HP Reverb G2 Review - A BEAUTIFUL Nightmare
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- Опубликовано: 28 авг 2024
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IMPORTANT NOTE: I tried everything, 3 different rooms, every lighting setup possible, every trick recommended to me, tracking never got usable. I know how inside out tracking works, and my experience had nothing to do at all with my room environments. Tracking issues on the hardware NOT my environment
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I am curious where VR will be in 20 years. you guys ?
@@tindustries how about 5-8 years from now.
I have the quest 2 with head strep. I use the quest 2 without link but with wifi for pc games and it feels better without cable.
Seems like a great headset, but unfortunately there are too many trade offs with tracking and controller quality. I will just stick to saving up for an Index. Thanks for the review! :)
@@omarhernandez-oo9nx I think that they will definitely be lighter
the g2 is the index killer in australia, it is because everyone who was waiting for the index to be available here just gave up and bought a G2 instead
unfortunately, for TURKEY too. Valve index is unavailable and sellers sell it from 12.000TL HAHAHA :(((((
Not just in Australia,in many other countries too. People outside of first tier countries,including only US and European union countries,are expecting to pay a premium double or triple price for this "Made in USA", Louis&vuitton headset...errr if you have hard time to justify that, just think about Index as LV in VR:)
Yep fellow Aussie here and that is what I did. Didn't want to risk importing the index, returns could have been a pain and it's so expensive for GST, import duties and shipping!
Yup, me too...
Same here in south-africa, couple that with best in class visuals, headphones.
This happens with 1.2v batteries on Samsung Odyssey controllers too. Switched to 1.6v batteries and the tracking became absolutely flawless, I can imagine the G2 would benefit the same way. WMR Controller tracking is heavily based on the battery life and quality for some reason.
Yup, its been stated many times to use 1.5v batteries with the HP controllers.
i seem to be an anomoly, i use 1.2v batteries and usually my tracking is perfect. one of these days i really should try 1.5v and see if i can get an even better experience.
I can't believe you just said that! I found that exact thing. I was looking for good rechargables, and came acriss these with a great MAH but a bit highter voltage? I couldn't find any info about it causing harm, so bought them. AND WHAT FRIGGIN DIFFERENCE IN RELIABILITY AND FUNCTIONALITY,. To put it like an Artist,. I could tell the controllers were HAPPIER... When I sold the Odyssey to get an Index, I sent the double sets of batteries and the charger so they would be one step ahead of the game! ;)
Bought 1.6v batteries for mine, god awful tracking, still. To top it off, I bought base stations and Index controllers that worked fantastically, and just last night the headset stopped working entirely. Im trying a usb pcie expansion card tomorrow, if that doesn't work HP can have their piece of shit back. Nothing but problems for 80% of it's users.
@@Heliosaurus mines been flawless, its a pre-order. rma it.
I used to hate light bleed until I realized how much having a vent there helped me cool down significantly
My headsets rgb water cooled... ya scrub
I don't have a problem with lightbleed because a.) I can choose not to see it, and it allows me to peek out if I tilt my head up and b.) I suspect that it is in big part why I've never had any fog issues inside the headset.
Nice to be able to peek at your phone too
i personally find the light bleed by ones nose is beneficial if one were to get light headed or needed to readjust their footing
The air gap around the nose prevents lens fogging for some people.
Just turn down the microphone gain and it sounds good. Its just set to high by default.
Thank you it wokeed
Worked
Great thing I found (Thanks to MRTV) - you dont need any dongles if you already have a steamvr HMD! If you disconnect the displayport and leave everything else on the steamvr headset hooked up, you can use it to connect your controllers! :D
Thank you for the in-depth review. Back when it was announced I was really looking forward to this headset. You brought up some very important points that I feel that some youtubers missed (or avoided on purpose?) that unfortunately means I would fall into the nightmare category!
Just got mine today and played Half Life Alyx for 2 hours with no problems. I respect your opinion but I'm convinced that your device was faulty. Please don't take this the wrong way but often times the solution is the simplest. Are you sure your room is brightly lit? I had to install two (yes, 2) bulbs in the ceiling light fixture to ensure there was no hiccup.
PS. HP Reverb G2 picture is friggin amazing!
Most of these tracking issues were completely resolved for me with my Odyssey + WMR controllers by switching to constant voltage 1.5v rechargeable batteries. I feel like if you had tried this necessary step to getting the most out of WMR your review would have been a lot better.
are there any rechargable batteries you can recommend?
It's not necessary though, it's optional. And they should be judged by the base experience first. Hopefully people can Frankenquest it to decency, but that's another video.
1.6 from amazon
@Thurman Merman What other headset has the visual clarity of the G2 though? Trade offs man. WMR tracking works well enough once you get it ironed out, its not HP's fault that Oculus patented their own technology.
@@NWGJulian I'm not sure how to link on here but search Amazon for "Tenavolt 1.5 constant voltage". There may be better options by now but those have worked excellently for me.
Kudos for being objective, and I strongly hope HP manage to solve the issue because if this glitch can be solved the rest of the specs are great!!
that shit tier mic is a big nope for me, after using the mic from an index there's no way I can go back to something of lower quality for VR, for my normal flat screen gaming I only care for passable, but for VR, gotta be Index quality or it's a waste of money.
@@person1860 ruclips.net/video/mhaQlEYXbkA/видео.html
It was still a bit too loud there (what i heard 50% volume should be the max you should use), but it sounds not that bad at all (specially compared to the Quest 2 in that video). It should fixable per software update.
@@person1860 it seems you just have to lower the gain to 30% to get the mic to work perfectly fine
@@matsim0 interesting, hopefully they push out a better fix though.
Hp reverb g2 + valve knuckle controllers sounds like the best combo
I'm considering. Onward is unplayable. Was as well day 1 with the rift S but after they fixed it with the update it was night and day.
