In order to do this comparison video, I had to revisit my 8KX. To my surprise, I've actually forgotten how great it is, that wide FOV is spectacular!

I’m upgrading. Hopefully my crystal will arrive soon. Thanks Steve for all your work and for being a voice for the community. Hopefully Pimax takes your advice and continues to improve. Cheers 👍😀

I got mine at the end of June, coming from the HP Reverb G2, this is the headset I was waiting for. Had some issues with FPS but now running smooth after following PIMAX setup guide. Very happy with this headset, and dang does Elite Dangerous look amazing.

I'm still blown away by the resolution every time I put my 8KX on - as I see it the limiting factor to more emersion is detail in the scenery - better photogrammetry and more detail in the generated stuff. I'm not saying it's currently bad, clearly it's amazing to what it was just a few years ago, but until this gets better for me I can't see much point in more pixel resolution - but there again I've never tried the Crystal!!

This brought back a few memories. I did my first solo at Liverpool airport 40 years ago. Thanks for the review, I have the 8KX and a monster PC, but I always want better.

Great video, Steve! Thanks a lot for your dedication and incredible enthusiasm 🙂 Love from Norway ♥♥♥♥♥

Steve the battery problem has a work around now. Plug a USB C cable into the right side of the headset then plug that into a USB charger. That's it you never have to take the battery out of that headset again it will stay fully charged. Thanks Voodoode!

Its funny how many people complain that Crystal has too narrow FOV and its not stream tracked and has battery. Basically they are saying its not 8KX, but at the same time they want magically increase the 8KX:s PPD to the same as what Crystal has.

I upgraded from 8KX, I miss the FOV, but the clarity is incredible, I can actually see my altimeter and adjust the baro setting in the DCS F-18! I think it was worth it and battery life with the included power hub thing is a non-issue. I also got the glass lenses with mine. Overall, not even close to perfect!!!, but probably the best VR experience for flight simmers going right now. If $1500 is in your budget, and you got the system to run it, I would say worth the upgrade.

Super Steve you nailed it again. I agree with everything as a Crystal, 8KX and G2 owner. Great job as always.

Thanks for the video. I don't have any PIMAX products, but if I did have this decision between these 2, I would definitely go for the PIMAX Crystal because of its newer features and operations. I do prefer the inside out tracking for doing SIM racing or flight games - always sitting for these games. We only need the base stations if playing action games where the hand controllers are swinging wildly around and behind our heads and body all the time. Note: But, that is quite an expensive upgrade if you have both of these VR headsets in your possession. I think the PIMAX 8KX was also an expensive VR headset. Anyway, thanks for the video. Take care

Great Video Steve. I will say that I really do love my 8K X but visual clarity has always been number 1 in my book. In fact I owned the G2 and never had any issues at all with the sweet spot and to this day after months of selling my G2 I still think about the visuals accept I couldn't live another day with the discomfort and WMR software.. Once I got the 8K X and almost getting it visually as good as the G2 the G2 was out. I have already got my address confirmed, an email mentioning that I might have to pay GST and duty once my Crystal reaches the Canadian border and another email mentioning the next email will be the tracking number I am so excited for Pimax next headset in my arsenal. I will also probably never use my 8K X again once I get the Crystal up and running but that might be a good thing cause I can probably sell it and put it towards the Crystal owing fund to my G/F who was so nice to lend me every cent of the crystal's purchase. Man I am so excited for this headset! On another note Steve I also own a DOF Reality motion rig H3 and was wondering what profile you have set up in Sim Racing Studio and if not someone else's profile can you list yours so I can give it a go in MSFS. Thx.

another great video. Watched it on my Pimax Crystal, using virtual desktop!

