The Pimax Crystal Light Surprised Me! - Hands-on Review

[@Bmvoien]

As a new owner of a PCL, great video! Can’t wait to see your settings for ACC and others, optimizing the game myself right now - with an identical system as yours…

[@JaapGrolleman]

Thanks Ameer! Great review, you touched on very detailed VR parts, especially considering this isn't a VR channel. About the separate software: we know this. OpenXR runtime is already integrated into Pimax Play (but you can still use OpenXR Toolkit/PimaxXR). We're still adding more features and ways to tune the runtime, so for now perhaps OpenXR Toolkit is preferred, but it's coming.

[@TheSimpit]

That's awesome to hear. Thanks for the info!

[@kennymoss7089]

Great review. Looking forward to to your set up video 😎

[@GeoSandman]

I have been using the original Crystal since June 2023, but I have been using VR for Sim Racing since 2016. I still have triples, but I keep them just to have the real estate, not for Sim Racing. VR is so much better feeling but can be a hassle sometimes having that headset on, overall I love VR. I use it mainly with iRacing. I did try it with Raceroom but never got it to work for some reason. I need to change to the Light as mine is much heavier with the battery. not the greatest thing on an old man's bad neck.

[@TheSimpit]

That's the reason I like the Light because of the weight and the Light is much easier to setup than the Crystal.

[@louissenn9897]

The quest 3 looks pretty good in the cockpit put on track, further away distant objects look kinda trash. Is this a lot better on the crystal light? Like really noticeable improvement in distance sharpness?

[@tmoshamo]

Thank you for the suprise upload. Peace✌️

[@TheSimpit]

Lol, got to keep you happy, Tom, lol.

[@jackr.749]

As far as I know, Pimax doesn't even have a replacement cable for the Crystal Light listed on their site, the 6 meter cable is for the OG Crystal, also the Lenses are just that, lenses, in this case Aspheric lenses, the QLED panels on the other hand are indeed 2880 x 2880 per eye but it's actual resolution once compensating for lens curvature and so on can be much higher. The SteamVR and OpenXR resolution at 100% will bring any computer to it's knees, I have a 7800X3D and a 4090 and I do have to turn down the resolution to get 90 fps steady on most titles Sims or others.

[@fingers68]

I have a 7800x3d and 4090 64gb ram, I am thinking of going from my G2 to this Pimax light. I am running the G2 at 130% getting a solid 90fps. Is this Pimax not going to be similar at its native res?

[@TheSimpit]

I had no issues running it on my Sim PC with an i9 13900K and 4090. I did run into some issues on my second PC with an i7 1270K and 3080ti and had to turn graphics down.

[@jackr.749]

​@@fingers68 I can't remember the exact numbers but the G2 at 100% resolution is 3160 x 3092...... the Crystal Light at 100% is something like 4300 x 5100 per eye (not exact), so it's a lot more pixels to push. I run it at a lower resolution but it's still considerably higher than the G2 at 100%. With the pixels so close together, even with the resolution turned down, it looks amazing. With the local dimming the colors are more vibrant, the blacks are blacker. The optics also allow you to use your eyes to look around instead of the small sweet spot of the G2's fresnel optics. :) I use mostly AC and I can see distant items (meter boards) clearly a lot sooner. My previous HMD was a G2, back in it's box now! LOL

[@Krulaks]

that's why in EU we buy it from resellers - 2 year warranty for everything

[@jackr.749]

@@Krulaks Must be nice, in Canada, the government doesn't care enough about it's people to force something like that. We're not worthy.

[@Bohan1]

Is quest3 good enough for simracing or flightsims？

[@Kxray1]

Can you track hands and fingers with this in sim racing? I know some other headsets do but can't find information on it with crystal light

[@TheSimpit]

hey, unfortunately you can't with the Crystal or the Crystal Light.

[@nascasho]

Amazing in-depth! Qpro pro user and the only damn thing holding my trigger finger back is the lack of eye and face tracking since I use mine a LOT for VRC... (yeah, I suck) -- would you happen to know if Pimax is planning on having something similar down the road with full face? I know it's such a minority but I seriously love the feature so much that it severely limited my potential paths for newer HMD's... Damn you Pimax for making a good headset.... DAMN YOU!!

[@TheSimpit]

Hey man, not sure about full face tracking. I know the Pimax Crystal has eye tracking. I can reach out and ask. I know they have the Pimax Super coming out next year, but I haven't really looked into it

[@nascasho]

@@TheSimpit No worries and thanks in advance! Just been curious because I want these headsets and BAD

[@juzu99]

Hey, if you're playing MSFS 2020 for example and you're in the cockpit where you're looking sideways, for example, downwards, can you see everything clearly? If you look at Meta quest 3 glasses, you won't see them clearly.

[@TheSimpit]

It depends. You can use fixed foveated rendering that splits the panels into quadrents. depending on where you move the headset and look, it drops the quality of the none focused area to increase the quality of the focused area. you can have that turned off, so the whole screen is using the set maxed quality.

[@111beamng]

I sold my Quest 3 today because of binocular overlap.I didnt feel 3D depth enough with it. But it was a good visuals especially i didnt feel eye strain and other discomfort. Even my Reverb G2 was a trash despite it has sharp display but very discomfort frensel lenses.

