My experience with Pimax Crystal

User Support Hub Virtual Reality (VR)
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I’m very excited and I’d like to share my experience with Pimax Crystal. I have a lot of experience flying with the Quest 2 and Pico 4 helmets. I liked everything about them, but there was a problem with the resolution: the instruments were blurred and some of the labels on the displays were hard to read. I wanted to solve this problem and was looking forward to the Pimax Crystal helmet. And I finally got it.

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To describe the Crystal in a nutshell, it’s a helmet with a resolution of 2880x2880 per eye. That’s a giant leap from 2160x2160 in the Pico 4 or 1832x1920 in the Quest 2. In practice, it’s like walking around short-sighted without glasses, then putting them on and having a look.

Problems with the legibility of the labels disappeared completely. The perception of scenarios has also improved significantly. In addition to the high resolution, Crystal also reproduces colors much better. Where in Pico 4 the runway looked like a gray patch in certain lighting conditions, now the joints of the panels are visible and airfields can be seen from a greater distance. As I fly mostly by visual rules, this is very important to me. This is how the Pimax ad shows the difference in resolution. As usual, the ads exaggerate a lot, but in reality the difference is still huge:

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The most important thing for me is the FPS. I have a good computer, but not the most powerful. Pico 4 pushed it to the limit, so Crystal’s gigantic resolution was a concern. My only hope was the gaze tracking technology built into Crystal. There are cameras that track your pupils and work out where your eyes are looking. Thanks to these cameras, Crystal can automatically adjust the distance between your eyes, which is nice, but not the most important thing.

Best of all, the software can draw a sharp image where I’m looking and a low-resolution blur where I’m not. This technology is called Dynamic Foveated Rendering, or DFR for short. The eye doesn’t notice the manipulation at all, but FPS does. Fortunately, MSFS supports DFR. With DFR enabled, the FPS increases significantly, and I didn’t notice much of a loss in speed compared to Pico 4. This image illustrates the essence of DFR technology:

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The helmet looks bulky, but it’s well balanced, sits comfortably on my head and didn’t cause me any problems during an hour’s flight. I don’t usually fly longer than that. The eye-tracking feature helps you put the helmet on correctly: if it is too high or too low, the helmet asks you to put it on correctly. I was worried that the new helmet would be too untested and glitchy, but so far I haven’t noticed any problems. This is how the helmet tells you which way to move it to get a better view:

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The Crystal is connected to the computer with three cables: a Display Port cable and two USB cables. You will also need to connect another USB port to update the firmware. A three-port USB hub is included, so this won’t be a problem.

In addition to its advantages, Crystal has some disadvantages. They lie in the software. To configure DFR, you have to download and install up to four applications (!!!). This is because the developers at Pimax did not implement the standard that DFR normally uses. Fortunately, the situation has been remedied by enthusiasts, but you will have to shamanise your way through the initial setup. The design of the helmet setup utility is sometimes questionable. For a long time I thought the lines after the Display and Eye Tracking labels were inactive sliders, but over time I realized they were just the design of the section headings.

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Overall, Crystal is a very positive experience. I don’t want to go back to Pico 4, and even less to Quest 2. After going through seven circles of software configuration hell, the helmet works perfectly. The only thing I wish is that Pimax would include support for the OpenXR and DFR standards in their drivers so that I don’t have to jump through hoops any more. Otherwise it is very good. I recommend the Crystal to anyone who loves VR and is not afraid of spending a lot of money.

If you have any questions about the helmet, ask me here. I will try to answer all questions.

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I’d say this is the “quote of the year”!

But thanks so much for the review, most helpful and informative.

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I’m a little underwhelmed, struggling to get much better clarity than my Hp g2. I have tried all tye settings etc suggested by The various youtubers and not getting the “wow” others have reported. I must be missing something but what?
I7 1300k rtx 4090.

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I can only compare with Pico 4 and Quest 2. I have no experience with HP G2. Crystal is much better than both Pico 4 and Quest 2. My system is not very powerful: my CPU is i7-12700K and my GPU is 3080Ti.

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I tried the pico 4, quite fair, good cockpit visuals but the ground testures etc werent great in my opinion.

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If you have had G2 before on the same system, then you are probably victim of the known resolution bug where you are stuck at max 3240x3240 or something like that, which was suitable for G2 perhaps but not Crystal. Even if you set resolution at Max in Pimax Play app (which would be 4500x5100 or something like that) you still only get 3240x3240, and that is also so even if you manually higher in SteamVR .

