I was going to mention this very same thing! It’s almost 3x the price (once you factor in the additional speakers, head straps, etc). So the fact they are closely matched is really significant. Sure. The Pymax may have some advantages, but are they within the diminishing returns scope? Thanks for the review.
I was gonna say the exact same thing. Quest 3 really is a great pcvr hmd despite not being focused on it at all. I don't know if it's the chip inside or just the software but for me personally, connecting to my pc and getting into pcvr on steam is WAY faster on Q3 than Q2. Still has the odd (and often times infuriating) bugs here and there, but overall I was pleasantly surprised. I imagine having a beastly pc would make it even better.
The new zealand cost for the quest 3 is around $1100.00 (512gb) model the pimax crystal is around $3500.00 i have the reverbe g2 v2 and the lead has clapt out the cost to replace it is,around $250.00 nz considering its going to be bricked soon maybe a waste of money.i also have a 5k plus which has a knackered lead aswell.
A little tip I found during a week of tweaking the Q3 and playing around. I have this issue where I find the whites or brightness to much in the Q3, almost blown out sometimes. I know you can adjust that in the XR toolkit or use the sunglasses there, but they put a sort of a thin layer that are visible to the picky flyer.. BUT in the Q3 settings itself, under accessibility you can adjust the contrast natively and easily on the headset itself. Might come in handy to someone or for darkening the headset at night, takes but a second and can be done while flying :)
I have several headsets (thanks to your reviews 😅), and my daily driver up until recently was the Varjo Aero. I was surprised to see how much I enjoyed my Quest 3, and find that I now use it as my daily driver. For me the perks were visual almost as good as the Varjo (There is a difference but really it is in the realm of nitpicking), the comfort is great (a little better balance than Aero after I installed the BoboVR battery), no wire hanging in my neck, and true edge-to-edge sweet spot. I paid $2k for my Varjo, and $500 for my Quest 3. I can't believe that the comparison is so close! I don't feel that the slightly better visuals on the Aero is worth the improvement to comfort provided by the Quest 3. Also I get to take down my Vive Trackers, so my wife will be happy that the family room is looking a little neater now. 😂
I agree. I was torn between switching to my Q3 from my AERO. With the paid version of Virtual Desktop made everything easier and smoother. That was the deciding factor. On top of all that you mentioned.
I REALLY tried to get on with the Crystal. I even bought it 3 times over the span of 6 months to test again (with the final one having resolved the lens edge to edge clarity issues I was having with the previous two as well as audio latency that has since been fixed with the low latency option) but alas, I could not use it for more than half and hour to an hour before pretty strong build up of eye strain/discomfort that I've never gotten with any other VR headset. I'm certain it has to do with the sub 1m focal distance used on the Crystal vs ~2m for every other VR headset, which produces the same accommodation-convergence reflex eye-strain issue you get with trying to focus on things less than 1m away on every other headset but the other way around (i.e. when looking in the far distance) for the Crystal due to the low focal distance. I don't understand how you guys are not having this issue with your Crystal. I'm wondering if it's because you spend a good percentage of the time looking at the gauges in the cockpit which is around the focal distance of the Crystal vs someone like me who sim racings only and is only ever looking out and into the relatively far distance at nearly all times. It's frustrating because if not for this issue, I would definitely keep the Crystal because the clarity is indeed unmatched. But alas I have to make do with the Quest 3 instead which i can race in for 3+ hours no problem. I'm really hoping the Somnium VR1 does not also suffer this issue. As good as the Quest 3 is, I do wish to return to Display Port.
Im skipping getting the Pimax and waiting to see what Valve comes out with - no rush for it as my Quest3 is doing an excellent job for my needs while i wait 🙂
I just picked up a quest 2 for cheap off Facebook and I’m gonna stick with it until the quest 4 or until someone makes something that’s just really nice for PCVR and not over $1000.
I'm waiting for 12k because I think viewing angle is most important At least the difficulty of drawing speed at 8kx, which was impossible with 4090 and difficult even with the addition of 7950x3D, was greatly reduced by smooth flight. We may not even necessarily need the 5090. So even though I only have Japan's yen, a poor currency, I might be able to buy 12k.
I know it's a limitation of practicality, but I wish instead of the VR mirror recording, we could see what's seen in the headset. I have a Crystal and like the image quality but I do find a difference of what's seen in the headset and what's shown on the mirror for these types of videos. For example, the "sweet spot" isn't conveyed in these mirror images etc. Either way, it's the best we can hope for but something to consider when watching these types of review videos if you're in the market for a headset and thinking this is exactly what you'll see in the actual headset.
I have a reverb G2, and I would like nothing more than to have a crystal. However, if you look around on the Internet, all I see are posts about how they got bad versions and quality control sucks and the Customer Service sucks, and all kinds of other negative comments about the company itself and the way they handle issues. So, I want one, but I’m not going there. I guess I’m gonna have to pray that my G2 keeps working until a better model comes along. Hopefully with flight Sim 2024 coming along, maybe another manufacturer will step up, I guess time will tell.
I canceled my Pimax Crystal pre-order and got Quest 3 instead. No regrets. Running it on RTX 4090+Ryzen 7 5800X3D. Great visuals, lightweight, halo headstrap, no facemask, no cable (I am on dedicated WiFi 6e router and Virtual Desktop). Which OpenXR settings (color, upscaling, contrast, etc.) you guys are using for MSFS 2020? I had hard time getting realistic visuals.
