Weirdly I'm still thinking none.of them. Not big screen. Because no eye tracking, no passthrough, no sharing it, separate audio. And it still feels like a Kickstarter. Not Crystal, because it's just stopgap to the 12k and it's $1600! The $800 rebate? Well you might as well just try to sell it if you are prepared to take an $800 hit after maybe one year. And frankly they are still working on it. Not Varjo because it's still a 112 ish degree fov headset when all is said and done. And this is me with base stations knuckles and a beast pc that could probably run this already bought. What part of "I bought a pimax for the wide field of view" did Pimax not get? They had that market sewn up! Grrr. I really feel like the crystal is wasting my time. If they wait until those 4 panel small form factor wide fov headsets are a thing, they will have missed out on my money.
@@CorporateZombi Yo!! You took the words right out of my mouth! This is exactly how I feel. Where did this Crystal come from when the first headset Pimax advertised was the 12K?! Then this Crystal comes along and all of a sudden every content creator, except Sadly its Bradley, loves it. All the while I'm asking where is the 12K? What is the 12K's status? Nothing said. When anyone thinks of Pimax, usually large FOV is the first thought that comes to mind. The Crystal's FOV is not even as wide as the Valve Index. I also have a beast PC, Knuckles, Bases, Varjo etc.. and was very interested in a higher quality, comfortable, higher resolution, OLED, human eye FOV, light weight smaller form factor headset with great audio and mic. It looks like the 'Hypervision' project is at least working towards the human eye FOV (horizontally), light weight smaller form factor goal. The only thing I see that might be an issue is its vertical FOV. The horizontal FOV of Hypervision is what seems to be the main focus. A headset without the qualities mentioned just doesn't , in my opinion, offer enough to spend these crazy amounts of money for. The Apple vision seems to just be a status symbol rather than a headset that enthusiast really want it for....Simulations and Games! End of Rant.
now that I'm thinking about it. They will probably make a mixed reality headset now that META is doing one. I believe Varjos professional headset is mixed reality too. So it's an obvious path for them to take. @@der60er
I'm keeping my powder dry for a while. There's lots of new headsets in the pipeline we don't know much about yet. This definitely shakes up the sim market, if I were about to pull the trigger on a crystal or a big screen I might rethink my options just to be sure.
I have both the Aero and Crystal. I love the qled displays in the Crystal. They are a slight upgrade from the Aero. I also love its audio. But the Crystal falls apart with its weight, horrible discomfort and horrible build quality. The Aero was a winner at its origjnal MSRP for me. Now its a no-brainer!
There may be a lot to be said for comfort. That you'll give up quite a lot to get it. In that Norm from Tested comparison of Crystal Vs Big screen all Norm talked about was how small and light the beyond was and it felt like they seemed to dismiss the crystal with like a hand wavy 'i didn't want to wear that one - so heavy, please rethink your design' Then while briefly mentioning but without much comparison, how crystal has better fov, better edge to edge clarity, and forgetting to mention foveated rendering and the benefits of eye tracked foveated rendering or the future possibility of wireless play.
So many options, i think none replaces the HP Reverb G2 pricr point. It's a pitty we didnt have a G3 with more res and pankake lens. That would be a winner!!!
Yes, I think Pimax Crystal is really hard to beat. Inside out tracking and controllers included, larger FOV, better lenaes and res... difficult choice.
I wanted to buy a Varjo Aero like 3 times already :)) but 1990 was pretty steep. Now we the 990 man.. Hard to choice became even harder.. (I am still running the Vive Pro 1 & 2 since they are wireless)
Yeah well..since Meta announced the Quest 3 with a PPD of 23 for 500$ compared to Varjo Aero with 35 PPD, it was obvious they had to drop the price. Even then the price to performance is not competitive. PPD: 35(Varjo) : 23(Quest3)~1,52 , 990$:500$=1,98 Therefore you get much more from the Quest 3 than from the Aero, even without considering the standalone capabilities, the software combability (PCVR included) and the future XR variety. For most people the Quest 3 will be the most obvious choice if Meta delivers. But still, I'm happy that these price drops happen, because that means VR/XR competition heats up this year and therefore innovation can happen with a much higher probability.
I have the quest 3. just bought a Aero. Will tell you how they compare. I only use VR for sim racing, so the quest 3 is great, but still pcvr with the link cable sucks.
Varjo Aero price may have been halved overseas but in Australia the price ranges from $1899 up to $2999 as at today's date. The price should be around $1600. Retailers in Australia are taking us all for a ride. When the price comes down to where it should be I'll be getting one. Looks like a fantastic VR.
This has a better FOV than Beyond and I think the Beyond is only full resolution at 75hz. I have a G2 and not sure what I'll do. I'll get a Quest 3 but that's not for my flight sims.
I recently noticed a lot of Varjo VR headsets on Ebay. There are VR, VR-2, VR-2 pro, XR-1, XR-3, etc. I had no idea there were so many models. It would help if there was a video explaining which models are oldest and which models are newest. The prices range from $300 to $3000 so there must be big differences between models.
