To further clarify a few points, because I think there's some misconceptions in the comments: 1. The contrast comparison (and in fact all the footage) was recorded and displayed by me, and not provided by any company. The contrast example I made to show how it felt to me subjectively in dark scenes. In hindsight, I should have showed more examples in bright scenes for more variety of image comparisons, instead of just dark scenes. To show that the Index looks spectacular most of the time. But I stand by what I said in the video: Dark scenes have a visible difference between OLED and LCD displays. 2. I did neglect to include the frame rate upgrade that the Index provides. In my original Index review I wasn't able to achieve good enough performance on my PC to experience the higher frame rates → kzfaq.info/get/bejne/aNR_f6yJxprIcnU.html, so I don't have any personal experience seeing a difference there. 3. In the end I think the Index is obviously the overall winner. At 11:36 the Index won 4 categories compared to the Pro winning 2 categories. Just because the Pro has 2 good points doesn't make it the overall winner. Thanks for watching!!

11:35 conclusion

720p my old friend we meet again..

holy shit the microphone from the index is impressive...holy...well i guess the important stuff like field of view wins the index but a OLED Screen is something you may miss if its gone.

Truly admire and appreciate your sincerity and objectivity with the review!! Wish you great success!

Great comparison in general. I believe the refresh rate comparison was missed. Constructive feedback. But great coverage in general

That's a really great review / comparaison. I love the way you just make so kind of a class, and we're all here to learn. Thanks for the review (rip for the framerates comparaison tho)

The gray filter you put on the Index footage is RIDICULOUS. But the rest of the video is pretty accurate.

I appreciate the honesty and depth of this review. I like that you told us what you received from the company’s that’s super cool. An expensive VR headset is a big purchasing decision for a ton of people so thank you 👍🏻

Was definitely expecting to see some mention of panel refresh rate, as that's a key feature for the Index. Not mentioning it seems like an unfair balance against the Vive PRO locked to 90hz

Thank you for the recap at the end. It is simple things like that that make me want to subscribe. Thanks again

overall a pretty good comparison but I've got a couple of issues with it. 1. you didn't mention the benefits of the LCD screen, having much less screen door effect at the cost of slightly worse contrast, meaning you get a sharper image, which is a good trade-off imo. 2. you also didn't mention the much, much higher refresh rate of the index, being able to go up to 120hz or an experimental 144hz mode. 3. the index has a few small hardware things to it, such as an insert for smaller heads, and that front trunk thing with a USB port which opens up a lot of modding possibilities from third parties or valve themselves, such as wireless adapters. overall pretty good comparison, just wanted to point these things out for anyone who's still deciding. really the only reason to go with the vive pro is if you can't live without the colors from an OLED screen, or if you really want that wireless adapter, although you're paying at least 100 dollars more for just the HMD and wireless adapter, paying 400 more if you want the headset with old Vive controllers and base stations, and paying 600 more if you want the 2.0 base stations and new controllers. it really isnt worth it imo, the pro is very obviously aimed at businesses which seems to be HTCs main market right now, while the index is meant for consumer VR.

Thanks Ben! You're the best VR resource on KZfaq!

Great video, Ben! My favorite part of my Valve Index is that buttery smooth 120/144hz refresh rate! It really adds to the overall immersion.

I absolutely agree with you on the contrast.. that's the only reason I still use a Vive Pro.. most people don't care but I just need the color

I think the vive pro + wireless adapter + index controllers is a great combo cause you have OLED, 90hz, a pretty high resolution, and Wireless support.

Holy damn that audio quality comparison is day and night. Thanks for the review. I was wondering if I wanted to get the Index over my Vive Pro but I think I'm fine with sticking with Vive Pro for now until something insane hits the market.

Great review, thanks! I'm sure someone will create a wireless kit for the Index soon. All you really need is a small dedicated 5Gz WiFi router, and a small WiFi card/USB+DP adapter to attach to the headset like the TPCast.

