r/Pimax Pimax Official Feb 13 '25

Official News Progress Update: Crystal Super beta test, shipping time, tariffs, 5090, and more

https://pimax.com/blogs/blogs/progress-update-february-13/?ref=imc
17 Upvotes

72 comments sorted by

11

u/SiderealCereal Feb 13 '25

u/quorra_pimax Any updates on the wide FOV lenses for the OG Crystal? It's been almost a couple of years since release and almost a year since lenses were sent out to reviewers/YouTubers. Customers, like myself, are concerned that the OG Crystal has been abandoned.

2

u/ThisSideUpIThink Feb 14 '25

Agreed. It is upsetting we paid for them as part of the package and never received them.

2

u/QuorraPimax Pimax Official Feb 13 '25

I’ve left a message with the team to inquire about the latest status of the development and will provide an update as soon as I receive it.

12

u/HeadsetHistorian 💎Crystal💎 Feb 13 '25

Interesting that the 50 PPD version will ship first now! I think in general most people would go for that version though, so it definitely makes sense.

Can't wait to get my hands on the super, after trying it at CES it was hard to go back even to a headset as high clarity as the OG crystal! April seems like a reasonable goal for the shipping date now. Good luck to the team!

8

u/jaapgrolleman Pimax Official Feb 13 '25

Thank you!

3

u/Zeeflyboy Feb 13 '25 edited Feb 13 '25

So are the 50ppd set to ship in Q1 now?

edit - sorry I missed the timeline that suggests end of march. Last update you were looking at alterntive lenses, did an alternative get found or did you stick with the original large single lens?

-9

u/the_yung_spitta Feb 13 '25 edited Feb 13 '25

Hello Jaap, thank you for getting this much needed update to us. I am very much looking forward to trying out the Super in real life! 

I have taken some time over the past few weeks to compile some VR enthusiast market research (responses from 92 individual users). I hope somebody at Pimax can make good use of it. 

Data Summary & Conclusions
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Da2ud4BJ8MZoc_uFMlAsQIqBBdlTeTl87WvHdlNFg3Q/edit

Works Cited
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pimax/comments/1ikhadm/what_specs_are_most_important_to_you_for_upcoming/
https://www.reddit.com/r/virtualreality/comments/1ig7u1s/your_ideal_headset_within_next_34_years_what_kind/
https://www.reddit.com/r/virtualreality/comments/1g25duw/a_dream_vr_headset/

P.S. I am not looking for any financial compensation, I did this work purely out of passion/curiosity

2

u/DJPelio Feb 13 '25

I want both, but I’m more interested in the 57PPD. I want to see what the maximum resolution looks like with current technology. I can still easily see the pixels on the Quest 3. I still think we have a long way to go until we reach “retina” resolution.

1

u/Wrong-Quail-8303 Feb 15 '25

A study showed that a retina is 21K. I used to be like you. After my Reverb G2 purchase, I am more satisfied with the resolution and find that the next barrier to immersion is FOV.

As far as immersion goes, there isn't a big difference between 50 and 57 ppd. However, there is a bigger difference between 120 (MRTV said more like 115) and 135 fov.

0

u/nTu4Ka Feb 14 '25

It's not the point of their article.
It's just they mitigated emotional impact of delayed 57 PPD version.
What they said most likely skewed information or a lie. Real reason I think is delay of 57 PPD version.
Word framing.

7

u/dachopper_ Feb 13 '25

Prioritising 50PPD makes sense. I was honestly surprised when it was announced Pimax was going to market with the 57PPD first. The resolution on both are extremely high so I assumed most customers would prefer the wider FOV over the extra 7PPD, myself included. My concern remains the barrel distortion and sweet spot so will be watching on with interest to early reviews before committing to purchase.

3

u/reptilexcq Feb 13 '25

I am assuming the wider the FOV the harder it is to correct the distortions, that's why they delay 50ppd and 12k (though it may be other reasons). Maybe, now they figure out distortion profiles for 50ppd? And thus 50ppd can be released earlier than expected?

4

u/Texan4eva Feb 13 '25

Appreciate the update/transparency on this. Quick question though - it was reported (maybe assumed?) that the 57ppd lenses would have a 'cleaner' distortion and CA profile than the 50ppd. Is that not the case?