If you are going to use valve index controller then maybe just go one more step and get a Pimax 8K X which has even higher resolution.
(By far the only two games that doesn't work on that headset at all is, Rez Infinite Area X, which might be a quirk of older version of Unreal Engine 4, and Obduction, which seems to be reportedly not working on anything rather than Oculus or Vive. Both are pretty old games at this point, though.)
@@FlameRat_YehLon With as much crap as I've gone through with PiMax as a company, I hesitate to recommend any of their products, even to the most avid tinkers. I will never recommend any of their products to people new to VR. That's an easy way to make someone never want VR again. Their software is super user unfriendly, how each game will work is a crapshoot because of their parallel projection requirement, their customer service is abysmal, and I'm just now getting my backer box after 3 years of waiting (backed November 2017).
Until they fix a ton of stuff, I will not recommend them. Are they getting better? Yes, but they set a really low bar to begin with, and still have a long ways to go. I hope someday that I'll be able to recommend them in good conscience, but today is not that day.
@@herpaderpy888 This actually sounds like the reverse of Tencent, which is a Chinese company that is better received outside China, for the crap they used to do in China. Pimax, AFAIK started as doing oversea business first, but at this point I can say they are at least acceptable in China.
Sure, it's kinda a nightmare for non tech geek to set up (basically nothing is automatic and their documents are all in crappy English, if there's any), but it could be less of an issue in China because they do offer live chat support here. Hopefully that will apply to oversea markets as well, but that probably takes some more time.
Compatibility issue doesn't seem quite as severe, though. They do have parallel projection compatibility as an option (and Valve Index headset uses canted projection as well and few complained), and I haven't seen any game that, with proper setting, would render incorrectly. It's more likely they would straight up crashing and that seems more like an Unreal Engine bug.
Anyway, I am also speaking of my own experience, as someone who brought 8K X and it only took 2 days to arrive at me. I live in China so also keep that in mind. My experience isn't bad (as I said, at least acceptable) and I'd say getting through the hassles setting it up properly worth it (for we likely won't see anything that can be an upgrade to that for quite some while, that is, not until any 6K headset showing up). Can't speak for others.
@@FlameRat_YehLon Oh yeah, when everything is set up and working well they're fantastic, which is why I still own them. The main issue is that is anything is wrong with them here in the US, is still a 2 month affair to even get cables replaced, let alone if something is wrong with the headset itself, and that's with a dedicated US portion of the company. When you bring it to the UK, that's just going to get worse.
My specific headset is one of the early ones that has cracks in all the corners, but I never bothered to ship it back because of that. I'm just waiting for my bumper as that will fix the minimal light bleed issue from that.
The software is dramatically improved from what it was a year ago with per-app profiles. That is the biggest change that is wonderful. Before that I had folders upon folders with screenshots of the ideal profiles for each app. PiMax is definitely headed in the right direction, I just wish it was either faster at getting there or already there.
Great review. It sounds like most of the major issues could be fixed with firmware. It would be nice to see this headset become a bit more competitive.
How is this comment 2 hours old?
@@SulphurKnight patreon my dude
Anecdotally I've been using the G2 for a couple days now and besides during initial setup the tracking has been great in everything I've tried, including Pavlov. I do have button mapping problems in a number of things but the controllers have been as good as the Quest and Quest 2 for me. The headset itself has been great, although I find it slightly uncomfortable because of the narrowness and horizontal rigidity of the face gasket. Overall it's my favorite headset so far (have owned dk's, OG vive, vive pro (both with lens mods), index, pimax 5k+, and the quests) in almost every way.
@shreddaddy1 I had that setup, it was my favorite until G2, which I feel has similar clarity and obviously higher res. I did think the OG Vive benefitted more than the Vive Pro from the lens mod for some reason, not sure why. I hated the Index optics. I did like the Vive Pro tank-like build.
I think you definitely have a faulty unit, I've seen multiple people (in the Reverb G2 discord so not reviewers) be perfectly fine tracking, even in competitive ways in Pavlov & Zero Caliber.
Mine isn't as good as oculus tracking but it is definitely usable. He should set up the valve index controllers to see if those work for him
Thing is, I've seen multiple reports of tracking being bad, so I think he has a faulty headset.but I also think the headset just has bad tracking
@@dylan_sss_ You're not wrong. It's most of the time ehh and sometimes pretty bad
@@LegacyLoot I have had the G2 for two days, this video is much much worse then my tracking. I CAN lose tracking if hold my controllers below waist level and centered but in a normal arms down posture I still have tracking and have never lost tracking holding guns, beatsaber etc.. Think he defiantly has a faulty camera in his visor or something,
@@pinball16 yeah ya know, I was just playing the new star wars game last night on my quest 2 and I may have to rethink a bit. The tracking on the G2 is about the same AS LONG as you stay inside the slightly narrower field of view. My hands were spazzing tf out in the quest 2 last night everytime they went towards my waist
Thanks for the informative and honest video. I tested my new Reverb g2 yesterday night and had a tough time setting it up. Here are some additional issues to what you mentioned. After Google and download of Mixed reality Steam app, I still had trouble accessing my Steam games as it always defaulted me to the WMR lobby rather than Steam lobby. Then while playing No Man's Sky which was like playing inside a PS4 game, it was so clear and crisp, this is after coming from a Cosmos Elite, which is also good looking but not even comparable to Reverb's visuals. Anyway, the screen turned black and would not turn back on even though there was still sound and I could hear the character moving. This was very problematic as I couldn't turn the system off to reset. The problem persisted and I unplugged it only to find it no longer turned on. After getting frustrated and stopping, I went to RUclips the next morning and found that others had similar issues and seemingly there was an easy fix, never put the volume past 90%. I dropped the volume to 65% just to make sure and sure enough it worked only to discover another problem which was that the major pieces to the HMD are held together by magnets including the cable that powers the display a la Macs. That cable tends to get pulled when the headset is jostled and if it is moved slightly, you can lose power to the headset. I did a workaround by giving the cable a little more slack and that seemed to work. After figuring out all that.... I had a few great sessions with the HP Reverb G2. I'm not a competitive MP gamer and most games I play aren't heavily dependent on tracking so this headset is great for me. After going back to my Cosmos Elite and seeing the huge visual difference (more blurry, less FOV) it was like going back to PS3 after playing PS5. The visual difference was so great that I literally became a better player in SW Squadrons because I could see farther and with more clarity. I do wish this launch was smoother and that there were less issues, black screen was the most frustrating thing I've encountered since XBox 360 ring of death. I do hope they continue to work on it and maybe even create alternatives for controllers. I hope this long description helps someone out who may go through similar issues with the G2 so that they don't have to be as frustrated. For those who don't have it, you may want to wait, I really only bought this so I could play MSFS in VR.
