Hello, today we are going to introduce you to the space VR headset that is the Pimax Crystal. We'll check out exactly what's in the grass and highlight its pros and cons. If you'd like to support us, feel free to leave your support in the comments and give us a like, it seriously means a lot to us. So without further ado, let's get started!
Unboxing
The Pimax Crystal goggles, arrive in a reasonably sized black box. Upon opening it, we are immediately greeted by the headset and controllers. Hidden deeper are the accessories buried in the corners, which are briefly cables and even more cables. Mainly for connecting to the PCVR and charging. The rest of the accessories are instructions iii. as many as two replaceable batteries for the goggles.
Controllers and Design
Starting with the controllers. They are not a design revolution, a pure rip-off of the Meta Quest model. We already know everything.
So let's move on to the Headset!
It is definitely not small. The futuristic design fits into its body and will certainly appeal to most users. Weight? Size goes hand in hand with weight: it weighs 1149 grams, which is over a kilo! It is a good thing that the straps in the strap are robustly adjustable. The cushions and sponges of all kinds partially counterbalance this weight problem. Such a load on the head may result in a shorter time of enjoyable gameplay or work. Nevertheless, a decent adjustment of the strap should help a lot.
Buttons and the rest
Buttonology is not a problem. Here we have the standard buttons for volume, switching on the device and separately switching modes between PCVR and Standalone. There is also a 3.5mm Mini Jack. In addition, we have electric lens adjustment, just like on the Pico 4. On the side you can see the plug for plugging in the wiring from the PCVR, and on the back we have a slot for a replaceable battery. The process of changing the battery is time-consuming, clumsy and unfortunately we will never do it with a smile on our face. There is one plus though, the battery lasts from 3-4h of gaming so you'll still have time to record yourself before you want to struggle to change the battery for the spare one.
Specification
Moving on to the lenses and screen. What works phenomenally here is the unheard of automatic IPD option in goggles, which will automatically adjust our eye width from 58 to 72mm! Crystal also has built-in eye-tracking or eye movement tracking. The screen itself is a powerful asset of the headset. A QLED-type screen with a resolution of 2880×2880 for just one eye! This is an unprecedented resolution in consumer goggles, we are talking about as much as 35 PPD. The vivid colours and the ability to adjust their clarity in the settings is an amazing option. Even more interesting is the ability to change the FOV from 120 to as much as 140 degrees! Of course, as we mentioned in the previous material: the higher the FOV, the lower the PPD. We recommend reading our little compendium of knowledge, you will find the link in the description! In other words, if you want to maintain the best image quality, it is worth staying at 120 degrees in FOV. But 140 degrees is highly suitable for use in, for example, flight simulators or SimRacing. The image frequency is also not bad either: depending on the settings, you can choose between 90 Hz and as much as 120 Hz. Demanding amateurs of a clear image with a good FOV and refresh rate will certainly love this specification, as it is hard to find in the competition.
Standalone and battery
The further into the forest it gets, the more interesting it gets. The manufacturer allows us to play in Standalone mode with no PC connection required. We have two processors on board - one is the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 known from other high-quality VR goggles. The other processor chip, on the other hand, specially developed by Pimax is exclusively for more efficient PCVR operation. Interesting things are yet to come because, in addition to the 6000 mah external battery, we have a small integrated 120 mah battery, which only works to support start-up when connecting to the PC and quickly dies because the manufacturer uses it alternately for many short processes or combines its operation with the external battery, which requires both to be charged.
Standalone mode is still in beta, you can see that this is not the most important functionality that Pimax focused on when developing these goggles. As well as controllers that look similar to those on the Quest from Meta, we also have a similar icon layout or passthrough function with border drawing! Does Pimax need base stations to work? Well, it doesn't. Its sensor and camera system allows us to do the same as in the aforementioned Quests, Pico 4 and other well-known and loved headset. When it comes to VR applications and games, the dedicated ones, specially created for Pimax goggles, are quite unoriginal and their quality does not knock you out. Here, for example, we have Audio Trip , the Chinese equivalent of Beat Saber, or Dragon Fist VR Kung Fu, a kind of Tekken in VR. The proprietary applications here are nothing to praise Pimax for, they still leave a lot to be desired. Fortunately, we can use the VR games and applications available on the Steam platform.
PCVR
PCVR itself does not disappoint. The perfect synchronicity with SteamVR further underlines this, it is here that we can languish over the quintessential quality of top VR goggles. The image has an incredible effect on the imagination and allows us to be transported to a pre-selected game without any loss in pixel quality because we have far more pixels than the rest of the competing devices. Games run flawlessly and without any glitches. A stable connection via cable allows uninterrupted fun with the goggles. There are no problems with the controllers either, as they last for hours or even days on a single set of batteries. Certainly the cabling can be a limitation to movement and the possibility of getting tangled in a pile of cables doesn't sound like a recipe for fun, more of an expensive bug.... One would like to connect conveniently and remotely to the PCVR. Unfortunately, at the moment we can only do this via a physical cable connection with the PC. It is rumoured that in the future the Pimax Crystal will have a dedicated PC attachment to support remote use of the PCVR.
Microphone and Audio
On the other hand, the speakers should be able to cope and will satisfy most users. You can hear bass as well as treble and bass. There is always the option of plugging in separate headphones. The microphone is average, not crazy, but it works and you can hear yourself in the game. If you want to use Crystal primarily to play VR simulations, the built-in speakers and microphone should be enough.
Summary
Who is the Pimax Crystal actually for? This question is bound to arise when we first consider its staggering price of around PLN 10,000. If we disregard such disadvantages as its considerable size (it weighs several times more than the competition), the poor standalone mode and a certain noise it makes during operation, we are left with a headset that is a dream piece of equipment for hardcore gamers. Let's look at it this way. There is an incredible pixel density of 35 PPD per degree, which translates into incredibly good image quality. An excellent FOV of 120-140 degrees and a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, which increases the sense of immersion. These are parameters that together, or even separately, are hard to find in similarly priced VR headsets. What we have here is a headset that will mainly find its niche among the most demanding VR users, i.e. those who love flight or car simulators. In addition, Eye-Tracking, automatic IPD adjustment and no requirement for base station mounting, as well as literally seamless synchronisation with SteamVR, turns the Pimax into the ultimate gaming machine for Triple-A titles and more! The manufacturer is further developing the software and has indicated that it will be adding improvements to at least Standalone mode. This is cause for optimism!
At this point, only the price might put us off more strongly because the sheer range of games on the PCVR is the same as on all other PC-connected goggles.
Thanks for being with us. We recommend taking a look at our other VR content. Until we hear from you!