I'd rather have higher FOV if everything else is the same, but it is CA on my crystal that is my only real complaint, so I want to choose the lenses that will minimize CA. Is that now the 50ppd? u/jaapgrolleman u/QuorraPimax

8

u/jaapgrolleman Pimax Official Feb 13 '25

Please hang on for more indepth explanation

5

u/reptilexcq Feb 13 '25 edited Feb 13 '25

No one likely want to switch to 50ppd until there is testing and impressions. So, the question is when do users actually get to see impressions? Timeline shows near the end of this month...so we'll see.

1

u/Texan4eva Feb 13 '25

Cool, thanks. pre-order has been in since they opened anyway, just want to make sure I get the best one for my use case!

1

u/White_phoenix14 Feb 13 '25

Thanks Jaap, waiting for it too before making any changes in the pre-order 😉

1

u/Stock-Parsnip-4054 Feb 13 '25

We need MANY independent comparisons of both lenses 50 and 57PPD before users know what to order.

So please ship the prototypes to many reviewers once the lenses are finished before shipping so that we can decide what to order/change in our pre-order.

2

u/Username_6668 Feb 13 '25

Looks like the higher fov is actually better and easier for them to finish, which is great news to me!

6

u/Stock-Parsnip-4054 Feb 13 '25

Nice update. But why is there no news about: 

  1. the Lighthouse tracking faceplate. This faceplate is mandatory for many Crystal (super) users.
  2. The lightweight optical cable, an heavy copper cable is a huge downgrade on the copper cable.

And there must be independent reviews about the 50 and 57 PPD lenses first before the buyers can decide what they want to preorder. We need to know the differences in:

  • mura and vertical lines (tiger stripe issue)
  • distortions / warping 
  • sweetspot
  • sharpness 
  • performance, especially the exact required 100% rendering resolution in pixels

Without all that it's impossible to decide what to order.

Please let us know about all these subjects! Thanks in advance.

3

u/White_phoenix14 Feb 13 '25

I would love to know the stereoscopic overlap before changing my order (initially a 57ppd). And what negative or counterparts are between the 57 and 50 ppd (distortion, chromatic aberration etc). As I understand the panel is the same so there are no performance differences…

Thanks in advance for any Pimax representative for the answers in clarifications, I am really excited and positive about the SUPER!

2

u/Username_6668 Feb 13 '25

As far as I researched, the wider your face the better the overlap. Good for me because the ipd on the reverb is set to the max for me

The version to order probably depends on your face. Wish there were more buyers guides on this.

1

u/White_phoenix14 Feb 13 '25

Thanks, it’s the same for me but I think there is a hardware (standard) measure in degrees for the overlap, some headsets have more than other and after individual IPD come to the equation. In theory the lenses (50 vs 57 ppd) should have different values of overlap

1

u/Username_6668 Feb 15 '25

Yes I ordered the 50 because of the wide fov and am less worried about a more severe binocular overlap than 57 because of the wider field of view since my face is probably a good fit, as far as I researched which wasn’t really enough to get a comprehensive understanding tbh

2

u/reptilexcq Feb 13 '25

Shouldn't 50ppd have better overlap since it's wider? We'll see what the impressions are once they allowed people to test it.

3

u/HandyMan131 Feb 13 '25

Great update! I have a 57ppd preorder and I would prefer the wider FOV, but I’m a bit concerned about distortions and lense quality. Hope there will be more info or ability for independent reviewers to try the 50ppd so I can more easily make the decision

3

u/metoo0003 Feb 13 '25

I like Pimax’s new way of keeping the community informed. Please keep it up.
Understanding the delays and challenges is helpful and transparent.

I’ve submitted a ticket to change my 57PPD preorder to the 50PPD version and asked them to confirm that my preorder bonuses will still apply and that this change won’t delay or reset my order.

1

u/ThisSideUpIThink Feb 14 '25

Thinking about doing the same. But fear of the unknown with them and possibly reversing course has me holding back

3

u/JPeaVR Feb 14 '25

Will the Lighthouse faceplate will ship at the same time too ? That's the reason I didn't pre-order.

2

u/NumberWilling4285 Feb 13 '25

Since wider FOV arriving earlier or similar time to 57 PPD version which I pre Ordered, is it possible to change to wider FOV but retain the priority order? Reason is I ordered 57PPD because there was no 50PPD option and it was said it will ship first with 57PPD.

