Few words about the Rift-S after testing Pimax5K+, Index and Reverb

[chiliwili69]

As you can read in other post I made in this forum about the Rift-S, I was really upset about the specs of the Rift-S:

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/49868-specs-summary-rift-s-index-pimax5k-and-reverb/

 

That´s why the Rift-S never entered in my consideration and went directly to test and try the top devices like Pimax5K+, Index and Reverb and comment my personal impressions about them in other posts in this forum.

 

Well, yesterday I had the chance to test the Rift-S for half hour at my work to visualize a petrochemicals plant with x8AA filtering.

 

I honestly have to say that the Rift-S is not as bad as I thought. After trying other headsets.

 

What I liked:

- The weight is really light, I would say very similar to the Reverb

- The halo fixing is extremely comfortable (at least for half hour), no pressure at the face skin, no leak of light. Quite surprised about that. It is better than Index for my face and head which is a normal head and face (I think).

- The sweet spot is larger than the Reverb. On the edges there were some minor chromatic aberration but really small, much less than in the Reverb.

 

What I didn't like:

- The FOV is similar to Reverb, so much less than in Index, and much much less than Pimax5K+. But I was already expecting this.

 

It is really a pity that the Rift-S didn´t put higher resolution panels. They have lost a big portion of the sim market (flight, race, space) in favour of other higher res headsets.

 

Overall I think that the Rift-S is still a good option considering its price (with includes controllers and no need basestations) or if you are going to play other non sim games (many other games don´t need a high res, beat saber, pirate trainer, etc).

 

It is just great! that we (users) have plenty of options to choose in the VR headsets market.

 

Edited October 25, 2019 by chiliwili69

[dburne]

Rift S is a great kit in what you get for the price. I have more hours than I care to think about now in my Rift S, using it daily since late May.

It is very adjustable for getting the best image clarity in being able to move the headset fore and aft with the slider button. 

While it is very much a plug and play device, one needs to spend a little time with it in adjusting for best fit with the Halo and distance from eyes to get the best experience. Once dialed in, it is superb for sure and no more faffing about. I care most about how it looks and performs, more so than numbers on a paper.

And yes it is very comfortable, I have used it several hours in a day with no issue.

Tracking is superb.

 

However as I have stated before, it does have a couple of what I consider to be strong weaknesses.

1: Audio Strap. For me it is crap, I care about good audio and Oculus , or rather Lenovo I suspect, really missed the boat on this one with the Rift S. Luckily for me I actually prefer earbuds, and thankfully they included an audio jack on the Rift S. Guess they foresaw audio being an issue. So I have great audio with my earbuds. Headphones will be great also, though then one has to deal with having them over the Halo mount of the Rift S.

 

2:  Mic is bad, at least mine is. Constant dropouts at inopportune times. I purchased an inexpensive desktop USB mic to solve that one. There have been several complaints over on the Oculus forums on this issue. Don't think they are all like this, but certainly reports of it  to be concerning.

 

As far as current headsets, Rift S offers the best "bang for the buck" of any out there. Reverb seems to be most popular among flight sim enthusiasts, especially for those that only use VR for flight or racing sims. I have considered grabbing one to have in addition, but then I keep reading of others that continue to have what I consider to be substantial issues with them. And I am just not so sure Reverb would be enough of a jump in image clarity for me to warrant buying one. Still undecided on this though. 

 

As a footnote, it is not always about the resolution of the panels themselves. For instance Quest has higher resolution panels than Rift S. I have both devices, and Quest certainly does not look any better in image department than my Rift S, in fact I would say it is not as good.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 25, 2019 by dburne

[1PL-Banzai-1Esk]

Nice Chili. We read a lot of criticism from you in relation to Rift S and you were right in many aspects but it's nice to read now that you are willing to admit it's not all bad.

 

It takes a man to admit a 'mistake' or change his opinion based on new facts or experiences.

[WIS-Redcoat]

If you read anything I have said on the matter concerning this new series of headsets, I have advocated any price sensitive buyer to seriously consider it.  I have heard from a great many people that it punches well above its weight class and the price is quite low.

 

 

Edited October 25, 2019 by WIS-Redcoat

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

It is indeed very comfortable. I got to test it as well, I have a unit here right now. It's probably the best bang for your buck out there.