VR Buying Guide 2024 - Which virtual reality headset should you buy?

if you watch this video then you stand in front of the question which VR headset should you buy so as you can see there's a lot of VR headsets like the Standalone headsets the console headsets or the PC VR headsets a lot of stuff but which one is for you and why and what are the advantage and disadvantages of the headsets I will answer these questions in this video my name is Thomas and you're watching voodo EVR thank you to my sponsors Vos VR and virtual Escape let's have some fun with the video and let's go vo okay I want to split the video in different categories you can find them in the uh description or via time stamps you can jump to the different categories because there's a lot of stuff and um yeah to all headset you can see here that are already available on the market I will have a review ready for you that you can also find in the description below so this is just a uh Overlook of all the headsets in this video but the reviews you will also find on my channel also you can find all the links for the headsets in the description below so but yeah let's go on okay the first category is very fast because it's not really important and you should not uh buy it uh this is cardboard or smartphone holders I don't call that VR because it's not VR for example this is a cardboard you just open that and put your smartphone here yeah and just don't buy it the next one as well this is from me can put the smartphone here this is Google Daydream you can put the smartphone like here so uh what's the advantage of that the price because sometimes this is even for free um and it doesn't cost you anything when you have a smartphone but the disadvantage is it's not the are it's no tracking now the only thing you can do is uh on on Place yeah like three degrees of freedom nothing else the the headset doesn't know if it's here or here so you will not be able to play really VR games yeah it's only some casual experiences and and so on so so who should buy it better nobody but yeah it it could be okay if you want to watch 3D movies that you recorded with the 3D camera then you can just watch it a little bit that's okay but please don't ever expect that this is real virtual reality I can guarantee you it's not okay so it's not even for beginners even beginners should not buy this to experience VR or play something in VR that's very important important so the next category is console VR so that means yeah the most important thing is of course Sony but there's also for example Nintendo label uh with some small games but that's not really VR it's just casual stuff we we don't really need that to be honest but Sony has two headsets the PlayStation VR1 and the PlayStation VR2 so the PlayStation VR1 is pretty old it's an old VR headset it's compatible to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 the advantage is it's pretty cheap because you can get it used very very cheap it has some very good games yeah it has uh room tracking at least 180° so everything you see in front of you is tracked via the PlayStation camera also the controllers are tracked the dual shock controller is also tracked and uh yeah but it's only 180° trkking but if you look behind you then the PlayStation says oh there is no tracking anymore uh other disadvantages is of course that's pretty old it has an old resolution of course also the setup is pretty complicated we need a lot of cables uh we need a additional box additional uh power plug and all that stuff yeah and additional camera and the tracking uh com uh compared to other VR headsets is really bad to be honest so sometimes you this thing is not really tracked if some lights are in your room or so then the tracking is not so good um so who should buy the PlayStation VR1 of course people that want to play seated it's a cool couch experience when you play with a dual shock controller or something or people that only have a PlayStation 4 um yeah that's uh very interesting then because it's just only when you buy it new including the camera it's around $350 uh used um headsets are much cheaper of course uh yeah then you can buy the PlayStation VR1 oh you see it's just uh getting old here it's just uh didn't expect that it's it's so old already um then the next one is the PlayStation VR2 that's a very new headset it's much much better than the PlayStation VR1 because it has a full tracking 360 grease tracking uh the display is much better much higher resolution really good games good looking games full room tracking the controllers are re that are the one of the best controllers uh in VR we have adaptive triggers and so on a really really interesting feeling if for for the controllers the setup is much easier we just have to plug the plug the USBC cable into the PlayStation 5 and then it works really awesome very easy for beginners then just print your uh room and and then you can go uh disadvantage Sony decided to build old Freel lenses and that means you have some God Ray effects and that's pretty bad also the OED display has some mura effect so the uh some blacks uh when you move your headset are a little bit washed out and so on it still has a cable yeah and for me to be honest there is I I mean the PlayStation VR2 has some