Bigscreen BEYOND vs Pimax CRYSTAL: WHICH one is RIGHT for YOU? LET'S DISCUSS! (2024)

Personally, I just don't trust Pimax quality, not to mention in Canadian funds, the Crystal with all the options (D-Mas speakers and the Lighthouse face plate), this thing is well beyond (pardon the pun) most people's budgets. I really do hope a new AFFORDABLE PCVR HMD with good specs comes out soon, can't say I care much for the stand alone HMDs (Quest-2 / Pico 4) with their compression which kills off any advantage of having high res panels in the 1st place.
If I had to spend that kind of money, I'd probably go for the Aero, why? it's not Pimax, that's why.

This is a perfect example of how much personal priorities and our individual use cases should drive our buying decisions. We should be happy that there are a number of headsets out there that we can pick from to take care of our specific needs, wants and use cases rather than slamming each other's preferences and buying decisions.

now lets include quality control, software, random issues, advertised features not even enabled, etc from multiple channels and recalculate the winner...

Another great video Steve! You mentioned pimax clairty across the whole screen when reading aircraft instruments, I find the top two thirds of screen are clear but the bottom third is a noticable drop in clarity and is not so focused ( this is while keeping my head still and using my eyes only to look around the co*ckpit ), are you getting the same as me or different? I am curious to know if this in normal or not. Apart from that nearly all is great with my new Crystal and am really enjoying DCS world in VR. So many things are actually easier in VR than 2D so thats an added bonus :)

Have the aero and every other headset since VR came out… before DK1. Weight and ergonomics is an issue and the PIMAX is just too big for long periods in Vr. The Aero is good for about 30m to an hour… I have counter weights all over the back to help with weight distribution. This will jack your neck up over long periods. Ask me how I know, wore helmets and nvgs for years in the military.

Great video here, Steve. Thumbs up! Appreciate you making this video comparison. If it was between the Bigscreen Beyond vs Pimax 8KX, which hmd would you prefer?

I have been following your channel for years now. Got the G2, then Quest 2 for the heck of it, then 8K X, then Aero. And now Crystal. Pretty much following your journey. I might be tempted by the Beyond at some stage. But the Crystal is wowing the pants off me at the moment.
I usually keep my desktop in 4K through the Aero’s built in virtual desktop and it’s just about usable.
Last night I finally turned on virtual desktop from SteamVR on the Crystal. And I was floored. It was just as sharp as when I was using my 43” 4K monitor just 2.5 feet away. I didn’t need to guess at the text on the desktop. Pretty damn impressive.
Speaking of glare, I’ve noticed a version of it on the Pico 4 - like an internal reflection. Wonder if that’s the same thing as the Beyond. I’ve also noticed some form of blooming on the PSVR2 OLED which is comparable to the Crystal. So I’m quite happy with what Pimax has been able to achieve.

Great video! Thanks for the comparison!! Answered a lot of questions that I had!
I‘ve been using the G2 for 2 years now and have thoroughly enjoyed it but I do find that visual quality, or ‚lack thereof‘ (outside of the sweet spot) has become more and more noticeable to me in DCS.
I had always planned on upgrading to the Varjo Aero but now found out that it has been discontinued. My G2 is starting to act up a lot lately so am looking for an upgrade - I am still tempted to go for the Aero given the PPD, Eye Tracking etc. but have a really hard time deciding which headset is next in line for me. I run a 5800X3D and a RTX 3080 with 64GB RAM.
Since Varjo plans on supporting the Aero through 2025 would you say its a worthwile upgrade? I am betting on the fact that 2025 will bring a new lineup of VR headsets so I dont mind upgrading then again.
Apart from DCS I only use VR for racing sims like Assetto Corsa and dont use it for watching movies etc. I dont plan on using VR for anything but sims so dont care too much about other compatibility apart from OpenXR and SteamVR.

Varjo Aero + Quest Pro that’s it! Somnium is my last hope for PCVR!

Are you experiencing the audio delay? This seems relatively prevalent in the reviews I’ve read/watched. Still waiting on mine and hoping if it truly is an issue, a firmware fix will ultimately resolve. Great vid as always. Thanks!

As much as I wanted the beyond, the lense mattered the most. Using only fresnel lenses my entire life and trying a Pico 4, I was hooked. They matter soooo much. So when I got an offer for QPro for 700, I had to take the jump. The best lenses on any headset. My next jump will probably be for something like the crystal but not by pimax and a few hundred grams lighter (somnium VR?).

The F28 was the first airliner I embarked.

I love the crystal! I hope we get eye tracking soon for every crystal user. 😊

Having a vr headset that weighs more than 1 kilo on my head is a deal breaker

If Pimax sells Crystal for $1000-$1200 with the current lens and LCD hardware without the support of standalone mode, I might get it after the software is stable and optimized. Then it will be a good replacement of G2. As Quest Pro selling $1000, it is the most balanced VR headset on the market for standalone mode and PCVR.

The amazing visuals in the Crystal greatly offset whatever small negatives some testers are hung up on. In all honesty I don't feel the weight any more than I used to feel my G2.. Hope you are doing great Steve.

Agree

ouch 2:20 this alone has probably killed my interest in the Beyond. I'm on a Pico4 now, no way could I accept going to a smaller sweet spot and ability to look around with your eyes after experiencing it.

I wish VR became mainstream. Headset innovations are slow, in a small market, with ridiculous prices.

if it wasnt for that stupid battery, I would have easily settled for the Pimax Crystal. Now that the Aero Varjo is at 990$ its looking very competitive.

👍👍👍👍👍

Ah Steve, why are you promoting Vr Rock again? Their lenses are terrible, you said yourself you had people complaining. For the crystal they are unusable. They might be good for other headsets, I haven't tried them, but everyone I know that has tried them for the crystal has had a terrible experience and you can see many complaints online too (and I've never seen anyone complain before about perscription inserts). Sorry but for the insane price they are charging they would want to be flawless. Even at 1/4 of the price I would be annoyed, I literally had to throw them out.
I guess if they are just for astigmatism then they are fine, but any prescription and they seem terrible. It's probably down to them not accounting for the different focal distance on the crystal compared to other headsets. I won't shill any other companies but there are already a couple that are half the price, seem to have better performance and reviews and also have more useful features like being magnetic. Maybe reach out to one of them? I don't want to demand you turn down a form of income but the vr rock are really not good and shouldn't be promoted.

Could you tell me the Pimax Crystal is working with Luker Ross VR mod games? Like Cyberpunk VR or Elden Ring VR mod? Why i can't find any kind of gameplay video on the youtube ? Perhabs it isn'T working with Crystal? And the performance good or not and it will be much sharper also than with ther Reverb G2 ? I have RTX 4080

IBigscreen have some good ideas, if they can just be a bit more inclusive next time when they consider ‘the VR enthusiast community’ we can help them… If they want to focus on VRchat influencers then you’re gonna end up with decisions biased towards social VR I just hope there is enough of them to allow for a Beyond2 development. They better be quick though didn’t Somnium sign up for that Israeli company doing wide FoV pancake lenses?

I returned the Crystal because it’s so uncomfortable for me.

Stop accepting sponsorships from VR Rock! They are a terrible company and make a sh*t product. So many people who have Pimax crystals bought them based on yours and other RUclipsrs recommendations and have been out well over $150 on complete garbage!

Aero is 500 off til end of month

Another paid advert for the crystal

Everything you are saying is obvious to everyone except the people who actually make the sims 😯🙄