I think the hype is understandable for a company that seemingly accomplished what everyone wanted but the big companies can't seem to manage. The tiny form factor is a huge deal and the custom fit sounds so great on paper. Many people are quite forgiving of its downsides for the future that seems to promise. But it's a logistical nightmare, especially for a smaller company. Adjustability and a couple of squishy semi universal absorbent inlay choices would probably work out much better for everyone. Do hope they continue the work though and that we'll see more smaller headsets in the near future. Also fingers crossed for the index 2 arriving sometime before the end times.🤞
The only thing I like about it is the micro-OLED, because the last OLED headset before that was the Vive Pro dating back to 2018, as far as I know If I were to purchase it, I'd have to compromise on the fact there's no more IPD control anymore. But I've also compromised by purchasing a 6 years old headset for its AMOLED, despite its relatively lower resolution.
Holy crap I feel like I've been in a damn echochamber with this headset and the subset of the community hyping that that don't even own it, thank you SO MUCH for making this video. I feel like everytime I bring this up on VRChat there's a 50/50 chance people are absolutely confused thanks to the reviews never putting enough emphasis on these very serious flaws of the headset, and even more confusion when I state that I opted for the Quest 3 over it. I preordered by bigscreen beyond in the first 30 minutes and honestly it was the biggest regret I've had on buying any VR gear. I kept mine past the return period because I really wanted to like the headset and felt like there was just no other options that could achieve that level of image quality while not having to do jankery with mixed VR full body... until I tried a quest 3 at best buy around january and vive released the ultimate trackers beta that enabled quest compatability. I put my beyond on ebay where I ironically got more than I paid for the thing. I literally share every single issue you have (even the IPD being off issue, they sent me a second one due to that lol) so yeah it's honestly nice to see someone make an honest video on this. Absolutely getting a sub from me lol.
Almost everyone I met in VRchat who owned it sent it back. I literally haven't met a single person who truly liked it. In fact, I ordered it myself and returned it, because it didn't fit AT ALL, like it was unusable. But yea.. it's one of these things where people hype a products up in reddit eco chambers and pretend it's the best thing since sliced bread.. usually they are people with way too much money to spare and they don't care wasting 1000$ on something with so many downsides and uncertainties...
As a beyond owner myself I feel like it’s not the perfect headset either but goddamn, is it close. Honestly, the glare is far more manageable than the valve index God rays. And I thought the sweet spot was really small until I got a face gasket that brought my eyes really close to screens and all of that was fixed. It felt like a brand new headset, huge sweet spot. And a bigger FOV (115). I’ve tried a quest 3 and I just can’t go back to LCD. Micro OLED needs to become standard in VR. I feel like most of the problems with the big screen beyond come from bad face gaskets and the wrong IPD which the team over there is really good at solving.
@@jerrebrasfield4231 honestly even before the new face gasket, it was better than the quest three. I don’t think people realize this headset is about the size of weight of a quest controller.
Been loving the beyond personally. You have to give yourself a chance to get used to anything that's attached to your face. Was a little uncomfortable in the beginning but in time I learned how to make it more comfortable. I only use one strap and have it positioned more to the crown of my head. Still looking forward to the audio strap to increase comfort even more. It's been almost 2 months and I have no desire to put the index back on again, it's just too big. Also use steam vr supersampling to help with performance issues. Have it down to 52% on high demanding games and the image is still crisp. My fan doesn't make that noise. Never wearing a toaster on my face again.
Thanks for your candid and detailed review of the bigscreen! I have a quest pro (which did not come with a head strap) so understood the pain of wearing an HMD too tight. However, for $30 the Globular Cluster headstrap+pad kit alleviated all my comfort issues, so I can wear it now for hours without a problem. I'm always on the lookout for newer better headsets -- the bigscreen may have missed the mark, but it is nice to see other companies stepping in with new ideas.
This was literally my experience with the Beyond, from incorrect IPD and such a small sweet spot, all the way to fan issues on the replacement headset they sent. The only difference was my fan must not have worked, because my screen stayed foggy for the 1.5 hours I actually wore the replacement. They wanted to send me a third headset, but I declined. It was a $200 lesson in "don't believe the hype" and in the future, I won't be so inclined to buy a Beyond 2, if that were to happen. It's sad that the Quest 3's lenses are far superior to all of them, but I'll stick with my Index since I'm able to start a game or VRChat quickly, with the least amount of friction.
I used to use a valve index and a bigscreen byond and i loved both very much. I use a quest 3 now and have since sold my VI and BB. 1 simple reason, WIRELESS CAPABILITIES! I can't live with the cable anymore for a headset especially since I love the freedom to go anywhere in my home and outside with the headset and not being hauled back by my cable getting wrapped up or caught up. Plus less things to have no more light houses etc. and everything already works in the headset for pcvr wirelessly which is awesome!
You literally stole every single word I had about this headset right out of my mouth. I had an IDENTICAL experience to you. Super super disappointed after all that hype and waiting. I ended up returning mine for exactly the same reason. The Beyond truly feels like it's a prototype that accidentally got released to the public, even now. An amazing proof of concept, but nothing more. I remember measuring the lens temperature with a temperature gun at 114 degrees fahrenheit! I'm sure other headsets get this hot as well, but the fact that your eyes are COMPLETELY TRAPPED in this sauna with no ventilation at all, it really felt like my eyes were just being cooked alive! The face gasket is also just awful for me. Super tacky from any moisture, and really rigid. By rigid, I mean, the face gasket is less of a face gasket and more of an eye socket gasket. All of the pressure is placed directly on your eye sockets and eyebrows. Do you know what your face is designed to actually do? MOVE! I move my eyebrows around a lot to make expressions, and I dunno.. BLINK? Both of which are things that the face gasket simply denies you doing unless you're cool with immediately readjusting the headset on your face after every expression you make. The black levels of the displays are true oled blacks, yes, but you will NEVER get to enjoy that because if there are ANY pixels that aren't completely black, the horrendous internal lens reflections will amplify that bright spot and make you feel like there's is always vaseline spread all over the lenses. Man, I could go on and on and on, but you literally said all of it better than I could in the whole video. I ended up getting a Quest Pro, and I sing its praises so loudly that I have helped three other friends of mine get their hands on Quest Pros of their own, and they all agree that it is fantastic. Great video, man. I'm happy to see that sometime made a video about this. All the big tech reviewers made the Beyond seem like the second coming of christ, but I was sorely disappointed. I wanted to love it SO MUCH. I really really tried to fix all the problems with the help of that truly amazing customer support. They also extended my return window for me just to help ease my mind, and they should be absolutely commended for being what really should be the de-facto standard in that regard. But in the end, it still didn't help. I'll be very interested in a Beyond 2, but right now, there's just no way, man.
I've added some 3D printed soft strap mode to mine, and the back strap alone felt infinitely more comfortable. Then I added the top strap in halo mode and now I can choose how much pressure I want from the face gasket (whether or not I want a relatively tight fit depends on if I'm playing a VR game that requires moving a lot). Default straps are still bad, but I'm glad some people came up with tweaks that work. Problem is to either have a 3D printer or know someone who does.
Excellent video. I was sooo hyped for this headset and was so close to getting it but lack of eye tracking, foveated rendering, and small fov were too many compromises to make for a $1,000 price point. And then one of my friends that got one hated it and returned it for much the same reasons, I was surprised after all the good press I had heard about it. My only disagreement is with TAA upscaling. Every game I've used with TAA is a blurry undetailed mess because of it and that is amplified by VR. But that's just my take, thanks for sharing your experiences, I think I had already well and truly decided against it but was still interesting hearing about the other issues I wasn't aware of.
Great review, helps to balance out the hype! My experience was similar to yours. The simple way I put it for people is, everything is worse than the Index except resolution and the compact size (and you’ve reminded me the microphone, which still required external software for me to boost the audio levels). The good thing is you can get used to most of the pitfalls, and after you do, the small and lightweight form factor really does shine. More natural head movement, less accidental controller bumps, slightly easier expressiveness for social vr (head banging, head nodding and shaking, general posture), all of that adds to a better experience in one way. But in other ways, there are some real sacrifices.
I really appreciate this video. I hope it continues to get views as people look into VR headsets to make an educated decision. Personally, I still think this headset is likely the one I will get for 2 reasons - 1 - I was a swimmer, and I got very used to wearing tight fitting swimming goggles for hours, so if I have to keep it tight, I don't anticipate a problem. 2 - I primarily want a headset for active/Beat Saber type games. I have an Oculus Rift S, and my neck gets sore if I use it too long, especially when I have to duck down under things... that's my major issue, so I still think this headset is still the best for my particular needs.
I think the interesting thing about headset hardware is that it's nearly impossible to know how it actually is by looking at a spec sheet; you won't really know until you've tried it out for yourself. There are always so many nuances with HMDs that can really make or break them for different people. If you have the money, feel free to try/buy it, but I wouldn't recommend it personally.
Spot on review - you articulated all the issues I’ve found with the headset as well and can’t justify moving off Quest 3 with WiFi 6E dedicated connection.
Imagine if valve released an Index with updated 2550x2550 per eye screens and pancake lenses, it would probably be the best headset ever made for PC gaming for visuals and comfort. If only there was a mod to upgrade the old index.
@@iconoclassWhat do you think of the PSVR2 coming to PC? Sony limiting out of the box feature support is a bummer, but I feel like once the community works around that it could be an extremely compelling option at its price point.
thats the thing: imagining is all we have right now in the market. the beyond is the one headset i wanted for my wife, for the sole reason that she tried the psvr2 and the index (that we have at home) and both are uncomfortable to her and since she has a 55mm ipd, she has problem with the sweet spots and gets eye strain fast. ipd range has gone up, not almost noone cares about the the lower values, since they are 1. the exeption and second, mostly related to females which are not the main costumers anyway
Yeah... I tried the Beyond a few months ago and had many problems from the rubbish headstrap being horrid for comfort, the horrible visuals between the glare, the really bad edge to edge clarity (more like fresnel lenses rather than pancake), the really bad sweet spot, colour leakage on the blurry parts of the FOV and other things which you mentioned. I stuck to my Quest Pro and the Globular Cluster comfort mod + BoboVR batteries dock. With this, it's the most comfortable headset I've used with it being perfectly balanced in front and back weightedness. I got it for a similar price new to a Quest 3. I've used a Quest 3, 2, Pro, Valve Index and Bigscreen Beyond. But yeah, I hope Bigscreen get better with their next headset and learn from this headset to solve for the many flaws. (And it would've been far nicer if they didn't hide the 20% return fee in the fine print, lol.)
