@@chriskross1660 the sweet spot is like 90% of the lenses not just a tiny spot in the middle - and it’s far clearer at 35 PPD - G2 just can’t match that at all
does it fix the blurring for things far away?, i have a hp g2 reverb and the picture is so clear but i wish quality could be like a 2d monitor but it vr, is it liek that?
The image quality really does blow the G2 out of the water, especially as there is no small sweet spot, and the image is clear for the majority.of the whole FOV.
Top notch video, Buddy. I got a notification from Pimax yesterday that my Crystal is ready for shipment, so I'm expecting to have it shortly. I come from MSFS and have used the G2 since launch, and I have been really happy with it. But I do understand that this will truly be a next level experience, hence why I bought the headset, and I just can't wait to try it for myself. I have subbed to your channel for more content on the Crystal. Much love from Norway.
My Crystal was ready for shipment on July 15th and I paid for the Crystal on July 3RD, and I got another email on July 20TH that my Crystal will be shipped out about Aug.1ST to Canada....Crazy, 1 month later after alreay paying for it. What about you? Has it been shipped already or just your tracking number?
I got crystal too. This sh*t is amazing, thought the horizontal FOV could be a little bit bigger, overall I agree with you that the picture is the best I've ever seen.
I have the Crystal too, DCS is simply jaw dropping (coming from G2 and Pico4). Most lower fidelity Quest-like games dont really do it justice. I'm also really impressed by the brightness at 100%, it's almost blinding.
I just got the Pimax 5K XR a month ir so ago. Loving flying in VR. Darkwood got me going on VR by sending me a Rift to try out, only took a week or two before I tracked down this Pimax I have for $200 and it was brand new. 😊
I'm happy to see more and more positive reviews on the crystal after all the hate it got on launch. One note btw, the pico 4 doesn't have aspherical lenses, that's the crystal. Pico 4 has pancake lenses.
I've just upgraded my entire system to one that will hopefully now allow me to maximise my DCS/ G2 experience. So getting one of these might be off the table for a while. But it does look really good.
@@rybuds47 For sims, I would stay away from the Index, it's lower resolution and the glare it's optics put out will be disappointing for you. I have both a Index and a G2V2, my Index is sitting in it's box unused, I even managed to get the Valve Knuckle controllers to work with the G2 (The G2's weakest point is it's pathetic controllers) but for sims, controllers are not needed. Here's what you can expect if you were to go with a Index over a G2....... Heavier headset Horrible optics (glare, godrays, etc) but better FOV. Lower resolution equals Screen Door Effect and yes, it's visible in the Index, a lot of detail gets lost between the pixels Audio is pretty much the same between the 2 HMDs The one bonus of the Index, NO WMR, this is the Index's best option for choice. I prefer the comfort of the G2 over the Index (lighter weight) (Index is #2 as I have many HMDs) Index would have better tracking for room scale VR and more fun with it's Knuckle controllers, these are great! If you only sim, the G2v2 is the better bang for the buck and is less expensive than the full Index kit (HMD, 2 lighthouses and 2 controllers). Good luck with your decision. :)
Thanks Matt, yes the Crystal is the best headset I have used for DCS and it can only get better. Especially when the eye tracking and DFR come online... 👍
@@MattWagnerNoticeably wider than the G2 and Pico 4. But the fact that almost your whole field of view has the same sharp image makes it feel even wider. You can read dials in the cockpit by just moving your eyes instead of having to move your head to get a small sweet spot over the specific thing you want to look at.
Great video... great review. I am still waiting for my notification that the headset is ready to ship, but I am getting more and more excited by what I am seeing.
I guess I'm spoiled since I got the pimax 8k when I decided to get into flight simming and vr ( built my first computer around that plan), even closing in on 2 years later my only major complaints are 1) when I have other people over they're used to other vr sets with elastic head straps and I worry about the ratchet because they just pull without thinking, it's slipped few times, but it's still holding solid. Complaint 2) that my rig is already in a perpetually hot room, and it generates a bunch of heat, mid summer I'm glad I have an extra face foam for sweat problems. All my other complaints are based on steamvr not the pimax unit and I don't think can be held against pimax fairly
Headset looks like VR from the 80s, but the quality is undeniable! Looks damn close to flatscreen 4k quality. And while it'll be outdated/outpriced in just a couple of years, 1500 isn't that bad for the hardcore crowd and early adapters.
Agreed, the argument that you had to sacrifice some visual quality to use VR is now definitely gone. The image quality in this thing is better than my monitor!!😂
Well if your are aiming at the very top that has always been the case and will probably be like that... If you go along with a occulus Quest 2 things get more reasonable... But this anti proportional increase in expense has been like that at least since the age of the 386 and first GPUs, even Full HD seemed unreasonable at some point and now we even get 8k TVs again very expensive now ...
Pimax customer support is dreadful! I have had a Pimax 8KX which had an audio issue within weeks of purchase. After a lengthy back and forward error dignosis I returned it 3 months ago. There's still no sign of any resolution. Due to this I could NOT RECCOMMEND any Pimax product. These are expensive bits of kit and to have one unusable for over 3 months when its not even a year old is more than disapointing. Caveat Emptor
I can't even imagine the feeling then of moving from the Index to Crystal >< .. Might hold off a bit to see what Valve offers next before deciding.. too late now for HP reverb G2 with all the good stuff out there and upcoming
i find the HP reverb has amazing resolution but these very obnoxious light rings in the lenses. Still waiting for a one does all ok VR headset.That doesn't cost almost as much as my pc :) Or, if it does is absolutely perfect.... Also talking of perfect, a sharp image with a high resolution is obviously good. But to power that, in a hardware heavy game as DCS, with the FPS needed for VR, you need a serious machine. So it would be interesting, how it looks scaled down to half resolution or so.
