Phil has a way of communicating information as though he's just having a normal conversation. It's more down to earth and relatable than most reviewers. He comes across as an everyday consumer that's knowledgeable and enjoys talking about these products. He talks to you, rather than at you, or down to you. Great job Phil.
I agree but needs to slow down a bit. Talking to a friend is slightly different to talking to an unknown audience. Slow the speech down a bit Phil and you'll be great!
I suspect a large part of his comfort here in this video is the subject matter - he's CLEARLY pretty damn passionate and interested in VR lol, I bet Phil could just talk about it for hours
Yes. Still has to tone down a bit (but not eliminate) the nervous chuckles at the end of sentences, but leave just a tad of them - they are part of his uniqueness. We are seeing a good presenter in the making. Hopefully having two presenters in the channel will enable producing more content.
@@davidgriffin79 Apparently it's a crappy product, I would be worried if he wasn't negative about it...He is not a seasoned presenter and is just learning the ropes so I don't mind cutting some slack...
I have a Vive XR Elite and I like it. Much lighter and easier to set up than my Oculus Rift CV1. All the complaints you have seem factual, but I didn't notice them until you brought them to my attention. They're not really problems to me. If a person needs vision adjustment well outside the simple 6 diopter adjustment, that is a valid no-go. Most people will find the built-in capability to be fine. The rest are matters of degree. The XR Elite works well on its own app store or with Steam VR over WiFi 6E. I never feel like the built-in software is getting in the way of using apps of my own choosing. The Rift CV1 software often intrudes on Steam use. Sound and eye gasket are compromise designs, but acceptable ones to me. Weight and balance are great, and the price paid was not subsidized, as I suspect the most popular brand's price is. If a company is "giving it away", then you or your personal data is the product, not the hardware. I haven't used any of Meta's stuff newer than the Rift CV1, so can't give comparisons to them, but can say I really enjoy the Vive XR Elite.
Good to know from someone who tried it. I suppose the comfort is ok? (with the top head strap on). Curious what do you think of the screen quality, I don't know since there is no local dimming or oled, would it not be as great in year 2023? (its weird old vive has oled before). also is the 90 hz sufficient...feels like need 120hz to reduce dizziness
@@iitsMeStorm What do you mean he needs to stop? Not having timestamps on videos on a channel with 3.9 mil subscribers is just lazy af ! Stop normalizing this !!!!
Just a XR elite owner chiming in 7 months later: most of the software issues of this product has been resolved now and it is a completely different experience to navigate the operating system and use the device than it was on release. HTC obviously rushed the release to be ahead of Quest 3 and announcement of Apple Vision. So they launched a not fully finished product. The hardware is good though and now that standalone AIO games/apps are starting to release, what this device was designed for has become more evident. Together with the new Ultimate Trackers, suddenly you can do some really interesting stuff. Dance Dash in my prediction will be one of those "killer apps" that will onboard a lot of people to VR. But for me the device has been worth the cost, even if it is far from perfect. It is massively improved since the making of this video.
It has FaceBook ties. That's the end of the review. No sane person would buy that. Twatter and FeceBook are tainted products that the general consumer should stay away from. Not just because of the disease that runs them, but also because this is yet another case where unity should keep us all away for the greater good. You'd think "pre-ordering games" would've taught people to know better about consumer practices, but it seems it's still not an ingrained thing yet. The rules ain't that complicated either: Don't buy from psychopaths, don't buy from abusers, don't buy from people who make it their business to hurt others.
@@aserta preordering games is great (you can refund it anyway). Twitter is great (the only major social network with some freedoms left). Meta VR is great (spending lots of R&D money and moving the industry).
It's crazy that half of the downsides are things that the bigscreen beyond apparently addresses. How the hell did a company that was making headsets since day 1 of vr get leaped frog like that?
Yeah but think about how much the bsvr headset costs, then add the price of basestations, controllers and a very beefy computer to it. looking at like 3k easy but we are comparing it to 1k headsets that are all in one (not that I think either are a great value/the must have).
@@Silverhks The Bigscreen beyond with audio is 1500 EURO after that add the controllers and Base Station. Thats makes it a 2000 + euro headset. so its alot more expensive compare to the VIVE XR Elite. But its look like a great headset for people who are already in the steamvr ecosystem
@@namegoeshere197 changing the units doesn't change the price. They are roughly the same price for what you have to buy. If you need base stations and controllers the price goes up but you will have a system that you will use. Unlike this hunk of junk.
As someone who has been waiting for VR tech to mature a bit and hasn't done any kind of deep dive into it yet, this review was a great introduction to the space. Fantastic summaries of terms with explanations and personal experience with different headsets to explain and demonstrate.
More team presented videos! I love jay but as much as I love Linus and got used to him throughout the years, seeing new faces with new background is a nice refresher, whilst overall channel style is kept. Good to see it here too
I love my index, bought it before half life alyx and still use it to this day, both for vrchat in full body, and other games, racing shooters, minecraft, even desktop vr allows for any game to be played in a giant screen around you. Can't recommend vr enough. Let's see what new gen of headsets will be. ❤
yea im happy with my Quest Pro, (even though the Quest3 appears to make it seem like i overpayed) but i have to admit that the value of the Index, now having been on people's machines for 3-4 years, is just incredible. It makes me wish i had just bit the bullet years back and bought the Index and not been intimidated by what seemed like SO MUCH money back then at a 1000$ lol
The Index is just amazing, worth every penny. The fact that a 4 year old VR headset is still the #1 just goes to show that Valve never cuts corners. I even broke my right hand Index controller and then sent a free replacement even though they didn't need to. I can't wait for the Index 2 / Deckard
I love my index, bought it to replace my rift s that was dying on me from a bad cable or female displayport connector. Bought a full kit refurb'd from GameStop actually for 750$ and wish I would have bought it sooner. The controllers are fantastic and I love the lighthouses vs inside out tracking. Was wanting to hold off buying a headset before the next generation of VR came but, needed a replacement ASAP for sim racing and I'm not disappointed with the index even if it's a bit "outdated."