I had many of the same issues, though support was able to solve them for me and eventually I started to like the headset. Glare is worse than index, like you say. One issue not covered here that makes it EVEN WORSE for movie watching in my opinion, is the sensor that detects if your headset is on doesn't work with steamVR. Instead it uses the IMU to detect if you're wearing the headset or not. This means that if your head is too still, like if you're resting it on a chair headrest for example, the screens will just turn off. I have to intentionally shake my head while watching movies to stop my headset displays from going black every 2 minutes.
I didn't even know about the screens automatically turning off like that. I personally thought it was bad for watching movies just because the glare made anything off center blurry and distorted. That's really ironic from a headset coming from Bigscreen.
Me too. Loving the beyond, Ive come from Index then onto the Aero then Beyond. I get far better performance from the Beyuond than the Aero at the same render resolution and graphics settings. The glare disappears when Im driving so no worries there. FOV could be better, Beyond 2 should fix the glare with bigger 4k oled panels and bigger lenses.
I’ve come around to the Beyond after an intensely negative first impression (and a few RMAs). My advice to anyone thinking of returning theirs is to just give it some time and talk to Bigscreen if you genuinely feel something isn’t right. Yes it can be a hassle but the end result is worth it. Personally I was a little bothered (understatement) at first by the glare and persistence issues but now I hardly notice them. Lens lottery does admittedly seem to be particularly bad with this headset but Bigscreen is extremely generous with returns/repairs.
I'm glad that you came around to it but several RMAs is frankly unacceptable. I gave the Beyond a second chance with a new unit and both times it disappointed me.
My number 1 complaint about VR in general is the white lens glare/god rays or whatever you want to call them ( or whatever the screen door). Trying to watch a movie in VR just makes it feel really low quality. For context I have the valve index since 2019. The image quality when watching a movie is actually quite crisp and clear, however, and this is a big however and that is the white lens glare will constantly hit you when the movie changes scenes and when you are watching an hour and half movie the scenes change all the time and just kills the immersion and quality of graphics. Every time I start watching a movie in VR I'm like this looks amazing! And I'm like this is really clean and high quality graphics and I tell myself why don't I do this more often its not as bad as I remember. And then after 30 minutes more or less I'll take the headset off and I'll watch the movie on my computer monitor and its easily 2-3x better looking then in vr and I get mad. Most games and most environments if you move your head too much the white lens glare will hit also. Certain games the white lens glare is not an issue but I have found its kind of rare. I have found that certain games have amazing graphics like in half life and a free game like time capsule arcade. And this is kind of my second complaint about VR is the game quality. A lot of games you buy are low graphic games but then you play a free game that was built in unreal engine 5 like the time capsule arcade and it looks insanely amazing and it becomes hard to go back to the other vr games.
If you're part of the discord, there are a lot of people that are in the same boat. People who just don't like it. I had to go through 3 headsets to get one that worked. And even then, the fan doesn't see to work. It fogs up all the time, and my eyes feel wet after playing for a little. The sweet spot is so small that moving my eyebrows up (something I now know I do all the time) will move the headset out of the sweet spot It's not comfortable even though that was the selling point even after I got the new audio strap. And speaking about the strap, it is a pain to put on and take off (I put the headset into its original box to keep it safe after play). The headphones pop off all the time.
They really sacrificed too much on the optics stacks just to make it as small as possible. I dont think anyone would have minded the lenses to be 1.5x larger and the housing be ab it larger to accommodate. The glare is really the most unfortunate part, if they fix the glare issue in a v2 they are golden.
Same thoughts here, have had mine for half a year. Sent in for an IPD replacement (the app was just horribly off for measuring) While it's better, I still think I need to go down 1 mm as I have to push my left side of the headset to make it 100% like the right side is. The fan is loud, the unit is super hot always. I much prefer wearing my hp reverb 2 which cost me $500. I do sim racing, so the lighthouses don't reach that well so when i put the headset down I have to reset my position. The straps feel like crap even with the top one, the gasket doesn't breathe at all. The glare is the worst I've ever seen on a headset. I'll echo the support team is top notch. I'm past the return window so kinda stuck with it, family or friends can't really use it at all. Maybe I can get the slim gasket and it'll be better not sure. I keep thinking the lens is dirty but it's not, it's just the sweat spot is impossible to stay in. Why can't they make the IPD adjustable by like 3 mill, that would be amazing. Or make it so you can swap parts. Is it a completely different unit when I sent in?
yeah. i really wanted to get this headset, but the lack of clarity with those lenses was a really big downside in my eyes. basically negated the high resolution, and made the overall cost seem not really acceptable, even tho i know thats not really true. My other gripe, and something you didnt cover in your video, is a lack of display port 2.1 support. the reason you have to chose between 72hz (with high resolution) and 90 hz (with low resolution) is because its hitting the data rate limit of display port 1.4. im not sure if this was a cost cutting measure, or if this was because the on board chip just cant handle that data rate, but regardless, its very annoying. if im spending 1000 dollars on a headset alone. i expect the headest to atleast run an appreciable amount over 60 hz at the resolution advertised. Eye tracking would have also been nice as you said, tho thats more for non fixed foveated rendering, which could allow the headset to run on middling hardware, instead of needing a top end GPU to run well. idk. im hopeful that the company will come out with a big screen beyond 2. one which supports DP 2.1, and has larger lenses that deal with the awful color distortion around the edges. id even be willing to pay 20% to 30% more, as long as the headset looked amazing. afterall, you only need to buy once, cry once if the hardware you are getting is good enough.
Index user with a 3090 here : I'm glad I found this video for this main issues of limited 'sharp' view, long term comfort, and fan noise. I was very close to getting this device as a supplemental device. But applaud big screen for the customer support and risking entering a very niche. My future will be with the aging index by adding eye tracking and face (mouth) tracking and putting up with the weight and cabling damaged over my 3+ year usage.
A great video, thank you for your balanced opinion. I loved my Q2 so much, I got the Q3 shortly after launch and I was amazed at the massive sweet spot, processing speed and resolution. The facial interface is good but I upgraded it with a decent head strap too, which is a given, but as you say the Q3 is such good value and there are so many really good straps on the martet, who cares. My strap was £20. The Q3 is superb for PCVR. I'm currently playing through Cyberpunk.
I agree completely about the nose gap and that and the single user limitation is what stops me trying a bigscreen beyond. I went throught the same or similar problems when I bought the pimax 8kX, even when all the VR youtubers were saying nothing but good it turned out to be a glitchy brick that nearly snapped your neck ot wear, it was so glitchy you could barely use it at all and nearly melted your face from heat, I was so mad at youtubers for over hyping it and really happy to see a honest review from you here.
About the Beyond, out of all the videos I watched, there's 1 guy who said: if you have the audio strap for the Beyond, you can very easily flip up the headset thanks to the hinges, which allow him to have a look around and say good night to his child without having to remove the headset entirely. Flip up, do your things, flip it back down
@@replacesoundboard ah yes the audio strap tm that is coming very* Soon tm you guys tmtmtmtmtm (its been over a year since I got the headset still no strap)
@@mfkrabs9089 It looks like my reply got deleted by RUclips. Gonna try again. I feel like if I ever get that headset, I'd get myself some 3D printed soft strap mode.
great review. I personally own a beyond, and I had everything work for me just fine. I also went from a quest 2, so for me it was a giant jump in quality and I personally enjoyed it. I don’t really care if it’s not perfect, all I kinda care about is that I like it. I don’t regret buying it, but based on this review I can see how other people regret buying it.
Yeah it’s a Shopify thing. Shopify collects the money not the merchant. Always read the terms of sale and ctrl F for “fee” and “return” and “refund”. Same when you buy a service that says unlimited. Look at their terms and ctrl F to find “fair usage” and “unlimited”
@@alterablebark54what’re you talking about? They would have sent him another headset for free. They only charged $200 because he wanted a refund and it’s a small company. This was no secret either, it’s clearly stated before you buy the headset. Where would they be as a company if they make all of these custom headsets with specific IPD’s and completely unique face gaskets and everyone who returns it gets a full refund? For facebook? No issue. Apple? pocket change. A small company with the bsb being their first endeavor into VR hardware? Extremely problematic. The BSB has its issues, but in return it has its extremely great strengths. It’s an extremely niche product but of good quality. If a 20% fee for return is that much of an issue after trying said product, then you had no business spending $1000+ on it in the first place 🤷🏽♂️
I am happy to say that I have not had any of the issues with my Beyond that you have I will say however that I absolutely hated the way it felt with the elastic head strap Now that I have finally received the audio strap, my experience useing the headset is like night and day I feel that the headset should have shipped with the audio strap as it makes that big of a difference in comfort I can only hope that Bigscreen has learned from the release of this headset and makes the next one larger and more focused on the gaming segment of VR users
It definitely varies. I feel like it’s the most comfortable in weight and minimalism, where I can actually wear it for long periods, though the cushion isn’t that great. The glare is a huge issue tho. Perhaps a tighter fit will help but it makes it feel like the lenses are dirty due to the spottiness of the glare. No issues with the fan and the rest is good, just would have rather had a heavier headset (with weight distribution) that was more complete and polished. It’s not really worth the price unless the features are what you REALLY want and don’t want a Quest.
my case, when I first got it I had a issue with my face cushion, however I put in a ticket and got a thinner comfortable cushion, and now I can say it officially replaces my index. combined with airpods even better. to the point where I am able to accidentally fall asleep with the headset on. while I understand it may not be a headset for everyone, I do think in my opinion its a good step and my favorite headset. however, people do tend to overhype something like this, or say its completely perfect, there are things you have to get used to, like if you have the thick face gasket at the bottom and top of your vision, there is a slightly pink hue, however, your eyes get used to this eventually, the darkness of the displays isnt a issue simply because you dont have any light leakage. but yeah, I like the headset pretty good in my *opinion*
Returned mine because the glare was AWFUL but it is also super dark..I had to crank mine up to 140% screen brightness which then causes the glare to get even worse.
It was a pretty dim headset, I think I forgot to mention that. In dark environments it would be great if not for the glare, in bright environments it feels off.
