I’ve had hands-on experience for just under a month now, and the experience I’ve had has been pretty streamlined. The Pimax Crystal is pretty unbeatable in terms of resolution. It’s probably one of the clearest VR experiences I’ve had to date.
Coming from the Valve Index and Quest 2, I had mediocre expectations when I bought it. I was originally worried about having software and compatibility issues during setup, but it only took a few minutes of setup to plug all the cables in and run the software to get everything working. It seems like they have definitely improved the software, as I was hesitant to buy it coming from all the negative reviews at that part. The headset also works perfectly fine on Windows 11, and I have not encountered any issues.
I did encounter a couple issues on my first. Notably, severe stuttering and audio latency. After a couple settings changes in the App, everything was smooth sailing. Note, this was not a performance issue, as my specs are high-end, with a 13700K and 4070TI and 96GB of ram.
One thing to note, it did take me a fair while to figure out that you have to calibrate the eye trackers before you can use them accurately, as I was having numerous issues with the module until I calibrated it.
As for the 6DOF tracking, it’s alright. It’s not the greatest tracking in the world, but it’s certainly not the worst. I lost tracking quite a bit when playing beat saber. Optionally, you can use the lighthouse cover (not included) along with base stations for tracking, which is what I did instead. I have also had issues where my play area would go through the roof for no reason, so I would have to keep recalibrating it. This issue was no longer present when using base stations.
The final part is comfort. This headset is pretty heavy, but that isn’t my issue with it. As the weight is pretty well-balanced for my head, I found myself barely ever noticing it. The issue is the back of the headset. As the battery is there, I’ve found the back of my head hurts after very long sessions (6-7 hours) due to the shape and pressure on that area. It would be fine if it was able to sit a bit lower at the back, but this isn’t possible. It can be uncomfortable at times and is the main annoyance I have with the headset.
4.0 out of 5 stars Very good high-end VR experience
I’m a DCS player, running a 3080, i9 + 64GB of RAM upgrading from reverb G2 to this.
The setup, install etc was straight forward, and youtube & their official site has loads of tutorials, guides etc.
The visuals are undoubtably superior, even without using OpenXR toolkit sharpening tools, the FOV and clarity is excellent out of the box (identical DCS game settings as the G2), which was really impressive as I never thought I would be able to have such clarity without upgrading my GPU again.
Installing the Dynamic foveated rendering using Quadviews, PimaxXR was also straightforward, with again a lot of guides online on how to do this, including the Pimax site itself, which is really refreshing seeing a company embrace 3rd party applications to their products.
Setting up the eye tracking however was a little more awkward, simply because for me the connectivity would drop out, resulting in the eye tracking just stopping, and with no way to restart without removing the headset (which is tough to do mid flight during a multiplayer session).
However to their credit since its all USB & display port connections you have alternatives, so when I plugged into my own powered hub the eye tracking seemed to be a lot more reliable and after playing around with Quadview settings have boosted my average FPS from the 40s (low alt + urban areas + AH-64) to around 60+ fps, never dropping below 50fps.
Its a little odd that it requires a battery but to be fair you get a spare + external charger, and at full charge you’ll get a good ~4hr playtime, and again if you need longer you can source a solution yourself via a direct USB C port on the headset + fast charge USB charger and you’ve got a near constant power source.
My biggest issue however is the audio which out of the box is awful little nubs that don’t even reach your ears. It may be fine for a casual user but for a flight simmer like myself the audio is an important part of the experience and I found it to be so bad I removed them so I can ONLY JUST make space for my own headset to fit over the top.
Again, not perfect and you can resolve the problem with either buying the improved headphones or source it yourself using your own headset, but its a little disappointing for such a premium product it has some sub par features.
The deprecation of WMR and the overall age of my G2 certainly sped up my decision to upgrade, that combined with Pimax being open and willing to accept feedback (both to me directly, and via various forums & communities), firmware updates and embrace 3rd party software makes me really optimistic for the future of my headset.
Overall I’m very happy with my purchase but it is one that does require a little patience, trial & error and concessions to really make the most of it.
I was sceptical at first about purchasing the pimax crystal. It isnt cheap and there are a lot of decent headsets out there. I watched a few videos and decided to take the plunge. I upgraded from a HP Reverb G2 v2. And wuest 3.
Setting up is really easy. There is a quick instruction video which will guide you through the set up step by step. I would advise people to watch the video.
I had it set up really quickly. And i have to say i was blown away with the visual quality. I have a really good PC and was running really high system settings with other headsets. You do have to turn settings down for the crystal. But the quality of the visuals allows you to and its still way better than the hp and quest 3.
It is expensive but i see it as a long term investment for my gaming. My 4090 was expensive but i wouldnt have anything less now.
Now for the bad bits.