@@cyclechris6591 It depends on what you are looking for. The "best" VR headset is the Valve Index, BUT it is a PCVR headset. If you don't have a $2000+ PC to run the games, the headset is useless to you. I own both an Index and a Quest 2. I spent far more on the Index, but I use the Quest 2 more lately. For anyone getting into VR i would say get a Quest 2, or if you can wait, get the Quest 3 when it comes out in like 4 months. It looks worth the $500. But if you have a gaming PC already, and want to experience the benefit of Valve Index's controllers... go for it, it's $1000 ish
Loving the Phil content...and for some reason...I want to watch Phil and Jay vs each other in vr racing...thier chemistry makes me think that would be a hilarious yet serious competition
The entire time watching this video my heart just repeatedly sank for the engineers. Either they're (or most of them're) like the group mates that my sister had - frightfully incompetent and she had many sleepless nights just to complete projects at all - or they're all being led by some of the worse management in existence. Either way, this entire video was oof after *oof*. Not even for half the price would I get this thing. edit: Also, thanks for the review. This was entertaining and informative. 👍
It's also possible that they started with a concept that just didn't fully develop to the extent that they expected. There's a definite focus on this being compact and lightweight, and that starts with the diopters that [on paper] make this size & weight shrink possible. Of course they have a price target that they have to hit(it's already $1k, even if it lived up to what it says on paper going beyond $1k would still be a steep ask), so at some point you've gotta draw the line on development(not to mention 'time = money', so development can't continue forever). I honestly think that HTC thought that the tech was their to pull this type of headset off, and, as they're creeping up on the need to release this product(so it [hopefully] doesn't end up in the red when it's all said and done; companies need to make some profit on this stuff to justify further investment of course), they were probably coming to terms that this isn't going to be what they set out to create. I very well may be wrong, but this kind of thing happens, especially with young, evolving, bleeding edge tech like VR. Clearly a total dud though - I really doubt that either the execs or the engineers had sought out to produce an arguably worse headset than their previous generation offerings.
The problem is that Meta has a bunch of money and can always sell at cost. With a Quest Pro selling for ~$1600, this isn't a bad alternative to a Quest Pro, but when the Quest Pro is cheaper why buy this headset? HTC Vive keeps on trying to compete with Meta but doesn't have the resources to do so. They need to do something that Meta isn't doing, because Meta will always be able to outmatch them on price and hardware.
@@Superkia75 The problem is people like you have little to know understanding on who their target is. Their target is people who don't want facebook in charge of their devices. People like you are willing to have facebook say at any point we don't like what you said so we banned your account so now your 1600 vr set is dead also because you're required to have a facebook account to use it.
Considering the level of the product, it's near impossible that the team's at fault. This is 100% management being hicks with NO clue as to what they're doing. You don't build something like this and don't know what you're doing, this is the team lead and upper strata dipping their fingers in everyone's pie. Morons given a perfectly tuned Ferrari, that they're taking to their local demolition derby.
Dude I just bought one. Give it time. The per eye resolution is killer. They’ll fix the issues or aftermarket fixes will come out. I love mine. It works great for me.
Phil did a damn fine job on this. I'm very glad Jay trusts these lads with his channel like this. I like how the contempt has been presented, the cadence, the enunciation, the explanation, etc... were all done incredibly well. Much like how Jay has moments of derp, I'm pleased that there were a few still present, it's great to see. It's almost like a channel thing with all of them. I dunno about other folks but this doesn't bother me in the slightest. I suppose you could call it the human factor.
Just a little factoid on the XR2+, it actually moves the ram to a separate chip, instead of integrated into the main dye. this makes it much easier to cool, and is the main reason why the xr2+ is faster. So it kinda makes a little sense why the Quest Pro doesn't need to spin a fan as fast
Glasses mode is terrible. Use the strap that comes with it or the battery pack for better support or weight distribution. They seem to have designed the headset weight balance for the battery pack. For me the eye cushion rubs on the sides of my head, which gets annoying after a while of looking around. This headset is definitely a gen 1 version where it has some issues to work through but they got it to a place where they felt they could release it for feedback and early adopters (and to make some money back). Some of what was said was valid criticism, like the head/face support position between Quest Pro (an at least 3rd gen of a product line) vs Vive XR Elite (1st gen), the controller battery passive drain (massive problem), no headphone jack, actual glasses wearing issues, and the astigmatism focus issue. But, a lot of these are nitpicking or complaining about them using it wrong like using glasses mode at all (i dont see them shipping with it if any more iterations happen, maybe sold separately), audio quality on the built-in speakers (it's fine, could be better, but it isnt worth pointing out more than that), complaining the strap (they didnt seem to have used) was useless when it works better than glasses mode ever will (for this iteration). I mainly got it because I wanted a headset that wasn't tied to facebook and still did everything I wanted. This does that. Fuck Facebook.
I've had the valve Index for years and have never even considered replacing it with a wireless headset. The screen could definitely be better, though. Hopefully whatever the next version is will have the same comfort and audio with a massively updated screen.
Really seems like their reach exceeded their grasp with this one. They could reach a 'glasses mode' headset, with built-in lens adjustment and stuff... but they couldn't quite grasp it, and would've been better off scaling back their ambition for a better all-rounder. At this point it really looks like the Quest 3 is going to rival this thing in nearly every way for half the price.
I use Koss KSC-75's for VR. I don't know why the headset manufacturers don't use them. They are cheap and really popular, they have a cult following they are that good... and they are ear clip headphones. They are light, cheap and easy to wear with a great sound stage and won't cook your ears in long play sessions.
My best friend is a Beyond tester and uses the two together. He loves KSC-75. Rumor has it Bigscreen is working with a "well-known audio manufacturer" to build their audio strap. Maybe that's Koss?