[@AmrElguindy-tp2ww]

Thanks for a great video my question is I owe a Varjo Aero but Iam not getting a great visuals with my MSFS 2020 do you think it is better to invest in this VR headset or no big difference I will see . Thanks for your advise

[@TheSimpit]

The Pimax uses glass for it's lenses where as Varjo uses resin. Glass will give you better clarity and less glare. and the Pimax has local dimming giving you better contrast and darker blacks than backlit lighting.

[@latchedatom215]

Is this vr only good for racing games or is it good for regular games. I have quest 3 but trying to find a upgrade

[@TheSimpit]

It's great for all VR games. I've tried it with Beat Saber and Ragnarock and the tracking was great compared to my Reverb G2

[@thevirtualsimracing]

did you loose tracking by any chance ?? did it vr move while racing?

[@TheSimpit]

nope, tracking was perfect. Only thing I had to do was reset the headset at startup.

[@pR1mal.]

The 6m cable doesn't work with the crystal light.

[@TheSimpit]

You're correct. The 6M cable doesn't work, you'd need a DP and a USB extension cable

[@edwinrudd4398]

I’m disappointed that Chrystal light does not have replacement cables! Are you kidding me! So what do we do when you get dreaded error code, that you need replacement cables ? How can Pimax have a product but not have support options for their headsets!

[@TheSimpit]

I spoke with the guys at Pimax, if the cable goes bad, you can get a replacement one from them. They are planning on offering cables on their site in the future.

[@A-man-yf6pr]

Everyone says you need a beefy pc to get the best out of this product. No one ever articulates what a beefy pc is. What are the least pc specs as in cpu/gpu that you would recommend for this product?

[@TheSimpit]

You need atleast a 3080 or a RX6800XT with an i5 12500 or Ryzen 7 7700 to get medium graphics. Pimax has the full list of recommended spec on their website.

[@A-man-yf6pr]

Ahhh… thank you so much!

[@IvebenKruzen]

I watched a 10 min video about VR and survived... those who know, know.

[@TheSkepticSkwerl]

In sim games Processor plays a big role, you didn't say anything about processor

[@TheSimpit]

I'm running an Intel i9 13900K. Pimax does recommend atheist an i7 13700k or Ryzen 9 7800X3D for best performance

[@riccardopasquini9523]

How about latency? I tried quest 3 and for me it's quite unusable about this. I unfortunatley play on Competizione (4080) Do you think that with this viewer and the right simulator (maybe evo) I could play competitively like I'm doing now with the monitor? Thanks

[@TheSimpit]

Hey man, I didn't notice any latency for ACC. I did have to turn some things down for it to run smoothly to get 90 FPS with it. For sure, I think you can be very competitive with VR. 4080 should be good enough for the headset.

[@sleit0n]

only thing missing from this to be "perfect" is foveated rendering. and i would certenly pay more if there was a version with it, but not 1600 tho...

[@SpatialDragon]

VR as a concept is great. They are still not there in PC power or VR compactness, lightweight packaging, but it does look better. On an aside, my new $40 a month 1 Gig down by 1 Gig up fiber optic cable has some problems. Their provided router keeps shutting off and on. My 5 year old router is rated for 1 Gig, but upload is way lower. I have a newish router it is 2.4 Gig up and down wired and 182.11AX WIFI 6, it gets here Friday. It could still be the mode, too. Right now the problem is I can't watch KZbin live shows on my PC, but I can watch on the Roku. If I turn on my VPN it gives me a few minutes. I will be watching on Roku Friday. I can comment on PC, it just shows me a buffering circle. I tried clearing cache, ran my security and cleaning programs. I think because there is no local server KZbin says "No Soup For You." The company is from North Dakota and Cheyenne, 300 miles away is the closest server. I am hoping the router fixes it. Not confident...

[@David-c5l]

Do your research before buying a crystal light-do your due diligence. I’m an owner and I’m completely disappointed. I thought I was getting an upgrade from my G2-it is not and I’ve gone back to the G2. Meanwhile I’m stuck with an expensive headset that doesn’t work and they’re tech support is no help.

[@darreno1450]

You make it difficult for anyone to take you seriously when you give no details. Pimax isn't known to have the best support, I agree, but lately they have been put under the microscope and have sworn to improve. What happened to your headset?

[@David-c5l]

@@darreno1450 By all means don't take me serious-- I'm not here asking anyone to take my word for it because a simple google search "Pimax crystal light problems reddit" will give you a very good sense of the problems people are having. I don't see a need to relist them, but here's a short sampling of things I've dealt with. Tracking--the tracking is terrible and not even close to how solid the tracking is in the G2. Even though I play only in a seated position I'm still constantly having to reset the play area. I've also had image smearing, which doesn't happen continuously, but occasionally an AI aircraft will go by in DCS that looks like Halley's comet, or the lights of an airfield will look like, well, smeared. I've had times when the headset boots up with the right eye in color, but the left eye is some mixture of monochrome/black and white. To this point rebooting corrects the problem, but it shouldn't happen to begin with. The sound in the CL isn't terrible, but the sound in the G2 is much better and I bought it in 2020! You would think that a headset 4 years younger would at least sound as good as the G2, but it doesn't. This isn't a complete list of the things I've experienced. The point of my initial post was to tell folks do their research before buying--they can absolutely not take me seriously--it really doesn't bother me if they don't. Take care.