Only thing id say is the eye tracking tells you where to out your headset after you put it on. Thats fine. But of you lift it up for a few seconds you have to go through all that again. So maybe not a bad thing but can get a little annoying.
You do have to know what you are doing. It isnt exactly plug and play but it isnt difficult to set up.
If you have a decent set up and play a lot of vr games. Then id say go for it. You wont regret it.
The Pimax Crystal was a replacement for the HP G2. I have been so
pleased with the step up in visual clarity and performance. Everything
is so much clearer in flight simulator now. The sound quality is
excellent and the headset is really simple to set-up and to use. It
connected first time through the display port. The battery is not an
issue as it lasts for longer than most of my flights. I have been
impressed with the increased FoV and the headsets responsiveness with
settings maxed out. I would thoroughly recommend if you are looking to
upgrade from a lower spec headset.
The process of buying was quick easy and simple. The headset has stunning visuals in MSFS 2020 and sound quality is good too. Easy to setup and get working. Support from Pimax has been first class. Thoroughly recommend for anyone interested in VR gaming.
I also purchased the DMAS speakers. They have added more immersion. The quality of the sound is fantastic. Would highly recommend these as an additional purchase. Easy to fit onto the headset.
Not experienced any issues with quality or setup. It looks well made and after a weekend of use it’s been performing well for me. The setup was straightforward for me at least. I didn’t have any issues that I’d heard about. I think they have put a lot of effort in to improving the software lately. The support via discord has been amazing! I raised one question about purchasing via Amazon and had two of their support team message me directly answering my questions. The support team even went out of their way to follow up after purchase to check how I had got on with the unit. The screen quality is amazing and blows my old vive headset out of the water.
Great for MS Flight Simulator or DCS or flight sim enthusiast best on the market.. I upgraded from a
HP g2 Reverb and what a difference the Pimax crystal makes both in terms of clarity and performance .. G2 was good but Pimax crystal is excellent.. Make sure you understand the technicals and config though. Great intuitive configuration software well supported this.. you might have to buy extra accessories I am just adding the DMAS speakers make sure these are in the package. But not a problem if not as they are internal speakers that do the job for flight simOverall absolutely outstanding VR system headset cannot recommend highly enough…Bes
The headset for me almost worked straight out of the box and with first setup of the Pimax software. I did have an issue where I had three screen plugged in when I first set it up, and it won’t work with three screens, reduced it to two and then it connected fine without any issues. The three screen issue I believe is an Nvidia limitation rather than Pimax’s. Connected fine and gave great visual clarity. It does have some chromatic abberation, and I have experienced some connection issues, but overall when working this is an excellent headset with the low latency and the high clarity expected with a headset being used over a DisplayPort cable and with the high resolution. I have never had to change the battery, as my sessions aren’t over a few hours at a time. The controllers are the basic standard which is now accepted with them being a close comparison to Quest 2 controllers. Pimax support has been good, and any tickets youi raise will be responded to within a day or two. With the price having dropped this is now an excellent choice, especially for racing or flight sims
4.0 out of 5 stars Great headset when up and running, excellent clarity - 4 stars see review for info
The Pimax Crystal is an amazing HMD with crystal clarity that I have never seen before, I’ve been using VR since 2015 tried nearly every headset from the GearVR to the Quest 3, the crystal took my breath away with it’s clarity and sound quality, but it is more than that, its the customer service, Pimax has improved in leaps and bounds in customer service and I am happy to be a Pimax customer and use the amazing tech. looking forward to the future of VR.
Having used VR headsets for a while now I have been blown away by the amazing visuals of this headset, not only that but the built in speakers aren’t bad either all in all I have to say this is the best HMD on the market and well worth the money
I have wanted this product for a while now but had been waiting a bit longer to see more reviews. When I saw the sale on at Christmas time I thought I would jump and get it, when it arrived I was like a kid at Christmas and it didn’t disappoint!!
The graphics on these vr headset are unreal and like most reviews have said the size of the headset would make you think they would be uncomfortable but there not. You really do forget they are there sometimes.
You won’t be disappointed in them, I was nervous at first to spend that much on vr headset but I’m so glad I did now.
Such a great product!!!
Coming from a HP Reverb G2 (rev2) this is definately is a clear night and Day upgrade in clarity and size of sweet spot. Due to it not using windows mixed reality, also performance is right on par with G2 even given the large uplift in pixels, so if your system can run HP reverb comfortably, I’d say it will cope with the Pimax.
Firstly I was sceptical about this headset and I expected to have to return it based on a lot of reviews online, my previous headset was a Varjo Aero so I had pretty high expectations.
Well I have been blown away by the pimax crystal! Sure it’s a bit bulky and heavy but I’m actually finding it pretty comfortable and the visuals are so amazing that you forget about the weight pretty quickly when you are so immersed in the games!