I got a Quest 3 last week with the magnetic prescription inserts and have been doing just as you lots of tests. I’ve disabled open XR tools. Open XR 100% reprojection off. 13900K overclocked 4090 64GB memory. My Asus 6 router was upstairs and my flight sim rig downstairs, using virtual desktop in the sim I was seeing 5ghz at 1290 mbps. I parked the plane and went upstairs to the router and next to it got 5ghz at 2401 mbps. I got an Asus AXE 160000 and mounted on a shelf between the flight sim rig and driving rig. With this 6E router right above me seeing 6ghz 2401mbps. It’s made the Quest 3 the best I’ve seen yet. Still experimenting with settings but I’m getting great results so far.I used Asus AiMesh to make the router upstairs a repeater.
I found turning down sharpening in virtual desktop from 75 to 40 helped make the visuals more realistic I’ve locked frames to 45 in I nvidia control panel and set to 90 in virtual desktop.
Wow! I'm using an AT&T service that comes with the apartment complex. When upgrading to WIFI 6 the result was a stable 1200 MBPS for both transmitting and receiving. Big improvement! Didn't know 2401 MBPS would lift the game even further. (I play IL-2: Great Battles). I am using Virtual Desktop. And OpenXR for VD - to what I think is great effect. I can increase sharpness, super sample, as well as crank up brightness, color, and contrast. I achieve a steady 90 fps (no motion reprojection) with just the occasional stutter. Of course it's all related to NVIDIA panel settings and game settings. I'm pretty much maxed out on everything. @@701Builder
I just got a crystal and there are 2 additional issues I have with it that you don’t mention in this video. First is very noticeable chromatic aberrations, and second is a very subtle constant jitter of the image even when completely still. Not sure if it’s an inside out tracking issue or something else. Are you experiencing those as well or is it something with my particular unit?
Have the Crystal - can’t stand the fit (not for my head) and all the fidgety-ness of it. Bought the Quest 3 - it’s seamless. No sweat spot (the whole headset is a sweat spot).
I really want to buy the Crystal. I'm holding off on the prayer that the 12K will come without the battery and processor nobody wants. Hopefully, Pimax has been listening?
About the focal length of the crystal. Since it is smaller than that of my reverb G2, I abandoned the insert lenses (-1.5) on the Pimax. These are such miracles))) (although I ordered them, well, that’s not the point)
Thanks again for another amazing video! Where does the Pimax 5ks fit in? I think a lot of people would be interested in a direct comparison with the Quest 3 as the price points are similar. Purely for sim use. DCS and Iracing. Cheers 👍🏼
Have you had a chance to try an Apple Vision Pro? I'm curious what your impressions are of the lenses and screen in a general sense. You can sign up at any Apple store (schedule) and you'll get a 20-25 minute hands on demo. I know it's outside of the scope of the channel but it's a good take on some of the future.
My eyes are too far back to get a decent FOV with the Crystal; it's like looking through a letterbox. I'm very happy with the Quest 3. Against all reason, I am finding it best with 120Hz encoding on VR desktop, with framerate limited to 60. I think with only 8.3 ms between frames, you don't notice too much if the odd one goes missing (I don't fly around big cities much).
Hi Steve, I have a question for you. I bought the Quest 3 and was using OpenXR Toolkit via Link Cable. Should I spend more resources on upscaling through OpenXR Toolkit or higher in-game settings? Love your videos.
I got the quest 3 this weekend, and to be honest- I don't see the hype. I tried hard to make it work watching multiple youtube videos (including VR FSG) and it simply not for me. Coming from the reverb g2. I'm hand strong on the Pimax.
Would be interesting to see how you rate these headsets as a % out of 100 and then compare that to the the price, ie rating % per $/£. Bet the Quest would beat anything around it by a very large margin?
LOL!!!!!! Well the question for me is not which one is better - it is which one is cheaper on my budget. I have the Quest 3 and enjoy it very much and for me has the visual qualities I need. I only do SIM racing and works well with all my racing games. That is about it. Also I don't see myself switching to even the lower cost PIMAX crystal lite headsets even if they are better. If these had come out before I bought the Quest 3, I might have gotten one of these. But I am now set with using the Quest 3 for various uses and will stay with this product for quite a while. Plus it is my first wireless VR headset I am not fussy or any kind of fanboy for any product, I go with what headset works for me, period. Take care.
I apologize for my English. Could you tell me how the picture from the PC is, is the quality not lost? I want to take a Quest 3 specifically for car simulators, which will replace the monitor.
I don't have any experience with the Pimax but Quest 3 is terrible with the DCS. I owned it for 3 months and almost every day I spent way too much time with troubleshooting. It always had choppy visuals and audio.
I returned my pimax crystal. Too much chromatic abberration. Mq3. Happy. Done. Easy. Skip pimax unless you want weighty wired and frustrating all for a small bit of detail in a tiny eyebox.
Only you can decide what's it worth for you. How much of a hit is the Crystal's price for you? Do you have a system that can drive it? What about your simpit? What's your main use for it? It's an amazing headset, but would only get it if you've already got everything else. Quest 3 is still an amazing headset that punches well above its price.
I'm still using my HP Reverb G2 but looking forward to an upgrade. Due to the many positive reviews of the Quest 3, I would buy this headset, but it is currently very difficult to obtain. I think the new Pimax 12K will blow us away. Still, best to wait and see which headsets will be released next and how good they are for MSFS2020. But, what is actually the advantage of a display port for VR headsets?