Your review helped me to take my decision, I switched from wireless og VIVE to a wireless Vive Pro, it's spectacular ! Still waiting for my knuckles to arrives tho, I think that it's going to be my dream combo :) Thank you so much

I've been waiting for a video comparing these two. This reinforces my contentment with my setup. I have a Vive Pro + Wireless Adapter + Index Controllers. The lack of wireless was the only thing that prevented me from switching to Index. Not bothered by the mild FOV reduction of refresh rate difference anyways. Good to know the Pro display is superior in some ways.

The waterproof VR covers for Vive Pro are thin and bring the lens very close to your eyes. Makes FOV appear larger too

The only VR headset I've ever owned was the PSVR. It's a lotta fun, but I missed out on so many great games. Since I made good deployment money I figured I'd treat myself to a new beast of a computer and a Valve Index. This video really helped me choose between the Vive Pro and the Index. Thanks!

Great comparison review Ben.

I really need to order the prescription lenses. I have the same problem with the nose cover and my glasses always get smudged up and bothers me if I'm playing.

great review sir think my next headset is gonna be an index think the FOV and the controllers make it worth for me personally

I started with the OG Vive and bought the Index. I returned the Index and bought the Vive Pro when it was on sale for Prime Day. I'm much happier with the Pro. No matter how I adjusted the Index I was getting a "jelly vision" effect that would not go away. I do miss the field of view on the Index but the image quality is better out of the Pro's OLEDs. The Index has a frame rate advantage but getting 120 or 144fps is just not realistic given the current state of GPUs IMHO. For audio I removed the included headset and used my own headphones with an adapter.

Ben, you honestly MUST try the Gear VR lens mod in your Pro. For me, it makes the Pro the best HMD by far (I refunded the Index). You can buy the lenses already fitted in the required plastic housing for a small price. This mod increases clarity and almost completely removes all glare and god rays!!! It's a VERY easy mod and takes a few minutes, the lenses just pop out and push back in. I also own the headphones mod you mention, they are good and add a little bass, but nothing game changing. On an audio note, for sim racers like me with a motion platform etc, the Index audio solution was a no go, I could ear the sound of all my kit.

I recommend trying to shampoo the sponge. I found this helped with the way it felt and I play for many hours at a time now.

great video this deserves more views! I came to watch because I currently have a vive and am looking at a vive pro on ebay for about 450 CDN

Also a tip you can now adjust the Index brightness helps Skyrim some.

jesus christ the index's mic is amazing

I think the 2.0 lighthouses have other benefits like sub milimeter tracking, better at dealing with occlusion, and better at tracking well when you're in "blind sports" where you're 45 degrees to one station. When you say "display," what about pixel response time, subpixel arrangement, frame rate, and so on? I love my Vive's contrast and might bring it our for small horror game, but I've heard that a lot of Vive Pro users are upgrading to the Index and consider the display's benefits to outweigh the darkness contrast. Have you tried the Quest, it has a similar resolution to the Pro in an OLED panel.

Straight forward no nonsense review. THANKS!

Can you say something about the resolution and the screen-door effect? The reason valve went with LCD is because the screen-door effect is alot less visible with LCD, which makes the image just look sharper in general. Ignoring the better contrast with vives OLED display, what can you say about the image quality and sharpness between the two?

The best honest review even it sponsored !

I "scratched/blurred" my original Vive with my glasses (which probably have a harder glass) by having them too close to get a better FOV. So be careful and make sure your glasses do not touch the Fresnel lenses.

I just bought a Vive Pro but what I really wanted was the Index - I had no choice as Valve does not sell the Index in the Asia region (or outside USA at the moment). But it was not the Index's FOV, 144HZ refresh rate or audio which attracted me, it was the fact that it is made by the same people who owns and runs Steam (SteamVR) + their superior controllers. But I found out that the Index controllers are fully compatible with the Vive Pro so that's a consolation. I bought the Vive Pro mainly because of its AMOLED displays. I also realized that a 120/144hz refresh rate doesn't mean a thing if your computer can't run games at that framerate, so I would prefer to max out the details and boost the framerate rather than the other way round. I would still say that the Index is the superior controller irregardless.