I had similar issues with my Lenovo explorer when they first came out. I discovered mine was a light issue, so turning on lights helped and rolled up my projector screen also.
Here's the thing, you might have had a bad experience with the tracking of the controllers, yet there are multiple videos that have been put up by MRTV showcasing the tracking live in which the tracking performed to a level most people would consider satisfactory, or at the very least significantly better than what you've shown in this review.
The way I see it there are 3 possibilities as to what's going on here:
1. You have received a faulty unit (have you contacted HP about a potential replacement?)
2. You haven't tried everything to get the tracking into optimal conditions (have you tried different batteries for example?)
3. MRTV has somehow fabricated his live videos and tricked us into believing the Reverb G2 controllers are better than what they are, for some unknown reason.
Somehow I'm leaning toward one of the first two options. I'm not saying the tracking is perfect, but it is demonstratively better than what you've shown here.
I’ve messaged him to do a live debate but his 3 streams are riddled with issues and it was tailored. It is a terrible way to review and be called a “professional reviewer”
@@EricForPresident How on earth could he fabricate things like this? Anyway, Not even first gen WMR had issues like you did. As long as you were within the sight of the cameras (as anemic as it was) the tracking was fine. I highly suggest you double check it with HP and get a warranty replacement. Just to be sure.
Thank you for not sugar coating the tracking. I've seen a lot of hype on how it's usable, but my experience with the G1 Reverb left me very sceptical.
My new favorite VR channel! All the other channels labor on too much without really saying much. Some of them don't really play games that I'm interested in (VR Chat or something?). I am more of a sim guy so your opinion is a good representation of how I play.
Thanks for calling it like it is
Seems under appreciated doesn’t it :p
@@EricForPresident for sure. People like hype or hate and get annoyed when you stay in the gray
I like gray :)
A real straight up, honest review. Many thanks.
I just ordered mine yesterday for flying DCS world. (Hand controllers therefor won't be an issue as i use a hotas).
This will be my 1st VR headset and so i have nothing to compare with. That makes input from reviews like this one extremely useful. many thanks.
got the g2 coming soon..although tracking sounds dissapointing im still excited. can always just use my quest 2 for shooters/fitness games and g2 for sims and genral vr stuff
keep me updated on what headset you use most, im not sure which one to buy
I've got the quest, quest 2, and G2. The tracking is not as good as the quest tracking, but I think there's something wrong with his setup. My tracking starts sucking when the controllers go up too high or too low, to the sides is occasionally janky but much better. Going up high is not a big deal for me but the too low area can be annoying sometimes. Occlusion of controllers while aiming rifles is tracked pretty well and aiming bows is better than quest. He also blows the complication of playing steamvr games outta the atmosphere lol! It's a 2 minute google and install and playing oculus games takes about 5 minutes to setup. I can try out some more games and let you know. Onward was very playable, lone echo worked great, Skyrim worked fine as well. If you want me to test some others, I will if I have them
Edit: handling pistols and stuff takes some getting used to because the big rings. Also the oculus link is much more infuriating to work than wmr so take that what it's worth, I think he's being over dramatic there. The sweet spot is small but might be because I have 70mm ipd :( it's also insanely comfortable and has great audio.
I did videos about the lighting conditions that might help you, most said the tracking was okay, it could just be a lighting set up or room set up if there too many objects in it
Just got my G2 and my experience was MUCH better then shown here, think maybe he has a defective camera or something is seriously wrong.
Reading that controllers need 1.5v aa batteries, most rechargeable o es are 1.2v so maybe try disposable batteries or higher v rechargables?
Well my G2 has not arrived yet, but i will not cancel it because on the "Tracking" part ive seen Reviews all over the place. From many saying its really good to many saying if its out of sight or to close there are little problems but not to bad and some say its very terrible. I want to test it myself and if it is not working i simply return it 😎✌
I will do that too. There are no options for me2. Fuck Facebook and Index is too expensive. There is NO other option for me right now. Sadly but true.
Index controllers and basestations + G2 = Happy times ;)
yeah but it's impossible to connect the G2 to a PC because HP is a terrible company
@@quistador7 what? its literally a pc vr headset lmao
@@Frickolas yeah and the majority of the gen 1 headsets they sent out had broken cables. go look on the forums HP is being real quiet about it, but they have major issues with the cable. It wont recognize USB 3.0 and no matter what you do it will just say "please use USB 3.0" BIOS update, firmware update, driver updates, nothing works, it's a broken cable. HP is aware and sending out an updated cable but good fucking luck getting one they are sold out until june/july
What is it with the Tracking? Ive seen many Livestreams from G2 Users having no Prob with Tracking, others have a little bit Problem when out of sight but nothing to bad. And then i see people like you who have big Problems with Tracking 🤔
WMR is really inconsistent with the controllers and it's not just lighting.