The quest relies on compression to send the video over usb or wifi, which reduces image quality and increases latency compared to a headset that uses a native displayport connection
But …. Everyone was whinging about lack of DP on Q3 before it became mass market now most are raving about it … Meta keep on upgrading their software and on a 4090 this thing kills IMO 👍
If the goal is to be able to fly instrument approaches on a G1000 setup in a way that's realistic and doesn't involve leaning forward to see the numbers, is the Quest3 with a 4080 rig good enough?
Thankyou :) There is a jump yes, I did a comparison a while ago and it's about 6fps, not a lot I know but every little helps. If we had this natively, well, that's a totally different story.
@@VRFlightSimGuy He asks between fixed and dynamic FR. There can be no difference right? Only between FR and no FR at all (full view at same rendering detail).
Yup … same here …. I had to turn mbps in Oculus debug tool down to 500 and I read somewhere best to disable HD audio driver GeForce driver but not bothered with that. All else I use AirPods Bluetooth to PC and of course that’s better all round.
One major point I hoped you would mention in this comparison is motion reprojection. Oculus' ASW works really well and is very resilient to stutters in the sim (when used with RTSS frame locking). Pimax's "Smart Smoothing" on the Crystal however does not work, and has never worked. It's been a complete mess since release, with terrible frame syncing and pacing and constant stuttering. Been waiting 8 months for them to fix it but it's only gotten worse over time. I just can't fly without Motion Repro/ASW, the juddering is like a cheese grater on my eyes, and I know many others who feel the same. I have some lingering hope that Pimax might eventually fix this, but until they do my Crystal will remain a $1600 paper weight. Sadly the absolute best reprojection ever made, by the wonderful Matthieu Bucchia, will be lost when WMR is removed. That's a real shame. Another small thing to mention is the focal distance. The G2's was 1.5m, which felt really good, but the Crystal's is 1m, which takes some adjustment if coming from the Reverb. Made me feel a little crosseyed at first, but you get used to it. The Q3's is about 1.3m I believe, a bit more comfortable. Solid comparison though, thanks!
Really enjoy all your informative videos. And also like how you do your external camera views in VR. How do you set up your external view camera in VR? It appears that you have might have mapped the commands to you throttle quadrant. What are the commands and how are you doing it? A short tutorial video on this would be greatly appreciated.
I've got a pico 4, but I'm struggling with my new Internet over WiFi. So I'm looking to upgrade to a native pcvr. Which headset would you recommend with the bigscreen beyond being my maximum budget ?
Honestly the Quest 3 is a good option. I use it with a dedicated WiFi 6e router and the performance feels like native to me. There is no perceivable latency. I have previously only used wired headsets include Varjo Aero, HP Reverb G1 and G2, Pimax 5k+, Oculus Rift. Get a native PCVR headset if you want, but don't get it because you feel that the "wire" is going to give you a better experience. If I had to choose a wired headset today it would be the bigscreen beyond, but I am personally waiting for inside out tracking, cooling, and built in headphones.
@FrancoisDaniels thx, tho I think to move forward I need a wired headset as I can't change routers. I have Starlink which is great speeds but I'm only getting 100+ mbps thru WiFi using virtual desktop, think the router uses wifi5, My old Internet was much slower but was using WiFi 6 and I was getting 1200mbps transfer rate.
You can have a second router. I have the second router attached to my primary router as an access point. My pc connects to the second router using a wired LAN cable. The Quest 3 or Pico 4 in your case would connect to the WiFi 6e access point. The only sucky thing is that you are spending a bunch of money on a wireless router whose only purpose is fast wireless VR. I named my access point VR to help me disambiguate it with my regular WiFi network.@@del80y
You didn't talk about ASW of the Quest 3 compared to the Smart Smoothing of the Pimax Crystal. Quest 3 is way smoother for DCS, for example, and I don't know how your FPS are the same with both headsets, my Quest 3 runs much higher FPS just because it renders way less pixels in the GPU, and I am using a RTX 4090 also. Pimax Crystal is a great headset for visuals, I would use it over Quest 3 for simulation games,, of course. But when you buy a headset... mmm, you really have to think which games you are going to play. The thing is, with Quest 3 you will be happy in ALL games, even in simulators, because the lenses will make you feel happy anyway. Pimax Crystal? It makes me happy in simulation games but I miss so much stuff (Mixed reality, spacial computing, standalone, wireless, etc.)
The lenses alone make the upgrade worth it. The Pico 4 was wonderful and had much better lenses than the Q2, but with its limited catalog and support, the Q3 is just better in every way.
I have a Pico 4 for a VR project at work, but had not used it for a while. I remember how much better it was than the Quest 2 and I now have a Quest 3 at home, which is better still. I recently used the Pico 4 at work again and was shocked by how much worse it seemed having got used to the Quest 3. The edge-to-edge clarity on the Quest 3 cannot be beaten.
I am currently using a reverb G2 v2 on a pc with an i7-10700 CPU @ 2.90GHz, 64gb RAM and an RTX 3080 12gb VRAM. If and when my G2 dies will I get a better experience with the Pimax Crystal on this PC please? Is it strong enough to run the Crystal?
I’d go Q3 … most people including me consider that a decent enough upgrade on the G2 … I didn’t even wait for it to resign … just told it not to come back Monday lol 😂 Also I’d invest in cpu and GPU before mega $$ Crystal
imo you’ll want at least a 4090 to even have a decent experience with the Crystal. For your current setup a Quest 3 is a no brainer and a fantastic headset. I’m currently using it with the Link Cable and that is what replaced my G2 v2. It will function much better also. Basically plug and play. The Crystal is still very much wonky to just get to run at all
you keep saying that the lenses are the best in the quest 3 but fail to mention about the quest pro which has local dimming and better lenses.could you do a review on the pro?
