50% Varjo drop price!

User Support Hub Virtual Reality (VR)
21

I currently have an HP G2. I love the VR experience but if I am on a long bush trip segment, I start getting to the point where I look forward to the leg ending so I can take the headset off and cool down.

So truthfully, I have been debating for the last month which headset to get. I want the best in clarity. So I was leaning towards an Aero. All the reviewers say that for visuals and FOV that the Crystal was the better choice, but between having no cooling and the battery, I ruled the Crystal out. But on the other hand, I wanted night flights to have perfect blacks, and I wanted to start getting into DCS which requires scanning the skies quickly, and I know my G2 if I swing my head fast, I feel the weight of the headset and there is a little bit of momentum with all the bulkiness. So the Beyond was the other headset I was contemplating for the better blacks and sheer comfort of being in VR and not feeling like you had a headset on. The Aero and Beyond have separate use cases, and I was battling between them which was ultimately going to be more important to me. This price drop is perfect. I can now get both for the same price that I would have had to pay for the Aero before.

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22

Will the Valve Index Base Stations 2.0 @ £139 shown on the Steam store work with the Varjo Aero?
Thanks in advance.

23

You can buy base stations directly from Varjo, bundled (with some discount) with the Aero.

24

@stekusteku
Thanks, yes. I was looking at those with the view they are guaranteed to work but had seen posts of people buying ones elsewhere, or locally to them, cheaper and avoiding possible import duty. There seems to be different models and prices though and not sure of the differences re using with the Aero.

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Yes, cheaper than from Varjo too.

26

I don’t seem to be able to purchase a Varjo Aero in Australia. Their website directs me to 3x local dealers but none of these show these are available. So, not sure how to order one? Maybe I’ll be best to wait for used ones to show up on Ebay for about $700-800.

27

I’m in a similar situation, umming and arring about which headset to get. I have Quest 2 which I find bulky and uncomfortable. The current crop of high-end headsets each has its drawbacks. I feel there’s a good chance that within 6-9 months something with the best features of all of them will be released. I’m thinking I might just get a Quest 3 which should maintain a good resale value. If I do go for one of the top-end ones, it will probably be the Beyond.

28

What helped me with my G2 immensely is having two small quiet 6" desk fans left and right, pointed at my head set with wind flow at the vent above your nose. This exchanges air inside the G2, eliminates all condensation and cools your face as well.

Side benefit in open canopy planes is the feeling of wind in your face :scarf:

29

And now there is an extra 10% promo for black friday, putting the price to 891!

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If you’re in the US and wish to purchase from a site in the US, go to Adorama. Search for Varjo Aero. They have the 10% off too…you can also purchase the SteamVR base station 2.0 from them.

By doing this, you don’t have to go through customs and they have a return policy.

1 Like
31

Of course I saw your post after I had already ordered directly from Varjo. Doh! I knew Adorama sold them with the 50% discount. Should have checked to see if they had the additional 10% (which they did). And it’s in stock. Oh well, I won’t have time to jump down the rabbit hole with it until Christmas anyhow, so I can wait the 2-4 weeks while I get Rx inserts and the base stations. Thought about canceling it, but sometimes the international transactions are untidy to unwind. All good.

1 Like
32

So what is the general consensus on the Varjo Aero at current pricing? I’m using a Pico 4 just now which I really enjoy but longing for some extra clarity and don’t mind paying a premium within reason. The vertical FOV is my biggest concern though - is it really that noticeable?

33

I went from a G2 to the Aero. Very happy with the switch, clarity is great. I really didn’t notice the FOV at all. The large sweet spot is wonderful.

2 Likes
34

This was my concern as well. It turned out to be a non-issue. Honestly with the clarity and eye-tracking, you won’t notice the vertical FOV change.

1 Like
35

Sounds good. How did you find the Aero for dark scenes or night flying?

36

I also came from the G2 Headset. I expected the vertical FoV to be worse according to many critical comments, but to me it is no big issue. Yes, it could be larger but it does not significantly impact the great experience due to the much better clarity and high resolution. I have a nice monitor setup but I find myself most of the time in VR since I have the Aero. The comfort could be better, I improved it by wearing a head band. One thing to be known: For some reason the Aero is recognized as 2 Monitors, hence I had to unplug one of my lateral monitors (3 Monitor Setup) due to Nviidia Output restrictions up to 4 Monitors max. I will try an electronic Display Port Switch to avoid physically unplugging of 1 Monitor.

37

hi,

I was about the last person to buy varjo aero for about 1000 euro.
Coming from Rift S this is a game changer.
They have sent me faulty unit and were very slow to reply to service request.
After about 2 weeks of self troubleshooting they sent me power adaptor replacement that fixed the problem.

I like the head set a lot.
One function I did not figured out is hot to overlay sim with 3rd party desktop app for navigation. I am using Skydemon. It was quite simple with Oculus software.

I have a Microsoft copy and steam desktop does not work with it at least I do not know how to make it to work.

Vario base supposed to switch between desktop and VR with one button click but that functionality does not work for me wit MSFS.

38

While I use Pimax Crystal, not Aero - my solution may work for you. I’m running SkyDemon on separate old notebook. SkyDemon communicates with main PC via xMapsy software. I bring the entire desktop of the notebook to the VR using VNC function of the AllInOne Tablet by FlightSimulator.me. It allows also controlling the apps on the notebook with mouse in VR.
MS Store and Steam distribution channels are nothing more than distribution channels. The MSFS coming from both is exactly the same, except some folder structure. The distribution channel doesn’t matter for VR at all.

39

i compared the Varo Aero and the Pimax Crystal as i had both at the same time. In fact , my initial Crystal unit was a bit defective, but it still was much clearer and superior to the Aero. Specially for objects further out, in the distance [ like closer to the horizon] . you can see things much more clearly further out in the Crystal.

The Aero does seem to have a smoother quality to its rendering, especially the edges of objects, but some soft focus further away from the view [like a gradual over blurriness in the distance] . objects and images in the Crystal [roads, buildings, trees, terrain], look much sharper and defined further out. The Aero also has a weird FOV [like a narrow letter shaped rectangle]. totally un realistic for flight simulation where the sky above you and ground below you is such an important part of your peripheral vision. You do eventually get used to it but the Crystal has a slightly wider horizontal , and much taller vertical FOV, and even the G2, had a more oval , natural shaped FOV.

After about 2-3 weeks of having both, I returned the Aero and kept the Crystal. In fact, a few months later, i was able to exchange mine [ it had slightly defective color tinge [a faint but bothersome greenish hue to everything], and it had a battery that never stayed charged in the headset.

I have to say, the replacement Crystal i got has beautiful , clear , accurate colors, and the battery now never dies; but you really have to tweak and work on your in game settings [ specially LOD/TLOD], and the Pimax settings to get the perfect combination of FPS and image quality in the Pimax Crystal. I find that if you turn the contrast in the Crystal [using openxr toolkit/ appearance sub-menu ] all the way down to 40 [from default 50], you get a more natural looking image quality. Saturation 53, Brightness 53. [openxr toolkit] 120 or 90 hz [but i do have a 4090]

I liked that the Crystal did not need base stations and had inside out tracking. Also with the Apache headstrap, though quite bulky, it was much more comfortable than the default headstrap alone.

I would not buy the Aero if i were you. Its about 2+ yr old tech. There may be a new one possibly coming down the pipe, maybe based on the newer Varjo XR3, but basically an ‘Aero 2’