I have had my Crystal now a couple of weeks now Steve, super impressed, your reviews have been a great help, no problems what so ever, I feel very spoiled as this is my first VR headset but going from a 24inch 1080 screen to this in DCS it really is another world, ive been having a blast :)

Hi Steve, thanks for this much appreciated. I've loved my Reverb G1& G2 in XP11 & 12. HP supplied the G2 after the G1 failed & now the G2 has 'lens blackout' - so it's time for a new headset. Your comments are helpful - I value reliability. Cheers BB.

I love the Reverb G2. Been thinking about upgrading to the Pimax Crystal, but from what I've seen I'll wait for them to iron out their QC and software issues.

So happy to be an owner of an aero. It is really fantastic to fly with.

Good one as always. Thank you very much. Have a great weekend and take care.

Thanks Steve ,I’ll be placing an order for the Aero . I’ve had a g1 up till now and looking forward to the change . Regards Dave from Scotland

Fantastic list! Thanks for sharing this video. I have used my Aero near daily since buying it $400 off on Black Friday for 4-6 hours at a time, and I have had an absolutely near flawless experience with the HMD. Even with how much I like my Aero, and that it is nearly perfect for my wants and needs, I am very interested in the Crystal and Beyond. Being the enthusiast that I am for all things VR, I want to experience games with all the headsets have to offer. I keep asking folks to convince me to buy the Crystal but so far, every one I know who has one has told me they have gone back to using the Aero or Quest Pro. Even hearing that I still want to use the Crystal or Beyond. But this video is what I needed to hear. I am 100% satisfied with the Aero and don't need to spend that money for a HMD that I know will not be as reliable, and nearly flawless as the Aero has been for my needs/wants. Just to mention I am a variety VR user. I don't only play sims, in fact I load up sims less than any other genre. I have nearly 200 VR games that I've purchased and the Aero has been fantastic with all except a couple issues with OpenXR games. Vail VR for instance is not playable for the Aero as it has a screen shake but the developers know about this. That is my only concern with going forward with the Aero and why I may end up buying the Beyond. OpenXR.... Enough of my rambling, thanks for the video and you all enjoy your weekend!

Some serious food for thought and a nice break down of the pros and cons for all of them. At the end of the day we should really go for the best we can afford - preferably out of the that top 5. 👌

I was literally thinking in the last 24 hours I wonder where you stand on this, thanks for reading my mind and for helping the community with your thoughts once again ❤

I agree that the build quality of the Crystal isn't like the G2 or Aero but that being said my 5k plus was the same and is now 5 years old and no issues. I love my Crystal

Very intesting video for someone like me that will by soon a VR Headset and is unsure about which one and how much is a reasonable price to pay, Question; Why Vive is not on the list? Woult it be nr. 6, 7, 8?....

I snagged a new Reverb G2 V2 for

I'm still very happy with my Aero, hopefully Varjo will develope something even better in the future.

Steven, do you experience the wobbling/stutters with the Reverb G2 when using Windows 11 in MSFS? Or are you on Windows 10? I was wondering if the stutter/shaking/wobbling that the G2 on Windows 11 had, is still present... and if, what you do against it... Thanks a lot

Thanks for your vid .Can i ask what base stations do you use .The ones that are on the aero web site are all sold out .Would the steam base stations be compatible thanks.

What I dislike about the Aero are the barrel distortion and chromatic aberration. Plus no integrated sound solution are just too much compromises for the big price.

I still have the Oculus Rift S. The price for the Varjo Aero is okay. However what controllers are recommended? Can I use the Rift S Controller? What is the pint selling a Vr headset without controllers? Thanks for the review anyway!

Thank you for the very informative list. And the scenery is beautiful! I'd very much like to know what location of Scotland it is.