I use the Vive pro with Gear Vr lens mod, wireless adapter, with index controllers. To me it's currently the best overall VR experience. If the index gets a wireless solution then I might consider switching but not now. (This coming from an enthusiast where money is not an issue).

Sorry, I have a Vive Pro and can't say from you video if I should invest in an Index. What about the optics? is there more/less artifacts (glare when high contrast). The logo of the Index is focusing on the glass... so... how is the glass of the Index?

Understand that going from OLED to LCD means a less pronounced Screen Door effect, due to LCD having RGB sub pixels. It is a toss up and should not count against either headset.

im glad i got the Vive 1.5, right in the middle of quality and performance. Just waiting on Valve to ship it to Norway

I have a Vive Pro with wireless attachment, Samsung lens mod, and index controller. Also made a top strap support to take weight off the front of the HMD. Almost done with Half Life Alyx and holy crap I need more games like that. Although that game was meant for VR n00bies it is still great. Wish everyone had my setup. Still need to try the Index but no wifi, I can't do cords anymore.

I didn't bother watching, but I highly appreciate the disclaimer that you were sponsored by vive pro for this. It means heaps!

The VivePRO paired with wireless & the index controllers is an amazing experience I must say, once you go wireless there’s no going back to the “ball & chain”I see no need to upgrade for years to come in my opinion... at least until someone builds a HMD with wireless built in, which HTC missed the ball totally on that one with the Cosmos, that option would have set the bar and made all other HMD’s pointless to buy.

Im thinking of getting one of these, what computer specs would you recommend as im going to get the pc first.

Hello All, I am going to buy a VR Kit or what is the name for all of the things you need to make it work ( thought not sure right now ) about the wireless option. Anyway I need help, I am Very Computer Savvy so that not the problem. Just unsure with VR to go with and as far as the money end I am willing to go around $1,500. So is there a way to research this better, and just looking for others thoughts. And yes my PC is VR ready I checked that part out already. Thanks for any input you give.

If you get a thinner face pad for the Vive Pro, you can get the lenses very close to your eyes to the point where your eye lashes almost touch the lenses. From what I've heard this makes the Field of View comparable to the Index and you get a bigger sweet spot. I also tried the Index Controllers. They are great, but seem to be designed for below average sized hands and were not as comfortable as I hoped them to be. In the end I did return them, also because they had this widespread problem with the thumbstick. And last but not least: The Vive wands are adequate and work fine. So in the end the real benefit of the Index is the higher refresh rate (for as far as that really makes a difference to people) , the tiny bit larger FoV, the lower price and better audio. Drawbacks are: LCD instead of OLED and no wireless option. To me that sounds like the VIve Pro holds up pretty well!

2.0 lighthouses is not only for increased distance. The wider field of view helps with tracking the controllers, a pretty common problem on the og vive

the wireless vive pro is awesome, i played also with cable before and it was not a big deal, but wireless games like gorn are so much more fun! also you dont feel any input lags, impressive when you think about how much data is transmitted

I'm sticking to the og Vive but I am looking into get the index controllers. They seem like a must

I need some help picking out the right VR headset I have watched over a hundred videos now but I am still not sure which one to get because I want a HTC vive pro but the price is kind of ridiculous and I have heard a lot of negatives about it should i get a normal HTC vive and buy the Valve controllers for it or HTC vive Pro starter kit off amazon

this isn't a competition, its a curbstomp XD also valve have recently patented an index wireless kit, so we should expect to see that soon(ish) :)

Don't the 2.0 Lighthouses have improved tracking even in smaller spaces?

With the Vive even the Cosmos screen door effect is an issue, with the Vive Cosmos the pixels are smaller but the screen door effect is very much apparent, with the refresh rate of the index it wins hands down.

What kind of processor and graphics card do you need to use either of those on chaotic vr games like vrchat?