I def may consider it with the price drop, had to cancel my Big screen beyond because their IPD measuring had me at 73 , I've been using the valve index since it launched and their mechanical IPD adjustment only goes to 70, so the Numbers didn't add up and I wasn't going to settle for the less improved Bigscreen Beyond, btw 69 has been my index sweet spot is 68.5 - 69 , so I cancelled yesterday 😣, I really wanted that headset too
This definitely feels more in line, price wise with the current high end market options, and means that Varjo will still be able to compete for sales with Pimax and Bigscreen. It's probably too late in the day for me to buy one, the expense and hassle of having to rebuy base stations and controllers is off putting, so I'm probably going to wait it out a year or so with my Quest Pro and see what the market offers in late 2024, early 2025. This is an appealing price point for sure though. I'd certainly trust the Varjo name more than Pimax, who have a pretty mediocre track record, and Bigscreen, who have no record at all for hardware at this point. Comfort and weight matters to me, but it only needs to be sensible. I have no doubt the Aero would be plenty comfortable enough, whereas the Crystal looks like it belongs in the early 1990's, I wouldn't ever consider buying that.
The active cooling system is the big selling point for me, no fog or heat. Both have 35PPD, eye tracking, foveated rendering, auto IPD, and aspherical lenses. Crystal has 125 degree FOV at 35PPD to Aero's 115. Crystal has 144Hz to the 90 Hz on the Aero. But you do not have the battery BS with the Aero, which is a turnoff for me with the Crystal. Also the customer service from Varjo is suppose to be superb, since they do a lot more high end accounts.
@@lurchilurch5507 What the Samsung O+ and the Vive were. 115 is actually very good and with auto IPD it auto adjust the sweet spot for you. Plus Eye tracking which already works in games that use the OpenXR toolkit like MSFS and DCS.
Aggghhh! I dont know! Probably doesnt matter which one you get. They are all probably good if their own different ways. We haven't hit the no compromises headset yet.
We are reaching a point where how good is good and does it really matter for most. I do think stand alone headsets will sell the best overall. Looking forward to the OCULUS 3 LOL.
[EDIT]: I take some of this back. My gpu is a Radeon 6900XT Liquid Devil, and AMD isn't supported by Varjo. The whole brand is now dead to me until this is resolved. I should be free to use whatever GPU I want, period. Lock-in isn't okay w/my wallet.[/EDIT] Interesting, I was thinking I'd do a new headset soon, or early next year. The Somnium VR1 ticks the boxes, as I have a basestation, index controllers, etc. The Bigscreen was at the top of my list, but I'm not an iphone user, and it being a "me only" headset is...a choice that will come with questions. The Aero is a really nice alternative. But truly, I want wireless. Fast, reliable wireless like I get from my OG Vive. I love my G2, especially the audio and clearity, but I miss steamVR tracking and controllers. I don't mind the Quest 2, but the wireless is a bit of a pita at times, and Oculus software/policies are simply in my way - I just want pure PCVR. This is on my radar, but the VR1 is, too.
I'm in no rush for VR, the tech still isn't there, I'm happy to wait. Until then I'm busy hiking and shooting, real world is still better when you're young enough.
At 881$ (till dec3) I buy one!! If the pimax brick was cheaper I would consider it but with the extra face plate, it’s almost double price… the Bigscreen Beyond look nice but with fixed ipd?? And a clarity not as good, no way! Can’t wait, I’m tired of the htc elite…
With the aero you need an internet connection to verify it online every 3 months. Keep that in mind if you’re a prepper - your VR will be bricked if the servers go down.
This made me consider the Varjo Aero again. But I'm still not interested in it because of the lack of built in audio solution and unusually narrow vertical FOV. The price actually means very little to me. I use VR all the time, and so I'll get a lot of bang per buck regardless. I only care about which VR headset offers the best overall performance.
@@kevinbrook7033 I do mean 12%. That is significant. And they do have a high end gpu. The 7900 xtx is a high end. So was the 6900 xt. They were not the best of the best as the 3090 and 4090 were that. But high end doesn't mean best. And when you go to the 6800 xt vs the 3080 or the 7800 vs the 4080 they were about the same trading blows, but amd was a better price to performance ratio. So they do make high end cards.
You should include the Quest Pro since it's a $1000 and there's still a group of people trying to claim it's the best PCVR headset because of the pancake lenses.
I absolutely love my Quest Pro. Massive upgrade over my Reverb G2 and Vive Pro 2. I'd love a super high resolution headset for MSFS but what I have now is good enough for me to sit out this year and next, until we get real high resoluion microOLED displays in a feature rich headset. The Bigscreen Beyond is too bare bones for me, and won't age well imo. The Aero is probably the better bet between the two now at this price, with its eye tracking. Quest Pro can be got brand new on Amazon UK for under £800, it was £729 this week. It's a steal at that price and likely to be better value than the Quest 3 for PCVR fans. I would certainly value the dual QLED displays, better FOV, Pro controllers, local dimming and face and eye tracking over a better mobile chip and depth sensor when I don't play mobile games anyway.
Technology rendered obsolete by technological advances. The elephant in the room is that the Bigscreen Beyond @ 1/5th weight is sharper with more vertical FOV, more comfortable and at the same price. Varjo is simply offloading stock now that the Bigscreen is shipping pre-orders. It was way overpriced to begin with.
I would be surprised if the edge to edge clarity of the pancake stack was superior to the single aspheric. But maybe bespoke means you do get that sweet spot absolutely every single time.
The Beyond has no eyetracking, a worse sweetspot and apparently glare is an issue (see VR Flight Sim Guy video). So worse image compared to Aero and also more expensive, at least in the EU (200€!).