really good games the library is pretty good but there is not so much new content coming to be honest yeah so I miss new content perhaps in the future there will be some more games but for now it's not so many stuff that I expected so who should buy the PlayStation VR2 of course people that have a PlayStation 5 and want uh graphically good VR games that look really good uh over the um performance of the PlayStation 5 it's of course much better than the old PlayStation 4 or so and yeah that's a good thing for for those people so the price is around $550 um for the normal bundle and a little bit more for the horizon call of the mountain bundle and of course you need the PlayStation 5 yeah so people that have a PlayStation 4 and not so much money get go for the old PlayStation V people that have the PlayStation 5 go for the new PlayStation VR2 that's the category console VR okay the next category is video glasses yes this is not VR really it's just to watch videos and um yeah I tested some of them for example the en real light it has also some augmented reality functions and the rocket Max and I recommend the rocket Max Plus the rocket MAX Station yeah because the the advantage is it's very very light it's a very good display it's very comfortable and you can use it while lying in bed for example yeah that works so be in front of you there is a really big hris uh monitor appearing and there you can uh watch hrus and 3D movies but there is no tracking so the headset doesn't know where it is or the glasses yeah and it's pretty expensive compared to other Standalone headsets for example who should buy it not people that want VR but people that want to experience movies for example while traveling or so because you can copy you can stream it but you can also copy files locally to the Rocket Station it's connected via cable to the glasses yeah and then you can watch movies in a really good resolution the price is around $500 US for the set of the station and the glasses yeah so it's very good for watching movies and let's go to the next category a very huge category pcvr headsets so it's so huge that I have to do some separate categories let's start with pcvr Windows mix to L so those are windows mixity headsets for example um that's the Reverb G2 that's the Reverb the the first HP Reverb that's the HP VR1 ,000 Lenovo Explorer and Samsung Odyssey plus I will focus on the HP Reverb G2 because all the others are not on the market anymore sometimes you can get them used or so if you get the uh Samsung odysse Plus for under 200 uh bucks then it it's fine it's a good headset to start VR with you you can play all VR games with these headsets but I don't recommend those two perhaps if you get them under 100 bucks the VR 1000 or the Lenovo Explorer but I will focus on the HP Reverb G2 that's a a headset that you can still order um the advantage is that you don't need any base stations it just scans the environment we are inside out tracking and then you uh don't need any base stations or something the setup is pretty easy just connect it via PC yeah and then you got to go you need a PC of course um in Windows you need the mix reality portal for example then you can open Steam VR and so on the display of the Reverb G2 is pretty good yeah it has it also has a good sound with these uh earphones and it is not so expensive like the really high-end VR headsets like pimix and so on so um the disadvantage is the controller so they have these controllers and when you turn them on they have this this lights here this small LED lights and the cameras will track the movement but the tracking is really not so good yeah it has some disadvantages when you hold it in front of each other um the other headsets uh not mixed reality headsets tracking is much better so uh that's a problem and also uh the system Windows mix real is by Microsoft and and not many people buy that anymore so there is not a such a huge community of the windows mix reality headsets to be honest um but who should buy it the HP Reverb G2 is really good uh for seated VR for people that want to play racing and flight simulators and don't want to spend over €1,500 for uh a pcvr headset so as I said the display is pretty good you can see everything really clear when you sit in a cockpit of a flight simulator or so and that's pretty good but uh for our other VR experiences because of the pretty bad track I don't recommend the HP Reverb G2 it's better than at the beginning but still I would recommend uh Lighthouse tracking so the price for the HP Reverb G2 is around 500 to 600 bucks including the controllers yeah and of course you need the gaming PC so as I said all the those older Windows mix headsets if you get them very cheap used then you could start VR with that but I would prefer the HP Reverb G2 if you want to go for a Windows mixed reality headset that's my opinion the next category is the older headsets by Oculus or now meta so the first one of them was the oculus rift cv1 this this headset here it's really old it has an old resolution you also need this tracking stations that you have to connect to the PC that's uh really bad you need uh you should have three of them to have good tracking then we have these old controllers they are pretty good they have this ring