Having had both although I've now RMA'd the Pico 4U after the connector broke, some observations:
TL;DR: Q3 is better.
1) Display
Pico 4U, unquestionably has a sharper display than the Q3 for the same display scaling. The caveat is that, whilst the Pico has a much more sharp sweet spot than the Q3, the Q3 does not have the Pico's tendency to get so blurry toward the panel edge and still has very good clarity overall. I.e. whilst the Pico definitely has a 'sweet spot', comparatively the Q3 feels like it doesn't because it doesn't need one.
Screen door. Again, compared to the Pico's sweet spot, the Q3 looks like it has a screen door across the entire display but only really noticeable when I'm looking at text. In that regard both the Pico and my G2 look better. But, e.g. looking at a Coriolis, I think the display looks better overall on the Q3. Moreover, if I hadn't already had the Pico for comparison, I probably wouldn't be calling out the effect.
2) Rendering performance ( For reference, I'm using the cable not wireless ).
I'm going to be slightly contentious and tongue in cheek at our illustrious Q3 owners who've debated performance, so... my apologies in advance
You are spoiled and have no idea when you've got it made ( commence flaming, or I'll just hop into Open in my 'winder and you can flame me properly ). Meta's OpenVR implementation is just bonkers good when compared with Pico's. I had to go back and check I was still using the same display settings as for my Pico. I almost laughed at how much more smooth the rendering performance was. I've not used VD yet because, frankly, I don't see why I should bother. Also, I probably have to pay for it again. I could always fork their code on Git and remove the registration ( more fool them for publishing payware on Git as OSS
) but right now I can't see why it's worth the effort.
BTW, I get why some people debated the value of me running SteamVR at 400%. On the Pico there's an obvious visual improvement but because the Q3 display is slightly more soft, by comparison, I can't see the difference over 300%. Given it's a whole different lens and and panel, I'll probably rethink all my display tweaks anyway.
3) FOV ( Real FOV, we all know the difference from 'numbers' FOV ).
Q3 wins - end of debate. Certainly makes my G2 feel like I'm looking down a toilet tube. To get a comparable FOV on the Pico, although still not as good, I had to use an aftermarket gasket. ( Q3 owners, still spoiled ).
4) Audio
I'm the wrong person to ask. I had a mono MW/LW radio in my car for years and couldn't understand why no-one else liked it. Q3 makes sound, I can hear it fine. It's louder than the Pico.
5) Comfort.
Wow this thing is so much lighter than the Pico. And I recall putting on the Pico for the first time and thinking, 'Wow this thing is so much lighter than the G2'.
6) Setup.
There's a whole other thread on how hateful the Q3 is to setup so I'll not recount it here. If I ever have to go through that again I will, literally, pay someone else to do it because, to me, it's really not worth my limited and valuable time. E2E, given the niggles, other demands on time and general unavoidable nonsense with the setup, it took ~3 days to complete the process. I'm sure it's much much faster if everything just works as expected but it didn't, so it wasn't.
Pico setup: Install the PC software, let the app through the firewall, configure WiFi ( whether you want it or not - annoying ), plug in the headset, play Elite Dangerous. It was even easier than WMR and that is saying something.
7) Connector
Pico needs a powered USB cable. Q3 does not.
As for durability, we'll see. Lesson learned from the Pico; I've used heavy duty duct tape and velcro to attach a, sacrificial, 20cm right angled USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 cable to the socket, wrapped around with more duct tape to mitigate lateral and shearing forces so the other end of the USB extension cable will take all the stress of movement. ( 'What stress?' I hear you ask. If I don't snag it, there shouldn't be any. True and yet the cable weight alone was enough to break the socket on the Pico and that was with the cable draped over the monitor so that took most of the weight ). Still, I am overly cautious never to put the headset down on it's side where the cable attaches. Maybe I was unlucky with my Pico but I'm not learning that lesson twice.