Watch out for Pimax all. My purchase experience so far has been horrible. I pre purchased my Crystal in June and immediately paid the balance on July 1 when I got the email telling me it was time to pay. Today is July 19th, and I’ve been lied to by Pimax twice now telling me my headset was shipping. Guess what? Still not shipped and now get yet another apology from Pimax now saying my headset MIGHT be shipped around July 26th. Can’t believe a company can be so disorganized that it can’t even keep orders straight. BIG FAIL PIMAX!!!
I'm so tempted. Just upgraded to a 13th gen i7, 4080....but I wear glasses and have never tried VR. I don't have any mates that are into this kind of thing. I don't want to drop serious £££ without knowing if wearing glasses or subscription VR lenses are going to work for me or if I'll get motion sickness. Can't think of a cheap way to try before I buy!
Hello, i wear glasses and they fit very nicely in the Crystal headset. You do have to loosen the back strap to take off the headset but it does fit nicely.
Wow I wish I was you, not having tried VR! If you're into flight sims it's going to flip your shit right up down. You'll have no regrets, other than not having done it sooner.
Very good review, thank you. One question, from the description you gave it appears the headset acts/appears as a separate monitor as compared to having to use another app to translate from a monitor to the headset?
Ok, I had to see the price. Figured it would instantly make me vomit. While it's still more than my budget can handle, it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Pretty nice rig, for sure. Their stuff always looked a bit goofy from the outside, but more than made up for it with the user's experience. Nice to see this is no exception.
Mine came in last week, could not get the thing working at all. Finally found out that it wouldn't work with my 3090ti without a DP signal booster. First time playing DCS it kept crashing the game.... going to try to troubleshoot it today.
No worries, as you saw in the video, once I set the Pimax client to 0.75 render scale,leaving my in game settings as they were (pic in video too), The spitfire instant action dogfight mission, the frames hover about the 90fps. More intensive missions and busy multiplayer, they hover about the 60-80 mark. Away from PC since I did the video, but once I get back I'll get a chance to fine tune things and test out the eye tracking and DFR, so I have high hope's for a really good frame rate!!
The only thing that I'm waiting for when it comes to vr is the picture quality to be as good as looking at a pc monitor. Would you say this headset is as good or we need to wait bit longer.
How come? It has at least the same clarity as the aero but with a much wider fov and local dimming. I think the targeted market is the varjo aero owners. I was very close to get an aero, but after testing it I thought the fov was too small. The crystal solves that.
@@vicktorfilmbusker5492 the vertical fov is better than the Aero but the horizontal is around the same. Clarity is around the same for both headsets and seeing as anyone who’s splashed out the few grand that an Aero costs, there’s not enough extra meat on the Crystal’s (metaphorical) bone to persuade me to lash out on a comparable HMD, especially as the Varjo software is really good. If I was upgrading from say the G2 and didn’t own the tracking lighthouses that the Varjo requires, then without hesitation I’d buy the Crystal. So seeing as I have all the infrastructure for outside in tracking and already own a comparable HMD to the Crystal, the only thing that could temp me away from the Aero is an appreciable upgrade in horizontal fov, which the 12k is reputed to have 🤞🤞👍
Nice video, i've 2 questions if I may. I currently use a Quest 2 with a gaming headset over the top as I play in the lounge while my wife watches tv. The gaming headset means she can't hear the game, and I can't hear the tv. Would the fitted off ear speakers leak noise, and let external noise in? And would it be possible to remove them to use a gaming headset with the Crystal? Also, have you tried it with IL2? That's my go-to sim
Yes, the off ear headphones will leak sound and you will hear the room around you. They are an upgraded option though,.so you can remove them to just leave it with the piped audio through the headstrap, then use a headset over the top. You would.just have to make sure that if could physically fit over the headstrap of the Crystal.
Anybody else frustrated that it's been almost a decade of "VR is coming" and instead of the headsets getting cheaper, they just get more and more expensive? I get that this is a premium product, but it's way out of my price range, even as somebody who is willing to put a bit of extra money into gear for the expensive hobby that is flight simming. Will be sitting this one out until headsets get cheaper... if ever...
Well... If you shoot for the same quality headset they had 15 years ago you can exceed that with a folded piece of cardboard, a couple lenses and your cell phone. I'm with you though. Too expensive still for high quality rigs and there are still quality issues
Need some opinions! Will my system below run the Crystal effectively, in DCS? I know the system will 'run' DCS well (as it does with my G2), but is this enough muscle for the Crystal? Realizing it will likely need to run at 75% resolution, but still...worth it? i9 10900KF 32GB 3200 DDR4 RTX 3090 Do I need to do a system upgrade first, to support the Crystal? Also! How does the Crystal handle heat buildup, and fogging, over long periods of wear (like a 2+ hour mission)? Any external cooling options out there? Good user feedback here, thank you!
As everyone's VR experience seems to be different beyond just PC specs, I cant say for sure, but I imagine your system should have enough grunt to give you a decent experience with the Crystal, especially once eye tracking and DFR are working. As for the heat build up, the headset does get warm, certainly warmer than the G2,.but I haven't had any issues with the lenses fogging, like I would occasionally had with the G2.
I have the same CPU as you, just wondering do you think you would get better performance with a I9 13900k in VR or is the i7 actually managing fine. Great video my pimax is in the post so looking forward to it
To be honest, I'm not sure if there would be much of a difference. But just in case (in an attempt to get the most out of it😂) I have my i7 running a light overclock, 5.2 all core on the P-cores and 4.1 on the E-Cores.
Great review! And it's about time a VR HMD comes out that seems like it has it all - large FoV, high resolution, good color definition, decent sound. I honestly don't mind the price tag as long as it's an investment that pays off. Thank you!