underneath and but the resolution is pretty old and uh sometimes you have some tracking problems and so on if you and these two headsets are not on the market anymore you can only get them used so if you can get the Oculus Rift cv1 used for under two under 100 bucks it's okay because you can play all pcvr games with that then this is the little bit newer version that's the so-called Oculus Rift s it's also not on the market anymore uh but it has uh Inside Out tracking that means you don't need some base stations you you can just use the headset and it's tracked everywhere and uh yeah that's uh much better the the controls look a little bit different because it has the ring above connected to PC and then you can also play all VR games with the Oculus Rift s um the disadvantage is that it's not really supported anymore there will not be any updates or so the resolution even uh from the older one is really low this one is also not the best resolution anymore um but who should buy it of course people that want to that don't have much money that can uh want to uh get into V are pretty cheap then you can go for it the rift s is around 100 50 bucks uh to 200 bucks used yeah so uh then you can go for it but if you have more money then better go for a newer headset in my opinion so the next category are the HTC VI headsets so here here we have the first HTC VI then here we have the vi Pro the vi Pro 2 and the vi Cosmos Elite so all of them have one thing uh it's very expensive it's too expensive for that what you get but there may be some people that where they should buy it so uh the advantage of all of them is they have Lighthouse tracking that means you need the base stations you need two base stations in every corner of your room in two m 2 m height one of these uh stations they only have to be connected to power plug not to PC and then you can use the awesome Lighthouse tracking that's the best tracking and you can then use for example the best controllers the index controllers you can use them with all of these headsets that's very good they are very precise they have hand tracking and they are comfortable so the Vive 1 is not available anymore the Vive Pro is around 500 bucks the vi Pro 2 is the best one 850 bucks and the cosmos Elite is around 500 bucks and all of them all of the prices without the base stations and without the controllers very important so the advantage of these headsets is that they have very good tracking they are all very comfortable they are modular so you can buy wireless modules for them Wireless pcvr you and you have the option for some accessories like VI tracker for full body tracking and some of them um the for example the HTC V Pro I they have ey tracking optional all of them have good quality good material quality and they don't need any social media account like meta or Tik Tok or something like that the disadvantage is the mobility you cannot just move them anywhere because you need these base stations installed and cables and all that stuff and also the disadvantage the price as I said it's too expensive and the lenses are also not so good they have the free nail lenses they had G Ray effects and so on and all of them have bad microphones unfortunately but who should buy the hdcv headsets people that want for example Wireless pcvr I mean real pcvr Wireless not the compressed stuff um so that's really interesting also for people that want a perfect tracking the lighthouse tracking and what I heard from some people that run a VR aade they have a good license management so if you have a arcade then you can use them uh it's pretty good to to manage all that stuff or for people that just want don't want to give any data to the social media like meta or Tik Tok bite dance or whatever yeah so yeah but yeah the best of them is the HTC VI Pro 2 it has the highest resolution yeah and um that's the best headset that's from sorry this one they they look all this is the HCC V Pro too yeah they look all the same from behind so yeah that's that's the and this one the vi Cosmos Elite also has optional inside out tring with the cameras that also works yeah um but I would prefer the HTC 5 Pro too they are all very comfortable yeah but as I said the prices that I mentioned are without the controllers and without the Bas stations that are minimum additional 500 bucks so with all of the headsets you are at minimum 1,000 bucks and that's in my opinion too much when you compare to other headsets that have better lenses uh same resolution uh yeah or or more Comfort or so it's yeah it's a problem and also all headsets have better microphones than the HTC 5 head headset so yeah that's that's something you should consider when you buy an HTC VI headset the next category is Val index so yeah Val you know that from Steam they made a own VR headset and that's the Val index I really love it it's it's still a nice headset and I think it was by far from the period the longest best VR headset of course it's a little bit old now um it has some advantages of course we have the lighthouse tracking that means we also need the base stations and we have perfect tracking in the package are also the index controllers in my opinion still the best VR controllers then we have optional um modular for example uh the uh