Another good video Steve 👍 I’m not sure I agree about the Reverb G2 being the best value headset tho. I’ve enjoyed my G2 for the last 2-3 years, but it started failing & it pretty much dead now. Possibly down to the cable but I won’t be spending £115 for a new cable. Many others have had similar problems and a replacement cable hasn’t always fixed it. I’ve got a Pimax Crystal on order.. but while I’m waiting I also ordered the Pico 4 - I personally think the Pico 4 is the best value now (might change when I get the Crystal 😀) I’m getting a superb picture with the Pico & good performance too. It’s much cheaper than the G2 (maybe not quite as comfortable) and of course you can use it anywhere, unlike the G2 Can’t wait to try the Crystal now 😀 Cheers Steve

My HP Reverb G2 was the easiest to setup and works on boot-up every single time for years. The 8kx was hit or miss for me due to the firmware and buggy client software. I think they had too many iterations of hardware for the 8kx for it to be compatible with each firmware update so its hit or miss with every update. I'd tried the Varjo Aero for about a week and returned it due to an eye calibration issue and the screen blanking out. I heard it was a known issue with a batch of their cables. They should've included an integrated audio solution with it too. My new Crystal is pretty much plug and play using Pimax XR with my flight sims and performs very well. I don't like the location of the buttons on the headset, but can live with that. Battery is not really an issue since I don't spend more than a few hours at a time on it. Best comfort still goes to my first headset the Reverb.

Just a heads up, Varjo is running a 25% discount to the end of August on the Aero. Just ordered mine at $1555 out the door. If you already have the basestations, steam controllers, and gaming headphones w/mic I'd say its priced farely competitively against the Crystal when you consider the pros and cons of the two. For those who prioritize build quality, software, and customer support over bleeding edge specs now is probably a decent time to snag one. I suspect black friday will have a decent deal too though so dont go drop $1.5K on an impulse cause some rando on the web gave you a bit of info haha! Just wanted to throw it out there for those who are trying to decide between the two and $1990 feels like the deal breaker on the Aero

Hello, thank you very much for your videos. I don't speak English very well, but I would like to ask you a question, of the five headsets that you have analyzed, which one do you think is the best to see the cockpit and the instruments more clearly, the one that is closest to the 2D view of the screen?, right now I have a Reverb G2 and I would like to know if it is worth the change. Thank you very much and greetings. Traducido por Google

Reverb g2 is a great all rounder,served me well for a long time 100's of hours over various games,still using it to this day but the Varjo Aero for simming is unbelievable,its just a quality product 👍

G2 or Odyssey+ ? mostly need it for simracing and eventually flight sims too.

Interesting to hear your headset " rankings" 😊 Still waiting for my pimax to arrive ...upgraded to a 4090 too 😁 ,although sim keeps crashing with dx12 and frame gen on 😭🤔 Thanks for video and Ben Nevis 😂

I am totally with you. The Varjo Aero is still the number one. Best European quality, best support, amazing product. I simple love it. Thx, because of you (!) -lets be honest- and the community, the Varjo company maked the step in the consumer market. 😉👍

am new to vr and msfs and use a Quest2 for dayflying and a Quest for nightflying ..i bought the Quest2 thinking it would be alround better but apart from its more clearer on the instrument panels the Quest2 has this unbearable grey shade fog type thing in nightflight cockpit views. you cant even see the stars or make out any black shading or land outside it really takes the immersion away.. think il try a quest pro next

I purchased a new meta quest pro for 350$USD is that a good deal? How much better is Varjo than the pro?

I owned the Reverb G2 and I'm happy, do you recommend the upgrade to the Pimax or Varjo?

My Reverb G1 headstrap just broke. HP does not provide a replacement headstrap. They also seem to be fully out of G2 s so I am thinking towards a second hand G2. I tested the Quest 3, not super impressed. Compared to the DP level quality the USB C cable solution creates artefacts. Crystal is far out of my budget. Any thoughts?

Steve now with the Varjo Aero price drop would you now put it above the G2 as your value pick? Yes the Varjo Aero is still considerably more than the G2 but for what you are now getting with the Aero at half price does your opinion change?

Based on this review i bought the Reverb G2. The limited FOV makes it a very poor headset compared to the Valve Index imo. I'm reselling the G2 and keeping my Valve Index

I have G2 2 years. Very good, best value for money. Before 2 weeks I got Cristal. High visual jump. Instalation and configuration are simple. No problem. Production quality OK. Crystal has better tehnology of screen (QLED is better than LED), much better audio, bigger vertical FOV, when you include controlers, base statios Aero is 40% expensive. I'm shure it is very good, but no so better (if is) to be 40% expensive. Some say confidence cost.

Interesting, I really thought you would go for the Crystal for number 1. I like the fact you didn't which gives kudos to the honesty of your channel. I don't own either, but the biggest issue for the Crystal for me is the risk of what happens if I have issues and need to return it? God knows how long that process would take (having to return to the U.S. being in the U.K). Varjo seem to be a bit more reliable in that respect from what I have heard.