One last thing worth pointing out: The TouchPro controllers with the QuestPro are 360 degree self tracked controllers. The Vive XR Elite uses 180 degree IR LED tracked controllers. TouchPro controllers are amazing and don't lose tracking when not in sight of the headset
I don't think any of the quest headsets are "spring-loaded." I have the quest 2 and it certain is not spring loaded. it does have an adjustable strap however and if you get their extendable battery it has the same dial on the back as shown for this headset where you adjust it to tighten the headset. I personally prefer this because I know I can tighten it for comfort and to make sure it stay put. I think a spring loaded style of strap would wear down over time or be prone for the spring to break or get stretch too far which will not only loosen the headset, but if you share with friends and family with smaller heads they may not be able to tighten it enough to keep it in place.
The strap not being spring loaded will be it's downfall. Not having the spring will eventually lead to the strap stressing and cracking/breaking over time.
I rarely regret tech purchases, but the XR Elite made the list. A disappointment in just about every category... diopter adjustment is great and that's about it.
still recommend the bigscreen beyond. Way smaller(127 grams), custom molded facial interface. and Prescription Lens Inserts not the way the vive does theirs. They also did some visual adjustments so now it is about 103 fov.
HTC is really slow on updates/improvements, for now. But *their full body/face/eye tracking products are still the best and easiest to use on the market* (and is the only reason I want to get into VR).
I would like to share about the diopter adjustment. First, I have myopia (near-sighted) with astigmatism, with both contacts and glasses. I like wearing colored contacts for fun events where I don't need perfect vision. (You don't need perfect vision to drive either.) Colored contacts typically don't come with astigmatism, and their compatible prescriptions aren't the best either. I merely drop my astigmatism, and deal with the slight blurriness. So, to me, just using the diopter adjustment would be fine. _But_ it still feels like one of those "We want to support others, but we're only going to half-ass it." It's a step in the right direction, but it only helps a marginal percentage of 62%~ of people.
Jay, my friend .. you should focus on hardware reviews, builds and cases and let this dude, Phil, do the VR, monitor stuff and let Nick do keyboards and mice. You are great Jay, and you know what you are good at, watch over and support these guys that support you. I would love to see you three work together and host and script this channel. whatever happens I was J2C WAY before following LTT, he did not even have 1mil. when i started watching J2C on the bulldozer stuff.
Most reviwers bashed built in speakers on Quest 2 but i find them actually fine. They have ton of bass and good stereo. Also with non-default strap they sounds better. Just putting hands between speaker and ears makes sounds even more bassy.
He never said in a begrudging or hurtful way-- but the sheer amount of times Phil just simply said, "... and that sucks..." was way, way too many to recommend this to anyone. Great review.
That's some real disappointment. Not even anger-disappointment of wasting money, just straight on disappointment from completely missing the promises given prior to release...
Thank goodness I waited for reviews for this headset. I had high hopes for this headset. I really loved my original Vive and found the big disappointment was when HTC broke away from Valve to build their own marketplace and forced the use of other software. When I saw the specs for this headset the two big red flags were no audio jack and not getting enough information on the wired VR experience (I like to play long sessions of Elite: Dangerous. As much as I am not a fan of Meta, they are making more progress than anyone else and I know I will be pre-ordering the Quest 3 because they have the marketplace developers are aiming at and the next chip there should be a worthy upgrade for a next generation of standalone VR headsets. However, my next option is looking at the Bigscreen Beyond - but again, I have concerns about the audio solution. I agree that the off ear speakers on the Index and Reverb G2 are the best audio solution out there hands down.
Interested to see everyone forgets about Pico. The hardware of the Pico 4 is just strictly better for 100 bucks cheaper, at least where I live. The only downside being the smaller game catalogue. Of course it is not a no brainer but there is really good competition.
@@tinminator8905 Pico is just straight up not available in some markets and the smaller software catalogue on top of them being a ByteDance company causes a lot of people to remain wary of using their headsets.
@@tinminator8905 You are right, I did not think about the Pico. I was interested in the Pico 3 that had the Displayport connection for PC. That being said, it is not directly available in Canada, and while I would love to see a better, more competitive market, I am already invested on the Meta software side of things. I have not revisited the Pico 4 since its initial release after hearing about how far behind it was on the software (not only what you can buy and play on it, but the operating system.) Has the Pico improved significantly?
@@stevenstemmler7573 The only notable thing that I can say the quest does noticably better is hand tracking and PCVR streaming, but Virtual Desktop has you covered there.
Kim Kommando just did a segment this past weekend on VR, and I love her assessment of it. VR is a DOA technology in its current state. It cost millions to develop the technology and environments, yet the amount of people using it isn't even enough to cover the basic costs, let alone make any profit. Especially Mark Suckerbergs (spelled exactly as it should be spelled) newest VR entry.....millions to develop, only like 38 people using it online or something like that..
I am so glad to finally see a long term in depth review for this thing! I've had a quest 2 for around 3 or 4 years and the Vive XR sounded like the perfect headset to finally upgrade to once I saved up enough but now as much as I still dislike Meta(Facebook) the quest pro or the Quest 3 seem like the obvious better choice. The big screen VR headset is also a really good option but I don't have base stations so it'd be a huuuuge investment
@@Christian-ry3ol Say what you want about Zuck, but he can buy a company that makes a great product. Guarantee he doesn't even know Oculus exists outside of a tidbit in the annual meeting.
Just a heads up! Gamestop just dropped the price of the Refurbished full Valve Index kit, base stations and all, to $599. I have and old Vive so I just recently bought the Knuckles controllers which are awesome btw, and now they just dropped the headset by itself, to $249.99. My hand is literally trembling over the mouse button haha I don't know if I'm going to be able to stop myself haha!
