Pimax Crystal Reviews Sept >>> Dec 2023

XR Hardware
8

My Pimax Crystal story

Posted By TheRealDunningKrugee on r/pimax

TL;DR - a bit of a wait, a few bumps in the road, Wow! and DFR is a game changer (for me).

I have been invested in VR since 2016 and have 1000’s of hrs (PSVR1, Valve Index, Quest2, and now Pimax Crystal), i also come from a very technical background (I enjoy a bit of software & hardware tinkering).

I play mostly Pavlov, but also any other good PC VR game (HLA, Boneworks\lab,RE8 mod, etc)

Pre Crystal I mostly used my index, knuckles, 3 base stations on a 4090 FE (upgraded from 3090 in prep for Crystal) and a Ryzen 9 5900x.

I did a fair bit of research on Pimax and the Crystal before I pre-ordered as well as while I waited for delivery. So I think I was well prepared for the slipping deadlines and ambiguous\ misleading communication. Also I had a fair amount of leniency for Pimaxes mistakes and delays given they are a relatively small company, based in a very different culture\ language, trying to create the best most feature rich headset on the market today.

Getting a (working) Crystal:

-Pre ordered 25th Nov 2022

-Requested\Made payment 7th June 2023 (6.5months from order)

-Confirmed address 14th June 2023 (2 weeks from payment)

-Received shipping email 16th June 2023 (but then was cancelled)

-Received new shipping email and was delivered 23rd June 2023 (1 week from confirm)

(Cost ÂŁ1534 inc VAT, free shipping)

Included the controversial: Glass lens(35ppd), fibre optic cable, usb power hub & DMAS.

On receiving my Crystal the lenses screws were not in, so 1 lens had become dislodged during shipping, easy to reseat. There was also something rattling around inside the headset. I discovered the ipd adj was not working. After some investigation (removing

the lens and lifting the surrounding gasket slightly) I found that the rattling was coming from a small white plastic gear that had come off the IPD mechanism.

I raised a Case on the Pimax support portal the same day (23rd June 2023), I uploaded pictures with a full description. They got back to me in 2 days (on a Sunday) to acknowledge and move the ticket to the relevant team. Over the next week they quickly confirmed they would be sending me a replacement headset and I gave me the choice of returning the other headset before or after receiving the new one. I chose to delay returning the broken headset so I could continue testing and end up with all the right\working bits, etc.

After reconfirming my address the replacement headset was sent out, I received it 2 weeks after the initial ticket was raised (7th July 2023). The new one was in good working order (inc ipd) all the accessories were the same except the cable was the copper one (not the fibre optic one i got with the first one).

After about 2 months Pimax sent me the return label (21st Aug 2023) to send back the broken headset. Packaged up in the original box and sent it off 2 weeks later. Can see it has been delivered to them but have not heard anything more.

I also ordered the Lighthouse faceplate on release date (14th Aug 2023). Was in the first few orders so lucky enough to get the $100 discount (ÂŁ122 inc VAT & shipping) expecting shipping before 23rd Sept.

I have the wide FOV lenses ordered, looking forward to trying them out.

Setup:

This took a few hrs of tinkering to get right.

The head set would not connect if I had 3 monitors plug in.

Seems to work best if I just have 1 monitor plugged in and use the 1st DP port for the headset.

The headset would only connect if I use the “correct” usb port.

Seems to only like my USB 2 ports and not work on my USB 3 ones.

Battery charging cradle took some getting used to.

There was some instability which was fixed by bypassing the short extension cable attached to the headset. I have subsequently removed the extension altogether.

I switched off smoothing and fixed foveated rendering and set my res setting to 0.75 (in Pimax tool) in steam i had it set to about 120%. 120Hz seems to work fine using the Fibre cable.

Tried the different face gaskets, they are both ok, but ended up switching to a PU leather one i had for my quest 2 (from VR covers). I also had some side cushions that I could put under the gasket to make it fit my narrower face. I also added a thick left-right top strap (one made for the quest pro) right at the front near the hmd part. With a little fiddling I got this to be very comfortable (similar to the index).

FOV is fine, feels like the index, better than the quest 2.