It's fov is smaller then many headsets though, only about 103° hfov. Making it's size and weight even more laughable. They claim 125° hfov on their specs page, but that is typical pimax marketing/lies
@@DFASixMarbles How about compared to the bigscreen beyond, it weighs about 1/6, and it's fov is 1 degree smaller for most? And contains next gen uoled and pancake optics. The future of VR is not in 1.2Kg headsets, and it's here already.
Do I need a PC to use this or is like my pico 4 where I can download straight from the headset? I recently bought the pico 4 as my first ever Vr headset and for the price I paid I absolutely love it. I am wanting now tho to take the Vr experience up a notch but I don’t have a PC??
The Crystal has two modes, PCVR (needs to be connected to a PC to play PC based games), and Standalone mode. The Standalone mode, I assume will be similar to the Pico in that you can download, store and play games directly from the headset, however I can not co firm 100% as Standalone mode is not yet functional, but will be soon.
@@gr-skil thank you for your reply. I’m currently doing some research into what the best VR headset is. But I’m not massively even into the gaming side of things yet it’s more just watching videos/movies in the best possible resolution. For the price and my first ever VR headset I absolutely love my pico. But I am noticing some slight screen door effects and pixelated parts of the screen. But hey, it only cost me like £380.00 I wasn’t expected perfection. But now I think I want to delve deeper into what VR can offer. I don’t have any fancy gaming PC however
Aye, you can see in the footage of me flying the F15 over Syria, the frames drop a bit more than the dogfight. Hopefully the eye tracking and DFR will help get the solid 90 fps.
I have owned 2 pimax products. Both are amazing.i had the original 8k and the 8kx. The letdown has been their software. I hope they fixed the software as you spend 90 percent troubleshooting and 10 percent actually gaming. Also worth nothing, it is a nightmare using a pimax product with an AMD gpu.
I have an 8kx and crystal. The new software is a night and day difference. Both headsets connect immediately. Before the 8kx would only connect a third of the time
@michaelturner9638 that's good to know. I am interested in the 12k. Do you know if the issue using an AMD gpu has been fixed. I could not use my 8kx with the 7900xtx
Not done full testing on that yet, although I have flown in DCS for over 3 hours and not had to change the battery. Once I have tested properly I'll add it in a later video. 👍
An rtx 4090 and only getting 60fps??? No way.. for real? I have a 4090 and I’m getting 150+ on max settings in dcs right now. It really crushes it that much?
@@gr-skil I dont get why not...If i run 4k with 4x msaa, thats drawing 4k rez 4 times.... Why is drawing 4k at 1x per screen so much harder? its literally half the pixels.... Im not doubting you are right, im just asking
@@vividpsychosis8222 to be honest, I dont know the details of the technicalities, all I know is running DCS in VR (on any of the headsets I've had) is extremely demanding on the GPU.
ive received my crystal today and i have to disagree with your findings on the visuals. i was certainly not blown away and there was certainly no "wows". yes it is maybe a sharper across more of the image and the vertical fov a big larger than my G2 but other than that very dissappointed. its just not much of a difference and the face place is very uncomfortable and has gaping holes around the temples. maybe im missing something? i was hoping to be blown away but nothing....certainly not a £1000 upgrade.
Hmmm, sorry to hear that. I can only think that something must be wrong, because I find the image quality in the headset is amazing. I take it you don't have any additional programs running, which might be reducing the image quality or render scale, such as OpenRX Toolkit with a forced reduced res etc??
@@gr-skil just not much different to my G2 - yes its sharper over more of the image but i cant figure out all the OTT reviews? im running i9 12900 and 3800ti - and ran it as is with the Openxr toolkit sharpening etc turned off. it was very stuttery so went back in and dialled down resolution to 3500x 4100? as per vrflightsim guy tutorials. now nice and smooth.
It's like they knew I was looking into one of these. *I'm certainly convinced that this is what I want.* But, alas, I do not have the system he (you) has. I'm running a _4Ghz I7 4700 with 32Gb RAM and a nVidia 3060 card._ I would need to be confident that I could get at least 30 FPS at a decent resolution before investing in hardware like this. *But boy do I want it.* _Sigh._ I do plan later to upgrade my machine, but that is a little while from now. *NOTE:* I am an affiliate with some music stores and I'm not sure I trust any of them. They give you an affiliate link and reference but as soon as the customer does anything, the reference leaves and there is no indication that the affiliate is connected to this purchase any longer. This is happening here as well. When I get to the cart and purchase, it has no indication that you all are affiliated with the purchase.
I understand you'd want a setup like this. You'd first need to invest heavily to upgrade your pc because there's zero chance you'd get anything above 10fps at the native refresh rate of the headset.
you could actually run a quest 2 or a reverb g2 with native res using your 3060. its resolution is very sharp at 4k(2k per eye) not as sharp as the crystal but not bad either, ive been using my gtx 1650 and quest 2 to play some games like Vtol VR on native res and il-2 on 70% res with fsr mod (still sharp enough to spot better than any one of my friends using a flatscreen) and planning to upgrade to a 3060 later to play DCS on native res it wont break the bank either, at 299 for a quest 2 and 399 for the reverb g2
Have you tried reducing the render scale in the Pimax Client from 1 to 0.75. That's what I was using. I'm hoping that with DFR I can knock that back to 1 and keep the higher fps.
I've owned pretty much every single VR headset ever sold. I can tell you from experience to stay away from Pimax for many reasons. The most important is they will pull every trick in the book to avoid a warranty claim. I waited well over a year for a replacement and only got it after making a huge amount of noise and leaving reviews all over the internet. Just buy a Reverb G2 V2 and thank me later 👍👍👍
I think pimax is making a large effort to improve their customer service. they sent me a replacement 8kx a month ago without much coercion and have been prompt in their correspondence.