This just leaves me even more convinced that I should hold out until Valve unveils Deckard. If the panel tech is reasonably high resolution and oled, and if it has both foveated rendering and mouth tracking, or at the very least, an add-on mouth tracker that can be purchased, then they're the company I want to be supporting in the VR war.
All VR HMDs today are a hard sell for me considering I'm running the Reverb G2 with Index controllers. My preferred upgrade HMD would be a lighthouse HMD with an HDR OLED with at least the same if not more pixels than the G2 and the Index/Reverb G2 speakers. Physical IPD adjustment is required and it would be preferably wired. I don't want any of the HMDs that are standalone for weight and heat reasons, and also the fact it will never be used disconnected from the PC.
Ok i'll defend the actevate before click on the trigger. When your going at something from a virtual distance you end up twitching tossing your aim off with the click so activating at half pull has become the standard. Now saying that. a Haptic response to activation would be something i'd love to see across the board.
4 years in VR gaming, different headsets used, most with inside-out tracking. This HTC is maybe more mobile solution to carry around. Q Pro is more bigger thing and so less mobile. But make it small and mobile has chance for some issues like too small face interface (or padding). Part of them have no spring loaded, but the head strap can flipped up. That is difference. Put headset first against face, then put strap down at your back. Using now Pico4 for a while. Have Quest 2 too as second headset.
13:25 hahah, thanks for the image. I had not seen those and I relate. Grand Trash II, let's go! Also great review. I knew these weren't for me right from the start since the eye correction adjustments don't go high enough for my prescription... But then there's so many more drawbacks it seems, yikes. Like many others, I want any headset to be successful, but is hard to get behind this one.
the reason the fan ramps up more on the older processor is partially due to the new chip being built around efficiency and lower temps. Also might have to do with HTC's cooling solution overall but the new chip should in theory run cooler regardless.
Good review Phil! Here's some nostalgia for you guys, back in the day these were pretty cool. September 29, 1998 - Sony Announces New Personal LCD Monitor - PC Glasstron.
PSVR2 is still the best VR experience i've had so far, been trying VR since the oculus rift dev kit 1 lol was disappointed with everything until the PSVR2, truely feels like you're there with the eye tracking/focus/high render where you're looking.
Just send it back, lol. I live in the UK, over here sending anything back is a nightmare. Service in America is great, over here, not so much. I'm sure this isn't the only place on earth like that. I wish there was a way to easily try out things like this before you purchased.
Still waiting to buy my first ever VR headset. I don't mind spending a lot of money on one, but for that amount of cash I demand a perfect product with no compromises and it seems that headset doesn't exist yet
Phil has a way of communicating information as though he's just having a normal conversation. It's more down to earth and relatable than most reviewers. He comes across as an everyday consumer that's knowledgeable and enjoys talking about these products. He talks to you, rather than at you, or down to you. Great job Phil.
I agree. It's like sitting across the table from him, just talking product. He's great
I was about to communicate exactly this. Totally agree. Love the wink*wink jokes. 😜 "How many guys have heard that before?" LoL
Talks at you or down to you? I have not heard a reviewer who makes me feel like they are talking at or down to me. Grow a pair.
I agree but needs to slow down a bit. Talking to a friend is slightly different to talking to an unknown audience. Slow the speech down a bit Phil and you'll be great!
@@anvilcatcher213 I watch Ben Shapiro, so Phil is just fine comparatively 😀
Phil is really good at presenting.
He always seems so happy even when delivering bad news.
"This sucks! 😁👍"
@@analogicparadox I don't think this is how bad news should be presented.
[comment redacted]
4060ti review be like
Phil would make an interesting hitman with that attitude! 😁
Jay be looking different fr
That's what VR does to you.
Idk what you're talking about, looks studly as ever!
Jay actually looks unwell
when did jay start wearing fitted caps?
Too much bud light
You're improving noticeably in your presentation, Phil. Great job!
I was just thinking the same thing!It's definitely noticeable that he is much more comfortable in this video...He did a great job
I suspect a large part of his comfort here in this video is the subject matter - he's CLEARLY pretty damn passionate and interested in VR lol, I bet Phil could just talk about it for hours
Yes. Still has to tone down a bit (but not eliminate) the nervous chuckles at the end of sentences, but leave just a tad of them - they are part of his uniqueness. We are seeing a good presenter in the making. Hopefully having two presenters in the channel will enable producing more content.
I found his forced laughter and flippant negativity incredibly irritating; I stopped watching the video about 50% of the way through because of this.
@@davidgriffin79 Apparently it's a crappy product, I would be worried if he wasn't negative about it...He is not a seasoned presenter and is just learning the ropes so I don't mind cutting some slack...
PhilzTwoCents
Phil is a great presenter and I think everyone would love to see more of him!
Mutiny!
Nah. I come here for Jay. 😅
I have a Vive XR Elite and I like it. Much lighter and easier to set up than my Oculus Rift CV1. All the complaints you have seem factual, but I didn't notice them until you brought them to my attention. They're not really problems to me. If a person needs vision adjustment well outside the simple 6 diopter adjustment, that is a valid no-go. Most people will find the built-in capability to be fine. The rest are matters of degree. The XR Elite works well on its own app store or with Steam VR over WiFi 6E. I never feel like the built-in software is getting in the way of using apps of my own choosing. The Rift CV1 software often intrudes on Steam use. Sound and eye gasket are compromise designs, but acceptable ones to me. Weight and balance are great, and the price paid was not subsidized, as I suspect the most popular brand's price is. If a company is "giving it away", then you or your personal data is the product, not the hardware. I haven't used any of Meta's stuff newer than the Rift CV1, so can't give comparisons to them, but can say I really enjoy the Vive XR Elite.
Good to know from someone who tried it. I suppose the comfort is ok? (with the top head strap on). Curious what do you think of the screen quality, I don't know since there is no local dimming or oled, would it not be as great in year 2023? (its weird old vive has oled before). also is the 90 hz sufficient...feels like need 120hz to reduce dizziness
w im getting one soon
“A La Croix hint of bass” 😆
Love Phil’s personal flare in this video.