On start up I regularly ended up under the floor and or off to the side. This was easily recentred with OVR Adv setting (fpsVR works too).

I seem to be able to get 5-6 hrs of continuous playtime from one battery (while using the stock usb hub) which is enough for me. Also with a 2nd battery charged and waiting this seems more than adequate.

Love the over ear speakers (as i loved the Index ones), quality seems good and they go up very loud.

Seems because it uses Glass lenses (which are cooler) it fogs up a bit at the start of a session. But once the lenses warm up a little this stops happening.

Controllers:

Initially the controller tracking was not very good, hands would jitter about and fly off occasionally. Could not play Pavlov effectively but could get by on some other games.

There have been a couple firmware releases that improved the controller tracking.

As of the most recent release the tracking seemed really good and definitely good enough to play Pavlov.

I prefer using my knuckles controllers and lucky some clever person updated the space calibrator tool to recognise the Crystal. So while I waited for the Lighthouse faceplate I bought some steam dongles and used this to pair the knuckles with the Crystal.

The set up was simple and they work well. It does require a calibration and recentred at the start of each session, but this can be done from inside the headset (most of the time).

If switching back to the Crystal controllers I need to clear the calibration to get them to line up correctly, but again normally be done from inside the headset.

I needed to use a usb extension cable and a splitter to connect the steam dongles. This was to ensure they were far enough from the PC and each other to reduce interference. I do get some occasional tracking jitter but I believe this is due to BT\USB\dongle interference, it was waaay worse when the dongles were plugged into the PC directly.

Looking forward to receiving the Lighthouse faceplate, I think this will improve\remove the minor jitter (BT connection will be closer to controllers). Also should remove the need to recalibrate each session as all will be lighthouse tracked.

DFR (Dynamic foveated rendering):

I installed the firmware update yesterday that included eye tracking and was instantly impressed. I installed Matthieu Bucchianeri’s Quad view & OpenXR Eye Trackers and tested Pavlov (this type of DFR only works on DCS & Pavlov). And the gains were insane!!

Previously I had, AA on low, Pimax res on 75%, and Steam res on 120% and I could get 120fps.

Now I can have AA on ultra, Pimax res on 100% and Steam res on 150%, locked a 120fps and the fpsVR graph shows the GPU as doing almost nothing (0.4ms frame time)! This is effectively the equivalent of running at 5264x6228! It looks amazing!!! And runs perfectly!

I’m excited to test this out more. Also excited for if\when Pimax release 144Hz & 160Hz mode

I was wondering if I should have gone down the Bigscreen Beyond route and I think DFR has confirmed that the Crystal was the right choice for me.

The only slight artefact I saw was when getting shot the dark red hase that flashed across the screen (to show you have been hit) now does not fill the screen, it just occupies a large square in the middle of your view. Not sure if this is a Pimax, Quad view or Pavlov issue.

Outstanding issue:

The mic is good quality but is very quiet. In Discord and OBS it seems to work fine, but in Windows and Pavlov it is sooo quiet that it only picks you up if you shout, and even then only at a few %. I raised a case with Pimax recently and they confirmed “we have realised the problem and our engineers are in the process of solving it”.

In the meantime i’m using a mini usb c mod mic plugged into the bottom USB c port on the headset, which works fine.

Conclusion:

I’m impressed. The clarity and resolution looks amazing and paired with DFR performs great (at least for my most played game).

Very shortly (post LH plate and mic fix) this headset will be almost everything I want. I expect with future software updates (more Hz, more user friendly, fixes, etc) and hardware modules (wigig, mixt realty cover, etc) it will keep getting better and better.

Well done Pimax. Not a perfect execution but we got (getting) there in the end.

Keep up the good work.

I also appreciate all the beta testers that have been pushing Pimax to make the Crystal the best it can be as well as sharing great info, videos & support.

:reddit: Source r/pimax

1 Like
9

Crystal Lighthouse faceplate review

By TallyMouse on r/pimax

Review

The good news is that Pimax have just started shipping the Lighthouse faceplates, and they will most likely be fulfilling orders on a priority of order-receipt basis, so hang-tight, yours is on its way soon!

