a slightly lighter headset. The Crystal Lite versions will be out this year sometime and I will wait till I see some of the video reviews on these devices and if any problems or issues arise. I am not a person who buys something new on day 1. Right now I have the Quest 3 and the Rift S VR headsets, and both work well with doing SIM racing games. My PC computer has the RTX-3080TI, so with PIMAX Crystal headsets will probably have to reduce the resolutions, etc. I also tried the HP Reverb G2 and agree with you the sweet spot was terrible and very small. Some people like it, but I hated it soon as I put it on my head. Again, thanks for the video. Take care.

[@UTubeSL]

Awesome review! Appreciate the more objective look at FOV. It's interesting how much face shape seems to matter here: I've seen other reports of horizontal FOV being just 3 degrees more than the G2; my demo of the Crystal made it seem at least as limited as the G2. The experience was like fashioning a square with my hands, and looking through it: perfectly clear but slightly jarring!

[@HamVR]

Face shape will play a big part for sure, as will the face gasket depth. The one that came with my Pimax Crystal is very shallow. I'm also using a VR Cover shallow face gasket on the G2 to get best FOV from that as I don't wear glasses.

[@mikem.2078]

@UTubeSL am I reading you right? You're saying the horizontal (or "side to side") views on the Crystal are (or "seem") to be just a few degrees more than the G2? Have to admit I'm a tad bit "crushed" because I dislike the G2 for what I consider to be a very limited fov, on TOP of the whole "sweet spot" thing.

[@HamVR]

@@mikem.2078 The FOV appeared noticeably bigger on the Pimax Crystal than the G2 for me and a friend who have tried both. The difference will vary person to person (according to face shape) and what you consider to be a big or small FOV difference.

[@JB_2027]

Hi @HamVR, recently i ve been having all sorts of head tracking issues with my Reverb G2 im getting sick of it now so im looking to upgrade..(didnt have this issue with my Quest 2). Before i part with over a bag of sand i must ask...is the head tracking better? Also how long did you have to wait for the Pimax to arrive as the websites look American from what i can see.....

[@HamVR]

I've found the head tracking is very good with Pimax Crytal. Putting it on the floor to calibrate height and position seems to work surprisingly well. No issues there for me. With inside out tracking, thinks like lighting, distinctive room objects and clean tracking camera lens all play a part.

[@Thorloar]

They need to make a PC only version of this. I don’t want to mess with batteries when I’m sitting at the sim for hours and it should cut the ridiculous cost a bit if it doesn’t need the mobile chip and the battery.

[@Nyersevo]

Dear Ham VR, Bionocular overlap is good in this eadset ? You can see the 3d effect very well right? Because in the past i have one pimax 5k plusand the a3 effect was very poor because of this lack of bionocular overlap. Thanks this answer in advance.

[@Nyersevo]

What about 3d depth presence ? The stereoscopy overlap is goot in this headset?

[@HamVR]

I've not measured stereo overlap, mainly because most people dont ask for it. It doesn't feel abnormal compared to other headsets Ive tried. I'll have to get some comparison data from test app and confirm for a more precise answer.

[@Nyersevo]

@@HamVR thanks

[@donoussa]

Ham, sorry if I missed it in the video but is the ‘eyesight test’ an app available on steam?

[@HamVR]

It's on itch.io knob2001.itch.io/testhmd

[@Nyersevo]

Dear Ham VR Can you recomend this Pimax Crystal headset just for room scale VR? Shooter - Skyrim VR , Fallout VR Hubris , Hellsplit Arena ect.. I have a Reverb G2 and i can handle the room scale VR but i would like to get a better picture quality. Thanks this answer in advance,

[@HamVR]

I recommend Pimax Crystal if seated Sim use is your main use. I think for shooters and room scale games where you are looking arround at your body/waist a lot, you will struggle with the weight for long sessions so I would look for a lighter, wireless headset like the Quest 3 or Quest Pro. Alternatively, wait and see if Valve release their wireless headset soon.

[@ivaniuk123]

I am buying this for pure flight sim... I hope it works lol.

[@jeanbalthazarntagarurwa9555]

Amazing review thank you very much.

[@HamVR]

Glad you liked it. Thanks for watching!

[@optical10]

MRTV is testing the base station face plate, do you think they will send you one to test.? Thanks over the years for great content

[@HamVR]

I've enquired about the face plate and the wider FOV lens 🤞

[@Qual_]

missed the part where the audio has delay in the DMAS and that they still didn't fixed it. It add roughly 200+ ms of delay.

[@mikem.2078]

You have to use (and swap) batteries? You can't just leave it plugged in for limitless play time? Edit: I see you mentioned an extra usb hub for limitless play time. Is that the correct assumption? And is the extra hub a real "pain" / give you more wires to tangle your arms in, etc? One more thing. Only 100 horizontal fov? For such a wide hmd, that doesn't sound much. My Samsung Odyssey+ is 110 !

[@HamVR]

There is a powered USB hub that came in the box, but I couldn't get it to work with my PC setup on the original firmware and I haven't tried it again since. I've only run mine direct from the 2x USB sockets on the back my PC.. The limitless power is information I've collected from users on the Pimax Discord. I've not got such a hub so haven't tried it myself.