[@David-c5l]

@@darreno1450 I posted a response to this but I see that it has been deleted. Everything I posted was factual and respectful. Why was it deleted? The way condensed version is that the main problem with the headset has been resolved and that was stuttering which made DCS unplayable. First my system specs for context; ASRock X870E MB, Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor, MSI 4090 GPU, 128GB DRAM, and two 2TB SSDs. I tried everthing (or so I thought) and then I ran across a fellow youtuber who experienced the same thing, but he had solved it. I don't know how or why, but it fixed it for me as well. In Pimax play device settings, set the refresh rate to 90Hz Upscale, but in the "Games" tab check "Lock to Half Framerate". It sounds completely counter intuitive, but it got rid of the stuttering completely. I would have never figured this out on my own and had it not been for that person I would still be struggling with it. There are still some things that I wish could be solved (tracking, smudged aircraft and airfield lights, comfort, and sound). Bottom line is now that the stuttering issue has been corrected I can say the CL is an upgrade over the G2 for a couple of reasons--mainly the field of view which is much bigger, the sweet spot is MUCH bigger, the colors are more vibrant, and when flying at night the blacks are much much better than the G2. I hope this is helpful!

[@darreno1450]

@@David-c5l I and others run into this issue as well. I'm going to guess it's the KZbin algorithm misbehaving. What I usually do is repost taking out certain words that I believe the algorithm is seeing and misinterpreting as offensive. It may not always work, but more often than not, it does. I'm very interested in your story as I just purchased a Crystal Light. I haven't received it yet. Also, I apologize for seeming combative in my previous post.

[@David-c5l]

@@darreno1450 No worries and let me try this again. First my system specs for context; ASRock X870E MB, Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor, MSI 4090 GPU, 128GB DRAM, and two 2TB SSDs. I made this post a month ago--since that point my main issue was solved which was unplayable stuttering. I tried everything (or so I thought) and then I ran across a fellow youtuber who experienced the same thing, but he had solved it. I don't know how or why, but it fixed it for me as well. In Pimax play device settings, set the refresh rate to 90Hz Upscale, but in the "Games" tab check "Lock to Half Framerate". It sounds completely counter intuitive, but it got rid of the stuttering completely. I would have never figured this out on my own and had it not been for that person I would still be struggling with it. With that solved I can now say that I'm not completely disappointed, but there are still a few things that I wish could be addressed. First is the tracking--it just will not stay tracked. I've changed the lighting in the room, and that has helped some, but I'm constantly having to reset the tracking. Second would be image smearing. When AI aircraft go by in DCS, the aircraft's lights have trails behind them like a comet. Airfield lights are the same. Not completely terrible, but enough to be annoying. Fourth would be the shape of the faceplate--I've replaced the face cushion and added spacers, but it still isn't super comfortable. Lastly is the sound--I expected the sound to be at least better than the G2, but it isn't. It isn't terrible, but I expected better. I'm hoping the DMAS come back in stock at some point so I can give them a try. And honorable mention would be twice now at initial start up, the left eye box image was in color but the right eye was in some type of monochrome/black and white. Each time I rebooted the headset and both eye boxes were in color. Bottom line is (now that the stuttering issue has been corrected) I can say the CL is an upgrade over the G2 for a couple of reasons--mainly the field of view which is much bigger, the sweet spot is MUCH bigger, the colors are more vibrant, and when flying at night the blacks are much much better than the G2. I hope this is helpful!

[@jdogofoz3642]

nope... sold mine in favour of the quest 3

[@fingers68]

You sold the Pixax light to get the Q3, I am thinking of upgrading my G2 to the Pimax. Why did you not rate it?

[@Krulaks]

quality issues or you just downgraded?

[@jessiestarr4600]

​@@fingers68because they never owned it in the first place

[@jessiestarr4600]

​People who owns any pimax usually spends time to try and get it working properly theres no way they owned a crystal light it has way less problem then the normal crystal

[@SIMRIG412]

It’s just ATS not ATS2. American truck sim only has 1 game. Euro truck sim has 1 and 2.

[@SpatialDragon]

That was ETS2. Not ATS.

[@ricseixas1]

No Dinamic FOV is a deal breaker for me

[@der60er]

Max 105° hfov. stop copy pasting websites. DO REAL reviews.

[@crimmy0204]

130 fov lmao, some one was paid by pimax.

[@jessiestarr4600]

Pimax has always been known for high af fov... also known for hardware issues but once hardware issues is resolved alot of people has said pimax is actually really good . As for crystal light heard it's less tedious then the normal crystal

[@PS3DEADMAN69]

Pie to the Max 🥧

[@Bmvoien]

As a new owner of a PCL, great video! Can’t wait to see your settings for ACC and others, optimizing the game myself right now - with an identical system as yours…