I received my Lighthouse faceplate via DHL from China, and promptly opened the packaging like a child on their birthday!

The very light-weight Lighthouse faceplate was dust-sealed and well packaged within its Pimax-branded box.

It still have a pair of HTC Lighthouse Base-station 1.0s mounted on the wall from when I used to use my 8kx and prior headsets. (you can typically find these second-hand on eBay for around $80 each).

Following the instructions, you’ll find a pair of ‘finger nail grooves’ on the very edge of the standard faceplate, and a firm tug on those makes the existing faceplate pop-off (see photos below).

The new lighthouse plate snaps into place simply, and I ensured it was clicked-in all the way around its perimeter.

The Lighthouse faceplate looks really cool - and has a “Dark Knight” feel to it, and still exposes the inside-out cameras, so you can switch between the two modes at will.

I turned on the HMD and entered Device Settings in Pimax Play to switch over to “Lighthouse” mode from “Inside-out” mode. A warning pops up telling you to power-down the HMD before swapping face-plates, in case you hadn’t already, and then Lighthouse mode was enabled.

As with all headsets, the first time the base-stations are discovered and registered in software takes a little while, so I turned the HMD back and forth into both base-stations were locked in.

After that it never lost track, and I gingerly tested the system in DCS and MSFS.

In DCS I use hand-tracking to guide my virtual fingers directly onto real world cockpit buttons, switches, and dials, that are perfectly aligned with my virtual cockpit. With the inside-out tracking, I never had that much of an issue, maybe the tracking would slowly drift slightly back and forth to provide a mismatch would total 1/4inch of finger placement over the period of a 2-hour flight session, but it was never a major issue.

However, now, with the faceplate, I have no drifting whatsoever - my calibrated finger positioning remains perfectly aligned with the real world regardless of how manic I’m being with my head movements. That’s what you get with millimeter lighthouse accuracy…

Whether you want or need the Lighthouse faceplate is going to be down to what your VR use-case is. If you require millimeter precision with your tracking, then this is for you. If you spend most of your time in VRChat, or H/L Alex, then the inside-out tracking will probably work just fine. Note, however, that if you switch over to lighthouse mode, that you’ll need to also use other hand-controllers/wands that are lighthouse compliant, as the default Pimax controllers that come with the Crystal are really only intended for Inside-Out tracking when in AIO mode.

Screenshots_2023-09-14-19-39-46
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“Pimax Crystal with Standard Faceplate and Hand-tracking module”)

Screenshots_2023-09-14-19-43-49
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“Faceplate removed, showing the ventilation system, and the faceplate connector (top middle) - bottom, behind the Kapton tape, is the standard Wifi module for AIO mode.”)

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“Lighthouse faceplate just snaps into place, and permits inside-out tracking to function when selected”)

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“Once started-up, Pimax Play is still set in Inside-Out mode, and you need to select "Lighthouse" within Device Settings to enable it.”)


"A warning appears after you select Lighthouse mode.")

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“The icon on the main Pimax Play page changes from a HMD to a pair of Base Stations.”)

:reddit: Source r/pimax

10

Pimax Crystal: Great Headset with a Few Growing Pains

Posted By JFRacing on r/pimax

Review

I received the headset in perfect conditions. The packaging is excellent.

I plugged the headset using the provided USB hub and everything worked the first time (AMD Motherboard). I had no issues with the provided USB hub as I already knew that the connection from the hub to the PC is a little fragile so I made sure to re-enforce it before turning anything on.

The Pimax Play software updated the firmware and the headset connected without hesitation. I did not notice if it was mentioned in the documentation to hold the power button for 5 or 6 seconds to turn the headset on so I needed a few attempts before being successful.