I'm not sure the BSB obseletes the Aero at all. It's a lower resolution headset, with less clarity and no eye tracking. The form factor looks great, but the Aero doesn't exactly have a bad reputation for comfort. If I was choosing right now, the new price drop would probably tip me in the direction of Varjo. I expect eye tracking to become more useful in 2024/25 and it already produces massive fps gains in a few titles, DCS most notably.
Thank you for the informative video! :) I´m really on the edge but can´t decide. Decide between Pimax Crystal and Varjo Aero. I already got a Lighthouse and sitting on a Reverb G2 for now, so there would be no upcost for me. But this makes this situation now very hard, because the Crystal would be way more expensive now than a Varjo Aero. With the Lighthouse Faceplate (which i see as a must have, love the knuckles and precision) nearly double...so i ask myself Is the (slightly?) better picture quality and vertical fov really worth near double the price? It´s a tough call when you never saw the direct comparison :/
@@mixedrealityTV Does it really feel like half? Ok, that is really narrow... and i saw your new video about the new limited edition, while not a HUGE price saving it complements my situation very good. This offer is perfect for those, who want to keep their lighthouse tracking and already got their own controllers, so not only for simmers :) Thanks for your answer, i think Crystal will be it then - i thought the vfov would be near g2 but that much less would be too less for me :o
The false advertising of the 25% ending august to just make a 50% cut two weeks later makes me feel scammed for receiving mine 5 days ago! This was suppsoed to be a hapy buy not a way for me to loose 800Euros. I seriously question the integrity of the company when the do false advertising. Didnt know they were so desperate!
Of course they are desperate. There is Crystal selling like hot cakes, and there is Quest 3 on the horizon. Bigscreen start selling too. The competition is fierce.
I think the bigscreen beyond is the better buy if you plan on keeping this headset for many years. But if you sell your headset and buy a new one often, the Aero is a much better idea. With all that being said I wonder is Varjo will maybe announce a new headset soon, and also I wonder if Valve will shock us all right before meta connect.
When samsung odyssey came out with 1600p oled in 2018, valve came out with outdated 1440p resolution lcd in 2019. If valve bring 2160p on next headset, i will be very shock
@@reprobite all window mix reality headsets were all 1440p that time except Samsung. I thought valve was known as 1440p headset. I guess you know better than me
@@ji3200 yes all mixed reality headsets were 1440x1440 until the odyssey came along with 1440x1600 per eye, but the other headsets that have this exact same resolution per eye are the original Vive Pro and the Valve Index both with 1440x1600, I love the odyssey more than the index was just correcting the numbers that’s all
I have a hard time trusting Pimax. Build quality is always a crap shoot with them. BSB looks really good but not sure I could deal with it's glare, Aero has a proven track record but a FOV could be an issue. Might just stick with my Quest Pro another gen or two.
And on top of that, controllers. Thought I could use my Quest 2 controllers, but it seems I can't. That's probably gonna be at least a couple of hundreds of euros, if not more.
is the Vario lighter in weight than the Pimax? The Crystal looks like it will break my neck with its sheer size. LOL Would I notice a huge difference in the visuals over the Quest Pro?
Yes, a lot lighter than Crystal and MUCH better visuals than QPro. I have an Aero now and had QPro before. QPro had better FOV and overall better lenses though. But I much prefer the Aero overall.
I cant wait to upgrade from my oculus rift , no te even the S, the first oculus rift. Waiting for the oculus announcement , but i dont want lcd panels. I'm leaning for the bigscreen beyond.
I found the Quest 2 + elite battery strap was a lot better than my CV1 even though it doesn't have oled panels. I literally never went back. Even though I had arguably better tracking with my four camera outside in tracking setup. And I'm an oled freak who also has pimax 5kxr for the oled panels.
Likewise - I am looking to upgrade from my OG HTC Vive. I need OLED blacks and colors that I have now, aspheric lenses (I've seen enough god rays in dark/light scenes for this life), must be Steam VR ecosystem with Index controlers and lighthouses. FOV must be = or > than my OG HTC Vive. Then I upgrade from my i7-8700k+3080Ti to i7-13900+4090. Will wait for several more months to see some more competiton arrive...
Small fov turns me off on Aero. No resale value on Bigscreen turns me off too. Pimax Crystal might be better choice for me. Damm Meta! How can you not bring local dimming lcd on $499 Quest 3!!!
I play only SimRacing so Aero seems very good for me. Huge sweet spot, active cooling, high resolution with eye tracking. FOV is nice but in simracing you always should focus on what’s ahead anyway. Ok close combats are important but the spotter is enough
I think the main thing is if you don't want base stations you probably got to have to get the crystal. But that vareo price drop is excellent. I would get it instead of the beyond. But I already got the crystal.
I think it'd be foolish to buy one of these high-end headsets when the Somnium One is supposedly so close. Seems sensible to wait for the price reveal at least.
Not really.. the chances it's still gonna be more expensive than the Aero for almost the same features. Only Varjo have been in the market for years and is trusted by USAF.. having said that there is no harm in waiting
@@m0rph3u5. It will likely be more expensive but it justifies that with integrated audio and microphone. Plus the options for hand tracking and passthrough/AR functionality for those that want it. The headset is mostly built by VRgineers who have a track record with the XTAL.
My main gaming device is my Asus Zephyrus G14, rocking an AMD Radeon RX 6800S. Currently, the Aero is only compatible with Nvidia GPUs, and I hope that they are working to add AMD support because this headset is the stuff of dreams and I want it so so badly. :(
Shows what can be done. Makes Apple look stupid & greedy. Can’t believe Microsoft have been such a small player in this market. The idea of a dedicated virtual desktop is very appealing to me. Nearly went for the Quest Pro, but their implementation didn’t cut it, especially for all day use and well, Facebook….