I had a Lenovo Explorer, tracking worked pretty much as good as WMR could and I was happy with it for the time. Sold it to a friend and he literally could never get the controllers to work properly, the tracking was a joke for him.
As far as I could tell, it was because of the bluetooth connection to the controllers. Samsung Odyssey+ addressed this by adding a bluetooth adapter into the headset itself, making the tracking much more reliable.
If HP didn't do that then that might be the issue.
Think it depends on the person as well. I absolutely hate camera tracking and for me even tracking that is considered really good sucks imo compared to the lighthouse tracking I’m used too
@@HeadsetHistorian G2 has Bluetooth from the headset so it's not that.
@@ions7581 Thanks for clearing that up.
Sad but I guess we just wait for next year to see how the DecaGear holds up to its own hype. It's still a good time to be a VR Enthusiast, cheers !
I would have paid 800 if they added 2 cams on top and 2 on the bottom to fix all the issues come on hp this is the no compromise hmd.
And 1 in the upper back. A wide angle lens
And capacitive touch controllers
Yeah I think this is the crux of the problem with the G2, their display is best in class but everything else is kind of cheap. They were being too greedy trying to target both the low end and high end market and they're going to end up losing both (too many deal breakers for high end users, still too expensive for low end users). They would have been way more successful if they bumped the price up another $200-$300 to compete with the Index on all fronts and dominate the high end market.
@@seph13x agreed the no compromise hmd loll noooo
Good review, Eric! And yeah maybe your headset is faulty, maybe there's one camera simply not working.
Thank you for your honest review. That'll probably be the last time you get a freebie from HP. I encourage you to do a video with your findings on the base stations and knuckles controllers combined with the g2.
Toss this in the video description somewhere and RUclips will add the bookmarks for you:
Intro - 00:00
Review - 01:58
Must See Concerns: 06:15
Weird.
Most reviews I've looked at put the tracking somewhere in middle with the competition. Not unusable. Gotta be a broken unit.
He for sure has a broken unit, i had 2 WMR headsets already, and I can shoot pretty good with them and never had problems like that. Guess the G2 just needs many updates.
And they just had two cameras, so really weird. xD
If the $300 quest has better tracking, it's an absolute fail regardless if it's "in the middle"
yes, just look at the other reviews. no where near this level of "unplayable" very much so playable. I've watched someone on discord with the G2 play Pavlov just like how iremember playing the rift s. NO ISSUES WHATSOEVER!
@@jakkudemoff3043 If it rivals the quest in tracking, I'd call that a success.
I got the G2 for playing IL2 flight sim, so don't care about tracking, I think it will be amazing.
Lukemac i have a question i do have il2 but not true steam do i need to install this game again with steam ?
@@JaVAPicard Hi If you install steam you can link IL2 to the steam library.
Thanks for the review. Please keep us updated with integrating the index controllers. That’s what I plan to do if there is a workable solution.
The tracking is definitely not perfect, but I'm still able to speed through HL Alyx on the hard difficulty and it's comfortable and fun. The tracking is accurate for me until my hands go outside the view of the cameras, which could be better, and occlusion is meh, but I can still use the pistol with laser sight and consistently shoot head crabs with either hand, or grip the pistol with both hands. If you're unable to do the same (and we all know you're a Pavlov mega-pro), I'm willing to bet you have a faulty headset.
Interesting, have you tried using riffles on Pavlov and onward?
If you have trouble using riffle, that would be big bummer for the G2
@@assassinhidblade5147 I have Samsung Odyssey+, you cannot get the ironsight/scope super close to your eyes, it loses tracking. with the high resolution of the G2, you might not need to do that afterall. Other than that, nothing I could think of.
@@assassinhidblade5147 I just did some thorough testing in Pavlov. It runs AMAZING, even with super-sampling cranked, much better than some more resource-demanding games, and the incredible distance you can see might be a fair trade-off for the mediocre tracking. Rifles, shotguns, and SMGs were all usable with two hands. Not as perfect as Index controllers due to the occlusion, which can glitch a bit if held extremely close to your face, but definitely usable, I didn't find it game-breaking. The G2 tracking tends to suck when you lower your hands, if the controllers are even a tiny bit below your viewing window, the X-axis flakes out... but in a game like Pavlov, your gun hands are in front of you if you're aiming, so that never really becomes an issue. Ultimately, like Eric said, probably not the best choice for competitive gamers who demand precision, but it *does* work in my opinion and I did not find it frustrating or cumbersome at all.
@@julianmazzola Thanks for the insight! That's a bummer, half life is playable but yeah Pavlov and onward are problem and those are the game I played a lot with my quest 2!
Hopefully, in a year or two, they will make the tracking better. More competition in the VR space is better in my opinion
@@assassinhidblade5147 rifles work perfectly for me in onward. handguns not so much. you get occlusion two handing pistols, but if you turn your second hand awkwardly that can be avoided. but its awkward. and thats the thumbstick i use to walk so it makes it hard to walk straight when the controller is at an awkward angle. but two handed rifles work fine. occlusion is fine. you cannot hold them too close to your face or they get stuck though. that is the biggest flaw in the tracking inho, i dont mind losing tracking when a controller is behind my back etc, but not being able to ads properly is annoying. it not too bad though, just takes a bit of mental adjustment to hold the gun a few centimeters further away than you would prefer, it really does make using scopes difficult though, mainly in games like onward or h3vr with realistic bahaving scopes. they are a bit easier in pavlov.
Bitter sweet. I was hoping to hear better reviews for it as I just ordered this headset AND an Nvidia RTX 3070. However, my only goal is to have this for DCS, so in the end it works for me. But I was hoping to buy a second one for my media room so the kids can play Beat Saber and those games, for which this obviously will not work. Guess they'll have to stick with the Vive OG headset from 2 or 3 years ago. Which, by the way, still works great! Hopefully HP will just discount some base station tracking stations for owners of the Reverb G2.