I have tested AMS2, half life 2 VR Mod Episode One, half life Alyx, AirCar, Star Wars Squadron and Elite Dangerous so far. I’m very impressed with image quality. I tried Maximum and Balanced resolutions but I always come back to Balanced to allow steady 90fps (RTX 4090) with excellent visual clarity. I personally don’t find the visual quality difference worth the performance cost between Maximum and Balanced. I was not able to launch Asgard’s Wrath yet with the Pimax launcher as I get an error from the Meta app saying that it can’t find my equipment. I was able to launch it with Revive but some button mappings were missing on the controllers so I only looked around a bit for now…

I know that the controllers are not considered the best for tracking compared to Meta and Base Stations but, for me, they are an upgrade compared to the HP Reverb G2. With the latest update (Sept. 11, 2023), I find that I have more ease and better precision than with the G2 controllers.

I really appreciate the new auto-ipd thanks to eye-tracking. Unfortunately, DFR hasn’t given me any benefits in the games that I’ve tried so far.

The only main issue that I’m experiencing with the headset so far is the audio latency with the DMAS. Sounds are about half a second later that the image. It is most noticeable in fps games where you can look at your gun while shooting or racing games where engine revs and gear shifts are not in sync. I use my main sound system for now. I logged a ticket with Pimax and they responded that they are aware of the issue and are working on a fix for a future version of the software.

Ah, the weight. It’s heavy. Twice as much as my G2. It’s ok with the Apache strap and it doesn’t bother me too much. The inertia when turning the head remains the main annoyance but it gets better as I get better at positioning it on my head.

Overall, it’s a great headset that still requires software refinements which I’m confident will come.

:reddit: Source r/pimax

11

Pimax Crystal setup was easy

Posted By Feral_Warwick on r/pimax

Review

I keep hearing horror stories of setup. Mines was ready to go pretty fast.

  • Removed all my monitors , I am using a laptop.
  • Install pimax client.
  • Install openxr
  • Install pimaxvr - set it to use pimax.
  • Do the login with client.
  • Connect usb wiring to the power hub.
  • Connect power hub to pc and power
  • Connect DP to GPU.
  • Did the pimax guidance

My pimax client found it right away. I play in no default environment mode( exp home or pimax home)

Make sure to set games to open vr mode.

When I opened Assetto Corsa, my eyes couldn’t believe it . So clear and lenses are crazy. I came from quest 2 → quest pro → crystal.

Worth every penny!

:reddit: Source r/pimax

12

Pimax Crystal Initial Review

Posted By InterestinglyCrazy239 on r/pimax

Disclaimer: These impressions are before the release of the latest update and are my opinions.

PC Specs:

  • AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
  • MSI PRO 670-P WIFI
  • 32GB DDR 5 6000MHZ
  • MSI NVIDE)IA GeForce RTX 4090
Review

First Impressions:

The Crystal was packaged nicely and arrived undamaged. I charged the batteries and downloaded all the needed software. Upon plugging in the Crystal, I updated the firmware without a hitch. The setup was quick and easy and I was in game quite quickly. The visuals were impressive and PC performance was close to what I was getting with my Reverb G2.

Positives:

VISUALS! This thing is clear and it looks damn good. The headset requires slightly more resources than my Reverb G2. The setup was easy and went as described.

Sound (with DMAS) is excellent. This is on par with the Reverb G2.

Negatives:

This headset is mildly uncomfortable with either facial interface. It is also very heavy. I’m currently looking for options to improve comfort. Light leakage is also a problem with the way this thing fits me.

The software has a bug that changes color settings in the profile.json. I was aware of this and corrected before I got in game, but this should be an easy fix for Pimax.

I ordered in July and did not receive any additional lenses with my HMD. I also never received an email with options for lenses.

More to come after I have some time with the new update.

:reddit: Source r/pimax

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:globe_with_meridians: Source OpenMR

1 Like
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NEW PIMAX CRYSTAL UPDATES & FOVEATED RENDERING GRAPHICS TEST

By VR Essentials

15
16

My first experience with VR for a while was this Pimax Crystal - loved it :ok_hand:

Posted By richardbaxter r/pimax

:reddit: Source r/pimax

17

The Pimax Crystal is not worth it at this time. (My experience)

Posted By Darder on r/virtualreality

1st Impressions

So I got my hands on a Pimax Crystal. My father has purchased one for himself, but while he’s away on vacation, he allowed me to borrow it to test it out. I have had it for a week now, and I think this device is not worth it, at least not right now. I’ll keep this brief. TL;DR at the end anyways.