@@LazaroiuVasile False. I have a quest pro and tried a friend's quest 3. Did you even try the headsets before talking crap? The lenses are basically the same, as is resolution and fov. The quest 3 has better pass through, the quest pro has way better blacks and eye tracking. For pc use I definitely prefer the quest pro.
Reverb G2 is sharper and has a cleaner image due to being a native DP connection, BUT it has a tiny sweet spot due to the fresnel lenses. The Quest 3 has pancake lenses which makes a BIG difference to the overall eye comfort and the ability to see a lot more.
basically what Steve says. But alot depends on your PC, and how modded or not your sim are. The more power your PC can use on the Q3 the better the results. SO keep your PC and flying prefs in mind. :)
Dude you and i are in the same boat. I run a 4090, 64gb of ram, with a 7800x3d cpu. And still, with many many hours fungating and tweaking i cant bring it (Q3) close to my 4 year old reverb g2 (rip). The G2 Reverb was the best for buck, total simplicity but with decent visual fidelity.
@@Hydraulic-em6uz Nope, the Q3 will not compete with the G2 sweetspot clarity OR the colors in the G2 from what I have seen thus far. Have given up on the wireless attempts as it was too far off the G2 in quality to even spend any more time trying to tweak it upwards. I may have found some settings for the link cable, hope to do the first testflight in a couple of hours. Just to see how the the performance holds up and how the world looks with the settings. Being a VR flightsimmer is very much like being the Squirrel from Ice Age.. And the perfect settings/headset is the nut... :) :)
@@VRFlightSimGuy that’s a pity, I won’t download the windows update that removes WMR later this year. But I will have to replace my G2 at some point, guess I better start saving up to a Crystal then…
Q3 4090 users, under virtual desktop: godlike mode. Asw always on. Nvidia super resolution: Quality. Open xr toolkit override resolution to 4800xX or 5800xX depending if you're using ultra/high settings or mid/low and or with the Autofps doing the job from 50 TLOD on the ground. These settings give me a perfect performance and image quality. The Crystal is not worth. If you're looking for a q3 upgrade, just wait for Valve or something new..
@@matthewchido8450 I was using 4800x5025 but now I'm using DLAA (1x) without overriding the resolution and I've found out that it is smooth and the quality is 90% using the override resolution. It's like a tradeoff but really happy with it. This way you can push up the settings to ultra and lightning effects to medium/high.
3:02 Is that shadow quality (or complete lack of quality) really something that cannot be improved? It’s so ridiculously poor, especially compared to everything else these days.
nobody seems to be bragging about the Quest 3 for night flying. Cmon people lets hear it...I have the Reverb 2 and night flying just plain sucks..blueish haze,,blacks are not black. Pimax boasts that the blacks are black with their headset. I heard nothing on the Quest 3 on this. So lets hear it!
MS is not dropping OpenXR. It's not even theirs to drop. It's created and maintained by a company called "Khronos". I think you're confusing it with WMR, which is unrelated. WMR is more like a driver and software package for certain headsets (like the HP G2 or Samsung Odyssey) and mixed reality devices (HoloLens). OpenXR is an open tech standard for building VR games/apps and will continue to work perfectly after WMR is removed from Windows.
![10 Must-Try Meta Quest 3 Experiences [Non-Games]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2Q-PpuPEqY0/mqdefault.jpg)
The fact you are even comparing these two and that it is not a total blow out is a huge compliment or the Quest 3.
Exactly
I was going to mention this very same thing! It’s almost 3x the price (once you factor in the additional speakers, head straps, etc). So the fact they are closely matched is really significant. Sure. The Pymax may have some advantages, but are they within the diminishing returns scope? Thanks for the review.
I was gonna say the exact same thing. Quest 3 really is a great pcvr hmd despite not being focused on it at all. I don't know if it's the chip inside or just the software but for me personally, connecting to my pc and getting into pcvr on steam is WAY faster on Q3 than Q2. Still has the odd (and often times infuriating) bugs here and there, but overall I was pleasantly surprised. I imagine having a beastly pc would make it even better.
Play Skyrim or Hitman on both and Pimax is a huge leap ahead. Quest has so much blurry compression.
The new zealand cost for the quest 3 is around $1100.00 (512gb) model the pimax crystal is around $3500.00 i have the reverbe g2 v2 and the lead has clapt out the cost to replace it is,around $250.00 nz considering its going to be bricked soon maybe a waste of money.i also have a 5k plus which has a knackered lead aswell.
A little tip I found during a week of tweaking the Q3 and playing around. I have this issue where I find the whites or brightness to much in the Q3, almost blown out sometimes. I know you can adjust that in the XR toolkit or use the sunglasses there, but they put a sort of a thin layer that are visible to the picky flyer.. BUT in the Q3 settings itself, under accessibility you can adjust the contrast natively and easily on the headset itself. Might come in handy to someone or for darkening the headset at night, takes but a second and can be done while flying :)
Thanks, great tip!