@@jaco523 Luck you! I returned mine 4 months ago and have been told that there are none so they can't/won't replace it. They have offered me a 12K at a discounted price - but I get that anyway with the 8KX! Also don't want to wait until... when? Two weeks ago they told me they would be in contact in 3 days. After 2 chassing emails still nothing. No reply nothing! I gusss next step is legal action. AVOID
Pimax Crap! Apparently Pimax takes real good care of TH-camrs by sending them free stuff to review to boost sales. Meanwhile they are slow as molasses at fulfilling promises made to PAYING customers. Thee Pimax Crystal is an overpriced by about $1000, By time you pay for the upgraded speakers, Top Strap, Big FOV lenses etc. the price is upwards of $2,000. All those accessories should come free at the ridiculous price of this large hunk of plastic. I bought my Crystal in November 2023, they promised the comfort top strap with the purchase. I wrote their support team...twice now since the purchase and still no head strap, no Big FOV lenses no upgraded DMAS speakers. Then you charge $99 for the upgraded speakers that aren't actually ever in stock to buy but yet you send all your favorite TH-camrs all these products for. I WOULD NOT PURCASE again!! Change the name to Pimax Crap!
Product link(GR Affiliate): pimax.com/?ref=nLr7eS
Please use code “Grim20" for a £20 discount.
Great review, I'll share this with my Discord community. Cheers
Thankyou, much appreciated, I'm a fan of your channel. 👍
@@gr-skil Thankyou for your support, I super appreciate it 😊
The Crystal has been fantastic - amazing upgrade from the G2
I use my G2 in Race Sim, is the Crystal sooo much better in Race Sim too ?. Sweetspot ?
@@chriskross1660 the sweet spot is like 90% of the lenses not just a tiny spot in the middle - and it’s far clearer at 35 PPD - G2 just can’t match that at all
does it fix the blurring for things far away?, i have a hp g2 reverb and the picture is so clear but i wish quality could be like a 2d monitor but it vr, is it liek that?
@@mochabear8312 definitely closer to monitor
That was really amazing to see through the lens at 9:28 wow that looks amazing, I have a Reverb G2 currently.
The image quality really does blow the G2 out of the water, especially as there is no small sweet spot, and the image is clear for the majority.of the whole FOV.
Top notch video, Buddy. I got a notification from Pimax yesterday that my Crystal is ready for shipment, so I'm expecting to have it shortly. I come from MSFS and have used the G2 since launch, and I have been really happy with it. But I do understand that this will truly be a next level experience, hence why I bought the headset, and I just can't wait to try it for myself.
I have subbed to your channel for more content on the Crystal. Much love from Norway.
Thanks, also coming from.thhe G2, you'll love the visuals in the Crystal!!
My Crystal was ready for shipment on July 15th and I paid for the Crystal on July 3RD, and I got another email on July 20TH that my Crystal will be shipped out about Aug.1ST to Canada....Crazy, 1 month later after alreay paying for it. What about you? Has it been shipped already or just your tracking number?
@@GT1GT Same experience here m8. Now they say it's gonna ship around July26th. I got a 30USD or EUR coupon for the delay. You too ?
I got crystal too. This sh*t is amazing, thought the horizontal FOV could be a little bit bigger, overall I agree with you that the picture is the best I've ever seen.
I have the Crystal too, DCS is simply jaw dropping (coming from G2 and Pico4). Most lower fidelity Quest-like games dont really do it justice. I'm also really impressed by the brightness at 100%, it's almost blinding.
Please share your settings with me because I just can't seem to get the image I'm expecting with a 4080 coming from a Rift S.
I just got the Pimax 5K XR a month ir so ago. Loving flying in VR. Darkwood got me going on VR by sending me a Rift to try out, only took a week or two before I tracked down this Pimax I have for $200 and it was brand new. 😊
I'm happy to see more and more positive reviews on the crystal after all the hate it got on launch. One note btw, the pico 4 doesn't have aspherical lenses, that's the crystal. Pico 4 has pancake lenses.
Awesome! Hopefully my crystal will be shipped soon! 👍
I've just upgraded my entire system to one that will hopefully now allow me to maximise my DCS/ G2 experience. So getting one of these might be off the table for a while. But it does look really good.
My G1 just blue screened the other day after years.
Was thinking of the G2 replacement. Or maybe the index.
How do you like your G2?
@@rybuds47 For sims, I would stay away from the Index, it's lower resolution and the glare it's optics put out will be disappointing for you. I have both a Index and a G2V2, my Index is sitting in it's box unused, I even managed to get the Valve Knuckle controllers to work with the G2 (The G2's weakest point is it's pathetic controllers) but for sims, controllers are not needed.
Here's what you can expect if you were to go with a Index over a G2.......
Heavier headset
Horrible optics (glare, godrays, etc) but better FOV.
Lower resolution equals Screen Door Effect and yes, it's visible in the Index, a lot of detail gets lost between the pixels
Audio is pretty much the same between the 2 HMDs
The one bonus of the Index, NO WMR, this is the Index's best option for choice.
I prefer the comfort of the G2 over the Index (lighter weight) (Index is #2 as I have many HMDs)
Index would have better tracking for room scale VR and more fun with it's Knuckle controllers, these are great!
If you only sim, the G2v2 is the better bang for the buck and is less expensive than the full Index kit (HMD, 2 lighthouses and 2 controllers).
Good luck with your decision. :)
Good stuff, tempted to pick one of these up.