Its funny .. glad you did this righht now! As a Canadian, we can't get the Index through any simple means, but through circuitous routes it can sort of be gotten, painfully and pricily.. but still. So I've agonized a few times.. as a Vive Pro owner, is it worth getting Knuckles? Or is the Index headset worth it, to track down a whole bundle? Answer seems to be .. the Vive Pro headset is great; the Index one is better in some ways, but not markedly so.. so nor worth the $ to just upgrade outright. The controllers are clearly superior to the wands.. but the wands are not wholly bad. Still some production quality issues in the Knuckles too, I gather, but improving all the time. So, yeah, if I coudl go rush out and just get the Knuckles, I would. But its not easy.. so I guess I'll wait and see... but man, do I want those Index Controllers :)

Compare all you like. If you are in the market for a high end VR headset and it’s between these two, there is only one decision! My Index arrives this week, can’t wait.

I have just bought the index so I am happy I picked correctly 😁

Hoｗ many percentage the SS setting that can be reading DCS's Instrument panel ?

I was thinking of bying the valve index but ended up whit the vive pro as the index is not availeble for shiping to my contry sadly :/ Either way im preaty happy whit my pro. Its a verry high qualety headset althog a bit pricy. But from what ive heard the vive pro was not origanly intended for consumers but rather for profesinal use hense the name pro.

Wireless is a must for me... I want Oculus to release a wireless solution for the Quest Link connection..if the HTC Cosmos was an actually good headset I would get that but I cant do LCD screens at all. . Perfect headset: Resolution like Valve, panels like HTC Pro or Quest, tracking like Quest and WIRELESS to your PC... I wish the Oculus TPCast would work for Quest Link

Is the Index wire easy to trip over? Really unsure which of these to get

If you get a 6mm foam from VRCover, the Vive Pro FOV should very nearly match the Index FOV, and the same applies to the OG Vive. The default Vive foam is excessively thick and is the only reason it loses on FOV. I replaced mine back in 2016 when VRCover came out with the thin ones.

Vive Pro + Valve Index Controllers + Rubberband = Tie But also, many professors, like car designers, prefer to use the Vive wands. So it depends on what you're doing. Some people prefer the Vive controllers. Depends on the game and what you're using it for.

In the HTC Vive Pro you can increase the field of view by replacing the tick face cushion (15mm) by other more thin (6mm). That way you can have the screens more close to yours eyes, as with the Valve Index. This thin face cushion can be purchased on Amazon. Unfortunately, what he says about the bass problem is true!

Would it be worth it for if a vive pro controller breaks to instead of replacing the one controller at broke to buy valve index controllers instead to use in place of both vive pro controllers?

This is the only compairson video of these units that I care about. Very well done!

Hi Ben. Great honest review. Well done mate :) For my Valve Pro audio issues I use Equalizer APO to raise the Bass and a little of the High's as well. Sound is great after doing this. But it shouldn't be an issue on a Pro device in the first place!! I also modded the lenses using the GearVR Mod which might also interest you. It removes the God rays and increases the sweet spot dramatically!

wait is it exaggerated at 6:35 for the index because I was thinking of getting it but if it looks this washed out it seems like it would be unusable.

I had a Rift S, I am totally upgrading to the Index

Thank you. This was easily the best review I could find on this subject. I am a bit of a display snob, and I think the Index display would really bother me. Really hard choice atm. I haven't used an LCD in at least 6 years -_-

I currently use the HTC Vive. Is the screen door effect issue fixed on the HTC Vive Pro and is it worth the upgrade?

I use Wireless kit with the vive pro for my arcade, and it works pretty well. But in high cpu load games, the image become pixelised and blurry. Some sort of compression to keep a low latency instead of a good clarity. It can be hard to aim with a gun during these phases with an iron sight for example.

Valve index display is wider fov, and higher refresh rate also it does not looked that washed out in person.

is it possible to ajust the brightness to good deep dark on index?

To be fair, I heard the tracking on the 2.0 lighthouses is better as well in smaller spaces. Probably not a big issue anyway.

Upgraded from my Vive and went for a cheap used Pro and paired it with some Index controllers. No regrets, the display is fantastic!