@@shadowworlds glad to hear that. For a long time now, I’ve wanted a headset for work based activities and it looked from their marketing like Meta shared this goal, but from several reviews it seems that the hardware fell short, mainly on keyboard implementation, resolution and comfort. It looked for a while that Microsoft would come through with a Windows based system, but then they drifted towards the military, and now seem to have lost interest. Pity. I’ll just have to wait for Virtual Office. Enjoy your device!
I simply will not consider the Varjo Aero as a headset. Being locked into an nVidia eco system artificially just because they want to stick to using their CUDA upscaling.. No idea wtf they won't try porting their code to ROCm. With nVidia's shockingly rapid driver quality decline in the last year (focusing their resources on AI), plus nVidia's lower amounts of VRAM, I'd rather stick to an AMD solution for my VR needs.
Overpriced to begin with. Feel bad for those that brought it at full price. Like the Quest Pro. As much as I don't like Apple, they have the best headset ever developed so far. Hopefully someone else will step up.
Quest 3 If the Crystal was cheaper i would want that just for the standalone but i think their lying about the standalone. I dont think PC Vr is worth it and for sure not over $1k USD.
Buy Varjo Aero: tinyurl.com/varjo-aero (Affiliate)
Which one is it gonna be? Bigscreen, Pimax or Varjo?
None. I'm waiting for something like visor for gaming which I'm almost 100% sure that we are getting just in time for 5090's.
Weirdly I'm still thinking none.of them.
Not big screen. Because no eye tracking, no passthrough, no sharing it, separate audio. And it still feels like a Kickstarter.
Not Crystal, because it's just stopgap to the 12k and it's $1600! The $800 rebate? Well you might as well just try to sell it if you are prepared to take an $800 hit after maybe one year. And frankly they are still working on it.
Not Varjo because it's still a 112 ish degree fov headset when all is said and done.
And this is me with base stations knuckles and a beast pc that could probably run this already bought.
What part of "I bought a pimax for the wide field of view" did Pimax not get? They had that market sewn up! Grrr. I really feel like the crystal is wasting my time. If they wait until those 4 panel small form factor wide fov headsets are a thing, they will have missed out on my money.
Difficult descision. I'm waiting for Meta Connect before making any descisions but the Varjo Aero is looking good...
@@CorporateZombi Yo!! You took the words right out of my mouth! This is exactly how I feel. Where did this Crystal come from when the first headset Pimax advertised was the 12K?! Then this Crystal comes along and all of a sudden every content creator, except Sadly its Bradley, loves it. All the while I'm asking where is the 12K? What is the 12K's status? Nothing said. When anyone thinks of Pimax, usually large FOV is the first thought that comes to mind. The Crystal's FOV is not even as wide as the Valve Index.
I also have a beast PC, Knuckles, Bases, Varjo etc.. and was very interested in a higher quality, comfortable, higher resolution, OLED, human eye FOV, light weight smaller form factor headset with great audio and mic. It looks like the 'Hypervision' project is at least working towards the human eye FOV (horizontally), light weight smaller form factor goal. The only thing I see that might be an issue is its vertical FOV. The horizontal FOV of Hypervision is what seems to be the main focus. A headset without the qualities mentioned just doesn't , in my opinion, offer enough to spend these crazy amounts of money for. The Apple vision seems to just be a status symbol rather than a headset that enthusiast really want it for....Simulations and Games! End of Rant.
This is not getting any easier.
Varjo must be doing this to clear their stock. New Varjo headset incoming.
There is a varjo event scheduled for today
hope so. uOLED and more FOV + solid audio
now that I'm thinking about it. They will probably make a mixed reality headset now that META is doing one. I believe Varjos professional headset is mixed reality too. So it's an obvious path for them to take. @@der60er
waiting to see when the price drop is for pimax crystal
I'm keeping my powder dry for a while. There's lots of new headsets in the pipeline we don't know much about yet. This definitely shakes up the sim market, if I were about to pull the trigger on a crystal or a big screen I might rethink my options just to be sure.
I have both the Aero and Crystal.
I love the qled displays in the Crystal. They are a slight upgrade from the Aero. I also love its audio.
But the Crystal falls apart with its weight, horrible discomfort and horrible build quality.
The Aero was a winner at its origjnal MSRP for me. Now its a no-brainer!
But it fell by over half the price in what time?
There is 1 problem. it requires nvida. Not an issue if you have an nvideo gpu, but if you have a top of the line amd card you have only 1 option.
There may be a lot to be said for comfort. That you'll give up quite a lot to get it.
In that Norm from Tested comparison of Crystal Vs Big screen all Norm talked about was how small and light the beyond was and it felt like they seemed to dismiss the crystal with like a hand wavy 'i didn't want to wear that one - so heavy, please rethink your design'
Then while briefly mentioning but without much comparison, how crystal has better fov, better edge to edge clarity, and forgetting to mention foveated rendering and the benefits of eye tracked foveated rendering or the future possibility of wireless play.
@@archibaldikowski3646 2 years.
@@archibaldikowski3646 2 years. How is this a negative?
How do you get the Bigscreen at 990 euro in Europe? On their website it states 1369 euro. I am in Belgium btw.
