As some of you know, I have been a VR enthusiast for over 20 years now and have seen a lot of VR headsets in my day but this week after a long wait I finally got to test out my first high FOV / high resolution headset with the Pimax 5K+ and I have to say it was eye opening… literally!
First of all, I want to sincerely thank Pimax for sending me a 5k+ to use on the channel… I know they are not a huge company like Oculus or HTC, so for them to have sent this headset to me means a lot… You guys rock and believe me when I say it will be put to good use!
So as for the headset, I have to say I am very impressed with it. The Wide FOV and high resolution just make VR so much more enjoyable for me. These are of course the first things a new user will notice especially if coming from another consumer HMD such as the Rift or Vive.
The first time I put on the 5K+ I have to admit, It was a bit shocking just how much wider the FOV actually is in comparison to my other headsets. For the first time ever I had peripheral vision in VR and this did something to my lizard brain and made virtual worlds just feel much more believable. I am also noticing an interesting effect where speed seems to be felt more in this headset. Playing Assetto Corsa and flying in Aerofly just felt good with this increased sensation of speed and of course with the expanded FOV and resolution too!
So with this increase in FOV and resolution is the Pimax 5K+ the perfect headset? Well the answer to that is no! Out of the box it is plagued some comfort issues caused by a flimsy strapping system that is akin to the original Vive straps. I found this combined with the original face foam to be uncomfortable however this was easily solved by replacing the included foam with a nice velour VRcover I had laying around and by properly adjusting the straps to bring more of the weight of the device to my head and off of my face.
The next thing that definitely needs improvement would be the slight distortion in the far peripheral vision. This issue also was mitigated however by properly adjusting the headset and replacing the foam with something a bit thicker to move my eyes slightly farther from the lenses. This adjustment almost got rid of the distortions but they are still slightly there if you look for them.
Other areas of concern were the black levels due to the fact Pimax is using LCD panels. Out of the box these panels looked washed out and the black levels were not that good, but Pimax has addressed this with the inclusion of sliders in the PiTool to control the brightness, contrast and back light levels for the LCD panels. This is a huge win IMHO and indeed helped to fix the black levels and also made the colors pop a bit better!
Keeping all of it’s shortcomings in mind I still have to say that the Pimax 5k+ is definitely one of the best PC VR HMD’s I have used yet and I look forward to seeing where the company goes from here! The fact that we are sitting here in 2019 with a high resolution and high FOV HMD still blows my mind as I really didn’t think we would be seeing this tech for a few more years now so many congrats and huge thanks to Pimax for pushing the boundaries of what PC based VR is capable of… You have definitely made a believer out of me! []-)
Intro - 0:10
Pitool Overview - 2:05
Size and Weight - 7:05
FOV and Resolution - 9:10
Aerofly FS2 - 9:50
Assetto Corsa - 15:00
Elite Dangerous and Final Thoughts - 18:55
If you want to experience Wide FOV High Resolution VR for yourself head to the link below!
https://pimaxvr.com/products/5kplus?variant=19912548122683
OH and you can save an additional $70 on your order by using the code: vrgamerdude but you better act quickly, because this code is only good for 10 uses before it is gone! []-)
