Pimax Crystal - status, updates and fixes (Part 2)

It begs the question how ready is ready? This Pimax chart is months old now.

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Just keep in mind RdToVR Article is old and unfortunately prices went up on most things. Plus I didn’t check if the price/piece included Taxes or Shipping. So we can likely estimate it to be maybe $12 to $13?

Still not much but we. did see Cosmos costs $60us more.

So we see that companies often make decent money on the cheapest electronic accessories.

Fast food big money maker often is the potato. How many potatoes in a Large Fry?

DMAS/Index Audio Speakers to buy just the drivers not at quantity are about $10us each.

Fun though. Cool thought experiment. :beers::sunglasses::handshake:

On the flipside pimax did fall for the trap of an Article when they priced Lighthouses on the KS basing their cost at $59us ea with a very small markup to $75ea and lost big on that one when Valve jacked the base cost per unit to the sky fir 3rdparty. sellers.

Our fun thought experiment definitely no where as bad in scale.

Today I receive my Crystal, and my first impressions are very good.

The visuals are amazing, the upgrade from a Pico 4 (VD Godlike with H264+@400) is very very noticeable. Now in the MSFS 2020 I can read everything in the cockpit, and also I can appreciate more details in the horizon (unfortunately, I could only achieve 32fps with my current settings :sweat_smile:).
In the Assetto Corsa is the same, now everything is very sharp, but this time at 90fps .

The bad thing is the controller tracking, with the current FW (non the beta one), when I tried to used it to aim in Sierra Squad or Contractors, sometimes the left hand gets crazy (drift) until I release the grap button. This is more common if I have the fpsVR overlay in the left hand enabled. Also it suffers from jitter time to time.

On the other side, the headset tracking is very good. Until now I haden’t any issue with it.

There is a chance to get in the beta @PimaxQuorra? Because with this control tracking, is impossible to play shooters (or any other game that requires precision).

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My impressions exactly.

I would like to access the beta ! I can’t turn the controller to see the FpsVR screen without it drifting to oblivion.

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Congrats! Can you add Firmware versions for headset and Controllers please. As this makes it easier to compare and see how the headset & controllers tracking in this case evolves from 1 version to the next.

:vulcan_salute::sunglasses::+1::sparkles:

As promised, here are my thoughts/review about the Crystal, 1 week later.

TLDR: Final score 4.0/5 (with caveats).

PROS:

Best image quality avaliable:

  • Amazing resolution, very sharp, finally able to discern things in the distance and notice a new world of details hidden before. In Alyx it’s like i could see a new layer of detail in EVERYTHING. The gloves are a world apart. The pistol have so many details engraved on it. Breathtaking and mesmerizing ! Our limiting factor is, once gain, GPU power.
  • Local dimming with multiple options to select (currently on highlight), 80% of an OLED screen. Elite Dangerous is a blast.
  • Very good vertical FOV (102 here) and acceptable PICO4 horizontal FOV (100).
  • Very bright and colors have almost OLED saturation, a joy to play colorfull games like Pistol Whip etc.
  • 120hz and 90hz working just fine. Our limiting factor is, once gain, GPU power.
  • Very good lenses, with new options in the future (with caveats)

Best sound avaliable (with caveats):

  • Index like hovering speakers !
  • VERY HIGH volume ! Very good quality.
  • Mic quality is awesome, everyone notices and praise it.

Confort, ergonomy, usability and quality of life:

  • The HMD is heavy (just like the 8KX) but with much better fit, no problems for big heads and longer sessions, very confortable. (with caveats)
  • The tension dial on the back works just fine and help secure it on our face
  • Top strap is very confortable
  • The DP breakout box is very well made and the cable is VERY secured.
  • Optical cable is light, very long and works just fine
  • Lots of USB ports on the HMD
  • Comes with 2 batteries and one ā€œhousingā€ to charge it (with caveats)
  • Batteries are QC 3.0 compatible and charge fast while on a compatible charger (i use an Orico USB 3.2 hub with a extra power port and works wonders, charge it very fast, never switched batteries again so far). (with caveats)
  • Lots of facial covers, currently using the large ā€œforeheadedā€ one.

