No, not to drink! Pimax has announced two new headsets: the Pimax Crystal (Super) and the Pimax Crystal Light. These crazy powerful new headset models both offer 2880×2880 pixels per eye at up to 120Hz refresh late. The Super supports your choice of QLED or micro-OLED display (an industry first), and the Light uses the same resolution but at half the price (differences noted below). In addition, they announced the Pimax 60G Airlink module bringing high-fidelity wireless PCVR using WiGig tech.
PCVR? Standalone? You decide!
The key differentiator here really comes down to the Crystal Super being useful for both PCVR and Standalone VR, while the Light requires a wired connection for PCVR and has no storage or processing power on its own.
In addition, the Crystal Super has your choice of display technology (QLED or mini-LED), interchangeable lenses, compatibility with their new Airlink wireless adapter, and eye tracking. Definitely the cool new feature to include, eye tracking not only lets you interact with virtual environments using only your eyes, but it can also be used to allow foveated rendering. What’s foveated rendering? Glad you asked! Foveated rendering allows overall higher quality visuals by boosting the processing power exactly where your eye is looking (your peripheral vision has less detail by design). It’s the future!
But at what cost?
Pimax headsets are always premium products, and their prices reflect it. That said, you get what you pay for. The Crystal Light is a bargain at under $1000 and yet shares most of the capabilities of the Super, so it’s a great deal. If you previously had a Valve Index, an HP Reverb G2, or a high-end Rift headset, this is a great upgrade.
Shipping soon!
We hope to get our hands on one of these in the near future to provide an in-depth review. Pimax has always had amazing tech, and these new offerings are no exception. The Super gives you a lot of bang for your buck, while the Light at this price point shows the advances that have been made in bringing amazing VR to the masses. Expected shipping is in May, so get your preorders in now!