The error is in a file called “steamvr.vrsettings”, normally located:
c:\Program Files(x86)\Steam\config\steamvr.vrsettings
In there find the line ‘maxRecommendedResolution" = 3240
And change that to…. Dunno, much much higher.
If you don’t see much difference then…… check your eyes - or there is something wrong with your Crystal :slight_smile:

Be aware, that bug might reset it back to 3240 later some has reported. It’s not Pimax fault but SteamVR I guess.

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This issue should be only impacting with SteamVR runtime. I would recommend using PimaxXR OpenXR runtime (PimaxXR app allows chosing this runtime).

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Share your settings to allow us suggesting improvements.

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That’s right. And for OpenXR supported games, yes - use PimaxXR as you say.

But there are a number of games that doesn’t use OpenXR but OpenVR and for them this will be a problem because then you need SteamVR.

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Hi. thanks for willing to give advice. I have yet to join the ranks of VR users, but after putting aside a sum if money every year for it without ever buying anything, the price by now isn’t the issue. Rather that “which one”. The Pimax Crystal sounds like a good candidate.

I have two questions:

  1. I heard about relatively low battery performance and reconnection issues after replacing the batteries in order to continue playing. Is that a problem?
  2. Besides my Warthog - how do I operate the instruments in VR?
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  1. Pimax powered hub slows the battery discharge rate, I can easily obtain 4+ hour session on one battery. If I would need longer session - I can go out of VR, swap the battery (not caring if Crystal will survive the swap or if I will need to reconnect it), switch back to VR and continue another 4+ hours, with the first battery in the charger getting ready for another swap.
    In fact I have never flown for more the 4h, I fly GA planes so I’m limited by the fuel tanks capacity and also my bladder capacity.

  2. You will develop “muscle memory” (or as it should be properly named you will use your proprioreception sense). You may glue some stuff like both sides of velcro tape, some pointy and some rounded glue dots to the critical buttons, knobs or switches for tactile identification. If you are into DIY a bit you can even build some panel (I can fly a GA plane without touching a mouse other than interacting with my charts).

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I strongly recommend powerful PC with 4090 to enjoy the full Crystal resolution without constant FPS tinkering.

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Thanks so far. I have an i7-13700 with an 4090 RTX - processing power is hopefully not the issue.

I don’t plan to extend my hardware with switches and other stuff - Warthog with rudder pedals will have to suffice. But I understand that I would still use the mouse to operate the switches.

4 hours will be plenty I suppose, I expect to get sick much quicker. I do hope that I can use VR to get rid of my motion sickness by getting used to the cognitive dissonance.

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I would stay away from Pimax Crystal, in Amazon there are so many used crystals, too many negative reviews, saying controllers sensors are so bad, eye tracking not working most of the time ( they use tobee eye tracking and it always been a pain in the ■■■ with their software that so many times fail to turn on the sensors), cheap plastic materials, too heavy for flights would be terrible, i would wait for something better…

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I migrated to Crystal from Reverb G2 and I’m absolutely happy. All works, eye tracking works (enabling massive FPS gain in DCS due to QuadViews, and small FPS gain in MSFS due to lack of QuadViews), controller tracking works. It’s heavy indeed but we’ll balanced, for simming it’s not an issue, for dynamic room scale games the intertia would be an issue, but I use it for simming only.
The resolution, sweet spot, FoV, brightness, contrast and colors are fantastic, on totally different level when compared to G2.
To fully utilize Crystal.potentail 4090 is recommended.

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Hi,
I use the USB cable from the hub, which normally plugs into the battery charger and plug it directly on the side of my Crystal (and leave it connected). Like this I can play every day all day long without ever having to change the batteries. Only once in a while I change the batteries in order to use them evenly.

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Hi @DaniCarmona2457 ,

Do you speak from personal experience with your own Crystal or is this just hearsay? I ask this because I suspect that you don’t even own one.

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I understand your frustrations but even if you paid a lot doesn’t mean is great, there are a lot of negative comments on crystal, and a lot of refund, you can check your self on Amazon, i come from hp g2 which as most of the users we got so many problems cable connector and else, seriously I don’t want spend so much money again for something that has a bad reputation, you cannot agree with me but it’s your opinion due because you own it and you feel touched, but i speak about money if it worth or not, seriously I don’t care about personal feelings, i have to spend 2000 euro it has to be perfect I don’t want relive again the hp odissey, talking instead of Tobee eye tracking software i got the same problems and i needed to go in registry of my pc to solve the software bug, same software of crystal didn’t changed for that, so seriously if i spend so much money i want that perfect because the higher resolution doesn’t worth the mess that brings with.