*can anti radiation missile designed to deal with SAM engage a powerful radar of fast moving F15 closing in on you*
*How will you defend if let's say long range Russian fox 3 missile, anti awacs type is coming at you?*
*You are escorting a bomber or awacs*
Thanks Matt, yes the Crystal is the best headset I have used for DCS and it can only get better.
Especially when the eye tracking and DFR come online... 👍
@@gr-skil how does the FoV compare in the horizontal?
@@MattWagnerNoticeably wider than the G2 and Pico 4.
But the fact that almost your whole field of view has the same sharp image makes it feel even wider.
You can read dials in the cockpit by just moving your eyes instead of having to move your head to get a small sweet spot over the specific thing you want to look at.
Great video... great review. I am still waiting for my notification that the headset is ready to ship, but I am getting more and more excited by what I am seeing.
Och, nice one - been interested in the crystal
It's looking like a great headset so far.
I guess I'm spoiled since I got the pimax 8k when I decided to get into flight simming and vr ( built my first computer around that plan), even closing in on 2 years later my only major complaints are 1) when I have other people over they're used to other vr sets with elastic head straps and I worry about the ratchet because they just pull without thinking, it's slipped few times, but it's still holding solid. Complaint 2) that my rig is already in a perpetually hot room, and it generates a bunch of heat, mid summer I'm glad I have an extra face foam for sweat problems.
All my other complaints are based on steamvr not the pimax unit and I don't think can be held against pimax fairly
My crystal has been paid for just waiting for it to ship.
Great review Skil!!! 💯
Thankyou sir.👍
Headset looks like VR from the 80s, but the quality is undeniable! Looks damn close to flatscreen 4k quality. And while it'll be outdated/outpriced in just a couple of years, 1500 isn't that bad for the hardcore crowd and early adapters.
Agreed, the argument that you had to sacrifice some visual quality to use VR is now definitely gone. The image quality in this thing is better than my monitor!!😂
Waiting for mine, thanks for the video
Thanks Skil! Good review, I hope someday I'll be able to try one out. I don't want it to ruin my reverb though hahaha
U$1600 dollars is a very restrictive price, add the cost of a good computer to use it. VR keeps being small and very hard to reach niche
Well if your are aiming at the very top that has always been the case and will probably be like that...
If you go along with a occulus Quest 2 things get more reasonable...
But this anti proportional increase in expense has been like that at least since the age of the 386 and first GPUs, even Full HD seemed unreasonable at some point and now we even get 8k TVs again very expensive now ...
Pimax customer support is dreadful! I have had a Pimax 8KX which had an audio issue within weeks of purchase. After a lengthy back and forward error dignosis I returned it 3 months ago. There's still no sign of any resolution. Due to this I could NOT RECCOMMEND any Pimax product. These are expensive bits of kit and to have one unusable for over 3 months when its not even a year old is more than disapointing.
Caveat Emptor
I can't even imagine the feeling then of moving from the Index to Crystal >< .. Might hold off a bit to see what Valve offers next before deciding.. too late now for HP reverb G2 with all the good stuff out there and upcoming
i find the HP reverb has amazing resolution but these very obnoxious light rings in the lenses. Still waiting for a one does all ok VR headset.That doesn't cost almost as much as my pc :) Or, if it does is absolutely perfect....
Also talking of perfect, a sharp image with a high resolution is obviously good. But to power that, in a hardware heavy game as DCS, with the FPS needed for VR, you need a serious machine. So it would be interesting, how it looks scaled down to half resolution or so.
Thx for sharing your insights Skil
Nice job Skill. Looks great if I can get a PC build now to run VR🙃
Looks pretty epic! 1500 (1900euro) is kinda steep ofc
Watch out for Pimax all. My purchase experience so far has been horrible. I pre purchased my Crystal in June and immediately paid the balance on July 1 when I got the email telling me it was time to pay. Today is July 19th, and I’ve been lied to by Pimax twice now telling me my headset was shipping. Guess what? Still not shipped and now get yet another apology from Pimax now saying my headset MIGHT be shipped around July 26th. Can’t believe a company can be so disorganized that it can’t even keep orders straight. BIG FAIL PIMAX!!!
With PC specs like that you should really try XrNeckSafer with smooth autorotation on. its really does help with looking behind you.
I'm so tempted. Just upgraded to a 13th gen i7, 4080....but I wear glasses and have never tried VR. I don't have any mates that are into this kind of thing. I don't want to drop serious £££ without knowing if wearing glasses or subscription VR lenses are going to work for me or if I'll get motion sickness. Can't think of a cheap way to try before I buy!
Hello, i wear glasses and they fit very nicely in the Crystal headset. You do have to loosen the back strap to take off the headset but it does fit nicely.
@@jimharrison405 thanks dude
there are a few places that make prescription lenses for VR specifically.
Wow I wish I was you, not having tried VR! If you're into flight sims it's going to flip your shit right up down. You'll have no regrets, other than not having done it sooner.
I'm sold.
I'll give you a tenner for your old Reverb If you're not gonna use it anymore. ;)
How is it at rendering planes at a distance? Do you find getting PID is easier with the clarity of the Crystal?
And like most vr headsets, no ipd over 72.
excellent review thanks for this
Looking forward to your review of the 12k when you get it.
Haha!! i'll look forward to yours when you get your 12k!!!
Very good review, thank you. One question, from the description you gave it appears the headset acts/appears as a separate monitor as compared to having to use another app to translate from a monitor to the headset?
Ok, I had to see the price. Figured it would instantly make me vomit. While it's still more than my budget can handle, it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Pretty nice rig, for sure. Their stuff always looked a bit goofy from the outside, but more than made up for it with the user's experience. Nice to see this is no exception.
The PiMax 5K Super just doesn't seem to hold a candle to this one. I get worse quality of my live eyeballs than your phone did.