I'm in no rush, i'll wait for the mk2. Appreciate your honest review and hope BB takes on aboard the negative reviews and try to improve their product.
2:29 Vive Pro user here. I don't mind having a bad microphone because I don't use it. Don't want to pay premium price for a microphone that I don't want. It should be an option.
Great video. Thanks for sharing your perspective! I don't have the money to drop on the headset, but it was something I was interested in. It would've easily swapped out my HTC Vive. I still love my Vive though, so I'll stick with that.
The most affordable headset is the one you already have. I personally don't like the Vive or Vive Pro but if it works for you then keep it, anything else will run you at least a few hundred.
Thanks for the honest review. I just got my quest 3 a few weeks ago and was considering investing in more VR but I will skip the big screen beyond. Even the minimal amount of glare on the quest 3 bothers me sometimes.
I have owned many different VR headsets, and in my opinion the Bigscreen Beyond is the best PCVR headset available on the market right now. But it is a mixed bag. It is necessary to keep your eyes forward in this headset and turn your head instead, rather like using varifocal eye glasses, and not everyone will be able to get used to that. It's clear that you had fitment issues, and that's something that is very sensitive in this headset. The experience is very different when the fitment is right. Everything about its visuals including how bad the glare is is affected by fitment. People who are singing this headset's praises are literally having a different experience than you are. I find mine very comfortable. I have very little pressure on my strap, and it stays in place perfectly like it's supposed to. So again, fitment issue. Comfort is a very personal thing between VR headsets. Also I can't even hear the fan in mine. So that's an aspect where you just got a bad unit. However, given the total of your complaints, I doubt that even a good unit with ideal fitment would work out for you. So I think it's probably a good call on returning it. Even with the fitment dialed in I won't say that this headset is perfect. Its lenses are its weakest aspect. It still manages the second best display available (behind the Pimax Crystal). The Quest 3 isn't far behind (much better lenses, but much weaker panels), but with all the Quests you're dealing with significant latency for PCVR and poor FBT support. The Pimax Crystal is buggy AF. There isn't a headset that nails it all. The upcoming Pimax Crystal Light might be a good option for you.
I got a replacement HMD with the correct IPD and a thinner replacement cushion and still had issues with the glare. I don't trust Pimax. I will keep using my Valve Index for as long as I can simply because it is still the best all around PCVR headset imo. If Valve ever makes another headset then maybe I'll upgrade to that.
I don't have a Beyond, was thinking about it and started hearing of people having IPD and face pad problems and needing to return it for a proper adjustment. Sounds like a pain in the butt. I do have a Index which I replaced with a Reverb G2v2, the resolution of the G2 puts the Index to shame plus the I find the G2 more comfortable and it is also lighter, I bought a pair of "VR Dongles" and use OpenVR Space Calibrator and now use my Valve knuckles with the G2. I also have a Quest 3, the optics of this HMD are amazing. I guess what I'm getting at here is everyone's face shape and eyes are different, I'm 65, so many YT reviewers have said they see SDE in the Q3, where I see none but yet I can see very faint SDE in the G2 if I look for it in the right conditions (light blue skies in some racing sims). As for the Index, I was happy to shelf that HMD, for myself, it wasn't that comfortable the SDE wasn't great and the glare and god rays were horrible (kind of like the OG Vive). The unfortunate part of VR, you have to take a chance on any given HMD since you don't get to "try before you buy". One person might love a particular HMD where as the next person will hate it just due to different head shape and eyes. Us Humans are not created equal physically.
I think you bring up some great points. VR headsets, more than just about any other type of electronic device, are highly variable in the experience one person has versus another. I have a G2 (that I was fortunate to be able to buy new for almost half off) that’s largely been collecting dust, mainly due to me needing (or wanting) a higher-end GPU to pair with it, and, more to your point, me finding it pretty uncomfortable on my face. I’ve broken my nose a few times, so the ridge of my nose is probably more pronounced than most people’s. So I think the Beyond would be great for me, and it’s the next headset I will buy as of right now. My vision for how I want to use (and currently do use) VR is to just explore beautiful environments in sim games like MSFS or Kayak VR and to go into cool virtual desktop workspaces like in the Bigscreen app or Vrchat. Again, something that is personal to me and different than the way many other people use VR, but I think the Beyond would be great for me in that regard as well.
I feel the same, i thought its going to be more comfortable. The strap doesn't hold it securely for long, later slowly slide down out of sweet spot. The solid strap for quest 2 is more comfortable, it snap into place and have reasonable resistence that hold it in place with very minimal movement. It quite worm after an hour or two. The contrast and colour is good. It's overall a bit underwhelming. when it work properly, it's the best headset i had but that's 20% of the time.
Yeah I have an index, a beyond and as of a few days ago a quest 3 and I honestly; I don't like the blurry edges with the big screen beyond. I to have to have the strap on tighter than I'd like as well The marking of the cable by the clip on the back of the head strap is something I brought up to the community day 1 as a concern of mine. I will say the screen door effect is very noticeable on the quest 3 compared to what i remember on the index.
I am leaning into the Pimax Crystal Light for my next headset. It seems the software experience is vastly improved, and with the Bigscreen having too many sacrifices. I have the HP Reverb G2 now (the closest thing we'll ever get to an Index 2), so downgrading to a Valve Index to get lighthouse tracking isn't an option for me.
Its definitely not as good as it was made out to be by reviewers. That being said i dont have any comfort issues with mine and its the main reason i love mine so much. i have chronic pain issues with my back and neck and the drastic weight reduction from my switch to the beyond means i can play for much longer, previously having pain issues after just half an hour. Now with the beyond i'm able to easily empty the batteries in my trackers with minimal pain increase over time. i am very gladly putting up with all the issues the beyond brings with it for this as it finally allows me to spend more time in vr without taking painkillers
I had the same issues. It arrived, and it didn't fit AT ALL.. it was so bad and made me really mad.. If they ever gonna release one with adjustable ipd and universal facial interfaces with different sizes, I might consider buying again. But mine got sent back. And for the moment, im kinda done with Bigscreen.
I think that the Pimax Crystal Super, that‘ll come out Q4 this year i think. 3840x3840 That‘s a crazy resolution. But Foviated Rendering should make that a lot better. Lets see what the future brings!
The quality of the lenses and comfort are just as important as the resolution. Maybe in the near future we will get something that is good at all of those at a reasonable price ($1000 or less).
Good to see a different opinion, for me the glare I think may be important , not sure if I will buy it. Maybe the next model the resolve this. I am surprised about weight and commodity, but I understand about weight distribution. The noise fan looks unbereable and the machine getting hot is not good. I am not even sure about putting a computer stick in your eyes. There has been cases of second degree burns with an iPhone. Imagine any sort of accident in your eyes.
The soft strap is seriously disappointing for comfort. The top strap helps a little, but it still needs to be set tighter than what is comfortable to keep the thing on your face. The new audio strap should help, but getting the audio strap means giving up any possibility for jerry rigging any eye tracking tech into the beyond
Unpopular Opinion but I actually like the Q3 Headstrap, but I only just got my Q3 this week and haven't gone past 2,5 hrs yet due to battery limitations. In contrast the quest pro even with comfort kit I couldn't go past 45 mins for comfort reasons while I could go all day with the index.
I have all the same issues with mine for the most part, but coming from a Quest 1 it's the only logical upgrade, I'm going to try modding mine with different headstraps and the Slimterface face gasket before maybe giving up on it, I really want to love it and do but it's a shame about the issues
@@iconoclass Yea, I was thinking of maybe getting one in the future to mess around with mixed reality. I orginally went with the Beyond because I wanted to move away from stand alone since I only play PCVR and the Index not being worth full price and no announcement of Valve's next VR after waiting 2 years the Beyond felt like the perfect VR being small, high res and OLED which is what I wanted coming from the Quest 1, the beyond is a nice vr just dissapointing in terms of comfort.
I don't care how light it is if it doesn't have the clarity and comfort to match the price. As much as I wish this thing lived up to the hype, the narrow fov and even narrower sweet spot is a huge dealbreaker. Thank you for a review that's not just gawking at the size weight and "clarity".
I've had my index for 2 or so years now... maybe 3? And its so frustrating wanting to upgrade but every headset feels like im trading off. Like i have to choose between better resolution and shit audio solutions, or ok audio and bad lenses, and then I just sit here with my index scared to "upgrade" bc nothing seems like an actual upgrade
have mostly similar issues with bsb even with apple vision strap to make it crush my face slightly less… as you say they focused way too much on making it so small compromising it. i did not return it due to $200 return fee thats ridiculous…
If it had a custom fit and an adjustable IPD (even just a few inches of adjustment for a range of error) I think the headset would be a lot better. A larger sweetspot would also help but understandably that'd hurt the small form factor somewhat. Other than that, it's decent for what it is... Just not something I'd want to spend $1000 on.
I would have bought an Valve Index. However they do not sell them to me. I do not want to go with anything Meta because I do not trust them in terms of privacy. I do not like the HP Reverb I got, as it do not track well enough for me. Mainly it seems to have issues with where exactly it is supposed to be, so the headset bumps slightly aside randomly causing a lot of frustration playing beat saber for example. I wonder now years later, if perhaps there may be some manufacturing issue with it. In any case. I am now just not sure what to do to get a good vr experience again. I really miss my Oculus Rift at this point.
A bit worried since I ordered mine close to 3 months ago and I'm still waiting. My biggest concern is that if they screw up the lenses I'm back to waiting, but I've waited for so long already that I'm a bit apprehensive about cancelling.
2:38 It looks like the sweet spot is 50% of the diameter of the entire lens. That's still bigger than the Vive Fresnel lens, although Beyond's pancake lens is much smaller too. It's too bad there aren't many reviewers people out there who own both the Vive Pro and the Beyond. I never owned any super wide field of view headset and the Vive Pro seems very big for me with the official thin leather pad.
To be fair, many youtube reviewers complained about the glare and small sweetspot. But buyers were so desperate for an OLED vr headset that many of them ignored the negative comments in the reviews and bought it anyway. More fool them.
BB is not perfect and it has it flaws too like any other VR headset. Owning a Index for years it starts to feel way to heavy to play for more than an hour. íll really hope they will continue to bring out the next version of BB with a wider FOV.