So many options, i think none replaces the HP Reverb G2 pricr point. It's a pitty we didnt have a G3 with more res and pankake lens. That would be a winner!!!
Varjo need to produce an inside out tracked HMD to compete in consumer VR hardware. No more base stations and no more index controllers.
And be AMD compatible.
Isn't it true that base stations offer better tracking ? And trackers like HTC ones work only with light house ?
Purchased today.
So happy.
Can't wait.
Using for flight and driving sims.
What a price.
Do you need basestation just for flight or racing sim?
@@ji3200 yes
Same here, but I bought it for watching videos. Don't want to see the SDE any longer.
@@ji3200 I bought a used v1 base station from Microcenter for $75. I think just one is good enough.
As a consumer I really need an in depth comparison of the pros and cons of the Varjo and Bigscreen, those are my primary choices.
Pico 4 is so good for the price that I will not consider anything until true next gen comes out.
Headset+basestations+controllers+taxes+shipment=🤢
and audio
and microphone
Yes, I think Pimax Crystal is really hard to beat. Inside out tracking and controllers included, larger FOV, better lenaes and res... difficult choice.
@@MrPXOManthe resolution and lenses are not better. Resolution is basically the same. Lenses are also not "better".
Same with Bigscreen Beyond.
Pricedrop ok. But you still need Lighthouse and import and be at 1500€ in no time.
I wanted to buy a Varjo Aero like 3 times already :)) but 1990 was pretty steep. Now we the 990 man.. Hard to choice became even harder.. (I am still running the Vive Pro 1 & 2 since they are wireless)
I went from Vive -> Vive Pro -> Index -> Aero. There is no comparison. Aero is an amazing headset (despite early issues) and a steal at this price!
@@davidnicolosi6143 Please go away ;)) And don't make this even harder :))))))
I know.. I knooow!!!
I got it finally for 990
Awesome news , props to Varjo. It's time to dip my feet back into VR.
Yeah well..since Meta announced the Quest 3 with a PPD of 23 for 500$ compared to Varjo Aero with 35 PPD, it was obvious they had to drop the price. Even then the price to performance is not competitive. PPD: 35(Varjo) : 23(Quest3)~1,52 , 990$:500$=1,98 Therefore you get much more from the Quest 3 than from the Aero, even without considering the standalone capabilities, the software combability (PCVR included) and the future XR variety. For most people the Quest 3 will be the most obvious choice if Meta delivers. But still, I'm happy that these price drops happen, because that means VR/XR competition heats up this year and therefore innovation can happen with a much higher probability.
I have the quest 3. just bought a Aero. Will tell you how they compare. I only use VR for sim racing, so the quest 3 is great, but still pcvr with the link cable sucks.
Nice. If this was an all-in-one I'd definitely buy it, but I'm not sure I could go back to wired. Great news for sim enthusiasts though.
only crstal and varjo have aspherical lenses , big screen has pake cake optics
No base stations and no controllers: Doesn't look good for Varjo. Not for your average consumer.
Varjo Aero price may have been halved overseas but in Australia the price ranges from $1899 up to $2999 as at today's date. The price should be around $1600. Retailers in Australia are taking us all for a ride. When the price comes down to where it should be I'll be getting one. Looks like a fantastic VR.
Nice to see the price drop, but at that price I'd just get a Bigscreen Beyond.
This has a better FOV than Beyond and I think the Beyond is only full resolution at 75hz. I have a G2 and not sure what I'll do. I'll get a Quest 3 but that's not for my flight sims.
@@GizmoMaltese, Aero also has auto IPD, a built-in fan, and excellent comfort.
I recently noticed a lot of Varjo VR headsets on Ebay. There are VR, VR-2, VR-2 pro, XR-1, XR-3, etc. I had no idea there were so many models. It would help if there was a video explaining which models are oldest and which models are newest. The prices range from $300 to $3000 so there must be big differences between models.
I would love to see a comparison between Varjo an beyond i have a hard time deciding between them.
Great news indeed always thought cant go much wrong with the Aero esp with price drop. Cheers for the info Seb
I def may consider it with the price drop, had to cancel my Big screen beyond because their IPD measuring had me at 73 , I've been using the valve index since it launched and their mechanical IPD adjustment only goes to 70, so the Numbers didn't add up and I wasn't going to settle for the less improved Bigscreen Beyond, btw 69 has been my index sweet spot is 68.5 - 69 , so I cancelled yesterday 😣, I really wanted that headset too
Hello
But do you have to buy the Base Station a side?
Regards
Id better buy Bigscreen for this price
This definitely feels more in line, price wise with the current high end market options, and means that Varjo will still be able to compete for sales with Pimax and Bigscreen.
It's probably too late in the day for me to buy one, the expense and hassle of having to rebuy base stations and controllers is off putting, so I'm probably going to wait it out a year or so with my Quest Pro and see what the market offers in late 2024, early 2025.
This is an appealing price point for sure though. I'd certainly trust the Varjo name more than Pimax, who have a pretty mediocre track record, and Bigscreen, who have no record at all for hardware at this point.
Comfort and weight matters to me, but it only needs to be sensible. I have no doubt the Aero would be plenty comfortable enough, whereas the Crystal looks like it belongs in the early 1990's, I wouldn't ever consider buying that.