Phil is great.
Jayz is great.
The channel great.
The lack of timestamps in the timeline needs to be addressed.
0:00 video starts
25:40 video ends
@@MidnightToker24 wow that helped a lot.
@@PatchedUpGaming u need to stop
@@iitsMeStorm What do you mean he needs to stop? Not having timestamps on videos on a channel with 3.9 mil subscribers is just lazy af ! Stop normalizing this !!!!
@@HDRGamingHub YOU NEED TO STOP TO
It's like they really wanted to make a very budget focussed VR set, but then somehow completely forgot the budget part.
HTC will sooner disappear in VR market
Just a XR elite owner chiming in 7 months later: most of the software issues of this product has been resolved now and it is a completely different experience to navigate the operating system and use the device than it was on release. HTC obviously rushed the release to be ahead of Quest 3 and announcement of Apple Vision. So they launched a not fully finished product. The hardware is good though and now that standalone AIO games/apps are starting to release, what this device was designed for has become more evident. Together with the new Ultimate Trackers, suddenly you can do some really interesting stuff. Dance Dash in my prediction will be one of those "killer apps" that will onboard a lot of people to VR. But for me the device has been worth the cost, even if it is far from perfect. It is massively improved since the making of this video.
Have you owned a index before this headset?
@@JC101Zero Nope, this is my first vr headset.
I hope Phil reviews the Quest 3 when it comes out!
Agreed, its one review im very excited yet nervous about
The Quest 3 looks very promising. Can't wait for it to be released this fall.
It has FaceBook ties. That's the end of the review. No sane person would buy that. Twatter and FeceBook are tainted products that the general consumer should stay away from. Not just because of the disease that runs them, but also because this is yet another case where unity should keep us all away for the greater good. You'd think "pre-ordering games" would've taught people to know better about consumer practices, but it seems it's still not an ingrained thing yet. The rules ain't that complicated either: Don't buy from psychopaths, don't buy from abusers, don't buy from people who make it their business to hurt others.
@@aserta preordering games is great (you can refund it anyway). Twitter is great (the only major social network with some freedoms left). Meta VR is great (spending lots of R&D money and moving the industry).
It's crazy that half of the downsides are things that the bigscreen beyond apparently addresses.
How the hell did a company that was making headsets since day 1 of vr get leaped frog like that?
Yeah but think about how much the bsvr headset costs, then add the price of basestations, controllers and a very beefy computer to it. looking at like 3k easy but we are comparing it to 1k headsets that are all in one (not that I think either are a great value/the must have).
@@mromutt so you get useless controllers and camera tracking for ~$300 less. What a deal.
@@Silverhks useless controllers? Also $700 less
@@Silverhks The Bigscreen beyond with audio is 1500 EURO after that add the controllers and Base Station. Thats makes it a 2000 + euro headset. so its alot more expensive compare to the VIVE XR Elite.
But its look like a great headset for people who are already in the steamvr ecosystem
@@namegoeshere197 changing the units doesn't change the price. They are roughly the same price for what you have to buy.
If you need base stations and controllers the price goes up but you will have a system that you will use. Unlike this hunk of junk.
As someone who has been waiting for VR tech to mature a bit and hasn't done any kind of deep dive into it yet, this review was a great introduction to the space. Fantastic summaries of terms with explanations and personal experience with different headsets to explain and demonstrate.
More team presented videos! I love jay but as much as I love Linus and got used to him throughout the years, seeing new faces with new background is a nice refresher, whilst overall channel style is kept. Good to see it here too
I love my index, bought it before half life alyx and still use it to this day, both for vrchat in full body, and other games, racing shooters, minecraft, even desktop vr allows for any game to be played in a giant screen around you. Can't recommend vr enough. Let's see what new gen of headsets will be. ❤
yea im happy with my Quest Pro, (even though the Quest3 appears to make it seem like i overpayed) but i have to admit that the value of the Index, now having been on people's machines for 3-4 years, is just incredible. It makes me wish i had just bit the bullet years back and bought the Index and not been intimidated by what seemed like SO MUCH money back then at a 1000$ lol
The Index is just amazing, worth every penny. The fact that a 4 year old VR headset is still the #1 just goes to show that Valve never cuts corners. I even broke my right hand Index controller and then sent a free replacement even though they didn't need to.
I can't wait for the Index 2 / Deckard
Whats the best new headset to get? Around 1k $?
I love my index, bought it to replace my rift s that was dying on me from a bad cable or female displayport connector. Bought a full kit refurb'd from GameStop actually for 750$ and wish I would have bought it sooner. The controllers are fantastic and I love the lighthouses vs inside out tracking. Was wanting to hold off buying a headset before the next generation of VR came but, needed a replacement ASAP for sim racing and I'm not disappointed with the index even if it's a bit "outdated."
@@cyclechris6591 It depends on what you are looking for. The "best" VR headset is the Valve Index, BUT it is a PCVR headset. If you don't have a $2000+ PC to run the games, the headset is useless to you.
I own both an Index and a Quest 2. I spent far more on the Index, but I use the Quest 2 more lately. For anyone getting into VR i would say get a Quest 2, or if you can wait, get the Quest 3 when it comes out in like 4 months. It looks worth the $500.