I had tried VR in the past but only recently decided to buy a headset because I feel the technology finally justifies the price. My decision was between the meta quest 3 (with many 3rd party accessories) or the big screen. I ended up with the quest 3 and at least with my use case I have absolutely no regrets. This video kinda solidified that for me, so thank you for sharing!
Seconded. As Quest 3 owner im also happy with my purchase. The only downside is my poor choice of 128gb model instead of 256gb. It is because I will not overpay for storage, all these “all in ones” follow Apples greedy upgrade charges and storage is the most absurd one.
@filipivan5125 I also went with the 128gb option but after downloading mnay games and some productivity apps I still have 45GB to spare. While the security of extra storage is nice, I have a PC and laptop that I can pair with the headset making storage and even proformance in many circumstances not an issue. But the fact this headset is stand alone and can be used in so many use cases is why this headset is so amazing to me haha
I have both of these headsets. I consider the Beyond to be superior for PCVR. And I use it most of the time. I use Quest 3 when I'm travelling or to play its exclusives. This video was made by someone who had a bad experience with the Beyond, and it sounds like it just doesn't work properly for him. To be sure, issues that he talks about in the video are real. But when you have fitment problems with this headset, these issues get amplified significantly and aren't minor anymore. But I wouldn't say that his experiences are necessarily representative of what your experiences would have been if you'd gone with the Beyond instead. They're certainly different from mine.
@@SargonDragon I mainly use my headset for productivity when connected to my PC and a big part of that is because I don't like being attached to a wire when playing games and network delays can be bad for me. So for me the games I do play are mainly ones found in the quest store. I also do not watch many movies w it cause I am not a movie person. The passthrough mixed w stand alone kinda kills any advantages the beyond has for me. I realize that not everyone will have the same opinion based on use case, which again is part of what makes the quest line so intriguing to me. So yes I agree a lot of the issues in this video are fit related but finding the right fit is a real struggle esspecially when you have no clue what your fit is when buying your first headset. I think if I had recived the wrong fit, I would have returned the headset as well and been less likly to reinvest to find the right fit if it was a hastle. This is another advantage of the quest as it is adjustable for different people.
@iconoclas have you ever had your IPD measured by a optometrist, how does it compare to your second headsets IPD? Sounds like the depth of the interface was to deep, which is why you saw an improvement while making it tighter. I am hearing people are having to get up to 3 new cushions till they get the "perfect" one. I would only get this VR headset if I had a Nvidia 480 or better. There is enough wrong with your second unit, that I would recommend reaching out for another replacement.
6:32 I still think that the uncomfortable meta headstrap should not be excused. It hurts VR that the 'most popular' headset is uncomfortable out of the box. No other wearable (where there is competition) would get away with this. Even cheap watches don't have deliberately uncomfortable straps.
That is a shame, I hope it doesn't fall into the same pit Pimax has with it's headsets. Cool hardware, lack of knowledge or care for human wearables for the sake of keeping it the smallest. I hope Beyond 2 improves on this.
These are all valid concerns, however let me shed some light on a few topics. You should not be having a small edge to edge clarity, while it's no qpro/3 level, if you have that problem your gasket is not a good fit. BSB makes thick gaskets for some reason, but many users myself included report that ordering a thin gasket fixes that issue and makes the glare appear only on the edges which makes it very manageable, otherwise it's borderline unplayable. I wish they informed users properly but like you stated, that's a problem with the way they are doing the gaskets. They need to restructure everything and I hope they can solve these issues. Lastly comparing pancake lenses glare to Meta without mentioning that Meta has a patent on their coating is just misleading. There will never be pancake lenses without glare that aren't from meta unless we figure out a way to go around that. There's no other proven scientific method for getting rid of glare like that. That's why pimax didn't use them along with the need for brighter panels. People all want pancake lenses but forget that fact. What they really want are Meta's pancake lenses.
I said in the video that I got a thinner gasket (with my replacement Beyond) which unfortunately didn't help much. As for the patent, I didn't know about that but I figured Meta's solution was proprietary; I even mentioned the optics stack in addition to the size of the lenses. In-house or not, I was simply pointing out what mattered to the end consumer, that the glare is bad, and much worse than compared to the Quest 3.
out of all of the people i know who have a Bigscreen Beyond, 1 person recommended it over my index. everyone else says its garbage. the sweetspot is tiny, the fov is psvr1-like and there are too many compromises. i just want an upgraded index at this point but no one seems to care enough to make a headset with little compromises while offering features that drive the industry forward, not even valve. vr has one foot in the grave while companies nickel and dime its own userbase.
thank you for the candid review. mine arrives tomorrow and i'm so nervous about the fit being right after waiting so long for it. this review was interesting to me bc my main reason for buying the beyond was comfort, which is of course relative. i'm also upgrading from an index, which felt comfortable for the first 1000 or so hours but now feels very heavy and uncomfortable on my face (the broken head strap doesn't help, but i'm out of warranty). i'm hoping the beyond will be better in that regard. i'll come back and update this comment if i remember.
Why do you prefer using your index daily over the quest? if i can ask?.... Im torn on which to get next....played a few of them... mosly Quest 2/3.....but i have the $$ now to get any one.....but still keep concluding that quest is best all around..........I agree about the reviews of the Beyond. They seemed fake...and the customer service and shipping time turned me away..... I looked into the Vive and saw ppl say it had actual best resolution but had flaws...,.. i was going to get a Pimax....but decided to wait for the Crystal Super and will get it def.... Even tho i also hear their customer service isn't great
It's the easiest to use with SteamVR and PC, which is what I use most often, no additional setup or middleware like Meta Quest Link or having to calibrate Vive trackers each time. The Index Knuckles are still my favorite controllers in spite of how fragile and expensive they are. The headset never dies because there it's not battery powered. The gray uniformity of my Index is better than that of the Quest 2s and 3s that I've tried. It's also the most comfortable headset imo, and has the widest FOV and refresh rate of the mainstream headsets, and the picture has no compression unlike Quest Link. Plus I already own it; I bought it before the Quest 2 came out. Most all of these complaints can either be remedied or are insignificant with the Quest 3 imo (continuous tracking with an extra Vive tracker, aftermarket straps, the compression is negligible with a cable, dev mode can boot Quests into PC Quest Link without confirmation, etc.). The FOV and refresh rate of the Quest 3 are close enough to the Index and any decrease in those I would gladly trade for the Quest 3's vastly superior lenses. The Valve Index is a legacy headset at this point but still suits me best for my use case. I will wait until Valve makes another headset, and if they don't, I may very well run my Index into the ground. Thankfully it is repairable, unlike Meta's headsets. I've never tried a Pimax or Varjo headset but I don't trust either of them based on their track records. It's not just about the specs of a headset, it's about the whole user experience. I think most headsets are not very good. I still enjoy trying out as many as I can (bought and returned bc I didn't like, or at stores or universities) because they are so vastly different from each other. They all have compromises and few strike a balance that I feel is acceptable for mainstream use. TL;DR The best mainstream headset is the Quest 3. I have a hard time recommending anything else unless you can't afford the Quest 3, go with the now $200 Quest 2 or you want face tracking, go with the Quest Pro. All other headsets I've tried are either too dated and/or compromise too much in too many areas that leads to an overall poor user experience.
@iconoclass thanx. Exactly what I figured. Gonna ride the Quest 3 for now(with cable link).... and wait for next Vive or Pimax.....which I hear are about to be announced soon......because my main wants from a headset is FOV....clarity....and comfort.... I mostly sim race and I can't get ACC to top out graphically(even tho I heard on a 4090 it's still iffy)........I have a 4070/16gb/1 I7..... may get 4090..... but my plan was to top out headset and get t A top cpu.. .just to see if that will improve that game specifically.......but not sure it will. .
Index resolution is outdated. Psvr 2 has mura screen problem which is very very bad. Quest 3 with wireless is best choice with bigger fov and best lense out there.
saved my $1000 that i currently don't have right now
Get an Quest 3, Megane X Light, or Pimax Crystal Light
@@toututu2993 got an index already
Same lol
@@toututu2993how is the crystal light?
@@toututu2993 Pimax Crystal Light (if it actually exists)
I think the hype is understandable for a company that seemingly accomplished what everyone wanted but the big companies can't seem to manage.
The tiny form factor is a huge deal and the custom fit sounds so great on paper. Many people are quite forgiving of its downsides for the future that seems to promise.
But it's a logistical nightmare, especially for a smaller company. Adjustability and a couple of squishy semi universal absorbent inlay choices would probably work out much better for everyone.
Do hope they continue the work though and that we'll see more smaller headsets in the near future.
Also fingers crossed for the index 2 arriving sometime before the end times.🤞
The only thing I like about it is the micro-OLED, because the last OLED headset before that was the Vive Pro dating back to 2018, as far as I know
If I were to purchase it, I'd have to compromise on the fact there's no more IPD control anymore. But I've also compromised by purchasing a 6 years old headset for its AMOLED, despite its relatively lower resolution.
Holy crap I feel like I've been in a damn echochamber with this headset and the subset of the community hyping that that don't even own it, thank you SO MUCH for making this video. I feel like everytime I bring this up on VRChat there's a 50/50 chance people are absolutely confused thanks to the reviews never putting enough emphasis on these very serious flaws of the headset, and even more confusion when I state that I opted for the Quest 3 over it. I preordered by bigscreen beyond in the first 30 minutes and honestly it was the biggest regret I've had on buying any VR gear. I kept mine past the return period because I really wanted to like the headset and felt like there was just no other options that could achieve that level of image quality while not having to do jankery with mixed VR full body... until I tried a quest 3 at best buy around january and vive released the ultimate trackers beta that enabled quest compatability. I put my beyond on ebay where I ironically got more than I paid for the thing. I literally share every single issue you have (even the IPD being off issue, they sent me a second one due to that lol) so yeah it's honestly nice to see someone make an honest video on this. Absolutely getting a sub from me lol.
Almost everyone I met in VRchat who owned it sent it back. I literally haven't met a single person who truly liked it. In fact, I ordered it myself and returned it, because it didn't fit AT ALL, like it was unusable.
But yea.. it's one of these things where people hype a products up in reddit eco chambers and pretend it's the best thing since sliced bread.. usually they are people with way too much money to spare and they don't care wasting 1000$ on something with so many downsides and uncertainties...