The active cooling system is the big selling point for me, no fog or heat. Both have 35PPD, eye tracking, foveated rendering, auto IPD, and aspherical lenses. Crystal has 125 degree FOV at 35PPD to Aero's 115. Crystal has 144Hz to the 90 Hz on the Aero. But you do not have the battery BS with the Aero, which is a turnoff for me with the Crystal. Also the customer service from Varjo is suppose to be superb, since they do a lot more high end accounts.
ya, I was like take my money and then i saw 90Hz, for simracing no go
@@pamo5900 If you can even get to 144Hz. I have not seen anyone on RUclips get to 144Hz even with a 4090.
Lol those FOVs are both lies. Diagonal maybe
@@lurchilurch5507 What the Samsung O+ and the Vive were. 115 is actually very good and with auto IPD it auto adjust the sweet spot for you. Plus Eye tracking which already works in games that use the OpenXR toolkit like MSFS and DCS.
@@ComdrStew are you saying the Aero has 115 horizontal FOV? That's definitley not true, I have one..
Varjo and Bigscreen is really interesting comparison. Same price, audio and controlers solution.
Aggghhh! I dont know! Probably doesnt matter which one you get. They are all probably good if their own different ways.
We haven't hit the no compromises headset yet.
What I think about this move ? Too late, I already bought a Pimax Crystal. Too bad, at this price, Varjo is now a better choice, I think.
We are reaching a point where how good is good and does it really matter for most. I do think stand alone headsets will sell the best overall. Looking forward to the OCULUS 3 LOL.
I would like a really in depth comparison for those 3 headsets.
Does all those headset have foveated rendering?
[EDIT]: I take some of this back. My gpu is a Radeon 6900XT Liquid Devil, and AMD isn't supported by Varjo. The whole brand is now dead to me until this is resolved. I should be free to use whatever GPU I want, period. Lock-in isn't okay w/my wallet.[/EDIT]
Interesting, I was thinking I'd do a new headset soon, or early next year. The Somnium VR1 ticks the boxes, as I have a basestation, index controllers, etc. The Bigscreen was at the top of my list, but I'm not an iphone user, and it being a "me only" headset is...a choice that will come with questions. The Aero is a really nice alternative.
But truly, I want wireless. Fast, reliable wireless like I get from my OG Vive. I love my G2, especially the audio and clearity, but I miss steamVR tracking and controllers. I don't mind the Quest 2, but the wireless is a bit of a pita at times, and Oculus software/policies are simply in my way - I just want pure PCVR.
This is on my radar, but the VR1 is, too.
Thank you for putting this out there.
Smashed those buttons for you :D
I'm in no rush for VR, the tech still isn't there, I'm happy to wait. Until then I'm busy hiking and shooting, real world is still better when you're young enough.
but you need to be inside before the tech is mature. Right now VR/XR is becoming main-stream soon.
At 881$ (till dec3) I buy one!! If the pimax brick was cheaper I would consider it but with the extra face plate, it’s almost double price… the Bigscreen Beyond look nice but with fixed ipd?? And a clarity not as good, no way! Can’t wait, I’m tired of the htc elite…
With the aero you need an internet connection to verify it online every 3 months. Keep that in mind if you’re a prepper - your VR will be bricked if the servers go down.
Thanks ! Interesting to know.
too many upcoming headsets to choose from. will probbaly go w quest 3 or wait til mid 2024.
This made me consider the Varjo Aero again. But I'm still not interested in it because of the lack of built in audio solution and unusually narrow vertical FOV. The price actually means very little to me. I use VR all the time, and so I'll get a lot of bang per buck regardless. I only care about which VR headset offers the best overall performance.
You are forgetting about no amd support. That alienates a big part of the gaming community.
@@zackeryhardy9504 by large part you mean about 12 percent. AMD have just pulled out of making highend GPUs as they have no market share to compete.
@@kevinbrook7033 I do mean 12%. That is significant. And they do have a high end gpu. The 7900 xtx is a high end. So was the 6900 xt. They were not the best of the best as the 3090 and 4090 were that. But high end doesn't mean best. And when you go to the 6800 xt vs the 3080 or the 7800 vs the 4080 they were about the same trading blows, but amd was a better price to performance ratio. So they do make high end cards.
You should include the Quest Pro since it's a $1000 and there's still a group of people trying to claim it's the best PCVR headset because of the pancake lenses.
and it has face tracking
I didnt get the quest pro right away because of the bad reviews But when the price dropped i got it. Im very happy with it and its my daily go to.
I'm sure that it's fine but my question is how does it stack up compared to other high end PCVR headsets?@@shadowworlds
And it has eye and face tracking
I absolutely love my Quest Pro. Massive upgrade over my Reverb G2 and Vive Pro 2. I'd love a super high resolution headset for MSFS but what I have now is good enough for me to sit out this year and next, until we get real high resoluion microOLED displays in a feature rich headset.
The Bigscreen Beyond is too bare bones for me, and won't age well imo. The Aero is probably the better bet between the two now at this price, with its eye tracking.
Quest Pro can be got brand new on Amazon UK for under £800, it was £729 this week. It's a steal at that price and likely to be better value than the Quest 3 for PCVR fans. I would certainly value the dual QLED displays, better FOV, Pro controllers, local dimming and face and eye tracking over a better mobile chip and depth sensor when I don't play mobile games anyway.
Does this have eye tracking? If so, this is the one to get.
Yes, it does.