So to all you existing Q3 owners, IMO - You nailed it.
TL;DR: Q3 is better.
1) Display
Pico 4U, unquestionably has a sharper display than the Q3 for the same display scaling. The caveat is that, whilst the Pico has a much more sharp sweet spot than the Q3, the Q3 does not have the Pico's tendency to get so blurry toward the panel edge and still has very good clarity overall. I.e. whilst the Pico definitely has a 'sweet spot', comparatively the Q3 feels like it doesn't because it doesn't need one.
Screen door. Again, compared to the Pico's sweet spot, the Q3 looks like it has a screen door across the entire display but only really noticeable when I'm looking at text. In that regard both the Pico and my G2 look better. But, e.g. looking at a Coriolis, I think the display looks better overall on the Q3. Moreover, if I hadn't already had the Pico for comparison, I probably wouldn't be calling out the effect.
2) Rendering performance ( For reference, I'm using the cable not wireless ).
I'm going to be slightly contentious and tongue in cheek at our illustrious Q3 owners who've debated performance, so... my apologies in advance
You are spoiled and have no idea when you've got it made ( commence flaming, or I'll just hop into Open in my 'winder and you can flame me properly ). Meta's OpenVR implementation is just bonkers good when compared with Pico's. I had to go back and check I was still using the same display settings as for my Pico. I almost laughed at how much more smooth the rendering performance was. I've not used VD yet because, frankly, I don't see why I should bother. Also, I probably have to pay for it again. I could always fork their code on Git and remove the registration ( more fool them for publishing payware on Git as OSS
) but right now I can't see why it's worth the effort.BTW, I get why some people debated the value of me running SteamVR at 400%. On the Pico there's an obvious visual improvement but because the Q3 display is slightly more soft, by comparison, I can't see the difference over 300%. Given it's a whole different lens and and panel, I'll probably rethink all my display tweaks anyway.
3) FOV ( Real FOV, we all know the difference from 'numbers' FOV ).
Q3 wins - end of debate. Certainly makes my G2 feel like I'm looking down a toilet tube. To get a comparable FOV on the Pico, although still not as good, I had to use an aftermarket gasket. ( Q3 owners, still spoiled
).4) Audio
I'm the wrong person to ask. I had a mono MW/LW radio in my car for years and couldn't understand why no-one else liked it. Q3 makes sound, I can hear it fine. It's louder than the Pico.
5) Comfort.
Wow this thing is so much lighter than the Pico. And I recall putting on the Pico for the first time and thinking, 'Wow this thing is so much lighter than the G2'.
6) Setup.
There's a whole other thread on how hateful the Q3 is to setup so I'll not recount it here. If I ever have to go through that again I will, literally, pay someone else to do it because, to me, it's really not worth my limited and valuable time. E2E, given the niggles, other demands on time and general unavoidable nonsense with the setup, it took ~3 days to complete the process. I'm sure it's much much faster if everything just works as expected but it didn't, so it wasn't.
Pico setup: Install the PC software, let the app through the firewall, configure WiFi ( whether you want it or not - annoying ), plug in the headset, play Elite Dangerous. It was even easier than WMR and that is saying something.
7) Connector
Pico needs a powered USB cable. Q3 does not.
As for durability, we'll see. Lesson learned from the Pico; I've used heavy duty duct tape and velcro to attach a, sacrificial, 20cm right angled USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 cable to the socket, wrapped around with more duct tape to mitigate lateral and shearing forces so the other end of the USB extension cable will take all the stress of movement. ( 'What stress?' I hear you ask. If I don't snag it, there shouldn't be any. True and yet the cable weight alone was enough to break the socket on the Pico and that was with the cable draped over the monitor so that took most of the weight ). Still, I am overly cautious never to put the headset down on it's side where the cable attaches. Maybe I was unlucky with my Pico but I'm not learning that lesson twice.
So to all you existing Q3 owners, IMO - You nailed it.
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