As a beyond owner myself I feel like it’s not the perfect headset either but goddamn, is it close. Honestly, the glare is far more manageable than the valve index God rays. And I thought the sweet spot was really small until I got a face gasket that brought my eyes really close to screens and all of that was fixed. It felt like a brand new headset, huge sweet spot. And a bigger FOV (115). I’ve tried a quest 3 and I just can’t go back to LCD. Micro OLED needs to become standard in VR. I feel like most of the problems with the big screen beyond come from bad face gaskets and the wrong IPD which the team over there is really good at solving.
So with the new gasket this was better than the quest 3?
@@jerrebrasfield4231 he said it’s better ! As he can’t go back to the lens that the quest 3 offers over the beyond
@@jerrebrasfield4231 honestly even before the new face gasket, it was better than the quest three. I don’t think people realize this headset is about the size of weight of a quest controller.
Face hurts after a couple hours. In order to keep the sweet spot, I have to have the headset on way tighter than what's comfortable for me
It's annoying, and a shame. This was advertised as the most comfortable headset but weight alone does not equal comfort.
I feel so bad for you guys and it’s weird that so many people praise this headset due to all its problems
@@iconoclasswhat do you think would be better value index or quest 3
@@FuriousKaicurious to the opinion on this as well.
@@FuriousKai quest 3 the valve index is a little outdated now
Been loving the beyond personally. You have to give yourself a chance to get used to anything that's attached to your face. Was a little uncomfortable in the beginning but in time I learned how to make it more comfortable. I only use one strap and have it positioned more to the crown of my head. Still looking forward to the audio strap to increase comfort even more. It's been almost 2 months and I have no desire to put the index back on again, it's just too big. Also use steam vr supersampling to help with performance issues. Have it down to 52% on high demanding games and the image is still crisp. My fan doesn't make that noise. Never wearing a toaster on my face again.
Thanks for your candid and detailed review of the bigscreen! I have a quest pro (which did not come with a head strap) so understood the pain of wearing an HMD too tight. However, for $30 the Globular Cluster headstrap+pad kit alleviated all my comfort issues, so I can wear it now for hours without a problem. I'm always on the lookout for newer better headsets -- the bigscreen may have missed the mark, but it is nice to see other companies stepping in with new ideas.
I have the pro and now the Bigscreen. As a simracer it’s really good. The latency is far better.
Thanks for such a honest clean review!
I don't agree with the rest of this review, but I do feel the headset could have greatly benefited from glass lenses to reduce some glare.
This was literally my experience with the Beyond, from incorrect IPD and such a small sweet spot, all the way to fan issues on the replacement headset they sent. The only difference was my fan must not have worked, because my screen stayed foggy for the 1.5 hours I actually wore the replacement. They wanted to send me a third headset, but I declined. It was a $200 lesson in "don't believe the hype" and in the future, I won't be so inclined to buy a Beyond 2, if that were to happen. It's sad that the Quest 3's lenses are far superior to all of them, but I'll stick with my Index since I'm able to start a game or VRChat quickly, with the least amount of friction.
I used to use a valve index and a bigscreen byond and i loved both very much. I use a quest 3 now and have since sold my VI and BB. 1 simple reason, WIRELESS CAPABILITIES! I can't live with the cable anymore for a headset especially since I love the freedom to go anywhere in my home and outside with the headset and not being hauled back by my cable getting wrapped up or caught up. Plus less things to have no more light houses etc. and everything already works in the headset for pcvr wirelessly which is awesome!
You literally stole every single word I had about this headset right out of my mouth. I had an IDENTICAL experience to you. Super super disappointed after all that hype and waiting. I ended up returning mine for exactly the same reason.
The Beyond truly feels like it's a prototype that accidentally got released to the public, even now. An amazing proof of concept, but nothing more. I remember measuring the lens temperature with a temperature gun at 114 degrees fahrenheit! I'm sure other headsets get this hot as well, but the fact that your eyes are COMPLETELY TRAPPED in this sauna with no ventilation at all, it really felt like my eyes were just being cooked alive!
The face gasket is also just awful for me. Super tacky from any moisture, and really rigid. By rigid, I mean, the face gasket is less of a face gasket and more of an eye socket gasket. All of the pressure is placed directly on your eye sockets and eyebrows. Do you know what your face is designed to actually do? MOVE! I move my eyebrows around a lot to make expressions, and I dunno.. BLINK? Both of which are things that the face gasket simply denies you doing unless you're cool with immediately readjusting the headset on your face after every expression you make.
The black levels of the displays are true oled blacks, yes, but you will NEVER get to enjoy that because if there are ANY pixels that aren't completely black, the horrendous internal lens reflections will amplify that bright spot and make you feel like there's is always vaseline spread all over the lenses.
Man, I could go on and on and on, but you literally said all of it better than I could in the whole video.
I ended up getting a Quest Pro, and I sing its praises so loudly that I have helped three other friends of mine get their hands on Quest Pros of their own, and they all agree that it is fantastic.
Great video, man. I'm happy to see that sometime made a video about this. All the big tech reviewers made the Beyond seem like the second coming of christ, but I was sorely disappointed. I wanted to love it SO MUCH. I really really tried to fix all the problems with the help of that truly amazing customer support. They also extended my return window for me just to help ease my mind, and they should be absolutely commended for being what really should be the de-facto standard in that regard. But in the end, it still didn't help.
I'll be very interested in a Beyond 2, but right now, there's just no way, man.
5:25 yea this is ahuge problem with the defult strap... The audio strap or atleas a hard strap, should be included from the begining
I've added some 3D printed soft strap mode to mine, and the back strap alone felt infinitely more comfortable. Then I added the top strap in halo mode and now I can choose how much pressure I want from the face gasket (whether or not I want a relatively tight fit depends on if I'm playing a VR game that requires moving a lot). Default straps are still bad, but I'm glad some people came up with tweaks that work.
Problem is to either have a 3D printer or know someone who does.
Excellent video. I was sooo hyped for this headset and was so close to getting it but lack of eye tracking, foveated rendering, and small fov were too many compromises to make for a $1,000 price point. And then one of my friends that got one hated it and returned it for much the same reasons, I was surprised after all the good press I had heard about it.
My only disagreement is with TAA upscaling. Every game I've used with TAA is a blurry undetailed mess because of it and that is amplified by VR. But that's just my take, thanks for sharing your experiences, I think I had already well and truly decided against it but was still interesting hearing about the other issues I wasn't aware of.
Great review, helps to balance out the hype! My experience was similar to yours. The simple way I put it for people is, everything is worse than the Index except resolution and the compact size (and you’ve reminded me the microphone, which still required external software for me to boost the audio levels). The good thing is you can get used to most of the pitfalls, and after you do, the small and lightweight form factor really does shine. More natural head movement, less accidental controller bumps, slightly easier expressiveness for social vr (head banging, head nodding and shaking, general posture), all of that adds to a better experience in one way. But in other ways, there are some real sacrifices.
I really appreciate this video. I hope it continues to get views as people look into VR headsets to make an educated decision.
Personally, I still think this headset is likely the one I will get for 2 reasons - 1 - I was a swimmer, and I got very used to wearing tight fitting swimming goggles for hours, so if I have to keep it tight, I don't anticipate a problem. 2 - I primarily want a headset for active/Beat Saber type games. I have an Oculus Rift S, and my neck gets sore if I use it too long, especially when I have to duck down under things... that's my major issue, so I still think this headset is still the best for my particular needs.
I think the interesting thing about headset hardware is that it's nearly impossible to know how it actually is by looking at a spec sheet; you won't really know until you've tried it out for yourself. There are always so many nuances with HMDs that can really make or break them for different people. If you have the money, feel free to try/buy it, but I wouldn't recommend it personally.
Spot on review - you articulated all the issues I’ve found with the headset as well and can’t justify moving off Quest 3 with WiFi 6E dedicated connection.
Imagine if valve released an Index with updated 2550x2550 per eye screens and pancake lenses, it would probably be the best headset ever made for PC gaming for visuals and comfort. If only there was a mod to upgrade the old index.
I've looked everywhere for an Index lens mod but there are none. Just that would make the experience so much better
@@iconoclassWhat do you think of the PSVR2 coming to PC?
Sony limiting out of the box feature support is a bummer, but I feel like once the community works around that it could be an extremely compelling option at its price point.
thats the thing: imagining is all we have right now in the market. the beyond is the one headset i wanted for my wife, for the sole reason that she tried the psvr2 and the index (that we have at home) and both are uncomfortable to her and since she has a 55mm ipd, she has problem with the sweet spots and gets eye strain fast. ipd range has gone up, not almost noone cares about the the lower values, since they are 1. the exeption and second, mostly related to females which are not the main costumers anyway
Yeah... I tried the Beyond a few months ago and had many problems from the rubbish headstrap being horrid for comfort, the horrible visuals between the glare, the really bad edge to edge clarity (more like fresnel lenses rather than pancake), the really bad sweet spot, colour leakage on the blurry parts of the FOV and other things which you mentioned. I stuck to my Quest Pro and the Globular Cluster comfort mod + BoboVR batteries dock. With this, it's the most comfortable headset I've used with it being perfectly balanced in front and back weightedness. I got it for a similar price new to a Quest 3. I've used a Quest 3, 2, Pro, Valve Index and Bigscreen Beyond. But yeah, I hope Bigscreen get better with their next headset and learn from this headset to solve for the many flaws. (And it would've been far nicer if they didn't hide the 20% return fee in the fine print, lol.)
I had many of the same issues, though support was able to solve them for me and eventually I started to like the headset. Glare is worse than index, like you say. One issue not covered here that makes it EVEN WORSE for movie watching in my opinion, is the sensor that detects if your headset is on doesn't work with steamVR. Instead it uses the IMU to detect if you're wearing the headset or not. This means that if your head is too still, like if you're resting it on a chair headrest for example, the screens will just turn off. I have to intentionally shake my head while watching movies to stop my headset displays from going black every 2 minutes.
I didn't even know about the screens automatically turning off like that. I personally thought it was bad for watching movies just because the glare made anything off center blurry and distorted. That's really ironic from a headset coming from Bigscreen.
I only use the Bigscreen for simracing. It's great for that. The low latency is amazing
Me too. Loving the beyond, Ive come from Index then onto the Aero then Beyond. I get far better performance from the Beyuond than the Aero at the same render resolution and graphics settings. The glare disappears when Im driving so no worries there. FOV could be better, Beyond 2 should fix the glare with bigger 4k oled panels and bigger lenses.