Excellent video and thanks for the info and your thoughts . Love the tail number lol

I agreed and I think that the 8KX cross-eyed and IPD problem are the biggest issue in the headset. And this is the SINGLE BIGGEST reason I am looking forward to upgrading to 12K. The Crystal 102 degree FOV is actually not close to the Pimax 8KX small FOV. The Pimax 8KX small FOV is 120 degree. But the Crystal NEW wide FOV is close to the Pimax 8KX's small FOV w/ about 117 degree FOV. Still, it not compare to the 8KX normal FOV which is 130 degree. It makes a huge difference when you're driving and you can use that as your peripheral vision for a sense of speed. I know, because I play racing game all the time. I play around with the 8KX in small FOV for awhile in driving game and did not like it...at first I thought...it's not bad since it help save resources...but when I switch back to normal FOV of 130 degree, I feel much better because of the sense of speed and because I don't get this tunnel vision. I think with the 12K, we're getting the aspherical lenses in the middle and the Fresnel lenses on the side. I think they're trying to make it work so as not to create distortion like it happened in 8KX. And also how to make both lenses work with the DFR. So, I think with the 12K ....you're getting the Crystal lenses in the middle with the big sweet spot and the then the side will just be Fresnel lenses and might not be as important as far as clarity since it is not the focus of the eyes a majority of the time.

Really informative, considering an upgrade to my G2 so helps with making the right choice.. also love the word "Faffage" 😂

THX. I am not sure, if I should replace my 8kx vs the Crystal. FOV is the problem. And the upcoming 12k? Will have the FOV, but the neccessary system for this will yet to have been invented. So... your advice is helpful.

I ordered the crystal beginning of May and thanks to your videos I committed to it and it arrives this friday. As much as I love the Pico 4 I'm going to be glued to the crystal with vr-rock lenses🕶 this weekend.

Great video, as a former 8KX owner, I can sign everything you say!

Well I just made a late night binge purchase of a Crystal and a Yaw2 setup. I blame you.

Hi there, Steve. I just got a mail from Pimax today, confirming that my Crystal is ready to be shipped. And with Fedex' unparalleled speed I'm very hopeful that I will get it yesterday. Take care!

One day, I'll join you in this VR clarity Steve ;)

Thanks for your review and thoughts Steve and future Steve, much appreciated. Am still swaying towards Aero for G2 upgrade at this point :)

The more videos I watch on your channel the more I appreciate your spot-on title for the channel :D of course besides your great reviews... I really appreciate taking the time to help the VR enthusiasts in the flight sim community to facilitate their decision making process which can be quite hectic 😅 The point that you've made regarding the HMD running on battery even when plugged into a PC is probably one of the main downsides. Another reviewer mentioned that you might be able to use the USB-C port on the front of the headset to charge the batteries on the go, have you tried that? All in all, if Valve disappoints, Pimax might be the winner here vs. Beyond & Aero

Once we all have the Pimax Crystal someone must ship a balancing kit like battery weight but with power supply hook up so you can fly non stop without any battery. A big business opportunity if you ask me that Pimax could bring. They should (hope they read this) :-) Great video as always.

Clarity means nothing compared to field of view when flying, your choice is a scuba mask that is crystal clear or a lower res image with 143 degrees FOV where you feel the earth fall away when you fly over the grand canyon, As a real world pilot, field of view matters way more than clarity.

I wanted to wait for 12K and stick with my 8KX, but your video has got me thinking ... ... ...

thank you for the comparison, were you planning to do this video already ? Because it seems tailor-made response to the question I posed in your other video. Either way thank you very much because this impacts me directly as well as my brother both of us are considering upgrading to the 12 K but are now looking at the crystal. I'm actually one of those rare individuals who prefers the VR FOV of the 8KX. My flying is 90% precision formation flying and in that regime turning your head can be fatal. Your eyes are generally locked on spot of the aircraft in front of you in the formation so peripheral vision becomes extremely important in order to maintain formations. When I do opposing solo work field-of-view also plays a big part in spotting the other aircraft in the formation for join ups and crossing maneuvers. Now also as an aircraft developer again field-of-view is important to me . In closing let me also ask how does it compare with X plane 12 ? I noticed that you have not used that simulator in your reviews. that's a big part of the work I do in my simulator interaction and aircraft development. That and DCS.

After watching this, I think I'm gonna wait for the 12k.

Great video Steve, don't think the FOV will be an issue for me coming from a Quest 2

Since using the USB-hup provided by Pimax, I have no noticeable battery drain any more.