But if you have a gaming PC already, and want to experience the benefit of Valve Index's controllers... go for it, it's $1000 ish
Loving the Phil content...and for some reason...I want to watch Phil and Jay vs each other in vr racing...thier chemistry makes me think that would be a hilarious yet serious competition
The entire time watching this video my heart just repeatedly sank for the engineers. Either they're (or most of them're) like the group mates that my sister had - frightfully incompetent and she had many sleepless nights just to complete projects at all - or they're all being led by some of the worse management in existence. Either way, this entire video was oof after *oof*. Not even for half the price would I get this thing. edit: Also, thanks for the review. This was entertaining and informative. 👍
It's also possible that they started with a concept that just didn't fully develop to the extent that they expected. There's a definite focus on this being compact and lightweight, and that starts with the diopters that [on paper] make this size & weight shrink possible. Of course they have a price target that they have to hit(it's already $1k, even if it lived up to what it says on paper going beyond $1k would still be a steep ask), so at some point you've gotta draw the line on development(not to mention 'time = money', so development can't continue forever).
I honestly think that HTC thought that the tech was their to pull this type of headset off, and, as they're creeping up on the need to release this product(so it [hopefully] doesn't end up in the red when it's all said and done; companies need to make some profit on this stuff to justify further investment of course), they were probably coming to terms that this isn't going to be what they set out to create. I very well may be wrong, but this kind of thing happens, especially with young, evolving, bleeding edge tech like VR. Clearly a total dud though - I really doubt that either the execs or the engineers had sought out to produce an arguably worse headset than their previous generation offerings.
@@RyTrapp0 With all the features this VR headset lacks, I would not even give it 50 bucks to be honest.
The problem is that Meta has a bunch of money and can always sell at cost. With a Quest Pro selling for ~$1600, this isn't a bad alternative to a Quest Pro, but when the Quest Pro is cheaper why buy this headset? HTC Vive keeps on trying to compete with Meta but doesn't have the resources to do so. They need to do something that Meta isn't doing, because Meta will always be able to outmatch them on price and hardware.
@@Superkia75 The problem is people like you have little to know understanding on who their target is. Their target is people who don't want facebook in charge of their devices. People like you are willing to have facebook say at any point we don't like what you said so we banned your account so now your 1600 vr set is dead also because you're required to have a facebook account to use it.
Considering the level of the product, it's near impossible that the team's at fault. This is 100% management being hicks with NO clue as to what they're doing. You don't build something like this and don't know what you're doing, this is the team lead and upper strata dipping their fingers in everyone's pie. Morons given a perfectly tuned Ferrari, that they're taking to their local demolition derby.
Dude I just bought one. Give it time. The per eye resolution is killer. They’ll fix the issues or aftermarket fixes will come out. I love mine. It works great for me.
Phil did a damn fine job on this. I'm very glad Jay trusts these lads with his channel like this.
I like how the contempt has been presented, the cadence, the enunciation, the explanation, etc... were all done incredibly well. Much like how Jay has moments of derp, I'm pleased that there were a few still present, it's great to see. It's almost like a channel thing with all of them. I dunno about other folks but this doesn't bother me in the slightest. I suppose you could call it the human factor.
That was the first time I have seen Phil do that type of demo. As a long time RUclipsr, I know how hard it is. He really rocked it. Good job!
5:49 I didn't know you needed the grapefruit technique to take the headset on and off
"Not even like, a LaCroix hint of a flavor of bass" LMFAO You sir, are a wordsmith.
Just a little factoid on the XR2+, it actually moves the ram to a separate chip, instead of integrated into the main dye. this makes it much easier to cool, and is the main reason why the xr2+ is faster. So it kinda makes a little sense why the Quest Pro doesn't need to spin a fan as fast
Glasses mode is terrible. Use the strap that comes with it or the battery pack for better support or weight distribution. They seem to have designed the headset weight balance for the battery pack.
For me the eye cushion rubs on the sides of my head, which gets annoying after a while of looking around.
This headset is definitely a gen 1 version where it has some issues to work through but they got it to a place where they felt they could release it for feedback and early adopters (and to make some money back). Some of what was said was valid criticism, like the head/face support position between Quest Pro (an at least 3rd gen of a product line) vs Vive XR Elite (1st gen), the controller battery passive drain (massive problem), no headphone jack, actual glasses wearing issues, and the astigmatism focus issue.
But, a lot of these are nitpicking or complaining about them using it wrong like using glasses mode at all (i dont see them shipping with it if any more iterations happen, maybe sold separately), audio quality on the built-in speakers (it's fine, could be better, but it isnt worth pointing out more than that), complaining the strap (they didnt seem to have used) was useless when it works better than glasses mode ever will (for this iteration).
I mainly got it because I wanted a headset that wasn't tied to facebook and still did everything I wanted. This does that.
Fuck Facebook.
Yoooooo! Nice to see Phil get more screentime!
13:19 The speaker commentary got me. Thanks Phil, going to start using LaCroix as my low-end comparison now
The only sponsor ad nobody skips
"There's not even a La Croix hint of a flavor of bass" 🤣🤣🤣
"...not even a La Croix hint of a flavor of bass." That's poetically brutal, I love it
Love seeing more of Phil!
From what I’ve seen so far the Quest 3 is going to be the new hot VR headset and for half the price.
Phil man! I am so happy you are part of this channel! Great review! I watched the whole video just for you bcs i don't give a duck about VR xD
I've had the valve Index for years and have never even considered replacing it with a wireless headset. The screen could definitely be better, though. Hopefully whatever the next version is will have the same comfort and audio with a massively updated screen.
Really seems like their reach exceeded their grasp with this one. They could reach a 'glasses mode' headset, with built-in lens adjustment and stuff... but they couldn't quite grasp it, and would've been better off scaling back their ambition for a better all-rounder. At this point it really looks like the Quest 3 is going to rival this thing in nearly every way for half the price.
You can get eye and face tracking, it's a single module coming soon. The one you showed was for PCVR headsets.
12:16 YES! The Index controllers also have a click and it drives me crazy that almost no games actually use it.
Phil my dude lookin good. you got a healthy glow to your skin. happy for ya man.
I use Koss KSC-75's for VR. I don't know why the headset manufacturers don't use them. They are cheap and really popular, they have a cult following they are that good... and they are ear clip headphones. They are light, cheap and easy to wear with a great sound stage and won't cook your ears in long play sessions.