Mine came in last week, could not get the thing working at all. Finally found out that it wouldn't work with my 3090ti without a DP signal booster. First time playing DCS it kept crashing the game.... going to try to troubleshoot it today.
Good to know!
yeah common issue with that gpu with many headsets
good info as thinking of buying the pimax, i had same issue with hp reverb and 3090ti, hope i could use the same booster
Great review. Does DCS support DLSS3 frame generation? And where's your silk scarf? :)
Thanks, no DCS doesn't support DLSS 3 at the moment, but who knows...
Silk scarf was in the wash !!
❤❤❤ one day i hope to get one
Well I haven't seen anybody ask you yet so I will do it. What kind of frame rates are you getting with your rig?
No worries, as you saw in the video, once I set the Pimax client to 0.75 render scale,leaving my in game settings as they were (pic in video too),
The spitfire instant action dogfight mission, the frames hover about the 90fps.
More intensive missions and busy multiplayer, they hover about the 60-80 mark.
Away from PC since I did the video, but once I get back I'll get a chance to fine tune things and test out the eye tracking and DFR, so I have high hope's for a really good frame rate!!
Nice video. I'm curious how much of an improvement their 12k model would be??
It seems to be a decent bit clearer and also a much higher fov
The only thing that I'm waiting for when it comes to vr is the picture quality to be as good as looking at a pc monitor. Would you say this headset is as good or we need to wait bit longer.
I would say this image quality is as good as playing on a good monitor. The aspheric lenses mean that the image the same In almost your whole FOV .
My current daily driver is the Varjo Aero, so this HMD doesn’t interest me, however I am really interested in the development of the upcoming 12k
How come? It has at least the same clarity as the aero but with a much wider fov and local dimming. I think the targeted market is the varjo aero owners. I was very close to get an aero, but after testing it I thought the fov was too small. The crystal solves that.
@@vicktorfilmbusker5492 the vertical fov is better than the Aero but the horizontal is around the same. Clarity is around the same for both headsets and seeing as anyone who’s splashed out the few grand that an Aero costs, there’s not enough extra meat on the Crystal’s (metaphorical) bone to persuade me to lash out on a comparable HMD, especially as the Varjo software is really good. If I was upgrading from say the G2 and didn’t own the tracking lighthouses that the Varjo requires, then without hesitation I’d buy the Crystal. So seeing as I have all the infrastructure for outside in tracking and already own a comparable HMD to the Crystal, the only thing that could temp me away from the Aero is an appreciable upgrade in horizontal fov, which the 12k is reputed to have 🤞🤞👍
I dont understand how the crystal headset is as wide as their previous headsets and yet its fov is so much smaller?
It's because the Crystal's case is allegedly the same as the upcoming 12K QLED model which will have the higher FOV.
Parts bin design which is why they’ll never go mainstream.
@@evo-labs I'll wait for the 12K then
Nice video, i've 2 questions if I may. I currently use a Quest 2 with a gaming headset over the top as I play in the lounge while my wife watches tv. The gaming headset means she can't hear the game, and I can't hear the tv. Would the fitted off ear speakers leak noise, and let external noise in? And would it be possible to remove them to use a gaming headset with the Crystal?
Also, have you tried it with IL2? That's my go-to sim
Yes, the off ear headphones will leak sound and you will hear the room around you. They are an upgraded option though,.so you can remove them to just leave it with the piped audio through the headstrap, then use a headset over the top. You would.just have to make sure that if could physically fit over the headstrap of the Crystal.
@@gr-skil thanks mate.
Skill, how do you find the adjustment from VR back to reality? Does it affect you, and how long does it take you to readjust your mince pies?
Nah, it doesn't take any time to re-adjust really, unfortunately real reality comes crashing back in instantly!!😂
@@gr-skil I understand that, reality can suck Cap's face.
Anybody else frustrated that it's been almost a decade of "VR is coming" and instead of the headsets getting cheaper, they just get more and more expensive? I get that this is a premium product, but it's way out of my price range, even as somebody who is willing to put a bit of extra money into gear for the expensive hobby that is flight simming. Will be sitting this one out until headsets get cheaper... if ever...
Well...
If you shoot for the same quality headset they had 15 years ago you can exceed that with a folded piece of cardboard, a couple lenses and your cell phone.
I'm with you though. Too expensive still for high quality rigs and there are still quality issues
Pico 4 has Pancake lenses.. Just a small correction.
Thanks, my mistake.
i see youre running at 60-70 fps. so have you deactivated ASW? do you use turbo mode and variable framerate?
Yes, no ASW or smoothingn and no turbo mode, just running he Pimax client and PimaxXR.
@@gr-skil Ok. Gonna try that.
Need some opinions!
Will my system below run the Crystal effectively, in DCS? I know the system will 'run' DCS well (as it does with my G2), but is this enough muscle for the Crystal? Realizing it will likely need to run at 75% resolution, but still...worth it?
i9 10900KF
32GB 3200 DDR4
RTX 3090
Do I need to do a system upgrade first, to support the Crystal?
Also!
How does the Crystal handle heat buildup, and fogging, over long periods of wear (like a 2+ hour mission)? Any external cooling options out there?
Good user feedback here, thank you!
As everyone's VR experience seems to be different beyond just PC specs, I cant say for sure, but I imagine your system should have enough grunt to give you a decent experience with the Crystal, especially once eye tracking and DFR are working.
As for the heat build up, the headset does get warm, certainly warmer than the G2,.but I haven't had any issues with the lenses fogging, like I would occasionally had with the G2.
How do I get the forest/buildings and things to not just load I’m at a certain/close distance?
In the system settings tab in game there is a setting called visual range, adjust this to a higher setting to see objects further away.