I’ve come around to the Beyond after an intensely negative first impression (and a few RMAs). My advice to anyone thinking of returning theirs is to just give it some time and talk to Bigscreen if you genuinely feel something isn’t right. Yes it can be a hassle but the end result is worth it. Personally I was a little bothered (understatement) at first by the glare and persistence issues but now I hardly notice them. Lens lottery does admittedly seem to be particularly bad with this headset but Bigscreen is extremely generous with returns/repairs.
I'm glad that you came around to it but several RMAs is frankly unacceptable. I gave the Beyond a second chance with a new unit and both times it disappointed me.
@@iconoclass Bigscreen is a small company and customization is a difficult business.
My number 1 complaint about VR in general is the white lens glare/god rays or whatever you want to call them ( or whatever the screen door). Trying to watch a movie in VR just makes it feel really low quality. For context I have the valve index since 2019. The image quality when watching a movie is actually quite crisp and clear, however, and this is a big however and that is the white lens glare will constantly hit you when the movie changes scenes and when you are watching an hour and half movie the scenes change all the time and just kills the immersion and quality of graphics. Every time I start watching a movie in VR I'm like this looks amazing! And I'm like this is really clean and high quality graphics and I tell myself why don't I do this more often its not as bad as I remember. And then after 30 minutes more or less I'll take the headset off and I'll watch the movie on my computer monitor and its easily 2-3x better looking then in vr and I get mad. Most games and most environments if you move your head too much the white lens glare will hit also. Certain games the white lens glare is not an issue but I have found its kind of rare. I have found that certain games have amazing graphics like in half life and a free game like time capsule arcade. And this is kind of my second complaint about VR is the game quality. A lot of games you buy are low graphic games but then you play a free game that was built in unreal engine 5 like the time capsule arcade and it looks insanely amazing and it becomes hard to go back to the other vr games.
If you're part of the discord, there are a lot of people that are in the same boat. People who just don't like it.
I had to go through 3 headsets to get one that worked. And even then, the fan doesn't see to work. It fogs up all the time, and my eyes feel wet after playing for a little.
The sweet spot is so small that moving my eyebrows up (something I now know I do all the time) will move the headset out of the sweet spot
It's not comfortable even though that was the selling point even after I got the new audio strap. And speaking about the strap, it is a pain to put on and take off (I put the headset into its original box to keep it safe after play). The headphones pop off all the time.
They really sacrificed too much on the optics stacks just to make it as small as possible. I dont think anyone would have minded the lenses to be 1.5x larger and the housing be ab it larger to accommodate. The glare is really the most unfortunate part, if they fix the glare issue in a v2 they are golden.
Same thoughts here, have had mine for half a year. Sent in for an IPD replacement (the app was just horribly off for measuring) While it's better, I still think I need to go down 1 mm as I have to push my left side of the headset to make it 100% like the right side is. The fan is loud, the unit is super hot always. I much prefer wearing my hp reverb 2 which cost me $500. I do sim racing, so the lighthouses don't reach that well so when i put the headset down I have to reset my position. The straps feel like crap even with the top one, the gasket doesn't breathe at all. The glare is the worst I've ever seen on a headset. I'll echo the support team is top notch. I'm past the return window so kinda stuck with it, family or friends can't really use it at all. Maybe I can get the slim gasket and it'll be better not sure. I keep thinking the lens is dirty but it's not, it's just the sweat spot is impossible to stay in. Why can't they make the IPD adjustable by like 3 mill, that would be amazing. Or make it so you can swap parts. Is it a completely different unit when I sent in?
yeah. i really wanted to get this headset, but the lack of clarity with those lenses was a really big downside in my eyes. basically negated the high resolution, and made the overall cost seem not really acceptable, even tho i know thats not really true.
My other gripe, and something you didnt cover in your video, is a lack of display port 2.1 support. the reason you have to chose between 72hz (with high resolution) and 90 hz (with low resolution) is because its hitting the data rate limit of display port 1.4. im not sure if this was a cost cutting measure, or if this was because the on board chip just cant handle that data rate, but regardless, its very annoying. if im spending 1000 dollars on a headset alone. i expect the headest to atleast run an appreciable amount over 60 hz at the resolution advertised.
Eye tracking would have also been nice as you said, tho thats more for non fixed foveated rendering, which could allow the headset to run on middling hardware, instead of needing a top end GPU to run well.
idk. im hopeful that the company will come out with a big screen beyond 2. one which supports DP 2.1, and has larger lenses that deal with the awful color distortion around the edges. id even be willing to pay 20% to 30% more, as long as the headset looked amazing. afterall, you only need to buy once, cry once if the hardware you are getting is good enough.
Index user with a 3090 here : I'm glad I found this video for this main issues of limited 'sharp' view, long term comfort, and fan noise. I was very close to getting this device as a supplemental device. But applaud big screen for the customer support and risking entering a very niche. My future will be with the aging index by adding eye tracking and face (mouth) tracking and putting up with the weight and cabling damaged over my 3+ year usage.
Its one opinion. I have the bigscreen and another opinion.
A great video, thank you for your balanced opinion. I loved my Q2 so much, I got the Q3 shortly after launch and I was amazed at the massive sweet spot, processing speed and resolution. The facial interface is good but I upgraded it with a decent head strap too, which is a given, but as you say the Q3 is such good value and there are so many really good straps on the martet, who cares. My strap was £20. The Q3 is superb for PCVR. I'm currently playing through Cyberpunk.
I agree completely about the nose gap and that and the single user limitation is what stops me trying a bigscreen beyond. I went throught the same or similar problems when I bought the pimax 8kX, even when all the VR youtubers were saying nothing but good it turned out to be a glitchy brick that nearly snapped your neck ot wear, it was so glitchy you could barely use it at all and nearly melted your face from heat, I was so mad at youtubers for over hyping it and really happy to see a honest review from you here.
About the Beyond, out of all the videos I watched, there's 1 guy who said: if you have the audio strap for the Beyond, you can very easily flip up the headset thanks to the hinges, which allow him to have a look around and say good night to his child without having to remove the headset entirely. Flip up, do your things, flip it back down
@@replacesoundboard ah yes the audio strap tm that is coming very* Soon tm you guys tmtmtmtmtm (its been over a year since I got the headset still no strap)
@@mfkrabs9089 I feel like if I ever convince myself to purchase the Beyond, I'd just 3D print the soft strap mod
@@mfkrabs9089 It looks like my reply got deleted by RUclips. Gonna try again.
I feel like if I ever get that headset, I'd get myself some 3D printed soft strap mode.
great review. I personally own a beyond, and I had everything work for me just fine. I also went from a quest 2, so for me it was a giant jump in quality and I personally enjoyed it. I don’t really care if it’s not perfect, all I kinda care about is that I like it. I don’t regret buying it, but based on this review I can see how other people regret buying it.
Wait, he returned a device with a faulty fan and still got charged restocking fees?
Yeah it’s a Shopify thing. Shopify collects the money not the merchant. Always read the terms of sale and ctrl F for “fee” and “return” and “refund”. Same when you buy a service that says unlimited. Look at their terms and ctrl F to find “fair usage” and “unlimited”
Yes because they’d send him another unit completely free of charge if wanted.
@@Mar-5016 but he had to pay for it? That doesn't sound like "free of charge" to me
@@alterablebark54what’re you talking about? They would have sent him another headset for free.
They only charged $200 because he wanted a refund and it’s a small company. This was no secret either, it’s clearly stated before you buy the headset.
Where would they be as a company if they make all of these custom headsets with specific IPD’s and completely unique face gaskets and everyone who returns it gets a full refund? For facebook? No issue. Apple? pocket change. A small company with the bsb being their first endeavor into VR hardware? Extremely problematic.
The BSB has its issues, but in return it has its extremely great strengths. It’s an extremely niche product but of good quality. If a 20% fee for return is that much of an issue after trying said product, then you had no business spending $1000+ on it in the first place 🤷🏽♂️
I am happy to say that I have not had any of the issues with my Beyond that you have
I will say however that I absolutely hated the way it felt with the elastic head strap
Now that I have finally received the audio strap, my experience useing the headset is like night and day
I feel that the headset should have shipped with the audio strap as it makes that big of a difference in comfort
I can only hope that Bigscreen has learned from the release of this headset and makes the next one larger and more focused on the gaming segment of VR users
It definitely varies. I feel like it’s the most comfortable in weight and minimalism, where I can actually wear it for long periods, though the cushion isn’t that great.
The glare is a huge issue tho. Perhaps a tighter fit will help but it makes it feel like the lenses are dirty due to the spottiness of the glare.
No issues with the fan and the rest is good, just would have rather had a heavier headset (with weight distribution) that was more complete and polished. It’s not really worth the price unless the features are what you REALLY want and don’t want a Quest.
my case, when I first got it I had a issue with my face cushion, however I put in a ticket and got a thinner comfortable cushion, and now I can say it officially replaces my index. combined with airpods even better. to the point where I am able to accidentally fall asleep with the headset on. while I understand it may not be a headset for everyone, I do think in my opinion its a good step and my favorite headset. however, people do tend to overhype something like this, or say its completely perfect, there are things you have to get used to, like if you have the thick face gasket at the bottom and top of your vision, there is a slightly pink hue, however, your eyes get used to this eventually, the darkness of the displays isnt a issue simply because you dont have any light leakage. but yeah, I like the headset pretty good in my *opinion*
quick edit, for edge to edge clarity, if you just get the slimmer cushion it gets about the same clarity as a index. but thats all
I did get a 2nd cushion that was slimmer, but even with that there was not even close to edge-to-edge clarity.
Returned mine because the glare was AWFUL but it is also super dark..I had to crank mine up to 140% screen brightness which then causes the glare to get even worse.
It was a pretty dim headset, I think I forgot to mention that. In dark environments it would be great if not for the glare, in bright environments it feels off.
I'm in no rush, i'll wait for the mk2. Appreciate your honest review and hope BB takes on aboard the negative reviews and try to improve their product.
This video helped me big time give me all the info I need to save my time and money. Thanks for all your work making this video
2:29 Vive Pro user here. I don't mind having a bad microphone because I don't use it. Don't want to pay premium price for a microphone that I don't want. It should be an option.
