Pimax Crystal Roadshow Event Berlin +Through-the-lens video!

[-332FG-Gordon200]

I'm not happy with the Crystal I received.

Trying to return it but Pimax isn't responding to my pleas for return shipping label or instructions.

[Panzerlang]

34 minutes ago, -332FG-Gordon200 said:

I'm not happy with the Crystal I received.

Trying to return it but Pimax isn't responding to my pleas for return shipping label or instructions.

What's wrong with it?

[-332FG-Gordon200]

53 minutes ago, Hetzer-JG52 said:

What's wrong with it?

Compared to the Reverb G2 the Crystal is twice as heavy and has little improvement in image clarity and FOV. Light leaks in around face gasket's cut out for glasses. Controllers are small and ill balanced. Batteries are nearly impossible to remove from charger or back of headset because tabs meant to release are too rigid to flex - batteries need to be pried out of position. Pimax software is loaded with bloatware. In IL2 the Crystal crashes immediately after pressing P to begin mission even with Steam SS at 50% and settings on minimum and I have i9 13900k, RTX 4090 and 32Gb DDR5 RAM. FOV of the Reverb in IL2 registers as 92 degrees where Crystal is 94 - not a noticeable difference. Automatic IPD adjustment, stand alone play and additional lenses for increased FOV were not included.

 

In other headsets the in game display appears to wrap around the user where the Crystal is like looking at a flat screen that fades away to left and right. Objects at the edges look to be further away than in reality.

 

I prefer to stay with my trusty Reverb G2 for the comfort and ease of use. The Crystal simply did not win me over.

 

[Panzerlang]

1 hour ago, -332FG-Gordon200 said:

Compared to the Reverb G2 the Crystal is twice as heavy and has little improvement in image clarity and FOV. Light leaks in around face gasket's cut out for glasses. Controllers are small and ill balanced. Batteries are nearly impossible to remove from charger or back of headset because tabs meant to release are too rigid to flex - batteries need to be pried out of position. Pimax software is loaded with bloatware. In IL2 the Crystal crashes immediately after pressing P to begin mission even with Steam SS at 50% and settings on minimum and I have i9 13900k, RTX 4090 and 32Gb DDR5 RAM. FOV of the Reverb in IL2 registers as 92 degrees where Crystal is 94 - not a noticeable difference. Automatic IPD adjustment, stand alone play and additional lenses for increased FOV were not included.

 

In other headsets the in game display appears to wrap around the user where the Crystal is like looking at a flat screen that fades away to left and right. Objects at the edges look to be further away than in reality.

 

I prefer to stay with my trusty Reverb G2 for the comfort and ease of use. The Crystal simply did not win me over.

 

How long have you been trying to contact them for the return? And will you lose $500 on that?

 

[-332FG-Gordon200]

21 minutes ago, Hetzer-JG52 said:

How long have you been trying to contact them for the return? And will you lose $500 on that?

I created a ticket two days ago. Pimax just contacted me saying they will get back to me after the Dragon Boat Festival holiday ends this weekend.

I'm assuming I get full refund. Don't know anything about forfeiture of $500. If that's the case I'll sell it on ebay. Ebay has two listed for sale at $3000 and 3999 that will be delivered mid July. 

[Varibraun]

8 hours ago, -332FG-Gordon200 said:

I prefer to stay with my trusty Reverb G2 for the comfort and ease of use. The Crystal simply did not win me over.

 

I think that now puts the Crystal at 0-2 for trusted users here vs. the YT reviewers.  You also just convinced me to buy a new cable for my G2 (my audio just went out on Wednesday) while I await the arrival of my Crystal.  Which also appears to stuck behind the "Dragon Boat" on its way out of China.

[Dagwoodyt]

9 hours ago, -332FG-Gordon200 said:

... Pimax software is loaded with bloatware...

Please explain. TY

[JG1_Greif]

It looks like foveated rendering has been implemented in OpenXR that the Pimax Crystal can benefit from, leading to some 5 FPS gains on a 50 FPS base in MSFS:

 

 

A 10% FPS gain is very welcome, I'd love to see if it works (as well) in IL2.

[Varibraun]

On 6/21/2023 at 2:21 PM, Varibraun said:

I just reached out to Pimax Support for an update and will post again once shipment is underway to keep everyone aware of my payment to delivery timeline.

