Perkel
Arcane
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2014
- Messages
- 16,268
So here is my actual review of Pico4.
If i had to sum it up. It is Quest 2 but better in every sense. And it feels a bit more premium in finish quality, plastics used etc.
1. Software is pretty much aped 1:1 from quest2. I was suprised just how similar it is. And the best part is that unlike quest2 this is completely open system. Meaning you can install any apk you want from get go. So i just downloaded retroarch from site, hooked up my pad and voila i have cinema size emulation station whenever i want without any shenneningans with quest2 registration as developer just to install apks. Moreover with something like CX file explorer i can share my files with PC wirelessly easily. It is effectively stock android when it comes to app support (just without google services and play store)
2. Weight. This is easily the best thing about it. You almost don't feel weight at all compared to something like quest2. No VR face at all. Spent like 6 hour session doing animations and i could go another 6 without issues when with Quest 2 after 2-3 hours it was getting uncomfortable.
3. FOV and display.
With default head gasket i was not that blown away. Yeah few degrees better but nothing amazing. Clarity was almost edge to edge unlike quest2 and you could feel resolution bump... Then i took of head gasket completely and tried it without. Yeah huge fov increase and weirdly clarity as well. This is like jumping into next gen device with such res and such FOV.
Now you would think that using pico4 without gasket would be uncomfortable or i would have to keep on me with hands but nope. With my face they behave exactly like glasses. you can feel some weight on nose but thanks to really low weight it is actually quite comfortable. I like to play at night so light leakage isn't that important for me. I will probably buy thin head gasket later to further improve comfort and not lose FOV increase.
Going back to resolution and clarity, thanks to those lenses picture is so sharp that i can again see screen door effect if i focus a lot even at 2,2k per eye. For comparsion i couldn't see it with quest2 1.8k per eye because fresnels blurred too much image.
Display quality wise it is small upgrade over Quest2. Black levels are better but this is still LCD so blacks are mostly "gray". I didn't seem much difference with color. IT does not support HDR and it doesn't have any fancy local dimming too.
4. Controllers are clear improvement over quest2. I thought their design would cause problems but no it is designed in such a way that it's "stick" part can't hit your hand at all and you can even use controller together like holding pistol for better stability without issues. Much like quest 2 ones they are touch sensitive as well. Moreover they have 2 batteries with trays per controller not one. So i expect life of those controllers be even crazier than qust2 which was something like 2-3 months per controller.
5. VirtualDesktop support is excellent and there are no issues with it.
6. Battery wise it is slightly better than quest2. Due to lack of battery in front you can't buy strap with battery as it is already on system but you can always strap small 5k batter at the back with short usbc cable no problem and it will further improve comfort as more weight at the back = less weight at the front.
So like i said straight upgrade over Quest2. I had pleasure to play with index and Pico4 is essentially Index FOV + high res + much much much better comfort. I really wish we would already have 200fov but this is good update over standard VR headsets.
I paid for it 350$ new and I think it was good deal. My used 64GB quest 2 with official elite battery strap is worth similar 300-350$ so for me it will be effectively free swap.
Headset comes with nice white laminated plastic stand which works as base of pico4 and you can easily put both controls and headset in it. It does not have charging capability though but you can easily connect wire to headset while it is in that stand.
If i had to sum it up. It is Quest 2 but better in every sense. And it feels a bit more premium in finish quality, plastics used etc.
1. Software is pretty much aped 1:1 from quest2. I was suprised just how similar it is. And the best part is that unlike quest2 this is completely open system. Meaning you can install any apk you want from get go. So i just downloaded retroarch from site, hooked up my pad and voila i have cinema size emulation station whenever i want without any shenneningans with quest2 registration as developer just to install apks. Moreover with something like CX file explorer i can share my files with PC wirelessly easily. It is effectively stock android when it comes to app support (just without google services and play store)
2. Weight. This is easily the best thing about it. You almost don't feel weight at all compared to something like quest2. No VR face at all. Spent like 6 hour session doing animations and i could go another 6 without issues when with Quest 2 after 2-3 hours it was getting uncomfortable.
3. FOV and display.
With default head gasket i was not that blown away. Yeah few degrees better but nothing amazing. Clarity was almost edge to edge unlike quest2 and you could feel resolution bump... Then i took of head gasket completely and tried it without. Yeah huge fov increase and weirdly clarity as well. This is like jumping into next gen device with such res and such FOV.
Now you would think that using pico4 without gasket would be uncomfortable or i would have to keep on me with hands but nope. With my face they behave exactly like glasses. you can feel some weight on nose but thanks to really low weight it is actually quite comfortable. I like to play at night so light leakage isn't that important for me. I will probably buy thin head gasket later to further improve comfort and not lose FOV increase.
Going back to resolution and clarity, thanks to those lenses picture is so sharp that i can again see screen door effect if i focus a lot even at 2,2k per eye. For comparsion i couldn't see it with quest2 1.8k per eye because fresnels blurred too much image.
Display quality wise it is small upgrade over Quest2. Black levels are better but this is still LCD so blacks are mostly "gray". I didn't seem much difference with color. IT does not support HDR and it doesn't have any fancy local dimming too.
4. Controllers are clear improvement over quest2. I thought their design would cause problems but no it is designed in such a way that it's "stick" part can't hit your hand at all and you can even use controller together like holding pistol for better stability without issues. Much like quest 2 ones they are touch sensitive as well. Moreover they have 2 batteries with trays per controller not one. So i expect life of those controllers be even crazier than qust2 which was something like 2-3 months per controller.
5. VirtualDesktop support is excellent and there are no issues with it.
6. Battery wise it is slightly better than quest2. Due to lack of battery in front you can't buy strap with battery as it is already on system but you can always strap small 5k batter at the back with short usbc cable no problem and it will further improve comfort as more weight at the back = less weight at the front.
So like i said straight upgrade over Quest2. I had pleasure to play with index and Pico4 is essentially Index FOV + high res + much much much better comfort. I really wish we would already have 200fov but this is good update over standard VR headsets.
I paid for it 350$ new and I think it was good deal. My used 64GB quest 2 with official elite battery strap is worth similar 300-350$ so for me it will be effectively free swap.
Headset comes with nice white laminated plastic stand which works as base of pico4 and you can easily put both controls and headset in it. It does not have charging capability though but you can easily connect wire to headset while it is in that stand.
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