My best friend is a Beyond tester and uses the two together. He loves KSC-75.
Rumor has it Bigscreen is working with a "well-known audio manufacturer" to build their audio strap. Maybe that's Koss?
Even when Jay is back properly, can we have more Phil presenting?
One last thing worth pointing out: The TouchPro controllers with the QuestPro are 360 degree self tracked controllers. The Vive XR Elite uses 180 degree IR LED tracked controllers. TouchPro controllers are amazing and don't lose tracking when not in sight of the headset
I don't think any of the quest headsets are "spring-loaded." I have the quest 2 and it certain is not spring loaded. it does have an adjustable strap however and if you get their extendable battery it has the same dial on the back as shown for this headset where you adjust it to tighten the headset. I personally prefer this because I know I can tighten it for comfort and to make sure it stay put. I think a spring loaded style of strap would wear down over time or be prone for the spring to break or get stretch too far which will not only loosen the headset, but if you share with friends and family with smaller heads they may not be able to tighten it enough to keep it in place.
FWIW, Quest 1 was spring loaded and, as he demonstrates here, Quest Pro is as well.
I love that everyone loves Phil💜
The strap not being spring loaded will be it's downfall. Not having the spring will eventually lead to the strap stressing and cracking/breaking over time.
The eye touching the lens happened to me when I got a new set of specs this one time and it sent me nuts. It’s a great way to give me anxiety attacks.
I rarely regret tech purchases, but the XR Elite made the list. A disappointment in just about every category... diopter adjustment is great and that's about it.
HP Reverb G2 is excellent for sim racing. Very comfy and a crazy good image at 90 Hz.
still recommend the bigscreen beyond. Way smaller(127 grams), custom molded facial interface. and Prescription Lens Inserts not the way the vive does theirs. They also did some visual adjustments so now it is about 103 fov.
HTC is really slow on updates/improvements, for now. But *their full body/face/eye tracking products are still the best and easiest to use on the market* (and is the only reason I want to get into VR).
I would like to share about the diopter adjustment. First, I have myopia (near-sighted) with astigmatism, with both contacts and glasses. I like wearing colored contacts for fun events where I don't need perfect vision. (You don't need perfect vision to drive either.) Colored contacts typically don't come with astigmatism, and their compatible prescriptions aren't the best either. I merely drop my astigmatism, and deal with the slight blurriness. So, to me, just using the diopter adjustment would be fine. _But_ it still feels like one of those "We want to support others, but we're only going to half-ass it." It's a step in the right direction, but it only helps a marginal percentage of 62%~ of people.
5:56, "that's alot of money to turn your own knob". Lol
I only upvoted this video because it means that 1.Jay is resting and 2. Phil is taking over this channel.
Great work Phil, Jay should be proud that the channel is in great hands
Brilliant honest review, thanks Phil.
Jay, my friend .. you should focus on hardware reviews, builds and cases and let this dude, Phil, do the VR, monitor stuff and let Nick do keyboards and mice. You are great Jay, and you know what you are good at, watch over and support these guys that support you. I would love to see you three work together and host and script this channel. whatever happens I was J2C WAY before following LTT, he did not even have 1mil. when i started watching J2C on the bulldozer stuff.
Most reviwers bashed built in speakers on Quest 2 but i find them actually fine. They have ton of bass and good stereo. Also with non-default strap they sounds better. Just putting hands between speaker and ears makes sounds even more bassy.
He never said in a begrudging or hurtful way-- but the sheer amount of times Phil just simply said, "... and that sucks..." was way, way too many to recommend this to anyone. Great review.
That's some real disappointment. Not even anger-disappointment of wasting money, just straight on disappointment from completely missing the promises given prior to release...
I felt that the review was technically over in the first few seconds when you announced the price. Thanks so much!
21:02 and his name is Phil (phiiiiiil) of the future... Anybody remember that Disney cartoon?
I’m shook how much this makes the Vision Pro sound like a product market fit.
Thank goodness I waited for reviews for this headset. I had high hopes for this headset. I really loved my original Vive and found the big disappointment was when HTC broke away from Valve to build their own marketplace and forced the use of other software. When I saw the specs for this headset the two big red flags were no audio jack and not getting enough information on the wired VR experience (I like to play long sessions of Elite: Dangerous.
As much as I am not a fan of Meta, they are making more progress than anyone else and I know I will be pre-ordering the Quest 3 because they have the marketplace developers are aiming at and the next chip there should be a worthy upgrade for a next generation of standalone VR headsets. However, my next option is looking at the Bigscreen Beyond - but again, I have concerns about the audio solution. I agree that the off ear speakers on the Index and Reverb G2 are the best audio solution out there hands down.
Interested to see everyone forgets about Pico. The hardware of the Pico 4 is just strictly better for 100 bucks cheaper, at least where I live. The only downside being the smaller game catalogue. Of course it is not a no brainer but there is really good competition.
@@tinminator8905 Pico is just straight up not available in some markets and the smaller software catalogue on top of them being a ByteDance company causes a lot of people to remain wary of using their headsets.
@@heyyitsultima Not saying they shouldnt be cautios. I am just curious why nobody mentions them ever.
@@tinminator8905 You are right, I did not think about the Pico. I was interested in the Pico 3 that had the Displayport connection for PC. That being said, it is not directly available in Canada, and while I would love to see a better, more competitive market, I am already invested on the Meta software side of things. I have not revisited the Pico 4 since its initial release after hearing about how far behind it was on the software (not only what you can buy and play on it, but the operating system.) Has the Pico improved significantly?
@@stevenstemmler7573 The only notable thing that I can say the quest does noticably better is hand tracking and PCVR streaming, but Virtual Desktop has you covered there.
"That's a lot of money to spin your own button."
You had me at "hello".
"have you ever used a VR headset, guys?" perfect summary.
