Quick comparison of Rift S, Pimax Artisan, Valve Index

[Alonzo]

Some of you might have followed my adventures in VR recently, scattered among various threads here, as I search for the perfect headset for IL2. Spoiler: I don't think there is a perfect headset (yet). I have 3 headsets in the house currently, the Rift S, Pimax Artisan and Valve Index. Here's a short version of their pros and cons, and some possible thoughts and recommendations. Something that I didn't really spend much thinking time on before using the 3 headsets is the importance of headset-face-eyeballs compatibility. It sounds obvious, but I like to think I'm a smart guy and I didn't pay it enough heed, so I think it's worth saying: before getting a VR headset, measure your IPD and seriously listen to people who make IPD-related comments for the headset you are considering.

 

• Oculus Rift S is my "go to" recommendation for someone new to VR, and this recommendation hasn't changed even after trying newer headsets. It's a decent headset, good clarity and sweet spot if you have IPD in the range of 62-66mm (Rift S has fixed IPD at 64mm, the human average IPD). Rift S doesn't have the most pixels in the world, and the audio is pretty crappy, but it's only $400 and will work with a wide variety of PC hardware. The software is good, comfort is good.
• Pimax Artisan has lots of potential but you should not consider a Pimax unless you have larger-than-average IPD, at least 64mm and probably best in the range 66-72mm IPD. The real reason to get a Pimax is to get into the world of wide-FOV headsets. Artisan has a 131 degree horizontal FOV and it makes a big difference for a flight sim. But my IPD is 62.8mm and I can't get the lenses close enough together for full edge-to-edge clarity. Pimax claims their adjustment goes down to 60mm and has a software adjustment on top, but it's just not true. Unfortunately, Pimax is very much a start up company, and it shows in the quality of their manufacturing, software, and communications. Only buy a Pimax if you are (seriously!) willing to tinker to get the headset right for you. The Pimax software has improved a lot recently and now has good performance, but IL2's support for the headset is iffy. You need the VREM mod to correct the in-game zoom, and things look generally slightly off somehow (hard to explain). I think something about IL2's rendering on the super-wide headsets somehow needs an update. Comfort on a Pimax is poor. Newer headsets are being sold with a "comfort kit" which is basically a new facial interface, and I would say it's 100% required. You also want a rigid head strap, either a modded Vive DAS or the forthcoming "deluxe modular audio strap" from Pimax themselves. On my Artisan, the headset plastic has unfortunately developed hairline cracks. This is basically a problem with all Pimax black-casing headsets. The company claims to have fixed the problem but they clearly have not. Fenris warned me about the Pimax quirks but I decided to gamble anyhow -- for me it has not paid off, but for someone with wide IPD, I think it could be a very good headset.
• Valve Index is likely to become my new daily driver headset. It's well made, very adjustable, I have good clarity, and the comfort is okay (Rift S has better comfort). Audio is frigging amazing, last night I was hearing very realistic audio of planes in a dogfight, much better than anything I've heard previously including via wireless gaming headphones. The FOV is a significant upgrade over the Rift S and will help me a ton when checking six (not as much as the Artisan promises to help, but with my 62.8 IPD I can't get clarity out to the edge of the lens, so the "usable FOV" is very similar for me between Index and Artisan). For screen quality, Artisan and Index are basically equal. They're both a little bit better than the Rift S, which to my mind has more SDE and less pixel fill. The Valve lenses are sharper (for my eyes / 62.8mm IPD) than the Artisan, but they have more glare. Rift S and Artisan have very little glare for me, but in IL2 it doesn't matter since we generally are working with even brightness during daylight ops.

 

If I could get the comfort and the IPD sorted on the Pimax Artisan I would say it's a better headset for flight sims than the Index. It's probably another 10-15 degrees wide each side and really does work well for flying. They've also sorted out their software recently and I find 120hz mode with smart smoothing off to be really responsive. Even when my frame rate dips towards 70 the headset is smooth, the Index and the Rift S just aren't smooth (for me) if you miss the frame rate target. But my eyes are just too close-set for the Artisan.

 

I think the Reverb G2 is going to be a great headset if you've only ever used the Rift (S) and are used to the narrow view. If you're happy with that, the increased resolution is going to be great there. Personally I think combat pilots should not accept such a reduced FOV, but then I know a lot of very lethal pilots using the Rift S and they don't seem to have issues with the horse blinders.

 

The real "wow" headset is either gonna be a hypothetical increased-resolution Valve Index 2 or the Pimax 8KX if you can overlook the Pimax quirks. With the 8KX, SDE is basically gone. You still get some aliasing of lines apparently but it's much better.

 

This whole adventure has been really eye opening as to how personal VR headsets have become. And by personal I don't mean "subjective preference" or valuing one feature over another. I literally mean the physical interface between you and the headset. Having a headset that matches your face and eyes is the number 1 critical factor for headset selection, in my opinion. I think eventually we'll get better adjustability of headsets, or maybe you'll be able to go to a mall and someone at the store will fit you with a headset and a facial interface so rather than one-size-fits-all there will be 3 sizes of plastic facial interface + 3 thicknesses of foam or something.

 

So, for me at least, there is still no perfect IL2 VR headset. I'll keep looking. ?

[dburne]

Nice review thanks for sharing!

I was very tempted by the Index, especially as it runs natively of course in Steam VR. But I just did not want to plop that much money into a headset at this time.

Will be interesting to see what their next device will be.

Have a Reverb G2 on order. Not much looking forward to having to use Windows MR as well as Steam VR, but hopefully it goes smoothly and the clarity blows me away. Will see.

 

For me I will take image clarity over FOV any time. However I would love to have the best of both in one headset that can run decently.

The one thing I most like about my Rift S, is it looks pretty darn good and I can run high GFX settings and still maintain max of 80 fps the majority of the time.

I am hoping the Reverb G2 will be similar, I would hate to have to give up too much of my GFX settings to get good performance. Image clarity is nice but if one has to

reduce graphics much to run it then I don't know.

[Hoots]

Great posts. I keep toying with the idea of trying a different headset to the Rift S but each time I look into it these same issues come up, along with the increased cost of the others obvs. I find the S to be the best of all worlds for me, as dburne says you can have nice high GFX settings in IL2 and also in DCS (but it's more of a balancing act there) and still have a decent performance. I've never used anything other than Occulus so the reduced FOV isn't that noticeable for me but even so I am still amazed by how much I've taken to VR, it really has made a huge difference. I've even used it to keep on top of my instructor patter for gliding during the lockdown using Condor, seems to stick much more easily when you do the exercises at the same time as the words

[C6_lefuneste]

After testing, I moved from a Pimax 5k+ to a Reverb Pro. Personnaly, I prefer resolution to FoV. How to say...I do not feel drawback anymore for the image details in VR, versus standard monitor image.

Of course FoV is smaller, you can see screen border if you take care, but I forget it very soon. It weights few and I find it very confortable. On top of that it's one of the less expensive (if you do not purchase it on HP store). 

Even WMR controller are working for Alyx. Not the best ones, but they do the job.

 

[chiliwili69]

Nice review. Like firsts flat TVs or mobile phones, the current VR devices are still very far for being perfect. But every year we are closer.

The important thing is that current devices already give us a good dose of realism,  enough to inmerse ourselves in the heat of the battle and belive we are "there".