VI trackers where you can they you can put it on your knees or so for full body tracking that's also possible then the valve index has a really huge field of view now bigger than most other headsets and that's really nice uh the sound is really good the microphone is also really good disadvantage is the lenses they have some pretty bad um frel lenses that means you have some G Ray effects and and so on that's not so good and the resolution is not yeah the biggest anymore it's not the highest anymore uh so you you see the screen door effect a little bit for the most newest VR headsets you don't see any screen door effect anymore with the Val index you see it a little bit and it's a little bit too expensive for that high resolution and Val still doesn't give a discount on that so who should buy that headset for me as a YouTuber I totally love this headset because it's you can always rely on it it always works I had never any problems because you don't need any additional software just connect it start steam VR and it always works at least for me yeah it's you can always rely on that and for me the when you want to play multiplayer the the um the microphone is perfect yeah the S the sound is also good it's a very good it's still a very good all round headset yeah so if you can get along with a pretty lower resolution then it's a still a really nice headset um the complete set including the headset the controllers and the base stations is $999 US yeah so I would definitely prefer the Val index over every HTC headset that's my opinion still even though it's so old and perhaps the HTC 5 Pro 2 has a better resolution but I would definitely still prefer the index because of the big field of view for example yeah so that's the valve index the next category is the future the big screen Beyond look at this this is so small and light when I put it on my head look at this it's nothing and it also feels like nothing like you don't even have something in your head it's very very light and it has a really good display really nice and it's very individual for your headset for your head because you get you send them in 3D scan and they will print the the facial interface for your face and it fits perfectly then and that's really very interesting the disadvantage of course is then that you cannot give it to other people because it fits only on your face yeah it will work but not it's not so comfortable then anymore and it's pretty expensive and you don't have any audio included so you need your own headphones or wait for the deluxe audio strap that it's around 150 bucks or so so the price of the big screen Beyond is 1,370 it's very expensive of course and there is not even the base stations that you need and the controllers included that are additional minimum 500 bucks so we will be at around € 1,900 or so very expensive but who should buy it of course people that want to experience the future yeah it's by far the lightest and smallest headset on the market right now and uh really really very interesting and you can play all steam VR games with that yeah with a good Lighthouse tracking with the base stations and the index controllers so yeah that's the big screen Beyond hey do you still see me look at all those headsets they look all the same but they are the pimix headsets and they are one of my favorites um so there are a lot of headsets over the last years but the most important now on the market is the pimix crystal this one and the pimix 8kx yeah so the crystal has the best display one of the best displays on the market with a pretty good field of view and the pimix 8kx has a little it's still one a good display it's not so good than the Crystal but the akx has a really huge field of view one of the biggest on the market so what's the advantage so as I said the advantage of the pyx headsets definitely the display the the crystal it's just really amazing it's a really good display uh the PX headsets are also very modular so you can uh for example for the crystal uh you can use the crystal out of the package with the included controllers yeah but you can also switch to Lighthouse module and then use the base stations and the index controllers yeah that that works um yeah very modular there's also a eye tracking module hand tracking module uh and all that stuff later there will all even be a wireless module yeah for the headsets really nice the disadvantage is pimix is a little I call it the chaos company so you always feel like you are a a little bit of a beta tester because sometimes the stuff doesn't work the software has errors the headset doesn't switch on then you have to reboot and install again so yeah it's for people that really want to uh yeah want to try the newest stuff but they you have to make sure that you are something like a beter tester yeah and of course you need a high NPC for those headset because they have a very high resolution yeah so guys if you want to have one of the best headsets but you you are okay with some additional settings and a little bit try and eror stuff then the pimix headsets are really good when they work when you have managed to get everything working then they are really really good the crystal is one of my favorite headsets the price for the pimix crystal this one here is 1,900 