POSITIVES

First, the positives. To the contrary of other reviews I saw, I like the build quality. The plastic feels nice and nothing feels cheap, except the top strap, which feels a bit flimsy. But all in all, nicely built. The DMAS headphones are also nice.

The clarity of the lenses and the image is grand, truly. It finally feels as if the only limiting factor on visual fidelity is the quality of the textures, and that’s saying something! I love this picture quality, and driving around in Project Cars 2 or kayaking in Kayak VR Mirage has been wonderful. Great FOV too.

Audio quality is good. No complaints.

NEGATIVES

And this is where it gets ugly.

Pimax has always suffered on the Software side, and the Crystal is no different. The software is unfinished, unpolished, and outright broken depending on what you are looking at. I set up the Crystal on my PC, everything seemed fine. Kayak Mirage worked fine. Went to bed.

Next day, I try to play: Pimax Crystal is not detected. I tried a lot of disconnecting, reconnecting, disconnecting waiting and then reconnecting, restarting the service, restarting the device, restarting the PC, a bunch of it. No dice, would not detect it despite nothing having changed. Ended up ditching the USB hub, and boom it was detected. The connector is Micro USB B, and is very, very loose and easy to detach anyways, so you don’t want it, except it does provide more power to the Crystal.

So now the Crystal is connected, let’s play. Nope, you need to redo the room setup. That’s right, everytime you start the Pimax app, you have to redo the entire room setup, which is putting the headset in the center of your area, pressing the trigger, then going back to pc to click a button, then setting the headset down on the ground, then going back to the pc to click a button, and then you can finally play. Really annoying.

Ok now let’s play. Wait, the Auto IPD is now broken. My IPD is 62.5mm, but every. single. time. I put on the Crystal now (it used to work before) , it sets me at 63.8mm, making me feel very weird. I have to readjust it using manual controls, which is annoying.

Ok, now let’s play. NOPE. Beat Saber outright refuses to work, it launches alright but its framerate *looks* like 1 or 2 frames per second. I’m not joking, it’s frozen, and then sometimes updates. Unplayable literally. And after a minute, it crashes. Great.

Let’s try Half Life Alyx. NOPE. The game is immediately blocky and blurry, as if you were in 240p but for VR. I searched the issue online for about 45 mins trying different solutions, before finally talking to someone that said “Oh yeah, the Crystal has an issue with Alyx, add this launch command for MSAA and it will be fine”. I did, and sure enough, it fixed it. But why did I have to do it in the first place? I didn’t have any issues like this with the Rift S, or the Quest 2, or the HTC Vive even.

Still in Alyx, tried to play and… There is audio delay of about 500 ms on everything. You look at your pistol, fire, and the sound is clearly delayed. Unplayably so, it’s worse than a bad bluetooth headset. I was done at this point and stopped “playing”. I googled to try to see if I could fix the issue, and sure enough, it’s a known issue that affects people seemingly randomly and Pimax is “working on it”. Oh this Audio only affects people with DMAS supposedly, but it’s all over Steam VR , including other games than Alyx. Looking closer, I could see it affecting SteamVR’s interface, but it wasn’t as noticeable in Kayak and Project Cars.

This headset is heavy , and picking it up feels very bad because of 2 reasons. One is, the power cable that runs between the battery and the front of the headset is above the top strap, but you shouldn’t hold the headset by it, as said by Pimax. Why is this placement there then? It’s really awkward to always remember “Wait, don’t grab the big and easy to access handle here, grab the one under it which is the safe top strap”. And if you want to grab the front unit itself, you got to avoid the cameras, and the buttons, as the power button gets constantly pushed accidentally just by trying to pick it up, or the IPD adjustment buttons.

Once you have it on, it’s well balanced, but you’ll feel the heavy momentum in any fast movement of your head, and after some time over a session.

Oh and the controllers? Bad is all I can say. They feel cheap, the haptics is… mediocre, much worse than the Rift S or Quest 2 controllers, and the tracking of the controllers fails regularly when taking them out of the sight of Cameras, to the contrary of the Rift S and Quest 2 Tracking algorithms which estimate the position very well.