I have several headsets (thanks to your reviews 😅), and my daily driver up until recently was the Varjo Aero. I was surprised to see how much I enjoyed my Quest 3, and find that I now use it as my daily driver. For me the perks were visual almost as good as the Varjo (There is a difference but really it is in the realm of nitpicking), the comfort is great (a little better balance than Aero after I installed the BoboVR battery), no wire hanging in my neck, and true edge-to-edge sweet spot. I paid $2k for my Varjo, and $500 for my Quest 3. I can't believe that the comparison is so close! I don't feel that the slightly better visuals on the Aero is worth the improvement to comfort provided by the Quest 3. Also I get to take down my Vive Trackers, so my wife will be happy that the family room is looking a little neater now. 😂
I agree. I was torn between switching to my Q3 from my AERO. With the paid version of Virtual Desktop made everything easier and smoother. That was the deciding factor. On top of all that you mentioned.
Yup! And I totally forgot about the benefit of built in speakers, no more faffing around trying to get my earbuds to pair with my PC.@@gwiz6814
I REALLY tried to get on with the Crystal. I even bought it 3 times over the span of 6 months to test again (with the final one having resolved the lens edge to edge clarity issues I was having with the previous two as well as audio latency that has since been fixed with the low latency option) but alas, I could not use it for more than half and hour to an hour before pretty strong build up of eye strain/discomfort that I've never gotten with any other VR headset. I'm certain it has to do with the sub 1m focal distance used on the Crystal vs ~2m for every other VR headset, which produces the same accommodation-convergence reflex eye-strain issue you get with trying to focus on things less than 1m away on every other headset but the other way around (i.e. when looking in the far distance) for the Crystal due to the low focal distance.
I don't understand how you guys are not having this issue with your Crystal. I'm wondering if it's because you spend a good percentage of the time looking at the gauges in the cockpit which is around the focal distance of the Crystal vs someone like me who sim racings only and is only ever looking out and into the relatively far distance at nearly all times. It's frustrating because if not for this issue, I would definitely keep the Crystal because the clarity is indeed unmatched. But alas I have to make do with the Quest 3 instead which i can race in for 3+ hours no problem.
I'm really hoping the Somnium VR1 does not also suffer this issue. As good as the Quest 3 is, I do wish to return to Display Port.
I’m considering a quest 3, I did look at the pimax but its price is outrageous. Q3 can’t be beat for value I don’t think.
I own both as well and agree. The Crystal hands down is the winner for simulators. For everything else the Quest 3 wins.
THIS is the best answer.
Im skipping getting the Pimax and waiting to see what Valve comes out with - no rush for it as my Quest3 is doing an excellent job for my needs while i wait 🙂
Me 2 👍
I just picked up a quest 2 for cheap off Facebook and I’m gonna stick with it until the quest 4 or until someone makes something that’s just really nice for PCVR and not over $1000.
I'm waiting for 12k because I think viewing angle is most important
At least the difficulty of drawing speed at 8kx, which was impossible with 4090 and difficult even with the addition of 7950x3D, was greatly reduced by smooth flight.
We may not even necessarily need the 5090.
So even though I only have Japan's yen, a poor currency, I might be able to buy 12k.
I know it's a limitation of practicality, but I wish instead of the VR mirror recording, we could see what's seen in the headset. I have a Crystal and like the image quality but I do find a difference of what's seen in the headset and what's shown on the mirror for these types of videos. For example, the "sweet spot" isn't conveyed in these mirror images etc. Either way, it's the best we can hope for but something to consider when watching these types of review videos if you're in the market for a headset and thinking this is exactly what you'll see in the actual headset.
I can't wait to hear your review of the wide fov
I have a reverb G2, and I would like nothing more than to have a crystal. However, if you look around on the Internet, all I see are posts about how they got bad versions and quality control sucks and the Customer Service sucks, and all kinds of other negative comments about the company itself and the way they handle issues. So, I want one, but I’m not going there. I guess I’m gonna have to pray that my G2 keeps working until a better model comes along. Hopefully with flight Sim 2024 coming along, maybe another manufacturer will step up, I guess time will tell.
I canceled my Pimax Crystal pre-order and got Quest 3 instead. No regrets. Running it on RTX 4090+Ryzen 7 5800X3D. Great visuals, lightweight, halo headstrap, no facemask, no cable (I am on dedicated WiFi 6e router and Virtual Desktop).
Which OpenXR settings (color, upscaling, contrast, etc.) you guys are using for MSFS 2020? I had hard time getting realistic visuals.
WIFI 6 made all the difference! Same, same on a 4080 card.
I got a Quest 3 last week with the magnetic prescription inserts and have been doing just as you lots of tests. I’ve disabled open XR tools. Open XR 100% reprojection off. 13900K overclocked 4090 64GB memory. My Asus 6 router was upstairs and my flight sim rig downstairs, using virtual desktop in the sim I was seeing 5ghz at 1290 mbps. I parked the plane and went upstairs to the router and next to it got 5ghz at 2401 mbps. I got an Asus AXE 160000 and mounted on a shelf between the flight sim rig and driving rig. With this 6E router right above me seeing 6ghz 2401mbps. It’s made the Quest 3 the best I’ve seen yet. Still experimenting with settings but I’m getting great results so far.I used Asus AiMesh to make the router upstairs a repeater.
I found turning down sharpening in virtual desktop from 75 to 40 helped make the visuals more realistic I’ve locked frames to 45 in I nvidia control panel and set to 90 in virtual desktop.