Software:

  • Pihome/tool/play much better than in the past. Software is in constant evolution. Currently using 1.14.04.01 version.
  • As always, a plethora of options to choose. I’ve managed to solve the controllers not working in several games just by selection ā€œuse index like thumbsticksā€ or ā€œuse digital as analogā€ etc.
  • Installed and worked on the first try.
  • When you open the software they capture the audio settings you left and when you close it, Windows revert it to the original devices.

Controllers in the package (with caveats):

  • Decent ā€œQuest likeā€ controllers with onboard batteries and USB-C charger.
  • Just shake it to awake.
  • Finger sensors on all buttons

Now, after all that heartwarming description, comes the…

CONS:

About the visuals and it’s ā€œutilitiesā€:

  • VERY GPU demanding. Strictly 4090 territory.
  • Didn’t test Motion smoothing
  • Fixed Foveat Rendering is hit or miss, not a really con per se.
  • In my unit, the IPD is stuck in 72 in the PiHome. Even after setting it to 69 and clicking settings, the motor ā€œhummsā€ but nothing happens. I don’t know if the lenses are moving but the software isn’t reporting the new position, but the feeling is that my IPD is wrong. Hopefully with the new firmware it can be solved ! (lets hope for the best)
  • Local dimming is not perfect and depends of the application/game, not really a con, it’s all a compromise.
  • Eye Tracking, DFR and IPD/auto IPD not avaliable. Makes me wonder if the image quality will be even higher even these work.

About the lenses:

  • Althought the lenses are very good and the sweetspot very large (losing only to Panquake lenses), there’s severe chromatic aberration when moving away from the sweetspot, but is a cost benefit (compromise/consequence) of these lenses.
  • Just like the chromatic aberration, barrel distortion becomes evident when out of the sweetspot.
  • Still have to test the other lenses, (lets hope for the best).
  • The on package fabric to clean the lesnes could be a bit bigger than a thumbnail LOL.

About sound:

  • Depending of the volume, the speaker can rattle.
  • The onboard DAC and the headset have independent volume levels, becoming a litle confusing.
  • Sometimes i can perceive a latency/delay in the sound, specially gunshots.

About the Software:

  • Lots of ill translated labels and options everywhere causes confusion (like the IPD settings that actually should be renamed to APPLY)
  • The Device settings is detached from the main Pihome screen, making 2 screens to ā€œalt tabā€ during the use. This could be only one window.
  • Settings options that require SteamVR restart SHOULD BE INFORM when selecting them, not only describing it in the setting label.
  • More suggestions that really a con per se. Easy to fix and reach ā€œproductionā€ levels.

About the controllers:

  • Feel a bit frail to be honest
  • The grip buttons are weak and i constant drop grabed things in game. Have to focus in squeezing the buttons which is not ideal
  • The tracking is average, the occlusion problems when near the HMD/face or when you tilt the bottoms up of the controller (like when you want to see the FpsVR screen), doing this will make the controller drift again endlessly.
  • Lots of compatibility problems in games, but have options in the software to mitigate, not a con per se.

About usability and quality of life:

  • The baterries are VERY HARD to insert/remove and fit, both in the HMD and in the charger. Seems like i’m going to break it.
  • As i said before, not usable IPD, DFR or E.T in the HMD. IPD is a basal/organic feature, much needed !!
  • Coming from the PICO4, the Crystal is a BOULDER LOL. Big and heavy, suscetible to position drift, but with the benefit of weight distribution.
  • The on package charger works ok, increases the play time noticeably, but feels flimsy and struggle to charge the battery WHILE using the Crystal. My Orico can easily do this, but it’s another cable to hang.
  • Buttons placement ! How thought it would be a good idea to place power button MILIMETERS away from the volume ones ? Althought to properly enable/disable poweron/shutdown you must press and hold the button, so it’s more an inconvenience than a proper con. But this can be enhanced !
  • Still waiting access to the Beta, but no response so far @PimaxQuorra .