[@mikem.2078]

@@HamVR Interesting. If I'm reading you right, sounds like I'll continue to hold off for this headset.

[@Djk0t]

Hi there excellent job , are you planning an iracing review?

[@Nyersevo]

I have a G2 and i love the center of sharpness. So this Crystal isn'T sharper than G2 in the center? Ok i know the lens is better but can we achive better sharpness wiht Pimax Crystal? And can you estimate how much sharper? How many percentage? Thanks this answer in adavance

[@HamVR]

See 8:20 I was able to read more lines than I could with the G2, so the Crystal is sharper in the middle. The is likely due to the higher resolution of the displays and the lens providing a higher pixels per degree. Also being aspheric lens means there's less glare which improves clarity further. Overall sharpness outside the middle much higher on the Crystal where on the G2 clarity drops off fast from the centre of the image. I don't know how estimate that as a percentage though.

[@Nyersevo]

Thanks but it is much sharper so it will be more than 10 or 20 % percent sharper it is enough for me so this device worth the insane price I think you are happy for that and have you used custom foam with G2 also and this Crystal FOV is much larger also right?

[@Simmymind360]

with DFR will you still need open composite or will the updated software work without open composite?

[@HamVR]

I'm yet to try the eye tracking firmware/software (I should have access soon). DFR depends on the game rather than if it's OpenXR or OpenVR & Open Composite, so open composite isn't a factor. DCS and Pavlov support DFR via Quad Views and OpenXR toolkit. Some titles are supposed to support DFR direct with OpenVR (e.g. Elite Dangerous) and VRS, the only requirement you select Foveated rendering to max in the Pimax client.

[@Simmymind360]

@@HamVR Thank you for your information..my order for Pimax is about to be shipped 🙏👍

[@csammy123]

8:32 Where do you get that room / download from?

[@HamVR]

knob2001.itch.io/testhmd

[@supersprit5733]

Review Covered all aspects, your honesty on FOV is appreciable. Wish Pimax would learn some business ethics or true to facts when they sell products. They say 125 deg Fov, and they deliver half baked product. It is kind of irritating to buy such products at $1600. Hoping VR1 or Deckard will launch soon.

[@HamVR]

Thank you. Yeah it seems to be Pimax's strategy to release hardware first and then develope the software later. Still, it's getting better each week.

[@Lakedistrictrider]

Any software issues?

[@HamVR]

More hardware related. I still have intermittent USB auto detection of the headset on my Asus TUF B650 motherboard. This means I sometimes need to unplug the headset from the USB socket and plug it back in for it to be detected when first booting my PC or changing battery. I believe this could be related to my Asus USB controller on my motherboard. I don't have problems with other USB devices though 🤷‍♂️

[@Lakedistrictrider]

@@HamVR cheers, visuals sound stunning but seems pretty temperamental looking across reviews and comments

[@barcori]

I would love to get one, but my rtx3090 shouldn't be good enough.

[@HamVR]

I think the 3090 should be just aboit good enough to have a decent experience. Pimax themseleves recommend a 3080 or better.

[@barcori]

​@@HamVR Thanks for your reply and for the video. My 3090 doesn't work very well on ACC with a G2, I doubt it will give me a better experience with Crystal though. Better to save for a 4090 prior to buy the Crystal in my opinion.

[@barcori]

@@HamVR In case I buy a 4090 do I need to change other hardware, like motherboard, ram and CPU?

[@HamVR]

For ACC I recommend the AMD 7800X3D as it's CPU demading game and that CPU works well with it.

[@Titanum7899]

it is

[@holeindanssock156]

Oi oi oi

[@HamVR]

Hello Sir 👋

[@fsxspen]

Never heard anyone say it was comfy.

[@dtz1000]

I've seen several reviewers say it.

[@cladecq]

heavy, bulky, uncomfortable, it's an already totally outdated helmet at an exorbitant price.

[@HamVR]

Heavy and bulky yes. Uncomfortable, not for me and few others from what I've heard so far. Eye tracking, 120Hz high resolution panels with local dimming and also cheaper than the Varjo Aero with inside out tracking and controllers and sound. The form factor is old but the tech isn't.

[@GT1GT]

Heavy, Bulky, yes, uncomfortable? Not for me accpet the back padding witch is easy to change since its velcroed on. Outdated? Hell no! It has all the latest tech, Eye Tracking ,color profiles, local dimming etc, etc, and its so module with both insdise out and outside in tracking. This headset is a good investment for at least 5 years in my opinion. Best and largest clear visuals accross the intire FOV YUP for me. This headset is the best I have owned out of many many VR headset I have owned since the beginning of the DK2 In 2014.

[@colinwright7242]

Found wearing a baseball cap really helps comfort

[@melvinf78]

Outdated? In what sense? Without high enough clarity, all other "improvements" are just gimmicks! Pimax is clearly on the right track.

[@dtz1000]

​@@melvinf78 Those lenses are very outdated. Going from a pancake lens to this was a bit of shock for me. Real backwards step imo.

[@oczhaal]

i thought the FOV was around 150°... :(

[@HamVR]

That would nice. No, it's slightly less than the Valve Index but a fair amount bigger than the G2.