Wow! I'm using an AT&T service that comes with the apartment complex. When upgrading to WIFI 6 the result was a stable 1200 MBPS for both transmitting and receiving. Big improvement! Didn't know 2401 MBPS would lift the game even further. (I play IL-2: Great Battles). I am using Virtual Desktop. And OpenXR for VD - to what I think is great effect. I can increase sharpness, super sample, as well as crank up brightness, color, and contrast. I achieve a steady 90 fps (no motion reprojection) with just the occasional stutter. Of course it's all related to NVIDIA panel settings and game settings. I'm pretty much maxed out on everything. @@701Builder
which upscale mode you are using, NIS, FSR or CAS.....also, what is your display resolution set to in OpenXR (under System)? @@701Builder
I just got a crystal and there are 2 additional issues I have with it that you don’t mention in this video. First is very noticeable chromatic aberrations, and second is a very subtle constant jitter of the image even when completely still. Not sure if it’s an inside out tracking issue or something else. Are you experiencing those as well or is it something with my particular unit?
I'm not experiencing "the jitter". For chromatic abberation corection you may try Almalence plugin.
@@StekuVideoAlmalence plugin is no longer available afaik. Let me know if you know of a way to get it.
Have the Crystal - can’t stand the fit (not for my head) and all the fidgety-ness of it. Bought the Quest 3 - it’s seamless. No sweat spot (the whole headset is a sweat spot).
I really want to buy the Crystal. I'm holding off on the prayer that the 12K will come without the battery and processor nobody wants. Hopefully, Pimax has been listening?
About the focal length of the crystal. Since it is smaller than that of my reverb G2, I abandoned the insert lenses (-1.5) on the Pimax.
These are such miracles))) (although I ordered them, well, that’s not the point)
Thanks again for another amazing video! Where does the Pimax 5ks fit in? I think a lot of people would be interested in a direct comparison with the Quest 3 as the price points are similar. Purely for sim use. DCS and Iracing. Cheers 👍🏼
Have you had a chance to try an Apple Vision Pro? I'm curious what your impressions are of the lenses and screen in a general sense. You can sign up at any Apple store (schedule) and you'll get a 20-25 minute hands on demo. I know it's outside of the scope of the channel but it's a good take on some of the future.
My eyes are too far back to get a decent FOV with the Crystal; it's like looking through a letterbox. I'm very happy with the Quest 3. Against all reason, I am finding it best with 120Hz encoding on VR desktop, with framerate limited to 60. I think with only 8.3 ms between frames, you don't notice too much if the odd one goes missing (I don't fly around big cities much).
Hi Steve, I have a question for you. I bought the Quest 3 and was using OpenXR Toolkit via Link Cable. Should I spend more resources on upscaling through OpenXR Toolkit or higher in-game settings? Love your videos.
I got the quest 3 this weekend, and to be honest- I don't see the hype. I tried hard to make it work watching multiple youtube videos (including VR FSG) and it simply not for me. Coming from the reverb g2. I'm hand strong on the Pimax.
You're not alone. For some the image quality is enough, but for many flight sim enthusiast, it's just not sharp enough and has SDE.
Would be interesting to see how you rate these headsets as a % out of 100 and then compare that to the the price, ie rating % per $/£. Bet the Quest would beat anything around it by a very large margin?
I wish they would release some quest 3 with display port, they would be incredible
LOL!!!!!! Well the question for me is not which one is better - it is which one is cheaper on my budget. I have the Quest 3 and enjoy it very much and for me has the visual qualities I need. I only do SIM racing and works well with all my racing games. That is about it.
Also I don't see myself switching to even the lower cost PIMAX crystal lite headsets even if they are better. If these had come out before I bought the Quest 3, I might have gotten one of these. But I am now set with using the Quest 3 for various uses and will stay with this product for quite a while. Plus it is my first wireless VR headset I am not fussy or any kind of fanboy for any product, I go with what headset works for me, period.
Take care.
I apologize for my English. Could you tell me how the picture from the PC is, is the quality not lost? I want to take a Quest 3 specifically for car simulators, which will replace the monitor.
I don't have any experience with the Pimax but Quest 3 is terrible with the DCS. I owned it for 3 months and almost every day I spent way too much time with troubleshooting. It always had choppy visuals and audio.
I returned my pimax crystal. Too much chromatic abberration. Mq3. Happy. Done. Easy. Skip pimax unless you want weighty wired and frustrating all for a small bit of detail in a tiny eyebox.
Just off topic , has anyone noticed the Draw Distance reduced at a bit of altitude??? im on LOD 200 and it seems small now?
How does it compare to the Somnium VR-1?
Which one? More on that very soon...
Is the Pimax worth 3-4 times the cost of the Quest 3 ?
No!
Yes
Nope!
Only you can decide what's it worth for you. How much of a hit is the Crystal's price for you? Do you have a system that can drive it? What about your simpit? What's your main use for it? It's an amazing headset, but would only get it if you've already got everything else. Quest 3 is still an amazing headset that punches well above its price.
Great. You just released a new video while I'm fast chargering my ev, ok I'm full going home
I aim to please 😁 Hope you're enjoying the new wheels!
I'm still using my HP Reverb G2 but looking forward to an upgrade. Due to the many positive reviews of the Quest 3, I would buy this headset, but it is currently very difficult to obtain. I think the new Pimax 12K will blow us away. Still, best to wait and see which headsets will be released next and how good they are for MSFS2020. But, what is actually the advantage of a display port for VR headsets?
The quest relies on compression to send the video over usb or wifi, which reduces image quality and increases latency compared to a headset that uses a native displayport connection
But …. Everyone was whinging about lack of DP on Q3 before it became mass market now most are raving about it … Meta keep on upgrading their software and on a 4090 this thing kills IMO 👍
If the goal is to be able to fly instrument approaches on a G1000 setup in a way that's realistic and doesn't involve leaning forward to see the numbers, is the Quest3 with a 4080 rig good enough?
