Very true and by actual competitors ones that do release their products are least close to projected dates. Sonnium was first announced during the Pimax KS and at one time was believed to likely release before we got our hmds. How many years ago was that?
Sure this year they have finally released it after numerous times bumping the headset specs.
I honestly don’t get hyped anymore with early product announcements. Best to wait and see how things are after released.
If all goes well we have a quality product release like AVP even if it was more of a high quality DeV kit that feels more like what a consumer release should be.
The reason we announced the Dream Air after the Super is to inform our users that both projects are being developed simultaneously. If someone has pre-ordered the Super but is now more interested in the DreamAir, they can easily switch their pre-order.
The panel used for the Dream Air is in limited supply, and we need to secure the stock before it runs out. Additionally, all preorders are refundable, and we offer a 14-day trial.
More updates for the DreamAir will be provided soon. We’ve also added a ‘Reservation’ option for users.
Please note, there will be no high-end headsets from us before the 12K.
The Dream Air will not be shipped in 2025 - my guess is, not even early 2026; it‘s still just a bloody render & mock-up, from what we can tell Pimax may have started thinking about it only as late as the MeganeX 8K announcement and could still easily be this far in its design phase.
So telling people to pre-pay now for Pimax to secure displays is a wild suggestion.
This is effectively worse than a Kickstarter launch: for that they would have had to show off a working prototype, and evidently they are not able to do so yet.
So, who has an appetite for contributing today 1,1k to an Early Access Pre-Kickstarter Cool Idea project which tried to simply gather most of the desires of VR users in a concept on paper with a nice render?
Let‘s see how this went the last time Pimax did exactly that, collect all user desires in an über-headset w/o being concerned too much about feasibility? Ah yes, right, it was called the 12K QLED.
They were first talking about it during our wait on the Pimax Kickstarter. I believe @Atmos had posted about it during that time. It maybe 3 years since their KS or maybe it was the 8kX
At present more interested in Walkerdev’s project.
Exactly. They announce in 2024 a 2025 headset. They showed a 3D print but a release date 6 months away. Why would they pay all that money in 2025 and not show an already announced product that only 6 months away?
Does not make sense unless they know Dream Air is really a 2026 model.
When the Super was first announced with a uOled option , I thought to myself, this dorsnt seem like a good idea.
The Super was “super” enough just offering 57ppd and local dimming 2.0.
When I heard that the uOled would not be available for preorder until April I thought, “okay the uOled is still cooking and they arent ready yet”
My first thought was that of all of the people i see excited about Pimax headsets, most of the sentiment is , people dont want a micro oled in a big form factor.
I figured that since you hadnt taken any preorders yet for the Super uOLED that you might reconsider and make a tiny formfactor worthy of uOLED .
I’m happy that you guys pivoted.
My question though is, with such low yields of uOLED panels can Pimax really afford to split that stock between putting them in Cartridges for the Super which definitely will not be selling as well as the Air?
As a person who was primarily interested the the uOLED super, but was reluctant because of the size, I know I am certainly more interested in the Air.
Maybe you guys should just acknowledge that the uOled in the Super was a bad idea and just cancel that and out all of your panels into the Air.
The Super itself is I believe is a cool step forward. As we all know pimax likes using a core frame from their headsets. The Super Frame with the Optics engine idea. Really offers a better modularity. As you can choose to upgrade via the optic engines modules. So if they later in hypothetically wanted to offer an 8kX refresh with say a FoV if 149W improved optics & Qled micro dimming v2 screens they can. Or say bump the Crystal Super with new optics and higher res panels.
Very true. I can say I was pushing pimax during the pre KS for modularity more a kin to the defunct OSVR a la carte. But in reflection at that time wasn’t feasible for them to do. However it did lead to having the modular options like Hand tracking, ET and modular audio.
It will be interesting to see how much the Optic engine modules are priced. It would make sense they would be a fair amount then if they sold the base frame by itself as majority of the cost imho will be the Optic engine module.
@drowhunter RoadtoVR also mentioned it. But honestly, from all we have learned in the past years, this announcement is lacking the substance to make it seem probable to see the Dream Air appear in 2025; they will not even provide even a hands-on experience at CES it seems - yet they still announce it.
Why would reputable VR news outlets jump on this kind of literal ’dream‘ of Pimax, a bag of good intentions but nothing tangible.
It kinda explains why Pimax is pushing Dream Air with only a mock-up in hand. New headset development is one thing, limited supply of panels is another thing.
And this is a strange message that needs decoding. Aren’t Crystal Light Super counted as high-end headsets and they will be released very soon? Or does Pimax plan to release 12K immediately ?
Fine, but will you consider placing a pre-order with 1,100$ prepayment for a product, which is possible not even in design phase, but just in the definition phase?
Usually I expect this kind of supply considerations to come into play when the prototyping is almost done and mass production is on the horizon. You don‘t need to secure the quantities of panels before even being sure that they work in your prototype as desired (or your assumptions of performance of the prototype are proven correct in practice, if you prefer to put it this way).
I cannot recall that I have ever seen a company ask me to pay 2/3 of a significant price tag upfront to help them start defining/developing a product. As said earlier, this would even be a shocking proposal for crowd-funding platforms, they would immediately reject it and tell Pimax to come back when they have done their basic homework.
The more I think about this, the more astonished I am. Worried too, because it is a very early money grab they are trying to pull off here - seemingly thinking that those who want the Super will still go on to purchase it while hoping to collect the money from those who don‘t consider the Super b/c it‘s too bulky.
I for my part will be rather more careful now - not sure what to make of this super weird move, By the time I might consider a purchase of the Super, it will have been released a couple of months and reviews will be available to let me make a proper decision.
By that time in theory the Dream Air should also be available, reviews & all. Will not happen, of course.
Yeah I’m very surprised anyone would pre order this.
I’m surprised Pimax are even asking for money because just say 10,000 pre ordered a Dream Air. Pimax say wow lets order 20,000 Micro-OLEDS at £100 each thats a £2 million purchase Pimax commit too. Suddenly Valve announce Index 2 and everyone 10,000 people cancel their Dream Air pre orders leaving Pimax with 20,000 redundant Micro OLEDS and £2million out of pocket.
I wonder how long before Big Screen announce the Beyond 2 because surely they’ll be another company fighting over these Micro-OLEDs.