Vertical fov is a huge upgrade over the aero as are the optional dmas off ear headphones.
Set up was also easy and so far the crystal has worked faultlessly every time I’ve put it on.
So if you have been put off by other reviews I would say just try it for yourself, I don’t think you will be disappointed.
I’ve had hands-on experience for just under a month now, and the experience I’ve had has been pretty streamlined. The Pimax Crystal is pretty unbeatable in terms of resolution. It’s probably one of the clearest VR experiences I’ve had to date.
Coming from the Valve Index and Quest 2, I had mediocre expectations when I bought it. I was originally worried about having software and compatibility issues during setup, but it only took a few minutes of setup to plug all the cables in and run the software to get everything working. It seems like they have definitely improved the software, as I was hesitant to buy it coming from all the negative reviews at that part. The headset also works perfectly fine on Windows 11, and I have not encountered any issues.
I did encounter a couple issues on my first. Notably, severe stuttering and audio latency. After a couple settings changes in the App, everything was smooth sailing. Note, this was not a performance issue, as my specs are high-end, with a 13700K and 4070TI and 96GB of ram.
One thing to note, it did take me a fair while to figure out that you have to calibrate the eye trackers before you can use them accurately, as I was having numerous issues with the module until I calibrated it.
As for the 6DOF tracking, it’s alright. It’s not the greatest tracking in the world, but it’s certainly not the worst. I lost tracking quite a bit when playing beat saber. Optionally, you can use the lighthouse cover (not included) along with base stations for tracking, which is what I did instead. I have also had issues where my play area would go through the roof for no reason, so I would have to keep recalibrating it. This issue was no longer present when using base stations.
The final part is comfort. This headset is pretty heavy, but that isn’t my issue with it. As the weight is pretty well-balanced for my head, I found myself barely ever noticing it. The issue is the back of the headset. As the battery is there, I’ve found the back of my head hurts after very long sessions (6-7 hours) due to the shape and pressure on that area. It would be fine if it was able to sit a bit lower at the back, but this isn’t possible. It can be uncomfortable at times and is the main annoyance I have with the headset.
I’m a DCS player, running a 3080, i9 + 64GB of RAM upgrading from reverb G2 to this.
The setup, install etc was straight forward, and youtube & their official site has loads of tutorials, guides etc.
The visuals are undoubtably superior, even without using OpenXR toolkit sharpening tools, the FOV and clarity is excellent out of the box (identical DCS game settings as the G2), which was really impressive as I never thought I would be able to have such clarity without upgrading my GPU again.
Installing the Dynamic foveated rendering using Quadviews, PimaxXR was also straightforward, with again a lot of guides online on how to do this, including the Pimax site itself, which is really refreshing seeing a company embrace 3rd party applications to their products.
Setting up the eye tracking however was a little more awkward, simply because for me the connectivity would drop out, resulting in the eye tracking just stopping, and with no way to restart without removing the headset (which is tough to do mid flight during a multiplayer session).
However to their credit since its all USB & display port connections you have alternatives, so when I plugged into my own powered hub the eye tracking seemed to be a lot more reliable and after playing around with Quadview settings have boosted my average FPS from the 40s (low alt + urban areas + AH-64) to around 60+ fps, never dropping below 50fps.
Its a little odd that it requires a battery but to be fair you get a spare + external charger, and at full charge you’ll get a good ~4hr playtime, and again if you need longer you can source a solution yourself via a direct USB C port on the headset + fast charge USB charger and you’ve got a near constant power source.
My biggest issue however is the audio which out of the box is awful little nubs that don’t even reach your ears. It may be fine for a casual user but for a flight simmer like myself the audio is an important part of the experience and I found it to be so bad I removed them so I can ONLY JUST make space for my own headset to fit over the top.
Again, not perfect and you can resolve the problem with either buying the improved headphones or source it yourself using your own headset, but its a little disappointing for such a premium product it has some sub par features.
The deprecation of WMR and the overall age of my G2 certainly sped up my decision to upgrade, that combined with Pimax being open and willing to accept feedback (both to me directly, and via various forums & communities), firmware updates and embrace 3rd party software makes me really optimistic for the future of my headset.
Overall I’m very happy with my purchase but it is one that does require a little patience, trial & error and concessions to really make the most of it.
Setting up is really easy. There is a quick instruction video which will guide you through the set up step by step. I would advise people to watch the video.
I had it set up really quickly. And i have to say i was blown away with the visual quality. I have a really good PC and was running really high system settings with other headsets. You do have to turn settings down for the crystal. But the quality of the visuals allows you to and its still way better than the hp and quest 3.
It is expensive but i see it as a long term investment for my gaming. My 4090 was expensive but i wouldnt have anything less now.
Now for the bad bits.
