Pimax Crystal Light Review - The Gamed, the Porned and the Crappy

This is a review of Pimax Crystal Light after spending 7 Weeks With it as of writing. I tried almost everything with this headset from Games to Porn, so you can have a better decision in case you're interested in buying one. Hopefully this review can be helpful to you. This is a PCVR ONLY headset, it can't be operated in standalone mode like the Quest 2/ 3. And you need a high end PC to run it to its full potential. Also, it can't be operated wirelessly by official or unofficial methods as of writing.

Pimax Crystal Light Specifications and Price

Below are the detailed technical characteristics of the device collected from the review material:

  • Release Date: May/ 14/ 2024
  • Screen type: 2 QLED with Mini LED Backlight for local dimming
  • Resolution: 2880 x 2880 per eye (5760x 2880 Total)
  • Lens type: Aspheric made of glass
  • Pixel Per Degree: 35 PPD
  • Refresh rates: Variable @60Hz/ 72Hz/ 90Hz/ 120Hz
  • IPD: Manually Adjustable from 58 to 72 mm
  • FOV: Horizontal 115°, Vertical 105°, Diagonal 130°
  • Headset weight: 815 grams
  • Total price: 887 USD as of writing
  • Warranty: 12 months

Visual Performance and Display Quality

Let me start with this, when it comes to gaming and videos, the visuals of this headset are out of this world if you have a powerful PC capable to deliver all these 16.5 megapixels to the headset at least with 60FPS. The colors are punchy and vivid, the contrast and black levels are surprisingly very good! Way superior than Quest 3 for example. I imagined if these screens are Mico-OLED and with even higher resolution, damn! And the overall build quality of this headset feels good. This headset is truly a VR Powerhouse.

Games Experiences

Regarding the immersive experience in gaming: Do you play flat games on 4K 43-inch LED Monitor or TV? With the Pimax Crystal Light (the QLED with Mini LED version) you'll see the same visual quality but on very large screen or in immersive 3D. It's really that good, without any exaggeration. As a Quest 3 owner, the visuals are not even close, it's such an amazing experience.

Hardware, Tracking and System Requirements

In terms of functionality and hardware details: The default is 6DoF Inside-Out Tracking. And can be Outside-in with "Lighthouse Faceplate" add-on and "Base Stations" (both sold separately). Eye Tracking is not available, so you can't use dynamic foveated rendering. Foveated Rendering: Fixed foveated rendering at version 2.0 as of writing. Audio consists of 2 microphones and integrated audio upgradable to DMAS over-ear headphones.

The device comes with 2 Ringed controllers with haptic feedback and built-in rechargeable batteries via USB-C port with about 20 Hours battery life. For PC connectivity, the headset requires 1 DisplayPort version 1.4a or newer and 1 USB 3.0 port or newer. The required PC operating system is at least Windows 10 64-bit version or Windows 11 as of writing. To manage the device, the following apps are required: Pimax Play and SteamVR.