CONCLUSION

So yeah, for a 2200$ CAD Headset, this is a disappointment. I can’t play the games I want to play, or any SteamVR games for that matter. Maybe with time, those issues can be fixed, but at the moment? Boy am I glad not to have pulled the trigger on it. It is a pain to use, and I would not recommend it to anyone. Maybe wait a year, see if the issues are ironed out.

TL;DR

Pimax Crystal is bad because software is full of bugs and unplayable on SteamVR. Audio delay of 500 ms on everything. Tons of troubleshooting and annoyance at each startup. Some games straight up don’t work. But image quality is cool. Does not outweigh the bad, I don’t like it, I don’t recommend it.

EDIT: Forgot to add my PC Specs.RTX 3080 12GB, i7-9700k, 32 GB DDR4 3200mhz RAM, Samsung EVO Nvme SSD

The frametimes were not a problem when running Project Cars 2, Kayak VR, or Half Life Alyx. It was about 9 to 10 ms.

:reddit: Source r/virtualreality

18

Posted on OpenMR By Neoskynet

__
:globe_with_meridians: Source OpenMR

Cliff Notes in English By Twack3r

:globe_with_meridians: Source OpenMR

22

My Immersive Journey with the Pimax Crystal VR Headset: A Dive into Crystal-Clear Realism

Posted By UpbeatMeasurement717 on r/pimax

Review

Greetings fellow VR enthusiasts! Today, I want to share my incredible experience with the Pimax Crystal VR headset, a journey that has completely transformed my virtual reality adventures. Strap in, because this isn’t just a review; it’s a vivid exploration of the astonishing clarity this headset brings to the table.

From the moment I put on the Pimax Crystal, I was greeted by an unprecedented level of clarity. The Great resolution display, combined with the wide field of view (FOV), made every virtual world feel astonishingly lifelike. Whether I was wandering through the lush forests of Skyrim or exploring the far reaches of outer space in Elite Dangerous, the details were simply breathtaking. I could almost smell the pine trees and feel the cold vacuum of space.

But the Pimax Crystal isn’t just about visuals; it’s also about performance. Here are some tweaks and tips that elevated my experience to the next level:

To make the most of the Crystal’s capabilities, I played around with graphics settings in my VR games. Adjusting anti-aliasing, supersampling, and texture quality can significantly enhance the visual fidelity without compromising performance.

Spend time adjusting the head strap and use Auto IPD to reach the sweet spot that works for you.

Make sure your room setup for VR tracking is precise. This minimizes tracking issues, ensuring a seamless and immersive experience.

I cannot explain how it is fantastic to use the the Crystal in sim games, Piloting a Boeing 747 in Microsoft Flight Simulator over the Grand Canyon was a surreal experience. The Crystal’s FOV made it feel like I was truly inside the cockpit, moving from G2 the FOV is a big deal.

The Pimax Crystal is a game-changer in the world of VR. Its clarity, combined with performance tweaks, ensures an unforgettable journey into the virtual realm. If you’re a VR enthusiast seeking the ultimate experience, don’t hesitate to dive into the crystal-clear world of Pimax Crystal.

:reddit: Source r/pimax

23

Pimax Crystal - Eye Tracking - DFR - Standalone Mode… I Give Up!

By Karl Gosling :ani_y1:

Posted By @Axacuatl on:
:globe_with_meridians: OpenMR

24

My Thoughts on the Crystal after A Few Weeks of Testing.

Posted By ABCandZ on r/pimax

Review Summary

Hey there!

Just got my hands on the Pimax Crystal a few weeks ago, and I’ve gotta say, it’s been an interesting experience. After having some time with it, I thought I’d share my two cents.

:milky_way: First impressions? Crystal clear. Yeah I know it’s cheesy to say that, but I currently own Quest 2, Quest Pro, Pico 3, Pico 4, DPVR, PSVR2 and Varjo Aero and this bad boy boasts the highest end VR clarity I’ve ever laid eyes on.