All things considered, a rocky solid 4/5 score with the possibility to reach 4.5 if the missing features are delivered ! A step above latter interactions from Pimax, for sure.

Bravo Pimax !

I apologize for any grammar and spelling errors and a hello to my fellow Pimaxians (@Heliosurge , @PimaxQuorra, @risa2000 etc)

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Also depends on what they mean by wifi 6e is ready. Technically it’s ready for use with the standalone mode, but it can’t be used with pcvr streaming, which is what most people are actually wanting it for.

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Thank you @er_garry & @Douglaster
If you could though maybe add hmd & Controller Firmware versions please. Awesome reviews thanks for sharing!

:beers::sunglasses::+1::sparkles:

I have added a copy of your reviews on:

Please feel free to join if you have not already and give feedback and if your interested in helping Organize Special Help Topics etc…

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You know. I’ve been thinking more about the stand-alone/wireless thing a bit more now that I’ve seen more reviews etc.

Most reviewers as admitting that the headset is a bit bulky, heavy and a bit awkward and prone to instability during movement.
One guy retrofitted his own custom solution on the Crystal to try to stabilize it a bit more.

Then it got me thinking… If I want to be ā€˜on the move’ un-tethered’ in some wireless mode really getting in to the action and physically moving around… Is this thing really gonna be able to stay on my head well enough from the get go out of box?

OR. Am I gonna have to be EXTRA careful and even possibly retrofit some extra stability mod for it?

Hmm…

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HMD firmware: V1.3.0_au0807 and controllers: 0.8.22

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Same here :slightly_smiling_face:

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Thank you both. Will add this detail on xrtropolis.one

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For me it’s not any worse than headsets like the pico 4 or quest pro in terms of stability while moving around quickly. I did add third party face gasket and a top strap but I had to do that on the pico and quest pro as well.

Thanks for the feedback.

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A lengthy review, but as always, a valuable one! :star_struck:

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I actually liked it, not least because it was lengthy; or as I would rather put it, thorough and detailed… :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

It is a pity that the Crystal is super expensive. For $500-700 I might give it a shot (after having tried it at a Trymytech partner to be sure I donā€˜t get the disturbing convergence issue again which I have with the 8KX and which also marred my experience with the Crystal hands on at the road show last year).

If Pimax release a Crystal PC without all the stand-alone, wireless & eye-tracking stuff (expendable as it doesnā€˜t work properly anyhow), I might look into it.

But a 12K with properly functioning eye-tracking & DFR would be much better, but that seems to be some 1-2 years from a Pimax launch, probably translating into 2-4 years from a properly functioning 12K. Who knows what the competition will have put out there in 3,4 years.

But if Pimax take the Crystal and look at what’s working well, which honestly mainly seems to be the display/lens combo, and reduce the rest as much as possible, it might work. And perhaps that would also be the better recipe for the 12K, and work towards their dreamy 12K jack of all trades version from there.

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I’m not monitoring the recent evaluation program, and my role is limited to the initial beta group. Therefore, you’ll need to await the public release. The positive aspect is that the public release is anticipated to be just around the corner, as our software team is actively engaged in debugging.

There is one thing you can attempt with the controllers:

Press and hold the π button for 9-10 seconds, later you will see a flashing red LED and feel a vibration. This action will reset the tracking.

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You were able to demo the ET? If so was it on the SteamVR or pimax openxr runtime? Mbucchia said the ET was generally working better than on his Varjo save iirc a crashing issue every now abd again. If pimax’s Tobii needs the extra onboard processing maybe the xr1 or another cheaper than xr2 arm chip could be used without having the wireless options.

crystal arrived yesterday. HMD firmware: V1.3.0_au0807. pimax play 1.14.04.01 90hz works fine but 120hz flashing so much, i cant use it. . maybe i got bad unit or is this firmware problem ? help , thx