Negative. You'll need bettwe clarity
Great Vid! You mentioned eye tracking. Is the performance gain biger using dynamic foveated rendering as compared to fixed foveated rendering?
Thankyou :) There is a jump yes, I did a comparison a while ago and it's about 6fps, not a lot I know but every little helps. If we had this natively, well, that's a totally different story.
@@VRFlightSimGuy thanks! Quick question: cant seem to find the place to buy the pimax headstrap, where did you buy yours?
@@VRFlightSimGuy He asks between fixed and dynamic FR. There can be no difference right? Only between FR and no FR at all (full view at same rendering detail).
Waiting for the mqpro2 myself
Can you use your controllers to control the plane or do you have to use a console controller
Joysticks are best but my brother does alright with Quest controllers.
Anyone else with Q3 getting poor audio quality when using the link cable? Sound coming through the headset is "choppy"
Yup … same here …. I had to turn mbps in Oculus debug tool down to 500 and I read somewhere best to disable HD audio driver GeForce driver but not bothered with that. All else I use AirPods Bluetooth to PC and of course that’s better all round.
@@MrNeilRoberts yeah using another device for audio def gets the job done
One major point I hoped you would mention in this comparison is motion reprojection. Oculus' ASW works really well and is very resilient to stutters in the sim (when used with RTSS frame locking). Pimax's "Smart Smoothing" on the Crystal however does not work, and has never worked. It's been a complete mess since release, with terrible frame syncing and pacing and constant stuttering. Been waiting 8 months for them to fix it but it's only gotten worse over time. I just can't fly without Motion Repro/ASW, the juddering is like a cheese grater on my eyes, and I know many others who feel the same. I have some lingering hope that Pimax might eventually fix this, but until they do my Crystal will remain a $1600 paper weight. Sadly the absolute best reprojection ever made, by the wonderful Matthieu Bucchia, will be lost when WMR is removed. That's a real shame. Another small thing to mention is the focal distance. The G2's was 1.5m, which felt really good, but the Crystal's is 1m, which takes some adjustment if coming from the Reverb. Made me feel a little crosseyed at first, but you get used to it. The Q3's is about 1.3m I believe, a bit more comfortable. Solid comparison though, thanks!
You are absolutely right! I'm so annoyed I forgot this aspect. I'll highlight this in a new video soon thankyou.
Really enjoy all your informative videos. And also like how you do your external camera views in VR. How do you set up your external view camera in VR? It appears that you have might have mapped the commands to you throttle quadrant. What are the commands and how are you doing it? A short tutorial video on this would be greatly appreciated.
I've got a pico 4, but I'm struggling with my new Internet over WiFi. So I'm looking to upgrade to a native pcvr. Which headset would you recommend with the bigscreen beyond being my maximum budget ?
Honestly the Quest 3 is a good option. I use it with a dedicated WiFi 6e router and the performance feels like native to me. There is no perceivable latency. I have previously only used wired headsets include Varjo Aero, HP Reverb G1 and G2, Pimax 5k+, Oculus Rift. Get a native PCVR headset if you want, but don't get it because you feel that the "wire" is going to give you a better experience.
If I had to choose a wired headset today it would be the bigscreen beyond, but I am personally waiting for inside out tracking, cooling, and built in headphones.
@FrancoisDaniels thx, tho I think to move forward I need a wired headset as I can't change routers. I have Starlink which is great speeds but I'm only getting 100+ mbps thru WiFi using virtual desktop, think the router uses wifi5, My old Internet was much slower but was using WiFi 6 and I was getting 1200mbps transfer rate.
You can have a second router. I have the second router attached to my primary router as an access point. My pc connects to the second router using a wired LAN cable. The Quest 3 or Pico 4 in your case would connect to the WiFi 6e access point. The only sucky thing is that you are spending a bunch of money on a wireless router whose only purpose is fast wireless VR. I named my access point VR to help me disambiguate it with my regular WiFi network.@@del80y
You didn't talk about ASW of the Quest 3 compared to the Smart Smoothing of the Pimax Crystal. Quest 3 is way smoother for DCS, for example, and I don't know how your FPS are the same with both headsets, my Quest 3 runs much higher FPS just because it renders way less pixels in the GPU, and I am using a RTX 4090 also. Pimax Crystal is a great headset for visuals, I would use it over Quest 3 for simulation games,, of course. But when you buy a headset... mmm, you really have to think which games you are going to play. The thing is, with Quest 3 you will be happy in ALL games, even in simulators, because the lenses will make you feel happy anyway. Pimax Crystal? It makes me happy in simulation games but I miss so much stuff (Mixed reality, spacial computing, standalone, wireless, etc.)
I have. This is an old video. Check out my recent ones.
You are comparing headsets that are £1000 apart in price !! Whats ur next vid, comparing a ford focus to an R8 ?
Ahhh that's the point of the video.....
I have a Pico 4 hardwired Ethernet to PC and Ethernet to USB-C for the headset. Would you swap a Pico 4 out for a Quest 3 ?
The lenses alone make the upgrade worth it. The Pico 4 was wonderful and had much better lenses than the Q2, but with its limited catalog and support, the Q3 is just better in every way.
I have a Pico 4 for a VR project at work, but had not used it for a while. I remember how much better it was than the Quest 2 and I now have a Quest 3 at home, which is better still. I recently used the Pico 4 at work again and was shocked by how much worse it seemed having got used to the Quest 3. The edge-to-edge clarity on the Quest 3 cannot be beaten.