and you can use it out of the box with the controllers or as a said you can buy for 500 bucks then you are 2,400 bucks then you have the complete package incl including Lighthouse tracking the PX 8kx with a huge display is around € 1,470 but there you will definitely need the additional uh controllers um the index controllers or the uh base station yeah you will definitely need it need it so the 8kx including the the package is around 2,000 bucks but I really love them as I said PX headsets really good and some headsets that I uh only had as a um laner unit I had to send them back for example the extal 3 from the VR Jers this is one of the headset it has the highest resolution ever it has extreme high resolution and mixed reality um and you can see every detail you can it's just for fly simulators perfect yeah the weight but the weight is Extreme heavy but it's uh sometimes you have to include it in a helmet yeah for fighter pilots and so on and uh yeah it's very heavy and the price is Extreme as well so who should use that of course it's sold to the military to do some military training also for pilot training or for people that just have a lot of money and want to have their perfect flight simulator because the price is 9,200 us plus tax so you around like 10,000 bucks yeah but it's really the resolution is Extreme H you need a very powerful PC for that as as well but it's uh yeah it's good but most people cannot afford that of course then the next one that I had to send back is the voo Arrow there are other headsets by value for example the VR3 or xr3 but they are for business it's not so easy to order them but the value Arrow can just be ordered by normal customers and the headset has the advantage this it's a very good high-end headset yeah the price is was even reduced recently so that's even better now it's a very good display so for simulation fans and racing simulator fans a really nice thing thing um the disadvantage at least for me is that it has a really small field of view that I definitely noticed that it's too small and um that's that's a for me it's a huge problem that's why I would definitely prefer the pimix crystal even though it's more expensive because the voo arrow is only 1,200 bucks Euro for now and that's really okay of course you need the base stations and the controllers 500 bucks additional um if you want to play everything if you only want to play simulations then you you only need the base stations you don't need the controllers then but yeah if you want to go for it and if you don't care about the field of view that's a really good display really good headset the voo arrow and a headset that will be released in 2023 is the somnium VR1 that sounds very interesting because we have an very high resolution with an LC display with local dimming that means we have the advantage of an LC display um but the local dimming means that you can um reduce the background light of of different areas to have better black levels and so on that's really nice and the somnum VR1 will have a very huge field of view even bigger than the index yeah and it will have mixed lity ey tracking hand tracking and even later a wireless module so that's that sounds really good it could be a very good PC headset it will be pcvr only there's no Standalone mode or something we also have no idea about the price yet but somnium says um it will be not Ultra expensive so yeah perhaps like 800 to 1,200 or something like that I don't know so make sure to check out the description because there I will put the review as soon as I have it so check it out uh it will be a very interesting headset the somnum VR1 okay guys let's talk about Standalone headsets this is very trendy everybody uh is uh interested about Standalone headsets and there's a lot of stuff that you can have the quest one Quest two Quest three Quest Pro quest uh whatever no then we have the Pico ne3 link the Pico 4 the Oculus go the Nova Mirage solo by Focus by flow pimix portal and later the Apple Vision Pro as well and yeah I I want to show you four of them um the first one is the Oculus go but uh this is not supported anymore it's very old it only has this laser pointer tracker uh there's no 6 Dees of Freedom tracking so I think you should not buy that anymore just like for the first category only for watching movies so let's put that a little bit to the side yeah so these are the headsets we should talk about this is the P4 this is the quest two and this is the quest three quest one I I would not buy anymore not not support it when we talk about stand alone that means we don't need a PC we don't need a console it's very mobile it's wireless of course it's pretty uh cheap compared to other um pcvr headsets the setup is very very easy for all of them um with just connect with your smartphone uh account and then print a room scale area and then it works and you can also optionally use pcbr with all of the three headsets that's really awesome and some of them even have good mixity like The Meta Quest 3 yeah so a disadvantage of this headset I I I don't think there's so many disadvantages the only thing I would say um when you don't use pcvr when you use the stand alone mode everything is being processed inside the headsets yeah that means you don't have