I've been excited for the Bigscreen Beyond for months, but today it started shipping and I'm not sure I'll buy it. Let me walk you through why.
Bigscreen Beyond?
If you're not familiar with the Bigscreen Beyond, it's a new PCVR headset that focusses on comfort and clarity. It sports some of the highest Pixels Per Degree in VR for amazing visual clarity. Each unit is molded to fit you based on 3D face scans, better distributing the headsets already light weight across more surface area for even more comfort. If you wear prescription lenses, it even has optional inserts that you can buy. It's undoubtedly a piece of premium built-for-you hardware.
What excites me about it
I spend many hours every week in VR Role Playing on VRChat, playtesting Aexia role plays, or attending social events. I love the idea of a headset that I can wear for hours without noticing. That comfort has value to me. Who could resist such unmatched comfort and clarity?
Certainly not any of the influencers who have gotten their hands on review models. Some of the names I respect most in the industry, like Thrillseeker, have given stellar reviews. Reviews tend to echo the sentiment that it's easy to forget that you're even wearing a VR headset. That sounds incredible.
"I love the idea of a headset that I can wear for hours without noticing. That comfort has value to me."
On paper, the Bigscreen Beyond looks excellent. The headsets sweet spot sports 32 Pixels Per Degree (PPD), a more than 50% increase in clarity over the 21 PPD of the Quest 2, and an even greater increase over older headsets like the Valve Index. The worlds smallest VR headset, it weighs only 127 grams, compared to the Quest 2 which clocks in at 503 grams. That's only a quarter of the weight, and the Quest 2 is actually on the light side of the current VR market. The numbers don't lie.
But a good VR experience is not all about who has the best numbers.
Why I'm hesitant
Without eye tracking, face tracking, or hand tracking, the Bigscreen Beyond only gives me incremental upgrades. It doesn't give me anything new. It's an upgrade of existing specs; Meanwhile, other headsets are starting to offer features that fundamentally expand the VR experience. Eye tracking, face tracking, and hand tracking are all things I don't have now that I want to have in a new headset.
"Without eye tracking, face tracking, or hand tracking, the Bigscreen Beyond only gives me incremental upgrades. It doesn't give me anything new."
Compared to my Valve Index, the Bigscreen Beyond also have some trade offs. For one, it's Field Of View and refresh rate both appear to be lower than the Valve Index. For two, it doesn't come with a built in audio solution, just a 3.5mm jack. It does have an optional audio solution similar to the one found on the Valve Index if you're willing to shell out an additional $139.00 (CAD) to it's $1449.00 price tag. For that price, I can buy full body tracking to compliment my Valve Index. Now that's exciting. That expands my VR experience.
Speaking of other headsets, another consideration is that the price tag doesn't include controllers or base stations for tracking. You're expected to procure those peripherals on your own. I bought the full Valve Index kit for that reason. I figured I'd use it for now and if the Bigscreen Beyond was tempting enough I'd upgrade when it came out. Now that it's here... it's not tempting me enough.
Final thoughts The Bigscreen Beyond is really good at being comfortable and having high visual clarity because... that's all it does. It's my opinion that the Bigscreen Beyond will likely be the best wired gen 1 PCVR headset, but unfortunately it comes at a time where the next generation of VR is right around the corner. A year from now it could easily already feel outdated.
That said, as user reviews come out I might be persuaded to make the purchase. Soon I'm going to start seeing people touting their Bigscreen Beyond and that might drive me to fork out some money for the latest and greatest in VR tech. Time will tell.
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