Only thing id say is the eye tracking tells you where to out your headset after you put it on. Thats fine. But of you lift it up for a few seconds you have to go through all that again. So maybe not a bad thing but can get a little annoying.
You do have to know what you are doing. It isnt exactly plug and play but it isnt difficult to set up.
If you have a decent set up and play a lot of vr games. Then id say go for it. You wont regret it.
The Pimax Crystal was a replacement for the HP G2. I have been so
pleased with the step up in visual clarity and performance. Everything
is so much clearer in flight simulator now. The sound quality is
excellent and the headset is really simple to set-up and to use. It
connected first time through the display port. The battery is not an
issue as it lasts for longer than most of my flights. I have been
impressed with the increased FoV and the headsets responsiveness with
settings maxed out. I would thoroughly recommend if you are looking to
upgrade from a lower spec headset.
The process of buying was quick easy and simple. The headset has stunning visuals in MSFS 2020 and sound quality is good too. Easy to setup and get working. Support from Pimax has been first class. Thoroughly recommend for anyone interested in VR gaming.
I also purchased the DMAS speakers. They have added more immersion. The quality of the sound is fantastic. Would highly recommend these as an additional purchase. Easy to fit onto the headset.
Not experienced any issues with quality or setup. It looks well made and after a weekend of use it’s been performing well for me. The setup was straightforward for me at least. I didn’t have any issues that I’d heard about. I think they have put a lot of effort in to improving the software lately. The support via discord has been amazing! I raised one question about purchasing via Amazon and had two of their support team message me directly answering my questions. The support team even went out of their way to follow up after purchase to check how I had got on with the unit. The screen quality is amazing and blows my old vive headset out of the water.
Great for MS Flight Simulator or DCS or flight sim enthusiast best on the market.. I upgraded from a
HP g2 Reverb and what a difference the Pimax crystal makes both in terms of clarity and performance .. G2 was good but Pimax crystal is excellent.. Make sure you understand the technicals and config though. Great intuitive configuration software well supported this.. you might have to buy extra accessories I am just adding the DMAS speakers make sure these are in the package. But not a problem if not as they are internal speakers that do the job for flight simOverall absolutely outstanding VR system headset cannot recommend highly enough…Bes
The headset for me almost worked straight out of the box and with first setup of the Pimax software. I did have an issue where I had three screen plugged in when I first set it up, and it won’t work with three screens, reduced it to two and then it connected fine without any issues. The three screen issue I believe is an Nvidia limitation rather than Pimax’s. Connected fine and gave great visual clarity. It does have some chromatic abberation, and I have experienced some connection issues, but overall when working this is an excellent headset with the low latency and the high clarity expected with a headset being used over a DisplayPort cable and with the high resolution. I have never had to change the battery, as my sessions aren’t over a few hours at a time. The controllers are the basic standard which is now accepted with them being a close comparison to Quest 2 controllers. Pimax support has been good, and any tickets youi raise will be responded to within a day or two. With the price having dropped this is now an excellent choice, especially for racing or flight sims
The Pimax Crystal is an amazing HMD with crystal clarity that I have never seen before, I’ve been using VR since 2015 tried nearly every headset from the GearVR to the Quest 3, the crystal took my breath away with it’s clarity and sound quality, but it is more than that, its the customer service, Pimax has improved in leaps and bounds in customer service and I am happy to be a Pimax customer and use the amazing tech. looking forward to the future of VR.
Having used VR headsets for a while now I have been blown away by the amazing visuals of this headset, not only that but the built in speakers aren’t bad either all in all I have to say this is the best HMD on the market and well worth the money
I have wanted this product for a while now but had been waiting a bit longer to see more reviews. When I saw the sale on at Christmas time I thought I would jump and get it, when it arrived I was like a kid at Christmas and it didn’t disappoint!!
The graphics on these vr headset are unreal and like most reviews have said the size of the headset would make you think they would be uncomfortable but there not. You really do forget they are there sometimes.
You won’t be disappointed in them, I was nervous at first to spend that much on vr headset but I’m so glad I did now.
Such a great product!!!
Coming from a HP Reverb G2 (rev2) this is definately is a clear night and Day upgrade in clarity and size of sweet spot. Due to it not using windows mixed reality, also performance is right on par with G2 even given the large uplift in pixels, so if your system can run HP reverb comfortably, I’d say it will cope with the Pimax.
Well I have been blown away by the pimax crystal! Sure it’s a bit bulky and heavy but I’m actually finding it pretty comfortable and the visuals are so amazing that you forget about the weight pretty quickly when you are so immersed in the games!
Vertical fov is a huge upgrade over the aero as are the optional dmas off ear headphones.
Set up was also easy and so far the crystal has worked faultlessly every time I’ve put it on.
So if you have been put off by other reviews I would say just try it for yourself, I don’t think you will be disappointed.