the power of a PC of course because there's only a Snapdragon uh processor included and that means some games will not look as good as uh some high quality pcvr games yeah but however in this case the quest 3 has the newest Snapdragon xr2 Gen 2 processor this is faster than the other two another disadvantages could be that uh you cannot use so many accessories like for example when you have Lighthouse PC you have the base stations and then you can use like tracked weapons or a tracker on your feet that doesn't work with the other headsets later the quest 3 will have full body tracking with the cameras at least they will try that so perhaps this is something interesting so for beginners I would say by the quest to because it's pretty cheap you can get it for 300 bucks yeah you and you can play all Standalone games and all PC VR games with that and that's cool you can connect all of them Wireless to PC or via a cable yeah so this is good for beginners resolution is not so high like the other two but it's a good headset and I I I still love it so uh if you want to spend a little bit more you will go for the Pico 4 this is around 400 yeah and uh this has a higher resolution and better lenses and uh yeah it's it's more comfortable because it's lighter and uh yeah it has a good uh all around package here definitely it's 400 bucks but if you want to have uh the newest one that's the meta Quest 3 here so this is uh like uh $500 US and then you have the fastest processor a pretty good resolution and also nice lens senses and uh yeah what I really love that you have these sensors here at the front and that means you can do very good mixity content as well because it has a depth sensor and that's really nice yeah so um compare the p 4 can also do mix vality but the quest 3 can do it much better so if you want to be prepared for the future for example I would go for the quest 3 however it's more expensive than the other twos you have to keep that in mind um but if if you only want to do pcvr nothing else then the P4 is also good yeah but with a quest three you can also do that for the quest three I would advise that you buy the elite audio strap this is uh for the quest two the elite audio strap this is also available for the meta Quest 3 I would prefer that over the standard strap yeah that's it so yeah for the p 4 you get these controllers yeah for the um meta Quest 2 you get these controllers and for the meta Quest 3 you get these controllers yeah so for in my opinion they are most comfortable at least for me meta Quest 3 controllers and yeah so guys all of them are really good and for beginners it's perfect but also for people that want to uh play pcvr games and even simulators I would prefer than the um meta Quest 3 and the p 4 this is a little bit better to be honest um for for uh simulations looks really good and yeah so that was um the category Standalone headsets okay let's come to uh my favorite headsets these four guys so first the pck of four I really love the Standalone headset it's really nice and uh you can definitely play all the games with that stand alone um pretty good display you can also play pcvr pretty good with this headset it's comfortable uh really nice and not so expensive then of course the quest 3 I also love this is the newest one it's has a nice processor good lenses and all that stuff and I also love the the controllers they are for me at least very comfortable and of course the new mixed reality yeah really nice but I also love the big screen Beyond spcv headset look at this is so small and this is the future I would say you don't even feel it when you have it on your head awesome and also nice display a good tracking and so on and the pimix Crystal my uh one of my favorite pcvr headsets it has very good display and lenses huge field of view and uh yeah it's it's a nice headset I I love to play uh high-end games with this like simulators or so on I can definitely recommend it so these are my four favorite headsets if you have any questions about any of the headsets write in the comments below and make sure to watch the full review of every headset I will put the full review in the description of every headset as long as it's already on the market of course and uh yeah that's there you can check out everything Al also you can buy all of the headsets with the links in the description below sometimes there's even a coupon code for example for the PX Crystal and yeah as I said if you have any questions write it in the comments below I hope you like the video if yes give me a thumbs up subscribe and see you next time in virtual reality see you [Music] [Music] Vo

Channel: VoodooDE VR - english version -

Views: 154,029

Keywords: vr buying guide spring 2024, vr buying guide 2024, virtual reality buying guide, vr comparison, virtual reality comparison, vr buyers guide, virtual reality buyers guide, virtual reality, vr, best vr headset, vr headset 2024, best vr headset 2024, vr buying guide late 2024, VR Buying Guide winter 2024, VR Buying Guide autumn 2024, VR buyers guide 2024, VR comparison 2024, vr buyers guide holiday 2024, meta quest 3 comparison, meta quest 3, meta quest 3 review

Id: OjblHWpBJsg

Length: 38min 56sec (2336 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 06 2023