:goggles: Comfort? Here’s where it gets a bit “weighty.” It’s thicc - with two c’s. But surprisingly well balanced for what it is and you kinda get why it’s built the way it is once you use it. That being said, if you’re a VR fitness fanatic, it might feel like a mini workout for your neck.

:musical_note: Audio? With the DMAS speakers, your ears are in for a treat. It sounds great for my ears, even though I have not tried the Index. The fact that I get great audio quality and don’t have to wear something that isolates me from my surroundings and makes my ears sweat is a big plus.

:battery: Battery? Got the stated 6 hours per battery roughly. Yes it’s inconvenient that you still have to use a battery even in PCVR mode, but with the included usb hub it seemed fine and I rarely had to swap while using. As stated by others, the buttons to release the battery are terrible.

:mechanical_arm: Hardware vs. Software? Ah, the age-old tango. Pimax really flexes on the hardware front, but the software dance can sometimes get a bit…clunky. I did not have any major issues like the ones stated months ago by people who got it early, but yes from time to time you might need to disconnect and reconnect the cable. I had no issues running it in parallel with a 1440p monitor + a 1440p ultrawide.

Let me know if you have any questions or if there’s anything else you’d like to know.

Here’s a link to my full review on my YouTube channel(not a sellout, pinky promise😁):

Cheers,

Andy

:reddit: Source r/pimax

25

My Full Review of the Pimax Crystal after A LOT of Testing :point_down:

Posted By ABCandZ on r/pimac

:reddit: Source r/pimax

1 Like
26

Pimax Crystal | The Next-Gen VR Simulation Experience?

By laubox

1 Like
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https://www.youtube.com/live/2WAgQS2M9Cg?si=WTLnF9eEw1MWUHbT

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Wider FoV Lenses (Prototype)

By Chisa on pimax Discord.

I got to try the wide fov lenses on the crystal.

**TLDR: its like the normal lenses, but an extra ~10 degree horizontal with some mild (2/10) distortion in the extra fov region. Cant imagine anyone would want to use the normal lenses with these as an option. **

The distortion profile looked good for the central ~100 degrees or so. The last ~10 degrees has a small amount of compression in the horizontal direction about 2/10 severity. It wasn’t immediately noticable and it was only taking the hmd on and off would it be observable. As a comparison, the Aero has both horizontal and vertical compression in this region about 6/10, the 8kx 8/10, XR elite 5/10, index 1/10, and vive pro 1 0/10. There weren’t any immediately noticable artifacts in the lenses and the “perceived” fov felt notably larger than index and more appropriate for a hmd of this scale. The overlap for me measured at 70deg; about the same that i achieve with the vive pro 2, and more than i get on the aero. It did not feel insufficient to me, but i am relatively tolerant to an overlap of this range. Pimax staff noted that the overlap may still change on the ultimate final version, and that the “ipd
setting” in the HMD is offset for these lenses as they are prototypes. Although this was far away from my IPD, it seemed to be correct for the lenses, as the sweet spot was dialed in correctly.

Raw data from WIMFOV below; i didn’t click upload so you’ll need to visualize it yourself. The numbers you care about are: 114 horizontal, 89 vertical, 69 overlap. I tested with the face gasket removed as i do not have a pimax shaped face to give it the best change.

Screenshots_2023-10-20-22-44-58
Screenshots_2023-10-20-22-44-58806×504 43 KB

{“values”:“43,57,46,34,57,54,35,42,49,59,55,52,41,32,38,43|42,35,47,57,44,46,58,58,44,39,37,47,52,59,59,48”,“model”:“Pimax Crystal”,“family”:“OpenVR”,“ipd”:6944,“zoom”:1000}

:ani_discord: Source pimax Discord

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30

Wider FoV Lenses Current Prototype impressions

Sebastian(MRTV) :ani_y1: -1

WmZ4I?si=UjxMfw1TeWQ4QRRB

VRFlightsimguy :ani_y1: -1

Tallymouse :ani_y1: +1

Omniwhatever :ani_y1: Mixed

  • Similar to a better Vp2. Stereo Overlap reduced.
  • If pimax gets ET working should be good. Otherwise stick with original lenses.
  • Still not final projected retail said to be approx $130 us.