PLEASE can you try the following, and then re-visit your opinion: set FOV to Normal, and Pimax Render Quality to 1.25. The FOV is still much larger than Crystal, and the quality should improve very noticeably. What do you think?

Interesting you mention the double vision some people experience with the 8kx. I couldn't get a good setting with the 8kx and felt like the ipd was not correct. Is this definitely not an issue in the Crystal?

I have the 8KX and I really love wide FOV but lately I've been playing a lot with the Quest Pro and I really love the clarity. How is the FOV of the Crystal compared to the Quest Pro?

Thanks for making this video. I have an 8kx, I mainly play sims and I am very happy with it. Here is my question: I think both headsets are similar in total pixel count when comparing the large FoV of the 8kx with the Crystal native resolution. I have a rtx 3090 an cannot run il2 sturmovik on high setting at constant 75 FPS. However, when I use the normal FoV it looks quite Smooth. So when using the Crystal in the same scenario I would imagine I would have to put the resolution down to 50% and the graphics to normal or lower to get smooth 75 or 90 FPS....is that a correct assumption? The question for me is- is the upgrade worth it? At the moment my conclusion is- no, not without flawless DFR implemented at the driver level allowing full native Crystal resolution at smooth 90 fps at least.

Human FOV is between 135 to 170 degress

Crystal is like switching back to reality where a large FOV can't have great clarity with current tech we have, lenses + GPU performance + Foveated rendering tech are not to the level for something like 12K to come out yet....

But why couldn't they make the same FOV with the Crystal along with the picture quality improvement? So, I'm disappointed, as I was expecting Pimax, -as the worldwide winner in this field IMO-, they should have been able to make such a headset. But I suppose that's gonna be the 12k QLED, right?

I was wondering what the performance between two is like? Like how is the performance in DCS, one against the other.

Have you tried swapping the batteries in DCS... a game that won't let you come out of VR without shutting it down

You should get a Quest Pro as I'm curious of your opinion of it as compared to PIMAX.

Its a shame...the crystal is out of reach for most pricewise otherwise i'd jump out of my G2 in a heartbeat. Thx for the vid mate, send the 8KX my way

Wouldn’t a hot swappable battery imply that you wouldn’t have to turn the headset off, lose your place in game to swap out batteries? Seems to me if this is the case then the batteries are not hot swappable.

The 8KX and the Crystal have the exact same number of pixels per eye (8,294,400) so how does the performance comparison hold up? How can the 8KX possibly cause any performance loss over the Crystal just based on resolution? There has to be a different explanation.

Paid for my Crystal this week. Now ordering a new PC for when my Pimax gets here. Looking at a Corsair Vengeance 8100 prebuilt. I must decide between the Intel 13900K or AMD 7950X3D. Anyone have feedback on this AMD chip paired with the Crystal in MSFS? The 7800X3D is not an available option with the Corsair prebuilt.

The visuals on the crystal are phenomenal no doubt. The tracking however is absolutely abysmal, be warned if your buying this for anything other than sims you will be in for a massive disappointment. The tracking may improve with time but as of now be warned!

Just curios about the horizon, is it really tilted or is that an effect of recording?

Let's goooooo

I'm curious why you never use the TDS GTNXi when you fly their compatible aircraft such as the 310R. You do own it right?

Hello Steve. If I'm not mistaken, I know you received your Crystal for free from Pimax but you might be able to help me still please. I want to bite the bullet on this expensive headset but what's holding me back is at the checkout page, Pimax is applying a 20% VAT charge. But from my own experience of buying/importing things from outside the UK that have VAT owed to the government, I pay it via the courier (who sends me an email invoice to complete the 20% tax) before final delivery (or else it doesn't get delivered). I'm worried that I'm going to end up paying twice for VAT. Does this seem right? I'm in a bit of a rush to get this sorted so I don't miss out on the DMAS offer. Many thanks in advance!

8kx resolution and color sucks, period. Looking forward to the apple vision pro, even if there is no gaming with it.

Shocker! The newest Pimax headset is better than the one that is a few years old now. 😉