@@gr-skil even if I boost your my visibility range the render distance for thing like buildings and trees is very short
*How will you defend if let's say long range Russian fox 3 missile, anti awacs type is coming at you?*
*You are escorting a bomber or awacs*
Better than varjo picture quality wise?
Unfortunately I cannot comment on that as I have never used the Varjo.
looking to move from hp reverb, is there much difference, Also Where to buy, based in Scotland
I have the same CPU as you, just wondering do you think you would get better performance with a I9 13900k in VR or is the i7 actually managing fine. Great video my pimax is in the post so looking forward to it
To be honest, I'm not sure if there would be much of a difference.
But just in case (in an attempt to get the most out of it😂) I have my i7 running a light overclock, 5.2 all core on the P-cores and 4.1 on the E-Cores.
Great review! And it's about time a VR HMD comes out that seems like it has it all - large FoV, high resolution, good color definition, decent sound. I honestly don't mind the price tag as long as it's an investment that pays off. Thank you!
It's fov is smaller then many headsets though, only about 103° hfov. Making it's size and weight even more laughable. They claim 125° hfov on their specs page, but that is typical pimax marketing/lies
@@LastHurrah found the FOV to be larger than the G2 and Pico 4, even in the horizontal, nat super wide, but certainly noticeably wider.
@@LastHurrah Even more laughable than what?
@@DFASixMarbles How about compared to the bigscreen beyond, it weighs about 1/6, and it's fov is 1 degree smaller for most? And contains next gen uoled and pancake optics. The future of VR is not in 1.2Kg headsets, and it's here already.
@@LastHurrah kind of weird that you didn't mention it in your first comment
Don't know anything about VR. What is that goofy window that floats around the upper right of the forward view?
Hi, that is just a performance monitor, shows FPS etc and can be disabled, I just had it on disply to show te performance for the video.
They offered option for higher ppd vs upgraded fov. Advise?
Personally I find the 35ppd gives an amazing image quality, so if the choice was for higher ppd or larger FOV, I think I would choose the FOV.
Do I need a PC to use this or is like my pico 4 where I can download straight from the headset? I recently bought the pico 4 as my first ever Vr headset and for the price I paid I absolutely love it. I am wanting now tho to take the Vr experience up a notch but I don’t have a PC??
The Crystal has two modes, PCVR (needs to be connected to a PC to play PC based games), and Standalone mode.
The Standalone mode, I assume will be similar to the Pico in that you can download, store and play games directly from the headset, however I can not co firm 100% as Standalone mode is not yet functional, but will be soon.
@@gr-skil thank you for your reply. I’m currently doing some research into what the best VR headset is. But I’m not massively even into the gaming side of things yet it’s more just watching videos/movies in the best possible resolution. For the price and my first ever VR headset I absolutely love my pico. But I am noticing some slight screen door effects and pixelated parts of the screen. But hey, it only cost me like £380.00 I wasn’t expected perfection. But now I think I want to delve deeper into what VR can offer. I don’t have any fancy gaming PC however
Jesus those are some beefy settings even at 0.75 res. I have 13900k and 4090 and I need to be at 0.75 with lower settings to keep 90fps
That's almost the system I'm looking at...13900K and 4080. Man, they are really betting on growth in the CPU and GPU sector.
Aye, you can see in the footage of me flying the F15 over Syria, the frames drop a bit more than the dogfight. Hopefully the eye tracking and DFR will help get the solid 90 fps.
I have owned 2 pimax products. Both are amazing.i had the original 8k and the 8kx. The letdown has been their software. I hope they fixed the software as you spend 90 percent troubleshooting and 10 percent actually gaming. Also worth nothing, it is a nightmare using a pimax product with an AMD gpu.
I have an 8kx and crystal. The new software is a night and day difference. Both headsets connect immediately. Before the 8kx would only connect a third of the time
@michaelturner9638 that's good to know. I am interested in the 12k. Do you know if the issue using an AMD gpu has been fixed. I could not use my 8kx with the 7900xtx
*can anti radiation missile designed to deal with SAM engage a powerful radar of fast moving F15 closing in on you*
can you peek through your nose bridge to see your MIPs?
Not really, there is a little gasket thing to stop light coming in, you have to lift the headset slightly to peek...
Thanks Skill! How's the battery life?
Not done full testing on that yet, although I have flown in DCS for over 3 hours and not had to change the battery.
Once I have tested properly I'll add it in a later video. 👍
How’s the “screen door” effect? I found my index to be too much
No screen door effect at all!
lol comparing the Index to the Crystal is like comparing a tamagotchi screen to a 8k OLED TV
You can only use it with battery ?
Yes, even when in PCVR mode it still uses the battery.
@@gr-skil
Thank You, i am a sim racers and endurance is the thing for me
But it looks to be enough power for longer stints (+4h)
An rtx 4090 and only getting 60fps??? No way.. for real? I have a 4090 and I’m getting 150+ on max settings in dcs right now. It really crushes it that much?
Not in VR you aren"t.
@@gr-skil I dont get why not...If i run 4k with 4x msaa, thats drawing 4k rez 4 times.... Why is drawing 4k at 1x per screen so much harder? its literally half the pixels.... Im not doubting you are right, im just asking
@@vividpsychosis8222 to be honest, I dont know the details of the technicalities, all I know is running DCS in VR (on any of the headsets I've had) is extremely demanding on the GPU.
*Can an anti radiation missile like haarm target fast moving powerful radar like that of F15*
ive received my crystal today and i have to disagree with your findings on the visuals. i was certainly not blown away and there was certainly no "wows". yes it is maybe a sharper across more of the image and the vertical fov a big larger than my G2 but other than that very dissappointed. its just not much of a difference and the face place is very uncomfortable and has gaping holes around the temples. maybe im missing something? i was hoping to be blown away but nothing....certainly not a £1000 upgrade.