Great video and thanks for the honest review.
Were you playing with the lights on?
I had an Odyssey plus and I could play expert+ beat saber easy.
same here. my G2 arrives today and i highly doubt it could be worse than my Odyssey+. actually, i just got done playing Beat Saber lol
tracking isnt all that bad honestly. it does lose tracking with your arms down though, but the gyroscope does a really good job at keeping position and it pops back into tracking extremely fast. i have no issues with Beat Saber. unfortunately, i have to send it back. after an hour or so, the G2 gets hot to the touch on the outsides and then the lenses/screens starting shutting down and powering back up. this unit has an overheating screen issue
Cheers Eric. Brilliant honest review. Sim Racing for me so was a no brainer. still a touch disappointing but with my poor FPS skills it may stop me attempting to play them.
That controller tracking part is so weird. I never had anything that bad with my Samsung Odyssey Plus. Thinking maybe one of your headset cameras might be dead if it's freaking out that badly regularly.
my thought too when he tried out the second controller, but it should not be like that, if you experience of buying a vr headset is that something is broken for recieving it, you are most likely not gonna use that company again.
when they forwarded a new controller they should've asked for the whole headset package back and send him a new one, check the headset he had, find the issue and make sure that it isnt a flaw on any other headsets they are forwarding to customers.
his experience is actually making me think about cancelling my order, since i don't want to deal with a company that dosnt forward top tier customer service, especially when it's a company that should be able to afford top tier customer service.
i know he said he wasnt gonna compare, but when it comes to customer service on these headsets, and warranty, that is almost as important, if not more, than the rest of the stuff, all in all it is an expensive hardware ment for entertainment.
i know vive and valve dosnt hold back on shipping new headsets if there is a faulty one, and they do check up on the issue to make sure it's not something that is implemented in the majority of their product.
the worst(and best) advertisement for any headset is the user experience, so if all vr players in games come to know the reverb g2 as the headset with that awfull mic sound and the unusable tracking, then no one will buy it after launch, dosnt matter if it's high resolution then, no one wants that expensive paper weight when they invested in a vr experience.
4-camera Windows Mixed Reality is a new device and will quickly be improved with SOFTWARE. Software issue, not hardware issue. Those reviewers judging G2 and "if you like tracking G2 is not for you" makes me totally sick. Stupid people, simply. Such people who don't understand software and hardware should not make reviews. Do not but it everf, because tracking is not perfect from day 1... stuuupid!!
@@user-cw3nb8rc9e i see where you are coming from, and my gen 1 lenovo explorer wmr has far better tracking than demonstrated in this vid. although still far from perfect it is very usable. but, that being said. you should not release an unfinished product. if, as you say, its software and can be fixed, it should have been tested and fixed before release. even so, i will still probably be upgrading to one of these, once the bugs have been ironed out. i can wait :)
I agree, must be a bad camera, mine if far more responsive. Don't lose tracking unless I try to.
I think it's his overlit room...
Wow- how could you? Ive been watching your content for like a year and just now found out you had a cat, how dare you hide this from us? lol
Eric is probably the only youtuber with a cat not constantly forcing his bloody cat on us. One more reason why Eric is to be *the President* , and not a mere menial.
@@HarleyAssi i dont particularly like cat people. but a cat owning youtuber that as you say does not force the bloody thing on us i can respect.
Soon as you cut to the mic footage it sounds like you're farting while talking haha, excellent vid! Thanks a ton for posting this and taking the time.
Bought one, returned 2 days later. Sweet spot the size of a half dollar, all text outside that are very blurry. Rift S more consistent in clarity across the screen. Vibration on controllers is loud and feels cheap not good at all. Bit of pressure point on my temple's not to bad but Rift S much more comfort. The cable is thick and very grippy so will pull on you. When you first start up a lot of ghosting effects until it heats up, and screen door until it warms up. 10 mins or so then gone. If you want to surf the web you can not scroll with the controllers. You will have to use a mouse as well. Wanna type in search bar, your gonna need to lift up headset and use physical keyboard. Tried playing Pavlov you can not use 2 hands on weapons. Right hand will grip but left hand does not grip the weapon. So I'm guessing custom mapping is needed. Have heard this is the case on many other games. Cant hit anything with only 1 hand on a machinegun. God rays are very noticeable on the G2 V2, my Rift S never really noticed them. I purchased on sale for 499 but still not worth that. maybe $350. In games the sweet spot is not as bad, you really don't see it much but, on anything else you can only read 2 words and then left and right of those 2 words are blurry and the next ones very blurry. I wanted to love this but I'm going back to Rift S. Controllers hit when reloading weapons. I really believe the Rift S or Quest 2 are much better at software, easy of use, you can just play and even the screens have much bigger sweet spot. I think if you are sim racing its a great choice the sweet spot not as bad. Sim flying your gonna have to turn your head a lot to see the gauges clearly. I'd wait. The only thing it has going for it is sound and the very small sweet spot. Just my experience. Imma keep my rift s until something better comes along.
Feel for you in this review. Some issues though have since been highlighted by HP in there guides so should help people in the future but hopefully some software fixes will come out to make there VR experience better. I feel the tracking you had isn't normal, but yes tracking volumes are reduced on this headset compared to other brands. I have a G2 and I'm using this for simming but I have absolutely no issues using other games - you just adapt like raising you hands slightly when lowering your weapon, it's no big deal but what I saw on your video tells me you either had poor environment conditions, low batteries or faulting controllers I.e. it should be better than that.
I'm really looking forward to my G2 but I'm not a competitive player at all though. For me it's very weard that some don't have problems and some have massive problems. I think HP will work on that problem to get it fixed. So far I know the Oculus tracking was also not that good at the beginning but after some updates it got really good.
