PSVR2 vs HP Reverb G2

[Helmut Grokenberger]

I'm terms of image clarity, how good is Pimax compared to G2?

Without having any first hand experience, the claim is that it has a much larger sweet spot. Which was always the biggest issue with the G2, to be honest. On the other hand, every headset claims to have a large sweet spot these days, and that might actually be true for pancake lenses...

In terms of per-eye-resolution, it's got quite a few pixels more than the G2 - 2880x2880 compared to 2160x2160 of the G2. But in the real world, taking the need for oversampling due to the barrel distortion and the like into account I can't even push the G2 at full resolution with my 5900X/3080Ti. I run mine at 50%, and while going as high as 80% yields a small image improvement, it's barely noticable due to the small sweet spot of the lenses.

So I think it's the quality of the lenses that makes or breaks a headset more than its resolution.

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

Oh, also: The Pimax Crystal Light still has aspheric lenses, not pancake ones.

 

[Bill Clement]

By the way, the biggest question anyway is if the headset breaks before Microsoft does it. My face shield is starting to go flaky, I've had a damaged cable connector once already that required a headset swap (on warranty), and the earpiece connectors are starting to act sketchy - sometimes I need to move them around a few times to get proper audio out of both of the ears.

Yer, with my G2 I had some issues with the spring-loaded pins within the ear pieces not always making contact giving intermittent sound, dismantling and reassembly seemed to sole the problem. I also did manage to buy a v2 face shield as a spare.

Mine's the V2 version. I have no issues with build quality yet. There was a lot of talk about improvements having been made to the headset around the time I bought mine, some of it might even be true! Regardless, I'm loath to chuck away a really decent peripheral just because the nerds at MS have lost interest in keeping their software functional. Particularly given that I went with Win11 to try and future proof my set up!

 

[Bill Clement]

Re WMR - there is some hope for a community framework that will make it functional following the removal of WMR.

Ok, I'm intrigued- hope springs eternal!

Is there any way to keep up with developments, to stay in the loop with whoever is trying to keep options open post WMR?

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

I got the V2 version when my headset was replaced under warranty, I originally had the V1 version. I feel similar; my rig is well balanced to run the G2, for now it works well and also ticks a lot of boxes for me - nobody mentioned the really good audio quality yet. I would hate to go back to open headband sound like my Rift S had. At some point I will have to look into improving the headphone contacts, maybe it's a simple cleaning job. Stuff like the face shield is expected to fail with wear and tear, but when critical hardware like the cable connector fails, it's basically dead. I hope that doesn't happen again.

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

Re WMR - there is some hope for a community framework that will make it functional following the removal of WMR.

I know of the Monado project, but my impression was it is not really anywhere near a working release. Could be wrong though, and the project could gain some traction ever since we got a concrete timeline for the death of WMR.

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

Maybe this should go into its own topic, but I just did some poking around and found a surprisingly informative reddit post (even if it is not a primary source). The author states quite believably that parts of the components of WMR are embedded into the OS, which would mean that upgrading to 11 24h2 would indeed completely brick all WMR headsets, as reinstalling the still available downloads would not reinsert WMR support into it.

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

and as a last addendum, support for Windows 11 23h2 ends in November 2026. So basically we have two years either way to wait and see if our G2s break .

 

[pFVD]

what turns me off all those standalone headsets is battery life and expected runtime. I don't do that at the moment, but in the past I've played whole afternoon / days on the weekend, we're talking 6 hour+ sessions - can't do that on battery I assume. Also I read that tethered mode isn't as good as wireless, provided you have access tp Wifi 6. Which I don't.

IMHO, tethered is better image quality than wireless. I love Virtual Desktop, I really do, but in Elite Dangerous at least, I personally find the USB cable to provide a clearer sharper image than any of the wireless options. Other games, I find the difference less noticeable, but for Elite, it's easily a tethered connection for me.
And you can buy powered cables that will use the original charger to power the headset. I often play for hours and my Quest 2 never drops below 72%. I think my record is something like 13 hours. Look for Kuject or INUI, cables are 5m and cost less than £20. Usually I'm playing from server up on Thursday tick till around 2-3pm as it's my only chance per week to play the invasions due to work and them being finished by the time I get free time to play. Never any battery troubles.

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

cool, thanks. I'll save that info in my spongy brain for later . For now, as I said, I am going to ride it out until either WMR or my G2 breaks for good.

 

[Bill Clement]

For now, as I said, I am going to ride it out until either WMR or my G2 breaks for good.

Yep, same here. Back to the original plan, 5090 early next year, let the system settle down, then think about getting a new headset at the end of the year or perhaps some time in '26.
Remembering to keep the OS from updating is the tricky part, I've got a memory like a goldfish...

 

[Rock Hunter]

Unfortunately for me it seems like my G2 is about to die before the dreaded MS Great Switch Off event. I need to do some testing, hopefully tomorrow, as my last session was cut short due to the tracking failing to keep up with where I was looking. I did check light levels and increased the light in the room, blocked the monitor from shining into the cameras and still got a few weird glitches including black outs. I also tried it on another PC and had some odd glitches.

I suspect at best it’s the cable, my second cable, or at worst a more integral connection issue within the headset itself.

Either way it’s been superb for the last four years, I got it on release having heard such good things about the G1. It’ll be hard to replace and I’m left with, seemingly, the choice of Meta’s option or Pimax’s Crystal Light. It’s a shame, having heard about MS and their abandonment of WMR I’d been prepared to hold on another couple of years but ….”best laid plans of…” etc etc.

Currently wading through reviews but there’s just so much doom or hype depending on peoples personal experiences.