Surprised Big Screen made your top 5 list without Eye tracking, OpenXR, and the need to purchase separately the base stations and controllers. I have the Pico 4 now and may just wait to see the new Valve Deckard.

Sticking with the HP Reverb G2 for now. You did not mention anything about comfort, active cooling, etc.

Do you think the quest 3 will be better than reverb g2 .. i think so :)

I just picked up a g2 on sale in a local small computer shop. $299.99 I was in the market for one and it wasn’t what I wanted I wanted the best but that was a deal I could not pass.

Quite a few people are raving about the quest pro being better than even the aero, not for having the highest resolution, but on pretty much every other point. Have you had a chanse to try it out? Only reason I am skeptical is compression, but if the pico 4 is good, then the quest pro should be amazing.

Pimax Crystal has been a mess for me in DCS, very bulky and buggy. I finally removed it completely and switched back to the Reverb G2, $2000 (with prescription lenses) down the drain

I think this all depends on your IPD and headsize. I'm at the large end, with an IPD of 75mm. Reverb G2, I have one, got it on discount, but I hate it, I've given it to one of my adult daughters to use. The face plate is very narrow and uncomfortable. Its max IPD is too small. It is made for people with small heads. Bigscreen Beyond may be good when it comes out, but it only goes to 72mm IPD and I need 75mm, so even though I would consider getting one, I won't be. I have the Pimax 8KX, it is okay, resolution is not quite as good as the G2 or the Vive Pro 2, but almost. I think with Pimax, you have to wait a good year for them to sort out the bugs. I would wait before considering the Crystal, they haven't released all of the features yet, at a minimum we need the light house tracking they have said is coming. Varjo Aero indicates it supports an IPD range 57 to 73mm, unfortunately I'm 75mm, so I would need to go for the VR-2 Pro or the XR-1 Developer headset, which don't seem to be available. I'm a bit dissappointed with the VR headset manufacturers, I started with a Vive and then a Vive Pro, both of these went to 75mm IPD, and it seems all new headsets don't cater for people with large IPD's. I am impressed with the Playstation VR2, it caters for IPD range of 57mm to 75mm, and the features eye tracking and foveated rendering, and is fantastic value for money. If this was a PC VR headset, everyone would be raving about it.

I am not in the market for a headset yet. Will this technology plateau at on point? Or is it considered to improve every year. That is the VR headsets. The computers and software well we know that pathway.

have you done full motion sim with vr?

I wonder what is the lifetime of the Limax Crystal with stardard use? 🧐 will it survive 10 years?

IMO the Pimax Crystal is not a significant upgrade over the Varjo Aero. Here's why (this is a repost of my comment on Get Your Game On's first impressions video but thought it would be useful for people struggling to make a purchasing decision)... - I returned the Varjo Aero 6 (yes six) times before getting one that didn't have either dead pixels or mura issues. While that was incredibly frustrating - Varjo did not complain one bit. They cross-shipped every single one (so I was never without a headset) and I never had to pay a dime for shipping. Now that I'm embarking upon my Pimax Crystal RMA, they're already warning me I have to pay shipping, restocking fee, and the cost of any "unusable items" will be deducted from my refund. I think this speaks volumes about the two companies. - The Pimax Crystal is the most uncomfortable headset I have ever worn - by far. Granted I have never tried any of Pimax' previous headsets but it was literally painful after about 30 minutes. - I think reviewers who are reporting the Crystal's sharpness as being superior to the Aero's need to try the Aero with the red/blue shift beta fix Varjo released in July. My Aero is absolutely sharper than what I was getting with the Pimax Crystal - though admittedly I'm using prescription inserts with the Aero while I was using glasses with the Crystal. - It's very rare that I find myself disappointed with the Aero's field of view (usually only when trying to view the captian's radio panels on the 737). For me the additional vertical FOV provided by the Crystal was blurry with chromatic aberration so I ended up tilting my head up/down for a clearer view anyway. - I'm never disappointed with the Aero's colors - never. They just seem natural/realistic/life-like rather than being over-saturated. - In my experience the Pimax Crystal's "Extreme" setting for local dimming resulted in bright areas being dimmed along with the dark areas which makes it only useful for evening and night time scenes. I can already achieve that by lowering the backlight brightness on the Aero. Don't get me wrong - the Crystal's local dimming does indeed deliver much better black levels. But with my unit and the current software it did sacrifice brightness of light areas at the same time - perhaps this will be improved with future updates. - I prefer Varjo Base to the Pimax' software. The killer feature - being able to easily use the Windows desktop with the press of a headset button. I found myself missing that feature immediately when playing MSFS on the Crystal.