Beware, they don't have sensors over the touch buttons (game over)
@@harpoon_bakery162 I know. I don't have a problem with that. My playstation move controllers don't have that as well. I can't miss what I didn't have before :-) The G2 will be my first PCVR headset.
@@harpoon_bakery162 Been playing with a mouse and keyboard for 20 years. No haptic, and dont want it.
@@klubstompers in vr its a totally different story.
@@reportteemo4690 Maybe for you it is, but i find the fake feedback, well.... fake. Dont need vibrators in my hands to have a good time. :D
I just received the G2 yesterday which I bought primarily for simming. That said I was disappointed at how poor the tracking is. I’m a casual Onward player and found the tracking unusable. Just holding the controllers in front of me for the usual aiming posture resulted in the right (closest) controller losing tracking consistently. It made Onward unplayable despite the otherwise breathtaking visuals. I hope this is something amenable to a software fix and that the folks at HP put some immediate and serious attention into this.
yeah, thats been my one complaint with my lenovo eplorer over the years too. i love onward, but holding the controller too close to the face it gets stuck. quite annoying. just pulling it away and back again generally fixes it though, you just have to learn to hold it a few centimeters further away than what feels naturaly. perfectly acceptable for a cheap gen 1 wmr device. i was overall very happy with the headset considering the very cheap price at the time and superior visuals to most of the competiion with 1440x1440 per eye, lcd rgb subpixels etc. but i can certainly understand your frustration when you paid for a premium device. rather an expensive premium device too at that.
@@socks2441 Thanks. I should have added that unlike Eric, I will be using the headset as my daily driver because the image is just amazing. I’ve had the rift s and index, and a pimax 8k, and the reverb beats them all in terms of image fidelity. I’m using a gun stock for Onward so the right controller isn’t too close but I still get lots of tracking glitches. My issues aren’t anywhere near as bad as Eric’s, but it sure could be better.
When I think how far VR has come since 2016 I’m amazed. The future will be incredible. Cheers!
I am so glad i waited. I nearly pre-ordered this but then thought the Quest 2 was a more sensible choice as it is still very solid using PC VR and it does it wirelessly at 90hz. It really seems to me HP need a kick where the sun doesn't shine. They focussed too much on resolution and the display, they went onto forget the fundamentals. I have zero issues with the excellent Quest 2 display now, especially since the all important v23 update and link update. Ok, it may not be the BEST VR headset out there but its definetly the most diverse.
I've got a Quest 2 with a PC Link cable and wanted to try the G2 just to see where it goes. But after I saw this Video, I think I'm gonna wait and safe the money.. thanks dude!
9:58 That looks absolutely frustrating.
Lol yup. For me and you
should send your unit back, its defective. not even close to my experience with the G2 so far,
We were on the verge of greatness. We were this close
I'm enjoying my G2 much more than my Index. I am using knuckles with my G2 now but I used it for a week with the G2 controllers and the tracking was perfectly acceptable for virtually all use cases. It certainly isn't on par with lighthouse but still decent.
Thanks for the honest review. I hope the issues get resolved. I'm waiting for my unit to arrive and can't wait until MSFS2020 adds VR. Until then I'll suffer through the best XP11 experience I've ever seen. I've wished flight sims would provide good motion controller support but I haven't found one that does.
No corporate overlords watching and listening at all times is a huge plus.👌
One of the main reasons why I sold my Rift S and pre ordered this.
Hope that tracking gets sorted in a major update down the line. Although I'm a sim racer so yippee ki yay!
@@bhante1345 The tracking for the original Quest at launch was kinda bad but they fixed it through many updates so hopefully it will become better with time! I have a yoke for MS Flight Sim so I’ll probably use that most of the time
I've never seen a VR headset with this many apologists for it.
It’s insane.
Because it has HP & M$ behind it. It's an apologist-blitz. No haptic sensors over the buttons? what millennium do they think we live in or what millennium are they living in over at HP R&D ?????? OMG LOMWOOTS (Laughing on my way out of the store)
@@harpoon_bakery162 it is the buyer remorse phase...
@@TTROPVNR anyone with buyers remorse has had months to cancel already.
Totally accurate. I still can't believe how cheap the controllers are. Pulling my right trigger physically moves the right joystick. And the tracking is ridiculous, honestly it's only good for immersion sims that don't require controllers or tracking. Luckily I already have the quest two for fps games. And to be fair I am keeping the g2 only because I mainly play elite dangerous and its perfect for that game cuz it is by far the best display. But if I had to have just one headset it wouldn't be the g2.
Very good and smart disclaimer... don’t worry I appreciated it
Thank you for this video. If you have the same issue with two different right controllers and that the left one is working properly. I would say there is a problem with the right side camera of your headset. Hp should have replaced the headset and not the controller. I know that WMR hasn't the best tracking but I'm sure it could not be that bad.
Thanks for the review of the HP G2 VR headset Eric. Question on the Mixed reality for STEAM. Does using this mess up the windows desktop when entering and exiting the games? Heard another review that talks about this a little. I do SIM racing games so the VR headset should be great for me. My PC is and I7 and GPU is a GTX-1080p and specs say it should work in high RES, what do you think?
Again thanks for the review and take care.
The more VR reviews I watch the more it becomes apparent that inside out tracking VR isn’t ready for consumers. Maybe in a couple more years I can finally try out VR gaming.
Welp just cancelled my pre-order, Appreciate the review. You are not the only youtuber so far that has mentioned just how bad the tracking is. This is the dealbreaker for me. I mainly play beat saber and just seeing how bad the controllers are tracked outside of your view is going to make playing beat saber an awful experience. Guess I'm gonna stick with my Quest 2 for the time being.
Hell ya I'll get mine faster
He had an exceptionally bad experience. It's fully functional for most people. Some say its extremely close to Oculus tracking except slightly lower tracking volume.