11:10 I hope not. I don't want to pay more than what I need.
Great video. Thanks for sharing your perspective! I don't have the money to drop on the headset, but it was something I was interested in. It would've easily swapped out my HTC Vive. I still love my Vive though, so I'll stick with that.
The most affordable headset is the one you already have. I personally don't like the Vive or Vive Pro but if it works for you then keep it, anything else will run you at least a few hundred.
Thanks for the honest review. I just got my quest 3 a few weeks ago and was considering investing in more VR but I will skip the big screen beyond. Even the minimal amount of glare on the quest 3 bothers me sometimes.
I have owned many different VR headsets, and in my opinion the Bigscreen Beyond is the best PCVR headset available on the market right now. But it is a mixed bag. It is necessary to keep your eyes forward in this headset and turn your head instead, rather like using varifocal eye glasses, and not everyone will be able to get used to that.
It's clear that you had fitment issues, and that's something that is very sensitive in this headset. The experience is very different when the fitment is right. Everything about its visuals including how bad the glare is is affected by fitment. People who are singing this headset's praises are literally having a different experience than you are.
I find mine very comfortable. I have very little pressure on my strap, and it stays in place perfectly like it's supposed to. So again, fitment issue. Comfort is a very personal thing between VR headsets.
Also I can't even hear the fan in mine. So that's an aspect where you just got a bad unit. However, given the total of your complaints, I doubt that even a good unit with ideal fitment would work out for you. So I think it's probably a good call on returning it.
Even with the fitment dialed in I won't say that this headset is perfect. Its lenses are its weakest aspect. It still manages the second best display available (behind the Pimax Crystal). The Quest 3 isn't far behind (much better lenses, but much weaker panels), but with all the Quests you're dealing with significant latency for PCVR and poor FBT support. The Pimax Crystal is buggy AF. There isn't a headset that nails it all.
The upcoming Pimax Crystal Light might be a good option for you.
I got a replacement HMD with the correct IPD and a thinner replacement cushion and still had issues with the glare.
I don't trust Pimax. I will keep using my Valve Index for as long as I can simply because it is still the best all around PCVR headset imo. If Valve ever makes another headset then maybe I'll upgrade to that.
I don't have a Beyond, was thinking about it and started hearing of people having IPD and face pad problems and needing to return it for a proper adjustment. Sounds like a pain in the butt. I do have a Index which I replaced with a Reverb G2v2, the resolution of the G2 puts the Index to shame plus the I find the G2 more comfortable and it is also lighter, I bought a pair of "VR Dongles" and use OpenVR Space Calibrator and now use my Valve knuckles with the G2.
I also have a Quest 3, the optics of this HMD are amazing.
I guess what I'm getting at here is everyone's face shape and eyes are different, I'm 65, so many YT reviewers have said they see SDE in the Q3, where I see none but yet I can see very faint SDE in the G2 if I look for it in the right conditions (light blue skies in some racing sims). As for the Index, I was happy to shelf that HMD, for myself, it wasn't that comfortable the SDE wasn't great and the glare and god rays were horrible (kind of like the OG Vive).
The unfortunate part of VR, you have to take a chance on any given HMD since you don't get to "try before you buy". One person might love a particular HMD where as the next person will hate it just due to different head shape and eyes. Us Humans are not created equal physically.
I think you bring up some great points. VR headsets, more than just about any other type of electronic device, are highly variable in the experience one person has versus another. I have a G2 (that I was fortunate to be able to buy new for almost half off) that’s largely been collecting dust, mainly due to me needing (or wanting) a higher-end GPU to pair with it, and, more to your point, me finding it pretty uncomfortable on my face. I’ve broken my nose a few times, so the ridge of my nose is probably more pronounced than most people’s. So I think the Beyond would be great for me, and it’s the next headset I will buy as of right now. My vision for how I want to use (and currently do use) VR is to just explore beautiful environments in sim games like MSFS or Kayak VR and to go into cool virtual desktop workspaces like in the Bigscreen app or Vrchat. Again, something that is personal to me and different than the way many other people use VR, but I think the Beyond would be great for me in that regard as well.
I feel the same, i thought its going to be more comfortable. The strap doesn't hold it securely for long, later slowly slide down out of sweet spot. The solid strap for quest 2 is more comfortable, it snap into place and have reasonable resistence that hold it in place with very minimal movement. It quite worm after an hour or two. The contrast and colour is good. It's overall a bit underwhelming. when it work properly, it's the best headset i had but that's 20% of the time.
Thanks for keeping it real in an ocean of inauthentic content.
Yeah I have an index, a beyond and as of a few days ago a quest 3 and I honestly;
I don't like the blurry edges with the big screen beyond.
I to have to have the strap on tighter than I'd like as well
The marking of the cable by the clip on the back of the head strap is something I brought up to the community day 1 as a concern of mine.
I will say the screen door effect is very noticeable on the quest 3 compared to what i remember on the index.
For the beyond cable get cable pulleys, makes it far more comfortable
guess i am going to keep using my index intill it explodes.
I am leaning into the Pimax Crystal Light for my next headset. It seems the software experience is vastly improved, and with the Bigscreen having too many sacrifices. I have the HP Reverb G2 now (the closest thing we'll ever get to an Index 2), so downgrading to a Valve Index to get lighthouse tracking isn't an option for me.
Quest 3 it is I appreciate the point out the issues and the focal point and hope they improve the headset if they do a Beyond 2
Its definitely not as good as it was made out to be by reviewers. That being said i dont have any comfort issues with mine and its the main reason i love mine so much.
i have chronic pain issues with my back and neck and the drastic weight reduction from my switch to the beyond means i can play for much longer, previously having pain issues after just half an hour. Now with the beyond i'm able to easily empty the batteries in my trackers with minimal pain increase over time.
i am very gladly putting up with all the issues the beyond brings with it for this as it finally allows me to spend more time in vr without taking painkillers
I had the same issues. It arrived, and it didn't fit AT ALL.. it was so bad and made me really mad..
If they ever gonna release one with adjustable ipd and universal facial interfaces with different sizes, I might consider buying again.
But mine got sent back. And for the moment, im kinda done with Bigscreen.
I think that the Pimax Crystal Super, that‘ll come out Q4 this year i think.
3840x3840
That‘s a crazy resolution. But Foviated Rendering should make that a lot better.
Lets see what the future brings!
finally a review for a real person not those viral youtubers who doesnt even play or don't go BEYOND 1 hours of gaming every week xd
Thank you for the honest review👍🏻
I appreciate your honest
The quality of the lenses and comfort are just as important as the resolution. Maybe in the near future we will get something that is good at all of those at a reasonable price ($1000 or less).
yea i'm also disapointed, i'm returning mine and getting somethin else.
Good to see a different opinion, for me the glare I think may be important , not sure if I will buy it. Maybe the next model the resolve this. I am surprised about weight and commodity, but I understand about weight distribution. The noise fan looks unbereable and the machine getting hot is not good. I am not even sure about putting a computer stick in your eyes. There has been cases of second degree burns with an iPhone. Imagine any sort of accident in your eyes.
The soft strap is seriously disappointing for comfort. The top strap helps a little, but it still needs to be set tighter than what is comfortable to keep the thing on your face. The new audio strap should help, but getting the audio strap means giving up any possibility for jerry rigging any eye tracking tech into the beyond
Unpopular Opinion but I actually like the Q3 Headstrap, but I only just got my Q3 this week and haven't gone past 2,5 hrs yet due to battery limitations. In contrast the quest pro even with comfort kit I couldn't go past 45 mins for comfort reasons while I could go all day with the index.
I have all the same issues with mine for the most part, but coming from a Quest 1 it's the only logical upgrade, I'm going to try modding mine with different headstraps and the Slimterface face gasket before maybe giving up on it, I really want to love it and do but it's a shame about the issues
Quest 3 is always the logical upgrade from any headset rn tbh, especially a previous Quest
@@iconoclass Yea, I was thinking of maybe getting one in the future to mess around with mixed reality. I orginally went with the Beyond because I wanted to move away from stand alone since I only play PCVR and the Index not being worth full price and no announcement of Valve's next VR after waiting 2 years the Beyond felt like the perfect VR being small, high res and OLED which is what I wanted coming from the Quest 1, the beyond is a nice vr just dissapointing in terms of comfort.
Thank you!!!! 😀
Quest 3, here I come!
Wait for the Shiftall MeganeX. This one seems promising, coming out Q1 2025 in US and around Q2 in Europe.
Thank you, really appreciate a review without the hyperbole !
I don't care how light it is if it doesn't have the clarity and comfort to match the price.
As much as I wish this thing lived up to the hype, the narrow fov and even narrower sweet spot is a huge dealbreaker.
Thank you for a review that's not just gawking at the size weight and "clarity".
I've had my index for 2 or so years now... maybe 3? And its so frustrating wanting to upgrade but every headset feels like im trading off. Like i have to choose between better resolution and shit audio solutions, or ok audio and bad lenses, and then I just sit here with my index scared to "upgrade" bc nothing seems like an actual upgrade
have mostly similar issues with bsb even with apple vision strap to make it crush my face slightly less… as you say they focused way too much on making it so small compromising it. i did not return it due to $200 return fee thats ridiculous…
If it had a custom fit and an adjustable IPD (even just a few inches of adjustment for a range of error) I think the headset would be a lot better. A larger sweetspot would also help but understandably that'd hurt the small form factor somewhat. Other than that, it's decent for what it is... Just not something I'd want to spend $1000 on.
14:19 That's nice of you. I'm not bothered but nice of you to think about people who are
I would have bought an Valve Index. However they do not sell them to me. I do not want to go with anything Meta because I do not trust them in terms of privacy. I do not like the HP Reverb I got, as it do not track well enough for me. Mainly it seems to have issues with where exactly it is supposed to be, so the headset bumps slightly aside randomly causing a lot of frustration playing beat saber for example.
I wonder now years later, if perhaps there may be some manufacturing issue with it.
In any case. I am now just not sure what to do to get a good vr experience again. I really miss my Oculus Rift at this point.
This headset is terrible I wish I saw this video when I preordered but tbh I bought the hype and paid for it
A bit worried since I ordered mine close to 3 months ago and I'm still waiting. My biggest concern is that if they screw up the lenses I'm back to waiting, but I've waited for so long already that I'm a bit apprehensive about cancelling.