The grey hat blended in with the grey chair and it looked like a cowboy hat, and I was like. "he's really PHILing --(Feeling)-- himself huh
I love Phil being on screen!
Kim Kommando just did a segment this past weekend on VR, and I love her assessment of it. VR is a DOA technology in its current state. It cost millions to develop the technology and environments, yet the amount of people using it isn't even enough to cover the basic costs, let alone make any profit. Especially Mark Suckerbergs (spelled exactly as it should be spelled) newest VR entry.....millions to develop, only like 38 people using it online or something like that..
Great video. Long talk that makes sense. Brilliant.
I am so glad to finally see a long term in depth review for this thing! I've had a quest 2 for around 3 or 4 years and the Vive XR sounded like the perfect headset to finally upgrade to once I saved up enough but now as much as I still dislike Meta(Facebook) the quest pro or the Quest 3 seem like the obvious better choice. The big screen VR headset is also a really good option but I don't have base stations so it'd be a huuuuge investment
2 years... U mean
@@gaz8600 Nah... Q2 release 3 yrs ago this summer and Q1 4 years ago this past month... time flies when you're havin fun!!
I love meta's headsets. Say what you want about the Zuck, he can deliver a great product
@@Christian-ry3ol Say what you want about Zuck, but he can buy a company that makes a great product. Guarantee he doesn't even know Oculus exists outside of a tidbit in the annual meeting.
Just a heads up! Gamestop just dropped the price of the Refurbished full Valve Index kit, base stations and all, to $599. I have and old Vive so I just recently bought the Knuckles controllers which are awesome btw, and now they just dropped the headset by itself, to $249.99. My hand is literally trembling over the mouse button haha I don't know if I'm going to be able to stop myself haha!
Phil knocked this one out of the park!
Thank you. There are more and more vr pc options turning up on the market, so great to get a really good pro/con video like this.
This just leaves me even more convinced that I should hold out until Valve unveils Deckard. If the panel tech is reasonably high resolution and oled, and if it has both foveated rendering and mouth tracking, or at the very least, an add-on mouth tracker that can be purchased, then they're the company I want to be supporting in the VR war.
All VR HMDs today are a hard sell for me considering I'm running the Reverb G2 with Index controllers. My preferred upgrade HMD would be a lighthouse HMD with an HDR OLED with at least the same if not more pixels than the G2 and the Index/Reverb G2 speakers. Physical IPD adjustment is required and it would be preferably wired. I don't want any of the HMDs that are standalone for weight and heat reasons, and also the fact it will never be used disconnected from the PC.
With all your requirements detailed, I wonder what you'd think of Bigscreen Beyond. Sounds like it fits the bill nearly perfectly.
Gonna need some more Phil content stat; this was spectacular
I'm still using an old Rift S. It works just well enough that I don't want to get anything new yet.
i dont even use VR and i still appreciated how in depth this review was
Phils a great presenter and his laugh in the background some videos is the best 😆 also the ifixit ad is probably the best ad on RUclips 😂
Ok i'll defend the actevate before click on the trigger.
When your going at something from a virtual distance you end up twitching tossing your aim off with the click so activating at half pull has become the standard.
Now saying that. a Haptic response to activation would be something i'd love to see across the board.
4 years in VR gaming, different headsets used, most with inside-out tracking. This HTC is maybe more mobile solution to carry around. Q Pro is more bigger thing and so less mobile.
But make it small and mobile has chance for some issues like too small face interface (or padding).
Part of them have no spring loaded, but the head strap can flipped up. That is difference. Put headset first against face, then put strap down at your back.
Using now Pico4 for a while. Have Quest 2 too as second headset.
Great work Phil!
Phil with the absolute BANGER of a review.
Fantastic, and thorough, review, Phil! GG! Especially for those of us w/glasses.
I love Phil. Best host for Jayztwocents. Jay, you are fired.
13:25 hahah, thanks for the image. I had not seen those and I relate. Grand Trash II, let's go!
Also great review. I knew these weren't for me right from the start since the eye correction adjustments don't go high enough for my prescription...
But then there's so many more drawbacks it seems, yikes. Like many others, I want any headset to be successful, but is hard to get behind this one.
Phil, here's hoping we will see more your reviews. Excellent job! THANKS
also, the quest pro controllers are amazing. They're super compact, batteries last a good long time, and they have no occlusion problems.
Man... Phil you're good at doing this!!!!
Great review. This man knows VR.
the reason the fan ramps up more on the older processor is partially due to the new chip being built around efficiency and lower temps. Also might have to do with HTC's cooling solution overall but the new chip should in theory run cooler regardless.
Yup I sent my XR Elite back after I had it for 3 weeks. I'm keeping my eye on the Somnium VR1 headset.
Great job Phil!! Well done buddy
Great job Phil!
Good review Phil! Here's some nostalgia for you guys, back in the day these were pretty cool. September 29, 1998 - Sony Announces New Personal LCD Monitor - PC Glasstron.
PSVR2 is still the best VR experience i've had so far, been trying VR since the oculus rift dev kit 1 lol was disappointed with everything until the PSVR2, truely feels like you're there with the eye tracking/focus/high render where you're looking.
"A Lacroix hint of a flavor of bass" haha That made me chuckle
Just send it back, lol. I live in the UK, over here sending anything back is a nightmare. Service in America is great, over here, not so much. I'm sure this isn't the only place on earth like that.
I wish there was a way to easily try out things like this before you purchased.
I just gotta say that not being spring loaded on the battery pack would be a positive for me as I find spring loaded makes the back slip
Amazing review Phil!!
I'm sure iFixit will be grateful for their product being in the mouseover preview with that title!!!
Still waiting to buy my first ever VR headset. I don't mind spending a lot of money on one, but for that amount of cash I demand a perfect product with no compromises and it seems that headset doesn't exist yet
Jay ist so versatile. He can change his appearance