I really hope firmware updates help, iv committed to the headset but still want immersive tracking 😫
I want to get it for Formula 1 , Dirt and Microsoft Flight sim. I guess it will be a good fit. Thanks for your review.
I so love your honesty reviews. Fair but no punches pulled is the way it should be. I had the same experience with the original HP Reverb (at a trade show) and I just couldn't see how anyone would accept that sub par tracking. I so feel sorry for HP. Their biggest mistake was to go down the WMR route, which had tried their hands in terms of the tracking tech. Let's hope the G3 strengthens their partnership with Valve and goes fully SteamVR (yes even if it requires lighthouses, although by then I'd hope Valve had their own inside out solution out)
We need an Oculus killer. Hopefully, with some fixes, this headset can be it
Sad to say that the Cosmos suffered a similar fate. Something with many promises, but unfortunately, first impressions are everything. For me, bad tracking is indeed a deal breaker, and well, like it or hate it, Oculus does have the best inside out tracking at the moment.
@@TayoEXE Ye but we talk about Microsoft and maybe if Hp punch them in the A.. they work on the Tracking because im sure they can. But who knows.
Is it competing with the quest 2 though? Because I don't think so.
They're made for different things and g2 is double the price.
It's not going to be it for wireless but it is for PC VR. Unless you need capacitive sensors or want perfect tracking. (Obviously the tracking was terrible in this review but it's not in the mrtv stream so who knows, I will only be sure when I try it and make my own opinion)
You can't kill oculus if you don't get near their prices and functionalities, like, the oculus quest 2 for 300$ standalone with hand tracking and near 2k per eye screens and consider that in 1 month minimum, you won't need a fb account to use it (+ wired or wireless pcvr)
I am SIM player and Visuals is everything, however, I need the controllers to select the instruments in the plane.. Sure hope they get the tracking fixed.. Thanks for the review.
Hp " no compromise headset"
Microsoft " shitty controllers it is then"
Hey Bud, are you sure you didn't have issues because you were recording? I can't record assetto corsa competizione or it'll completly lag and stuff I can only play without recording to OBS)...did you switch off your other programs in the service area? did you have tons of other stuff opened at the time of your recordings/testing? Did you try to change the batteries in the controllers? Did you try to re-install everything and do a factory rest? Seems most RUclipsrs who have been doing videos have had no or very little issues with the tracking...Was there a software update for some other programs running at the same time or anti virus things happening? Did you ensure to maximise your Nvdia Card setting? Different headsets maybe more sensitive to different conditions, I believe Index is a little different to tracking as it uses Base stations. MRVT Posted a 1 hour+ long tracking video and he was in very low light had no issues, as VR Sim Guy and Cas and Chary all said was more or less fine (just at times Cas said she had a glitch here and there but nothing major). Interesting about the mic though, again most said is okay, so seems you perhaps have a faulty headset?
To start Steam VR with WMR, there is no need to open WMR at all at first. For my O+, I just close any windows that open when I attach/turn on the headset, then I open Steam and finally click on the VR button at the top right of the Steam interface. 9 times out of 10, this will take me into Steam Home with the other 1 out of 10 being the WMR Cliffhouse.
Thanks for the update, I liked the honesty. I am one of those that only play racing games with my G920, and flight sims with my X-56, so I think I fall into the PERFECT VR HEADSET category. As at the time of writing, the headsets are shipping within 24 hours, so I might pull the trigger. Only question is that your video was done 4 months ago, have you noticed any improvements with tracking? I ask because I do want to play HL: Alyx, but not if it's still as bad as you say they are/were. Any updates regarding this? And thanks!
I'm almost certain that eric's tracking issues were caused by a large distance from his bluetooth receiver. all WMR headsets get great tracking if you use a usb extension cable to position the receiver just outside your playspace.
I'll be upgrading from OG Vive + Index knuckles, so this will probably be perfect for me, given the visual leap and the fact I already own the knuckles.
Same here. I resisted as much as possible to purchase index, i just took the knuckles for my OG vive. And finally we have a headset with stunning picture on the market. Finally the time !
Always enjoy your honest review, my G2 should be shipping soon, will be using it mostly for flight sims.
We found the bug that is causing black screens with the G2 and maybe other issues, The speakers draw too many amps causing the screens ether not to work at all or go black when they play deep bass, turn your volume down until it becomes playable 90-95%
Thanks for the honest review! Its too soon for me to tell how many of these issues are hardware vs software related. I enjoy sims mostly, so I shouldn't be too bothered by the tracking. It is a shame though, I feel like it could have been the perfect median for all pcvr users. Fingers crossed there will be updates that resolve some of these issues.
controller tracking gets significantly better if you use a usb extension cable to get your bluetooth receiver closer to your play space. I wish HP would have done what samsung did with the odyssey and put a receiver in the headset itself.
That tracking looked familiar to my Samsung Odyssey's tracking. Some times it works good enough for sure and other times it's completely unusable and the tracking has a will of its own. Maybe it has something to do with the sunlight coming from outside even when I have closed the curtains or maybe the batteries. Who knows. Fortunately I'm mostly a sim guy. If you upgrade from another WMR headset and are used to the occasional tracking hiccups, G2 is probably a very decent upgrade.
Yeah, tracking is not very good with the WMR controllers. That's why I paired the Index controllers with mine.
Fair words after all and already get a thumbs up for the good intro.
But it is really a bit strange, what i have heard from other G2 users over the G2 micro did not sound that bad after they lower the volume, only a bit too loud "s" sounds. Also the tracking looks not so bad.
Did you use 1,5v batteries? Did you change the headset to other USB ports? USB Power Saving is off? But i bet you already test this things too.