I need the index to be wireless... I dont wanna wait forever :O

I would say the Index will have probably slightly better visual than the rift s, and close to the same black levels. since they both are using the same type of screens, that being said I only have the rift s right now, but the black levels on the screens in that are really good. I think your mockup of the black levels between the two headsets is a little too exaggerated. But from everything I've seen, the Index wins hands down, and that is why I've put myself on the waiting list for one, rather than order a vive pro. [ok so the index controllers were a huuuge factor in that as well. I like their design so much more than the vive's, mind you I like the oculus touch controllers more than the vive as well.]

So I don’t have a pc but my brothers do is there a problem with me downloading games onto the valve and leaving their room to play it in my room or can I not do that

Im curious how Vive liked your video. Granted it seems un-bias. I think though if Vive would drop their prices a bit they would sell so many VR systems they would corner the market and put everybody else out of business. BUT that would be bad in the end because competition drives ingenuity.

Thanks for this great review. I had the original Vive but have been out of the game for a few years. if you had to buy one headset today to use with Steam games which would you choose (disregard price)?

Interesting thoughts on the display. I've seen many others say they can't really tell a difference. I have an Index on the way currently, so I guess I'll just have to see myself. Also, you didn't talk about screen door effect between the two. Is it not a noticeable difference in your opinion? I've heard the Vive Pro still has a decent bit, but there's little to none in the Index, which is part of the reason they made the switch to LCD.

Now the index is nice, and this is a big problem, but I'm not sure how common it is, but I know someone who had their valve index's audio just completely die, no explanation just no audio, a hardware issue supposedly, which was really the thing that makes me personally prefer the vive pro... But mostly I really, really like nice displays. I have a 4k moniter that I often use, despite the performance issues, because I am just a huge sap for high resolution and accurate color, I once saw a very, very expensive television with the most vibrant colors and I almost came.

which is more immersive, the vive display or the index field of view/audio?

You didn't mention the optics, you can also use thinner foam to get vive pro closer to eyes, I modded my vive lens and would do that if I get a pro, you also didn't mention the higher hz of the Index. I would tell people get the Index for less dark games and get pro for dark games.

I think that it would be cool if you could use the *SteamVR Base Station 1.0* with the *2.0,* that way you could have four point tracking instead of just two point. Maybe you could get more accurate tracking, and they could get some use instead of just sitting in a box.

the 2.0 lighthouses also have better tracking. you should try them, i noticed the difference when i got my valve index

I play a lot of space games in VR, so sacrificing those OLED blacks... uff... that would be really painful to me. :p I'm jealous of that FOV though.

Once you get the wireless adapter there is no going back. Its incredible, although there's some slight mods you need to do to the hardware,if you don't you'll burn the top of your head.

MMMMMMM I JUST WANT AN OLED FOR THE INDEX

No talk about the different between 90mhz to 144mhz display(important for motion sickness)...mhm 🧐

We can't get the index here in Australia. Am considering upgrading from my vive to the vive pro with the gear vr lens mod.

The early statements of this video, of the cosmos soon comming out and possibly being outdated is so wrong now that we know how the cosmos went,

Vive pro headset with index controls. I'm waiting right now for the index controllers to go on sale to use with my vive.

Were they aware they were going up in direct competition in your review?

After all these years, used Vive Pro still can be a good choise, because you can swap it frenel lenses to aspheric pretty easily, and it boosts visual quality drastically. Big sweetspot, no more blur and godrays are gone. Just big clean picture all over the lenses. It looks more clean then even something like the Pico 4 pancake lenses did. And aside that, you still got that bright picture without any type of compression, when all these wifi type of streaming always eat some part of your final image. Sadly, Vive mic is ass, so you need something else to replace it, lol

Good review

Ok so about the vibe being able to go wireless, the reason it would be worse for the valve index is because it runs at a higher hertz and refresh rate so it being wireless would slow it down, with the vibe it’s not as advanced in that regard so wireless is fine, the industry has got to find the balance of quality and wireless

I see these as two different use headsets. Index as a FPS or more rapid response type headset whole the vive pro being more for enjoying slower things like RPG games or just things you want to experience deeper due to the OLED and ability to go wireless. I'm a sucker for OLED but field of view and great audio beat a beautiful screen, but barely