Thanks for the video, i have a silly question, i have presbyopia due to my age, for reading i need 1.00 , wierd thing is with VR i no need any glasses, is that normal? thanks

I’m still not persuaded anything tops the Valve Index to be honest. Crank up the SS and enjoy. Can’t wait for the next headset from Valve

Pico 4 is cheaper than the Reverb G2 right? But Reverb is still better value? even though you rank the Pico higher?

Honestly, a 3080ti isn't good enough to run the Pico 4 (used with a 5800X3D + 64GB Ram here). You need a faster GPU to run it decently because you need to get FPS up to the chosen refresh rate of the headset simply because spacewarp doesn't work near as good on the Pico then it does on a Rift-S for example.

My pico 4 is so blurry tho O hate it

Crystal weight (w/ battery): Imagine 2 water bottles on your head lol. They somehow manage to make it heavier than 8KX lol.

@VRFlightSimGuy have you ever attempted to return a product to Pimax? I have sent them several emails requesting an RMA and information on how to return the Crystal. Last contact was last week and now the company has gone radio silent. I hope they're not planning on playing mum until my 14 day return window has lapsed.

Thanks a lot, Steve. Great video. But no surprises in it for me. I know you too well by now for that. Have a great weekend, m8.

And yet I believe I'm upgrading from my Varjo Aero to a BSB :)

got a prob with the g2 am geting a blue screen any info on what it is

Where is my XTAL 8K? 😊

Surprising to hear you placed Aero over the Crystal, given your past videos. You do give some reasons so can't fault you for your choice, but does leave me somewhat confused. Still plan on buying the Crystal over the Aero at some point because the purchase just seems to make more sense to me (paying less for more, overall). Hopefully Pimax will continue to improve their customer relations, based on videos such as this

I wish you could actually show the headsets you're talking about. One needs to spell the names and do their research. I still don't know what was number 1? Auto caption SAYS "Viral arrow"

another vote for Quest Pro (& a not long wait for Quest 3 so we can evaluate), the Pro looks great in flight sims, is multi-purpose & with large software suite available 🎉

The Crystal is my first VR headset, and while I understand some of the complaints people have about it, I do not regret my purchase whatsoever. I guess my neck muscles are beefy from swinging my massive head around - the weight of the Crystal doesn't bother me, and it fits me well. The plastic does feel a tad cheap, but not terribly so.

No Meta in da house?

XTAL from Vrgineers but price is unreal

I use the G2, it's a good VR headset despite its medium FOV, limited sweetspot, inaccurrate IPD setting, getting hotter than every other headsets, audio problems (bad electrical contact). IT IS REALLY A SHAME THAT BIGSCREEN BEYOND GOT GLARE ! IT IS REALLY A SHAME THAT AERO HAS limited vertical FOV ! IT IS REALLY A SHAME THAT CRYSTAL IS SO BULKY AND ITS SOFTWARE SO BAD ! IT IS REALLY A SHAME THAT PICO 4 HAS NO NATIVE PC LINK !

I really enjoy your videos and respect your opinions more than any other provider. However, I'm a little surprised with ranking the Aero over the Crystal. In your videos you have said that in visuals, audio, color, blacks, price and much more the Crystal is better than the Aero. You even said it was your favorite over the Aero. It seems that you have put all the pros aside because you're not sure if the crystal will last or Pimax may not have as good support. It seems to me that judgement should be made on the merits as they are now, not what they might be. I currently have a G2, 8KX, Pico 4, and Pimax Crystal. The Crystal has been flawless right out of the box. Weighting the best value is one thing but It seems the ranking should just simply be based on which is the actually best. Again, I must say that you are my go to guy for VR. I'm just surprised.

My crystal is now junk massive quality and connection issues. Basically it’s a brick.

Could of shown us the headsets and price! Good narration lazy video production.

You get what you pay for.

so, when youre showcasing 4k+ headsets, why are we watching it in 1080p still....kind of defeats the purpose