Still want to wait for Somnium VR1
Technology rendered obsolete by technological advances. The elephant in the room is that the Bigscreen Beyond @ 1/5th weight is sharper with more vertical FOV, more comfortable and at the same price. Varjo is simply offloading stock now that the Bigscreen is shipping pre-orders. It was way overpriced to begin with.
I would be surprised if the edge to edge clarity of the pancake stack was superior to the single aspheric. But maybe bespoke means you do get that sweet spot absolutely every single time.
And then there's the Immerse Visor. Competition from all sides.
I was interested in the bigscreen also, but its elephant in the room is, no eye tracking, so no foveated rendering.
The Beyond has no eyetracking, a worse sweetspot and apparently glare is an issue (see VR Flight Sim Guy video). So worse image compared to Aero and also more expensive, at least in the EU (200€!).
I'm not sure the BSB obseletes the Aero at all. It's a lower resolution headset, with less clarity and no eye tracking. The form factor looks great, but the Aero doesn't exactly have a bad reputation for comfort.
If I was choosing right now, the new price drop would probably tip me in the direction of Varjo. I expect eye tracking to become more useful in 2024/25 and it already produces massive fps gains in a few titles, DCS most notably.
only 90Hz...
My 4090 barely doing 90 fps on high settings in iracing. You need 7090 for more in that resolution and ultra settings
Thank you for the informative video! :) I´m really on the edge but can´t decide. Decide between Pimax Crystal and Varjo Aero. I already got a Lighthouse and sitting on a Reverb G2 for now, so there would be no upcost for me. But this makes this situation now very hard, because the Crystal would be way more expensive now than a Varjo Aero. With the Lighthouse Faceplate (which i see as a must have, love the knuckles and precision) nearly double...so i ask myself Is the (slightly?) better picture quality and vertical fov really worth near double the price? It´s a tough call when you never saw the direct comparison :/
If you could only see half of what you see now vertically, how would you feel about it?
@@mixedrealityTV Does it really feel like half? Ok, that is really narrow... and i saw your new video about the new limited edition, while not a HUGE price saving it complements my situation very good. This offer is perfect for those, who want to keep their lighthouse tracking and already got their own controllers, so not only for simmers :) Thanks for your answer, i think Crystal will be it then - i thought the vfov would be near g2 but that much less would be too less for me :o
Varjo must be about to launch a new product then!
Best to wait a few months to see if valve announces anything as a lot of rumors
The false advertising of the 25% ending august to just make a 50% cut two weeks later makes me feel scammed for receiving mine 5 days ago! This was suppsoed to be a hapy buy not a way for me to loose 800Euros. I seriously question the integrity of the company when the do false advertising. Didnt know they were so desperate!
Of course they are desperate. There is Crystal selling like hot cakes, and there is Quest 3 on the horizon. Bigscreen start selling too. The competition is fierce.
I think the bigscreen beyond is the better buy if you plan on keeping this headset for many years. But if you sell your headset and buy a new one often, the Aero is a much better idea. With all that being said I wonder is Varjo will maybe announce a new headset soon, and also I wonder if Valve will shock us all right before meta connect.
When samsung odyssey came out with 1600p oled in 2018, valve came out with outdated 1440p resolution lcd in 2019. If valve bring 2160p on next headset, i will be very shock
@@ji3200 the odyssey and the index are bothe the exact same resolution, 1440x1600 - you are mixing up horizontal and vertical in your statement
@@reprobite all window mix reality headsets were all 1440p that time except Samsung. I thought valve was known as 1440p headset. I guess you know better than me
good point
@@ji3200
@@ji3200 yes all mixed reality headsets were 1440x1440 until the odyssey came along with 1440x1600 per eye, but the other headsets that have this exact same resolution per eye are the original Vive Pro and the Valve Index both with 1440x1600, I love the odyssey more than the index was just correcting the numbers that’s all
The problem is that this headset working with Nvidia graphic cards ONLY. Also, no controllers are coming.
I have a hard time trusting Pimax. Build quality is always a crap shoot with them. BSB looks really good but not sure I could deal with it's glare, Aero has a proven track record but a FOV could be an issue. Might just stick with my Quest Pro another gen or two.
Quest 3 Is around the corner as well!
they dont ship to australia and retailers here charge heaps more, rip[
let me know when they have another 50 % price drop from 990 Euros to 500 Euro ... and i might consider lol
Exactly, with the base station bundle and tax it's gonna be 1486 EUR! No, still way too expensive.
And on top of that, controllers. Thought I could use my Quest 2 controllers, but it seems I can't. That's probably gonna be at least a couple of hundreds of euros, if not more.
is the Vario lighter in weight than the Pimax? The Crystal looks like it will break my neck with its sheer size. LOL Would I notice a huge difference in the visuals over the Quest Pro?
Yes, a lot lighter than Crystal and MUCH better visuals than QPro. I have an Aero now and had QPro before. QPro had better FOV and overall better lenses though. But I much prefer the Aero overall.
Crystal is around 1300 grams. Aero is around 600.
So about twice as heavy. Crystal is hugely uncomfortable compared to the Aero.
pimax crystal, 990 is not a good price for just a headset
Beyond is the best by a mile, aero is better than the pimax by a mile
I cant wait to upgrade from my oculus rift , no te even the S, the first oculus rift. Waiting for the oculus announcement , but i dont want lcd panels. I'm leaning for the bigscreen beyond.
I found the Quest 2 + elite battery strap was a lot better than my CV1 even though it doesn't have oled panels. I literally never went back. Even though I had arguably better tracking with my four camera outside in tracking setup.