I am currently using a reverb G2 v2 on a pc with an i7-10700 CPU @ 2.90GHz, 64gb RAM and an RTX 3080 12gb VRAM. If and when my G2 dies will I get a better experience with the Pimax Crystal on this PC please? Is it strong enough to run the Crystal?
I’d go Q3 … most people including me consider that a decent enough upgrade on the G2 … I didn’t even wait for it to resign … just told it not to come back Monday lol 😂
Also I’d invest in cpu and GPU before mega $$ Crystal
imo you’ll want at least a 4090 to even have a decent experience with the Crystal. For your current setup a Quest 3 is a no brainer and a fantastic headset. I’m currently using it with the Link Cable and that is what replaced my G2 v2. It will function much better also. Basically plug and play. The Crystal is still very much wonky to just get to run at all
you keep saying that the lenses are the best in the quest 3 but fail to mention about the quest pro which has local dimming and better lenses.could you do a review on the pro?
false. Quest 3 has better lenses than quest pro. Did you even watch meta connect? Meta himself said that.
@@LazaroiuVasile
False.
I have a quest pro and tried a friend's quest 3.
Did you even try the headsets before talking crap?
The lenses are basically the same, as is resolution and fov. The quest 3 has better pass through, the quest pro has way better blacks and eye tracking.
For pc use I definitely prefer the quest pro.
How is the image quality of the Quest 3 in comparison with the Reverb G2?
Reverb G2 is sharper and has a cleaner image due to being a native DP connection, BUT it has a tiny sweet spot due to the fresnel lenses. The Quest 3 has pancake lenses which makes a BIG difference to the overall eye comfort and the ability to see a lot more.
basically what Steve says. But alot depends on your PC, and how modded or not your sim are. The more power your PC can use on the Q3 the better the results. SO keep your PC and flying prefs in mind. :)
Dude you and i are in the same boat. I run a 4090, 64gb of ram, with a 7800x3d cpu. And still, with many many hours fungating and tweaking i cant bring it (Q3) close to my 4 year old reverb g2 (rip). The G2 Reverb was the best for buck, total simplicity but with decent visual fidelity.
@@Hydraulic-em6uz Nope, the Q3 will not compete with the G2 sweetspot clarity OR the colors in the G2 from what I have seen thus far. Have given up on the wireless attempts as it was too far off the G2 in quality to even spend any more time trying to tweak it upwards.
I may have found some settings for the link cable, hope to do the first testflight in a couple of hours. Just to see how the the performance holds up and how the world looks with the settings.
Being a VR flightsimmer is very much like being the Squirrel from Ice Age.. And the perfect settings/headset is the nut... :) :)
@@VRFlightSimGuy that’s a pity, I won’t download the windows update that removes WMR later this year. But I will have to replace my G2 at some point, guess I better start saving up to a Crystal then…
Just ordered my Pimax. Does HDR works with it inside MSFS?
Congrats! hmm I've no idea on that question.
Q3 4090 users, under virtual desktop: godlike mode. Asw always on. Nvidia super resolution: Quality. Open xr toolkit override resolution to 4800xX or 5800xX depending if you're using ultra/high settings or mid/low and or with the Autofps doing the job from 50 TLOD on the ground. These settings give me a perfect performance and image quality. The Crystal is not worth. If you're looking for a q3 upgrade, just wait for Valve or something new..
I will try this out. Thanks 👍
What do you recommend the Override Resolution be set for ultra settings?
@@matthewchido8450 I was using 4800x5025 but now I'm using DLAA (1x) without overriding the resolution and I've found out that it is smooth and the quality is 90% using the override resolution. It's like a tradeoff but really happy with it. This way you can push up the settings to ultra and lightning effects to medium/high.
Isn’t the pimax crystal three times more expensive than the quest 3? So not really a fair comparison?
That's the point, since it scores very highly in this comparison. ;)
At nearly a third of the price, the Q3 cannot be beaten.
Quest 3 is amazing! ❤
I don't struggle with headset quality but with pc performance all the time. Never enough...
The two are linked, so it sounds like your resolution is too high.
you guys want more clarity in the quest 3? change the fov in the openxr toolkit to 80%. thank me later :-)
3:02 Is that shadow quality (or complete lack of quality) really something that cannot be improved? It’s so ridiculously poor, especially compared to everything else these days.
What do you expect from a product that is twice the price of a Quest3???
That's the point, since the Quest 3 scores very highly in this comparison. ;)
😅 for me clear Crystal
wait for pico 4s
If Meta would have manufactured this headset with an dp option, nobody was going to buy Pimax Crystal i think.
nobody seems to be bragging about the Quest 3 for night flying. Cmon people lets hear it...I have the Reverb 2 and night flying just plain sucks..blueish haze,,blacks are not black. Pimax boasts that the blacks are black with their headset. I heard nothing on the Quest 3 on this. So lets hear it!
Quest pro for night flying, or big screen beyond
Openxr gives the best performance after native Oculus standard. It is a huge srike to PCvr that MS is dropping it. 🤬
MS is not dropping OpenXR. It's not even theirs to drop. It's created and maintained by a company called "Khronos". I think you're confusing it with WMR, which is unrelated. WMR is more like a driver and software package for certain headsets (like the HP G2 or Samsung Odyssey) and mixed reality devices (HoloLens). OpenXR is an open tech standard for building VR games/apps and will continue to work perfectly after WMR is removed from Windows.
@@mekowgli Thanks! Yeah I was confused, but this is calming news. ✌️
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