Pimax 8K VR Headset Hands-on: Swimming in Color

The Pimax 8K VR headset brings premium image quality to VR with stunning 4K resolution per eye and a 200-degree field of view (FOV) that both surpass any other consumer VR headset. What do these specs means for real-life gaming experiences? Total immersion in stupendous color.

Pixmax 8K VR Headset Specs

Beat Saber on Pimax 8K: A Color Feast

Compared to consumer VR headsets currently on the market, Pimax offers amazing resolution and FOV (field of view). While the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive Pro both beat it in the refresh rate category with 90Hz, the Pimax 8K crushes both headsets in resolution, offering about 6 million more pixels per eye than the Vive Pro and 7 million more pixels per eye than the Rift. And the Pimax’s 200-degree FOV isn’t close to being matched by the Rift and Vive Pro's 110 degrees. 

During the CES 2019 tech show in Las Vegas last week, I got the chance to play Beat Saber on the Pimax 8K and was fully captivated by the colors that flooded my FOV. As red and blue blocks came flying toward me, I couldn’t help but be distracted by the fiery, explosive reds and sharp, brilliant blues.

The high contrast of the Pimax 8K’s lenses contributed to the powerful colors I saw. The company very roughly estimates the headset’s contrast to be around 5,600:1. This had a delightful impact in Beat Saber, a game that leans heavily on colorful graphics.

Swimming in an 8K VR Ocean

I also went for a swim via theBlu, a VR experience that deeply submerges you into a fish-filled ocean. With a 200-degree FOV there was no distortion in my peripheral vision. Pimax told me that users can see distortion up at to 2 degrees on either side of their peripheral vision; however, in my experience I never felt like waters appeared blurry in my side view. This is great for fighting off any potential VR nausea.

What impressed me most here was the level of detail in the images. Coral and other sea life in front of my eyes were so realistic that I wanted to touch them. But it was the fish swimming above head far away that really stood out. As I stood on the ocean floor, I watched schools of fish pass above me closer to the water's edge. Despite their distance, their fins and bodies were clearly defined and detailed. The fish were not just a blur of green swimming by; they were individual creatures that I could differentiate one by one as the ‘sun’ shined a glare overhead.

Pimax 8K also has some handy physical features that could further expand its immersive capabilities, like support for daisy chaining modules such as for eye or hand tracking.

Amping up Production

I spoke with Kevin Henderson, who joined Pimax as head of operations in December, during CES. The executive has been tasked with enhancing support and sales in the U.S. He said that a month ago, the company was shipping fewer than 100 headsets daily and that number has increased to up to over 200 a day. The company expects to be done shipping pre-ordered headsets by February 15.

Pimax is also opening headquarters in Orlando, Florida and San Jose, California that will be fully operational by March so Pimax can expand production of its headsets for general availability. Its HMDs are available to order via Pimax’s website, but Pimax is also currently in negotiation with potential distribution partners. Further, Henderson said he wants to share a product roadmap so customers can see where the company is heading.

Pimax Controllers and the Future

In addition to bringing its headsets to general availability, Pimax is working on growing demand and production over the next two to three months for the Pimax 5K Be, basically the Pimax 5K+ headsetbut with OLED panels, and developing its Pimax hand controllers.

The Pimax hand controllers are supposed to enable open-handed tasks, thanks to a strap that keeps your hand connected to the controller when your palm is open. The controllers weren’t available for demo at CES, but we were able to grab pics of a prototype.

With HTC Vive about to make VR headsets with integrated eye tracking a thing with its upcoming HTC Vive Pro Eye headset announced during CES, we asked Pimax if this function would be incorporated into a Pimax headset anytime soon. Henderson said that while eye tracking is currently supported via a snap-on device, there aren’t enough practical benefits for the average person currently for Pimax to embed eye tracking into its headsets. It seems the company is waiting for more abundant use cases, like menu control and foveated rendering, which uses integrated eye tracking to diminish the amount of rendering work required by reducing image quality in the user’s peripheral vision.

Source: tom‘s HARDWARE Scharon Harding