 

Shipment now confirmed by FedEx, current timeline:

 

-Reserved: 11 Nov 22

-Full Payment: 7 Jun 23

-Pimax Confirm Shipping Address Email (Pimax states will ship with Glass Lenses): 15 Jun 23

-FedEx Tracking # issued: 26 Jun 23

[Broadway]

After 2 weeks of using the Crystal mainly with IL2 and almost exclusively on line here are my initial thoughts:

not so good 
 

1. battery,  needing one , but given that is known , the other issues with the battery are

•           ease of switching, very tight connection makes it difficult to do quickly , I have noticed after about 30 swaps it is getting a bit looser and my technique better , so this may improve further  
•           Length of play, and notification of switch , getting about 2 to 2.5 hours in on line IL2. Using non hub version of cable, so once this arrives should move to 4 hours, also I read a Powered USB C fast charge will extend even further.  Notification of switch, I don’t see in IL2 via PimaXR , hoping a firmware update will improve this part, as I would like a 10 minute warning 

     2. Comfort not as good as the G2 , but OK , I think bulkier and heavier, does not distract from the game play though 
 

     3. Minor light bleed around gasket , only seen pre game launch, once in game disappears , may be playing with gasket can eliminate altogether
 

Improvements (over G2)

 

1. Sound , noticeably better with the supplied DMAS upgrade (early adopters for free , now USD99) then the G2 . Engine start up and general acoustics all very good 
    
2. Visuals, I was supplied with the glass lenses from the outset,  I have used VR Rock prescriptions lenses on top of these.   Very good, vastly improved clarity, improved spotting,  ID ing contacts , ID ing ground targets ,improved immersion from the clarity, and the far improved colours make the visual impact stunning (which is one of the most important. IMO) 
    
3. FOV , yes improved especially vertically but not dramatic , holding out hope for an improved FOV lense, nice they can be swapped out.  It is Pimax so may never happen so take forever!

 

Other observations 

 

1. Set up,  , straight forward Pimax software installation , and firmware update on HMD, charge batteries , in all less than 1 hour to get up and running.
    
2. Mic , works well , feedback from others via discord good, Voice Attack works as per G2  
    
3. placement of. HMD , took some fiddling, got lots of distortion initially, but once I had it aligned properly than no issues 
    
4. heat , ok but would have liked an fan , 27-30C in first few days I had, no worse than G2 but would have been nice to have some cooling 
    
5. Support, had a windows issue with mic not detected, reached out to Pimax via ticket, resolved in under 3 hours 

 

Performance
 

AMD 5900, 32GB RAM , 4090 ,  PimaxXR 
 

 

I am not one to benchmark , so out of the box onto the rig, and fire up the game, on line server (berloga) for first flight, hitting 90FPS , most settings in game are high .  Switch to CombatBox , flown 20 hours again mainly 90fps, some drops to 65-75.   No stuttering

 

 

Future 

 

I’m hopeful the hub will arrive soon to improve battery life ,

DFR looks interesting.  , and would be nice to see if it improves IL2 (not so hopeful on this as game may not support , and with 4090 I’m reading that gains not as impressive as with older cards)

improved firmware (battery life indication in game)( EDIT , this is in latest beta firmware)

 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2023 by =DW=_Broadway

[Varibraun]

2 hours ago, =DW=_Broadway said:

After 2 weeks of using the Crystal mainly with IL2 and almost exclusively on line here is my initial thoughts:

 

So it sounds like you are keeping your Crystal vs the G2?  I am hoping to be able to weigh in within the next few days, expecting delivery today or tomorrow. 

[Varibraun]

Completed Pimax timeline to east coast USA (paid for expedited shipping):

 

-Reserved: 11 Nov 22

-Full Payment: 7 Jun 23

-Pimax Confirm Shipping Address Email (Pimax states will ship with Glass Lenses): 15 Jun 23

-FedEx Tracking # issued: 26 Jun 23

-FedEx Delivery: 28 June 23

 

So, even with the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, they just made the estimated 2-3 weeks delivery from full payment.  Hopefully, I will be able to give an opinion over the next week.  I will be handicapped by not having prescription lenses yet though so will be testing with glasses which is not ideal (awaiting my new prescription appt next week until I order Pimax inserts).

[Varibraun]

21 hours ago, Varibraun said:

Hopefully, I will be able to give an opinion over the next week.

 

Quick first impression is that I agree with everything @=DW=_Broadway observed above.  I definitely will be keeping it since it is a very nice upgrade from the G2 for me (as well it should be for the price difference).  I had no distortion with the glass lenses, clarity and colors are simply superb (even in my glasses).  So far, performance has been steady 90FPS (OpenXR/13900/4090) in quick missions.  I was concerned about the Pimax software, but I found it easy and had no issues at all in setup.  Weight and size will take some adjustment time compared to the G2, and I will probably buy some additional comfort strapping/padding.