Yes to everything in your last paragraph. I did everything I could through a lot of frustration because I have to share my thoughts, and did everything in my power to prove it was me making errors, but I just can’t concede I did. This headset just didn’t live up to anything of “no compromises”
@@EricForPresident that's really bad. I hope HP can help to fix that for you.
But yes "no compromises" sounds different. On the other side we knew that the Controllers are far away from "no compromises". Really hope updates can fix the most issues. But maybe not in the next 2 weeks until i get my one.
Nice to see a different perspective. If all I intend to do is offline racing this is still worth it though as mentioned :P
Hi Eric, Just a quick question. Were your Index lighthouse stations on? I was just wondering if the infrared light was messing with the camera tracking on the HP Reverb G2??
I'm really, really hoping it was just your headset and that they will get you a working one. Holding my breath hoping to see another video soon! Cheers and thanks fir the honest content.
Really helpful review, thanks
Says the video is 20 seconds old. Already comments. The love this channel gets is awesome.
Imo the reverb g2 is meant to be a kind of a minimilast index without the need of trackers and with tracking that is better then the g1 windows device
Did you ever watch MRTVs reviews? Tracking does lack with WMR but it should be a lot better than the original headsets with two cameras for sure and I had only some issues here and there with it but not all the time. It's very light and reflection sensitive as well as pairing the controllers correctly to the PC sensitive. I paired it wrong a few times but it still paired and there is a way that when it pairs right it blinks the lights in a solid way like the lights are brighter and if paired wrong it won't be blink brightly it will be more dim. Keep repairing it until it blinks bright. For light in the room make sure there are no direct bulbs without shades over them so the cameras won't pick those up being brighter than the lights on the controllers LEDs.
Tracking wise, how was the lighting in the room you were playing? The G2 works with LED's (I admit not the best idea) on the controller, if you have a bright light around, it will screw up tracking cause the cameras will loose track of those LED's lighting in the play room has to be optimal for playing. there's a lot of little quirks but as you mentioned it's the ultimate visual
having your bluetooth receiver far away from your playspace is also a big factor. I used a usb extension cable to get it like 2 feet closer and it makes a huge difference.
ok that tracking is shocking like wow i was not expecting to see that, well i guess i'll wait some more or save for a Vive then. May be there will be more updates to the G2 by the time im able to get one
Question, When is the closing date of Quest 1 facebook move ?
edit: January 1, 2023. I have some time. I had a horrid feeling it was Jan 2021
It figures there's the issues with the knuckle controllers with the drifting and the breaking and I know thrill seeker also had a problem with g2 tracking as the controller has to be right in front of your face.....seems to me like we've got some good headsets out there but we need better controllers all around
What the heck, and the knuckle buttons don't have haptic feedback, WHA?????? Is this a driver problem? Or an HP total fail?
Apparently the G2 can be set to 60hz by default. There are tracking issues if you don't change it to 90hz
The tracking issues looks like drift from a dirty or old controller from a console game.... anyway to clean without voiding or making unusable. Shipping dust can cause a problem
I heard you can set up the Index Knuckles and lighthouses for the G2. That could provide the best of both worlds
Excellent review bro... I’m using mine whenever it gets to me for sim racing. I hear there are a lot of disappointed people out there. HP tried to be the no compromise headset but unfortunately there are a ton of them.
I have the G2 and I’m coming from the Rift CV1. This is my first inside out tracking and it’s seems pretty good. It’s funny how someone youtubers struggle so much. A few tips I’ve seen is not to have to many bright lights in the room. Pull the shades down if you have sunny windows and use decent batteries.
Hey im thinking of getting the G2 and also coming from a rift cv1. How does the tracking compare? Im coming from a 4 sensor setup. Also is it competitively viable?
Before you put it in the drawer, ship it to me so I can um, uh... Trouble shoot it, Yea that's it! I won't even charge ya
Good review, thanks. I'm a simmer so the controllers for me are a complete afterthought. I'm looking forward to my pre-order arriving :)
Great review, I have heard that the tracking on the controllers weren't the best but one guy blamed that on the Windows tracking software. If that's the case it's possible it could get better if Microsoft decided to get serious about VR. I personally wanted the headset with the best display quality one because I've gotten bored with regular gaming to the point that I've almost lost interest in gaming all together. Another reason is because about 3-4 month's ago I picked up the Unity Engine and then recently about 1 month ago started learning the Unreal Engine and plan on developing games specifically for VR. I seem to find developing more interesting then I do gaming and it's not actually as hard or as expensive as I thought it would be.
tracking on all WMR headsets is great if you have a well lit play space with no large blank surfaces. the issues seen in this video are caused by having a shorter range bluetooth receiver positioned far away from the play space. using a cheap bluetooth dongle and usb extension along with some ingenuity can fix this issue easily.
@@Frickolas Yeah I haven't really had many issues with my tracking and I got pretty poor lighting actually.
To get better tracking the best way is use HTC base stations with HTC controls.
Are you playing in the room you make video's in? Because that overlit white room is ofcourse quite horrendous for tracking software. Especially if you start adding in bright luminescent lighting.
To be fair, my Quest has tracking issues with the right controller. Sometimes it will lose tracking and I have to take the batteries out and put them back in. Sometimes I have to do this several times before it becomes stable
Sounds like the cosmos all over again, good tracking is a must!
13:08 Fair point. I dont play VR for fast paced VR. I guess I will see. Still waiting for my pre order of the HP. I am currently a Rift S user. That tracking goes wonky often.
The sweet spot is not large and extremely uncomfortable, especially if you wear glasses and have a smaller ipd. On the Quest 2 I had the opposite experience and recommend it highly in conjunction with virtual desktop
Hey Eric, do you think it would be wise to buy an Index right now? I have every other headset and really love VR but dam I have so many headsets and fear that if I get it this year for Christmas that in a few months Valve will come out with another headset. What's your though on that?