Hmmm, sorry to hear that. I can only think that something must be wrong, because I find the image quality in the headset is amazing.
I take it you don't have any additional programs running, which might be reducing the image quality or render scale, such as OpenRX Toolkit with a forced reduced res etc??
@@gr-skil just not much different to my G2 - yes its sharper over more of the image but i cant figure out all the OTT reviews? im running i9 12900 and 3800ti - and ran it as is with the Openxr toolkit sharpening etc turned off. it was very stuttery so went back in and dialled down resolution to 3500x 4100? as per vrflightsim guy tutorials. now nice and smooth.
nice!!! thx
It's like they knew I was looking into one of these.
*I'm certainly convinced that this is what I want.* But, alas, I do not have the system he (you) has. I'm running a _4Ghz I7 4700 with 32Gb RAM and a nVidia 3060 card._ I would need to be confident that I could get at least 30 FPS at a decent resolution before investing in hardware like this. *But boy do I want it.* _Sigh._ I do plan later to upgrade my machine, but that is a little while from now.
*NOTE:* I am an affiliate with some music stores and I'm not sure I trust any of them. They give you an affiliate link and reference but as soon as the customer does anything, the reference leaves and there is no indication that the affiliate is connected to this purchase any longer. This is happening here as well. When I get to the cart and purchase, it has no indication that you all are affiliated with the purchase.
I understand you'd want a setup like this. You'd first need to invest heavily to upgrade your pc because there's zero chance you'd get anything above 10fps at the native refresh rate of the headset.
@@TAGE_FPV Thanks. That is good to know.
you could actually run a quest 2 or a reverb g2 with native res using your 3060. its resolution is very sharp at 4k(2k per eye) not as sharp as the crystal but not bad either, ive been using my gtx 1650 and quest 2 to play some games like Vtol VR on native res and il-2 on 70% res with fsr mod (still sharp enough to spot better than any one of my friends using a flatscreen) and planning to upgrade to a 3060 later to play DCS on native res
it wont break the bank either, at 299 for a quest 2 and 399 for the reverb g2
@@wingmanemu3473 I appreciate that information.
@@wingmanemu3473 Run, yes. power at above minimum framerates for reprojection with an intel series 4 CPU, not a chance.
Do you use OpenXR with it?
Yes, the using PimaxXR tool.
I have rtx 4090 and i9-13900k but get only 45 fps in DCS.
Have you tried reducing the render scale in the Pimax Client from 1 to 0.75.
That's what I was using. I'm hoping that with DFR I can knock that back to 1 and keep the higher fps.
Are you driving this with a 4090?
Yes, a 4090 and 12700k.
@@gr-skil my 3090 is getting nervous the closer the Pimax gets to delivery 😂.
Like playing right field when a lefty in on the batter's box@@tayloraverett3138
Nice. But i prefer AR. Actual reality. 😂😂
Wow, thats awesome that you have a WW2 aircraft, but us plebs hafta use VR.
Affiliate link did not appear to give me a discount, is there a code?
I only just set the affliliate link up, there wasn't an obvious option for a discount. Sorry if I missed something.
@@grimreapers Hi，Grim Reaper, let me support to setup discount for you. Thank you for your video .
Please use code “Grim20" for a £20 discount, I believe this still applies after a purchase. Thanks
That's a lot of dosh on top of an expensive PC, mate.
Welcome to flight sims :)
Wondering if you live near Kevin Talbot(rc and monster truck youtuber) Yall have a lot of the same "slang"
Can you please showcase some Israeli weapons?
Yup, so far we've shown Iron Dome, F-16i, I-Derby ER and Python 5.
I've owned pretty much every single VR headset ever sold. I can tell you from experience to stay away from Pimax for many reasons. The most important is they will pull every trick in the book to avoid a warranty claim. I waited well over a year for a replacement and only got it after making a huge amount of noise and leaving reviews all over the internet.
Just buy a Reverb G2 V2 and thank me later 👍👍👍
thats why I bought it in EU!
Likewise. Customer service is really poor. I couldn't reccommend anyone getting a Pimax due to this!
I think pimax is making a large effort to improve their customer service. they sent me a replacement 8kx a month ago without much coercion and have been prompt in their correspondence.
@@jaco523 Luck you! I returned mine 4 months ago and have been told that there are none so they can't/won't replace it. They have offered me a 12K at a discounted price - but I get that anyway with the 8KX! Also don't want to wait until... when? Two weeks ago they told me they would be in contact in 3 days. After 2 chassing emails still nothing. No reply nothing! I gusss next step is legal action. AVOID
$1,600??? oof
With prescription lenses we pay 2.000€ in Germany
@@freemandiy Yeah, but thanks to this higher amount you contribute to welfare of desert engineers and doctors ;-)
Daddy
Pimax Crap!
Apparently Pimax takes real good care of TH-camrs by sending them free stuff to review to boost sales. Meanwhile they are slow as molasses at fulfilling promises made to PAYING customers. Thee Pimax Crystal is an overpriced by about $1000, By time you pay for the upgraded speakers, Top Strap, Big FOV lenses etc. the price is upwards of $2,000. All those accessories should come free at the ridiculous price of this large hunk of plastic. I bought my Crystal in November 2023, they promised the comfort top strap with the purchase. I wrote their support team...twice now since the purchase and still no head strap, no Big FOV lenses no upgraded DMAS speakers. Then you charge $99 for the upgraded speakers that aren't actually ever in stock to buy but yet you send all your favorite TH-camrs all these products for. I WOULD NOT PURCASE again!! Change the name to Pimax Crap!
Fucking money. Supposed to be DCS!