 

On 6/28/2023 at 5:59 AM, =DW=_Broadway said:

I’m hopeful the hub will arrive soon to improve battery life

 

Mine came with the powered hub, and based on what I have observed so far, I don't know that I would EVER have to switch the battery when flying, it seems to maintain a full charge through a couple of hours.  So it is possible that the whole battery concern for wired PCVR has been addressed. 

[chiliwili69]

 

[Charlo-VRde]

I’m still waiting on delivery of my Crystal, which has been postponed for two weeks twice this month.

 

I’ll mention here that in the Pimax Discord it was revealed that their Lighthouse face plate to allow use of Lighthouse base stations and controllers will NOT be compatible with their standalone, Wi-Fi mode whenever that feature is released for the Crystal.

 

That might be a showstopper for others, but not for me since I’m coming from a Reverb G2.

[dburne]

1 hour ago, Charlo-VR said:

I’m still waiting on delivery of my Crystal, which has been postponed for two weeks twice this month.

 

I’ll mention here that in the Pimax Discord it was revealed that their Lighthouse face plate to allow use of Lighthouse base stations and controllers will NOT be compatible with their standalone, Wi-Fi mode whenever that feature is released for the Crystal.

 

That might be a showstopper for others, but not for me since I’m coming from a Reverb G2.

 

Please I mean no offense to you by this - and it is just my observation over the last few years. But as long as consumers keep letting them get away with promising and selling things they can not deliver on, they will just keep on doing it as is evidenced by the Crystal. One would think by now they would have learned.

[Charlo-VRde]

Fair point, @dburne, and I remember being concerned when Varjo established the new higher price tag we are paying for high-end HMDs since they had their success with the Aero.
 

For the Crystal I will be pleasantly surprised if any of the future features are actually released. But for my use case and since I don’t own any base stations, the Crystal as it is now is the best option for me, the upgrade to the G2 I want right now. I’m hoping I get one of the good Crystal headsets that works well.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Charlo-VR

[[CPT]Crunch]

There's a reason why its only PIMAX who continues down the canted display path.

 

https://iliaskapouranis.com/2020/08/13/single-pass-stereo-wrong-depth-cues-discomfort-and-potential-risks/

 

They don't care.  Only certain people will fit these displays, much is dependent on actual physical fit like specific human IPD fit. 

[Varibraun]

On 8/19/2023 at 5:30 PM, Charlo-VR said:

For the Crystal I will be pleasantly surprised if any of the future features are actually released. But for my use case and since I don’t own any base stations, the Crystal as it is now is the best option for me, the upgrade to the G2 I want right now. I’m hoping I get one of the good Crystal headsets that works well.

 

Agreed - I learned my lesson on this with the Aero, which I returned because it didn't have reprojection (I was still using a 2080) or VRNecksafer compatibility when I received it.  I thought I just needed to wait for the next one (Deckard or Crystal) since I was also a little disappointed with the Aero's field of view (especially vertical).  What ended up happening was that reprojection and VRNecksafer were taken care of within a couple of months, but I ended up waiting well over a year to get that next one "just around the corner."  I wish I had kept the clarity of the Aero during that time which only would have gotten better for me when I upgraded to a 4090.

 

From that perspective, I am one who is actually glad that Pimax didn't wait until all of their potential future features are available, because it works for what I purchased it for (monitor level clarity) right NOW so much better than my G2.  Some of those future features are also very close for us in the non-beta software, but I have already been enjoying the clarity for a couple of months. I need to also say that I didn't have any of the distortion or chromatic aberration mentioned in the video above. 

 

But it isn't perfect - it is heavy compared to the G2.  For my face shape (narrow) I needed to add an Apache strap and some back padding with a counter weight and I still can get a little "wobble" at the nose if I turn my head fast (so that is still a work in progress for me, but it is only a minor annoyance).  I hope there will be 3rd party or Pimax mod for this in the future.  I do like the modularity features the headset offers for future upgrades, including the lenses.  (I too opted for the wider FOV 2nd set).

 

Finally, I can comment on Pimax Support.  Since I spent my first few weeks in the Crystal wearing glasses, I didn't notice that one of my Pimax glass lenses had a very small imperfection inside the glass until I received my prescription inserts.  I notified Support via a ticket and after a couple of false starts (they thought I was asking about the wider FOV lenses), they informed me that a new lens is being shipped.  So, even though it took a few weeks, it looks like they are doing the right thing by taking care of me for a small issue.  They were willing to accept the photo I sent them of the lens, which honestly didn't show the issue very well because it was so small.  Their communication was generally good, keeping me informed on a 7-10 basis along the way.  So, I have no complaints in that regard either.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2023 by Varibraun