You are the first person I've seen making a HONEST review of this overpriced junk headset.
2:38 It looks like the sweet spot is 50% of the diameter of the entire lens. That's still bigger than the Vive Fresnel lens, although Beyond's pancake lens is much smaller too. It's too bad there aren't many reviewers people out there who own both the Vive Pro and the Beyond. I never owned any super wide field of view headset and the Vive Pro seems very big for me with the official thin leather pad.
I didn’t have any IPD issues, but the other flaws were definitely there. Sending mine back today 💔
Well, thanks for the video. Although I don't agree with everything you said, it seems I'll be happier with my current headset than with a Beyond
cant really say you were unfair either.. i think you brought up some good points.
To be fair, many youtube reviewers complained about the glare and small sweetspot. But buyers were so desperate for an OLED vr headset that many of them ignored the negative comments in the reviews and bought it anyway. More fool them.
BB is not perfect and it has it flaws too like any other VR headset. Owning a Index for years it starts to feel way to heavy to play for more than an hour.
íll really hope they will continue to bring out the next version of BB with a wider FOV.
Imagine the next Beyond, if they can fix the blurr.
I had tried VR in the past but only recently decided to buy a headset because I feel the technology finally justifies the price. My decision was between the meta quest 3 (with many 3rd party accessories) or the big screen. I ended up with the quest 3 and at least with my use case I have absolutely no regrets. This video kinda solidified that for me, so thank you for sharing!
Seconded. As Quest 3 owner im also happy with my purchase. The only downside is my poor choice of 128gb model instead of 256gb. It is because I will not overpay for storage, all these “all in ones” follow Apples greedy upgrade charges and storage is the most absurd one.
@filipivan5125 I also went with the 128gb option but after downloading mnay games and some productivity apps I still have 45GB to spare. While the security of extra storage is nice, I have a PC and laptop that I can pair with the headset making storage and even proformance in many circumstances not an issue.
But the fact this headset is stand alone and can be used in so many use cases is why this headset is so amazing to me haha
I have both of these headsets. I consider the Beyond to be superior for PCVR. And I use it most of the time. I use Quest 3 when I'm travelling or to play its exclusives.
This video was made by someone who had a bad experience with the Beyond, and it sounds like it just doesn't work properly for him. To be sure, issues that he talks about in the video are real. But when you have fitment problems with this headset, these issues get amplified significantly and aren't minor anymore.
But I wouldn't say that his experiences are necessarily representative of what your experiences would have been if you'd gone with the Beyond instead. They're certainly different from mine.
@@SargonDragon I mainly use my headset for productivity when connected to my PC and a big part of that is because I don't like being attached to a wire when playing games and network delays can be bad for me.
So for me the games I do play are mainly ones found in the quest store. I also do not watch many movies w it cause I am not a movie person.
The passthrough mixed w stand alone kinda kills any advantages the beyond has for me. I realize that not everyone will have the same opinion based on use case, which again is part of what makes the quest line so intriguing to me.
So yes I agree a lot of the issues in this video are fit related but finding the right fit is a real struggle esspecially when you have no clue what your fit is when buying your first headset.
I think if I had recived the wrong fit, I would have returned the headset as well and been less likly to reinvest to find the right fit if it was a hastle. This is another advantage of the quest as it is adjustable for different people.
@@LostBam Quest 3 does sound like it was the right choice for you.
You saved me, thanks.
@iconoclas have you ever had your IPD measured by a optometrist, how does it compare to your second headsets IPD? Sounds like the depth of the interface was to deep, which is why you saw an improvement while making it tighter. I am hearing people are having to get up to 3 new cushions till they get the "perfect" one. I would only get this VR headset if I had a Nvidia 480 or better. There is enough wrong with your second unit, that I would recommend reaching out for another replacement.
6:32 I still think that the uncomfortable meta headstrap should not be excused.
It hurts VR that the 'most popular' headset is uncomfortable out of the box.
No other wearable (where there is competition) would get away with this. Even cheap watches don't have deliberately uncomfortable straps.
Totally agree about the face weight. I added weight to the back of mine to balance it. Much better.
I care more about comfort than visuals. I have the oculus and it hurts my face after 15-30 minutes.
That is a shame, I hope it doesn't fall into the same pit Pimax has with it's headsets. Cool hardware, lack of knowledge or care for human wearables for the sake of keeping it the smallest. I hope Beyond 2 improves on this.
These are all valid concerns, however let me shed some light on a few topics. You should not be having a small edge to edge clarity, while it's no qpro/3 level, if you have that problem your gasket is not a good fit. BSB makes thick gaskets for some reason, but many users myself included report that ordering a thin gasket fixes that issue and makes the glare appear only on the edges which makes it very manageable, otherwise it's borderline unplayable. I wish they informed users properly but like you stated, that's a problem with the way they are doing the gaskets. They need to restructure everything and I hope they can solve these issues.
Lastly comparing pancake lenses glare to Meta without mentioning that Meta has a patent on their coating is just misleading. There will never be pancake lenses without glare that aren't from meta unless we figure out a way to go around that. There's no other proven scientific method for getting rid of glare like that. That's why pimax didn't use them along with the need for brighter panels. People all want pancake lenses but forget that fact. What they really want are Meta's pancake lenses.
I said in the video that I got a thinner gasket (with my replacement Beyond) which unfortunately didn't help much.
As for the patent, I didn't know about that but I figured Meta's solution was proprietary; I even mentioned the optics stack in addition to the size of the lenses. In-house or not, I was simply pointing out what mattered to the end consumer, that the glare is bad, and much worse than compared to the Quest 3.
Added to cart… find your video, removed from the cart.
out of all of the people i know who have a Bigscreen Beyond, 1 person recommended it over my index. everyone else says its garbage. the sweetspot is tiny, the fov is psvr1-like and there are too many compromises. i just want an upgraded index at this point but no one seems to care enough to make a headset with little compromises while offering features that drive the industry forward, not even valve. vr has one foot in the grave while companies nickel and dime its own userbase.
I just want an upgraded Vive Pro. It gets the job done but it was the last OLED headset for a long time
@@replacesoundboard PSVR2 with PC adapter should be good.
@@dtz1000 That could be an option, although now I'm also considering the Pimax Super that might be released by the end of the year
@SamuelDrilla ur just the life of the party arnt you?
Why not to try the pimax Crystal Light? You will be so excited by the clarity and visual experience.
thank you for the candid review. mine arrives tomorrow and i'm so nervous about the fit being right after waiting so long for it. this review was interesting to me bc my main reason for buying the beyond was comfort, which is of course relative. i'm also upgrading from an index, which felt comfortable for the first 1000 or so hours but now feels very heavy and uncomfortable on my face (the broken head strap doesn't help, but i'm out of warranty). i'm hoping the beyond will be better in that regard. i'll come back and update this comment if i remember.
how did it go?
any update?
Thanks for the honest review, gave me new perspective.
Why do you prefer using your index daily over the quest? if i can ask?.... Im torn on which to get next....played a few of them... mosly Quest 2/3.....but i have the $$ now to get any one.....but still keep concluding that quest is best all around..........I agree about the reviews of the Beyond. They seemed fake...and the customer service and shipping time turned me away..... I looked into the Vive and saw ppl say it had actual best resolution but had flaws...,.. i was going to get a Pimax....but decided to wait for the Crystal Super and will get it def.... Even tho i also hear their customer service isn't great
It's the easiest to use with SteamVR and PC, which is what I use most often, no additional setup or middleware like Meta Quest Link or having to calibrate Vive trackers each time. The Index Knuckles are still my favorite controllers in spite of how fragile and expensive they are. The headset never dies because there it's not battery powered. The gray uniformity of my Index is better than that of the Quest 2s and 3s that I've tried. It's also the most comfortable headset imo, and has the widest FOV and refresh rate of the mainstream headsets, and the picture has no compression unlike Quest Link.
Plus I already own it; I bought it before the Quest 2 came out.
Most all of these complaints can either be remedied or are insignificant with the Quest 3 imo (continuous tracking with an extra Vive tracker, aftermarket straps, the compression is negligible with a cable, dev mode can boot Quests into PC Quest Link without confirmation, etc.). The FOV and refresh rate of the Quest 3 are close enough to the Index and any decrease in those I would gladly trade for the Quest 3's vastly superior lenses.
The Valve Index is a legacy headset at this point but still suits me best for my use case. I will wait until Valve makes another headset, and if they don't, I may very well run my Index into the ground. Thankfully it is repairable, unlike Meta's headsets.
I've never tried a Pimax or Varjo headset but I don't trust either of them based on their track records. It's not just about the specs of a headset, it's about the whole user experience.
I think most headsets are not very good. I still enjoy trying out as many as I can (bought and returned bc I didn't like, or at stores or universities) because they are so vastly different from each other. They all have compromises and few strike a balance that I feel is acceptable for mainstream use.
TL;DR
The best mainstream headset is the Quest 3.
I have a hard time recommending anything else unless
you can't afford the Quest 3, go with the now $200 Quest 2 or
you want face tracking, go with the Quest Pro.
All other headsets I've tried are either too dated and/or compromise too much in too many areas that leads to an overall poor user experience.
@iconoclass thanx. Exactly what I figured. Gonna ride the Quest 3 for now(with cable link).... and wait for next Vive or Pimax.....which I hear are about to be announced soon......because my main wants from a headset is FOV....clarity....and comfort.... I mostly sim race and I can't get ACC to top out graphically(even tho I heard on a 4090 it's still iffy)........I have a 4070/16gb/1
I7..... may get 4090..... but my plan was to top out headset and get t
A top cpu..
.just to see if that will improve that game specifically.......but not sure it will.
.
This is disappointing to hear but i appreciate your honesty
hey I am a sucker for good water vr games, what was that pool looking game in the background?
kayak vr
Also check out the demo for Subside, in case you haven't already!
I'm waiting for the consumer version to come out. I have high hopes for this headset but this prototype isn't it.
when psvr2 pc port comes out can you tell me if that's better than index
Index resolution is outdated. Psvr 2 has mura screen problem which is very very bad. Quest 3 with wireless is best choice with bigger fov and best lense out there.
I appreciate the honest review, so glad I cancelled the order.
buy a quest 3, put the rest of the money you'd spend on this towards a 4090/5090. you'll be much better off that way.
Depends on the games. For Simracing the bigscreen is far better.