And I'm an oled freak who also has pimax 5kxr for the oled panels.
Likewise - I am looking to upgrade from my OG HTC Vive. I need OLED blacks and colors that I have now, aspheric lenses (I've seen enough god rays in dark/light scenes for this life), must be Steam VR ecosystem with Index controlers and lighthouses. FOV must be = or > than my OG HTC Vive. Then I upgrade from my i7-8700k+3080Ti to i7-13900+4090. Will wait for several more months to see some more competiton arrive...
Small fov turns me off on Aero. No resale value on Bigscreen turns me off too. Pimax Crystal might be better choice for me. Damm Meta! How can you not bring local dimming lcd on $499 Quest 3!!!
Surely you could get a new Bigscreen facepad created for a reasonable price if you had to resell it. It's easily swappable.
@@SlakOffs i have rare ipd of 69 so its not easy to find buyer
@@ji3200 I see, I didn't realize the ipd was not adjustable
big price drops are coming... hi end is now $1000
the $500 and $250 space is where it is at
Such a bummer. Bought mine for 2k 3 months ago. Makes me dislike the brand.
1000bucks to have a heavy brick on your face.
👍🏼👌🏼👏🏼
999 is mid range not high end
That really ia amazing news .. I am still going to wait for the Somnium VR1 .. After that has been reviewed I will make a decision on replacing my G2
Still no AMD GPU and weak vertical FOV. Color shift issues. Still not a worthy upgrade from G2
I hate g2 for tiny sweet spot.
@@mike_33gtme too. Thinking of Quest 3 but it has not enough PPD to warranty an upgrade. VR1 seems cool but will be probably super expensive.
I play only SimRacing so Aero seems very good for me. Huge sweet spot, active cooling, high resolution with eye tracking. FOV is nice but in simracing you always should focus on what’s ahead anyway. Ok close combats are important but the spotter is enough
@@mike_33gtI would consider it but because of no AMD super I am out.
I am going with the Bigscreen Beyond. As for the Somnium VR1, I think the Valve Index 2 could release by the time Somnium VR1 releases.
I think the main thing is if you don't want base stations you probably got to have to get the crystal. But that vareo price drop is excellent. I would get it instead of the beyond. But I already got the crystal.
Permanent? The best vr display?
Nope, + everything else and tax. Not worth it now,a year ago for sure but now nope!
Bombs dropping every day now
It’s too heavy…from a former owner.
I think it'd be foolish to buy one of these high-end headsets when the Somnium One is supposedly so close. Seems sensible to wait for the price reveal at least.
Not really.. the chances it's still gonna be more expensive than the Aero for almost the same features. Only Varjo have been in the market for years and is trusted by USAF.. having said that there is no harm in waiting
@@m0rph3u5. It will likely be more expensive but it justifies that with integrated audio and microphone. Plus the options for hand tracking and passthrough/AR functionality for those that want it. The headset is mostly built by VRgineers who have a track record with the XTAL.
As a varjo owner that paid 1990 this sux . I feel ripped off
LOL, you think that this means Varjo is "back"? It means they're dying and they're slashing cost to recoup some of their losses.
SOMNIUM still my favourite !
My main gaming device is my Asus Zephyrus G14, rocking an AMD Radeon RX 6800S. Currently, the Aero is only compatible with Nvidia GPUs, and I hope that they are working to add AMD support because this headset is the stuff of dreams and I want it so so badly. :(
We need your comparison video, yesterday! Lol.
Shows what can be done. Makes Apple look stupid & greedy. Can’t believe Microsoft have been such a small player in this market. The idea of a dedicated virtual desktop is very appealing to me. Nearly went for the Quest Pro, but their implementation didn’t cut it, especially for all day use and well, Facebook….
I held off on the quest pro for a bit before I decided to pull the trigger and get it. Im glade i did its now my daily go to headset.
@@shadowworlds glad to hear that. For a long time now, I’ve wanted a headset for work based activities and it looked from their marketing like Meta shared this goal, but from several reviews it seems that the hardware fell short, mainly on keyboard implementation, resolution and comfort. It looked for a while that Microsoft would come through with a Windows based system, but then they drifted towards the military, and now seem to have lost interest. Pity. I’ll just have to wait for Virtual Office. Enjoy your device!
they know its too big soon.
Without vat
Yeah, I know right. It's over £1000
That's mean, I just bought it for 1500$ in a sale
uuuh return it?? you should be able to
I simply will not consider the Varjo Aero as a headset. Being locked into an nVidia eco system artificially just because they want to stick to using their CUDA upscaling.. No idea wtf they won't try porting their code to ROCm. With nVidia's shockingly rapid driver quality decline in the last year (focusing their resources on AI), plus nVidia's lower amounts of VRAM, I'd rather stick to an AMD solution for my VR needs.
Why companies don't produce good games for pc vr the best game for vr still the old half life alyx
Overpriced to begin with. Feel bad for those that brought it at full price. Like the Quest Pro. As much as I don't like Apple, they have the best headset ever developed so far. Hopefully someone else will step up.
Apple is the king of over-pricing.
overpriced headset !
Quest 3
If the Crystal was cheaper i would want that just for the standalone but i think their lying about the standalone. I dont think PC Vr is worth it and for sure not over $1k USD.
Maybe if you already have the 4090 pc... and the base stations. And controllers
varjo is an upgrade if you have the index
A new better headset around corner?