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Hi,
If the above post is directed to me, then I can tell you that the Crystal is my daily driver. No frustrartion on my side.
I have used it since last early summer almost every single day after owning a Pimax 8kx and a Valve Index. During all this time the Crystal has given me outstanding performance, clarity and reliability. In fact it pointed me towards an optician because in the other headsets I could never find the right IPD. After receiving the Crystal, the sharpness and IPD were still not what I had hoped for. So I tried it with my corrective glasses which I use for driving at night. Suddenly I got that super sharpness and and the IPD was as it should have been. Ordered corrective lens inserts from VR Rock and since then I have been totally satisfied.
And yes, the Crystal needs a high end GPU to get all of its goodness. (I use a 3090 and wait for the 5090 to appear in a year or so)

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Crystal is expensive - true.
Crystal requires some time to understand it and how it works - true. But I don’t know any other PC VR headset which can be effectively used in MSFS without some initial tinkering.
Crystal just works for me - no connectivity issues, no controller issus (controllers are not much useful for simming anyway, you can buy cheaper Crystal version without them) no registry hacks, no issues with eye tracking (BTW not much beneficial in MSFS due to lack of Quad views support - but this affects all the headsets).
When buying everybody must consider positive (like mine) opinions and negative (from Amazon for example). Fortunately if you buy it from Amazon, you can probably easily return it if it won’t work for you.

If you want perfect headset for MSFS you will probably need to wait a very long time, with your trusty small-sweet-spot G2 or just 2D.

With 4090 I super sample Crystal to 4600 x 5442 per eye resolution with DLSS Quality and the image is amazing, my old G2 is now collecting dust.

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While acknowledging the issues some have had with the Crystal, I can in all honesty say that, defective headsets aside, once you get it sorted out in MSFS there is currently no headset that provides such a stunning VR experience.

So for starters, my negatives from day one.

I’ve had cataract surgery to replace the lenses in my eyes, and although I now have exceptional eyesight for a man in his seventies (indeed, a teenager) I can not adjust focus to anything under about 1.2 metres sharply, which mean I need varifocal glasses for reading, or using my PC. No biggie. I can read the bottom line of an eyechart at 11 metres and no longer need glasses for driving etc.

However the rather close focus of the Crystal, at approx 1 metre means that, unlike my G2 or Pico 4, I need either glasses or corrective inserts (I use the former, tailored for the Crystal) to get absolute clarity.

Comfort: It was a pain at first, but with the Apache head-strap that is no longer an issue, it is now the most comfortable headset I own. For simming the weight is not an issue, I can wear it for hours. The Pico 4 by comparison gave me bad headaches until I bought an after market face cushion (and an add on battery pack).

Battery life: On my rig I had very short battery life and the supplied hub never gave reliable charging or connection. So I bought a good quality 100W charger and a long USB C cable and now charge it via the side USB port. Result, the battery always remains at 100% charge no matter how long I fly. Issue solved.

Software: Iffy at first but now close to being perfect. In fact even the Smart Smoothing now works well and I have started using it again. Eye tracking works very well, the only remaining issue is that it needs recalibrating on each start up (soon to be fixed).

Positives:

Image quality is so good it makes the G2 unusable to me. I will never use it again for MSFS. Same for the Pico 4. With a 4090 and the Almalence digital lens plugin I get sharpness and 3D immersion that takes my breath away. The colours are vibrant, the inside out tracking is really smooth and the audio as good as the G2 (there is apparently some audio lag still, but I don’t notice it in MSFS). The FOV is acceptable horizontally and really good vertically.

Performance: With dynamic foveated rendering and a 4090 I get a solid locked 45fps at full native resolution even over Rome or Venice and now that Smart Smoothing works well enough, a smooth experience at altitude and mostly smooth down low in GA aircraft. Without the frame lock I can get higher frame rates, but not as smooth an experience. I can also supersample above native resolution, but with the Almalence plugin that gives no real benefit to me.

The 35PPD lenses and high res panels mean that screen door effect is no longer an issue for me, whereas it was a constant pain in the G2 and Pico 4 flying low and trying to enjoy photogrammetry areas.

All in all, I’d say the experience right now is so good it would take some convincing for me to upgrade to the likes of an Aero version 2 or whatever else shows up 2024.

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