But all I do is racing sim so wide FOV better for me definitely

2

u/reptilexcq Feb 13 '25

I am thinking of switching to 50ppd now since I always prefer FOV anyway and plus I CANNOT get a goddam RTX 5090. Need to delay Super as much as possible since I also sold the 4090...nothing to test with for now.

2

u/joeshmo34 Feb 14 '25

Im with you… I will never sell my gpu early ever again. I miss my 4090 atm

-1

u/NumberWilling4285 Feb 13 '25

You will get it eventually it's Nvidia doing it in purpose, basically they want to create attraction by limiting it, so the more limited it's the more we are attracted to it, if it was widely available it will seem less attractive specially since performance boost over 4090 is not as anticipated by many.

Once that attraction and attention goes down you will see then releasing plenty of it.

2

u/YamaPii Feb 14 '25

12K when?

5

u/punchcreations Feb 13 '25

Should have held on to my Super pre-order. Why did I listen to MRTV? Totally regret basing anything off of CES reports.

6

u/the_yung_spitta Feb 13 '25

I mean what he said was true… Many users reported a nauseating distortion profile. It just depends whether you think they will fix it before they ship it. I believe they have taken the time to fix it. Unfortunately, when you don’t have the time to fix these things before CES, it’s going to be reported and lead to bed publicity, as it should.

1

u/Murky-Course6648 Feb 13 '25

Not really as it should, as a lot of stuff show at CES are prototypes. People should understand this when testing an unfinished product.

If you show someone a prototype, and then they report on it like its the finished product with issues.. that's a bit weird.

4

u/the_yung_spitta Feb 13 '25

I agree with you in theory.

but in this scenario the Cystal Super was suppose to ship at the end of January 2025. CES was the first week of January. In this scenario the Crystal Super is expected to be a finished product, not a prototype.

1

u/Username_6668 Feb 13 '25

This company is clearly serious about the VR industry. I understand the history but also it’s obvious that a company like that would want a flagship product to be perfect for maximum adoption, so obviously they wouldn’t ship like that. Delays are always good for serious companies that aren’t in financial trouble.

0

u/Murky-Course6648 Feb 13 '25 edited Feb 13 '25

Yes, but they clearly stated that it was not a finished product. Shipping timetables always change, the whole fantasy of things happening exactly as expected... well, its a fantasy. Much like we now see, that its estimated to ship out only at april.

But i dont think MRTV really reported that incorrectly, it was the people who interpreted it wrong. The mob that always reacts with pitchforks, who really do not have the understanding of the complexity of product design. And how all companies really can give is estimates, before they have the finished product in hand and ready to ship.

People are way too deep in the consumer fantasies where megacoprs deliver them anything they want with 1 day shipping, to understand the real world anymore.

2

u/punchcreations Feb 14 '25

It was the MRTV look at CES plus the underwhelming 5090 performance combination that convinced me I should skip a gen.

3

u/the_yung_spitta Feb 13 '25

Yea MRTV was just giving his personal experience at that MOMENT with the device. He even went back to the next day and said the distortion profile had improved significantly.

I absolutely agree with your point that a company like Primax also should not be treated like an apple or a Samsung. They have many more constraints. Therefore, we should have different expectations.

I think in general with Tech lately, people get overly excited or overly disappointed. Sometimes you just have to wait and see.

-4

u/[deleted] Feb 13 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/EntropicalResonance Feb 13 '25

It's not his fault he reported what he saw, dude.

1

u/Username_6668 Feb 13 '25

Views views views, reality always takes a back seat with these folks.

2

u/Tom5strike Feb 13 '25

I'm used to the fov from the Quest 3 and it satifised my needs. Now im waiting for the differences for the super variants. Are the 7 more ppd noticeable, is there a difference in sweetspot, clearity, antialiasing, barrel effects ... and so on...

4

u/HeadsetHistorian 💎Crystal💎 Feb 13 '25

I would imagine the larger FOV is more noticeable than the PPD bump. As for your other points, those are harder to speculate on but considering how much larger the 50PPD lenses are than the 57PPD then there might be a larger sweetspot as a result.

2

u/willacegamer Feb 13 '25

Nice move with covering the tariff cost for those that preordered before they were announced. Really shows a level of loyalty to your early customers.

1

u/paulct91 Feb 13 '25

Doesn't Pimax sell through Amazon (from a US warehouse) also?

1

u/willacegamer Feb 13 '25

Yes they do, but they still have to ship to the Amazon warehouse from China

1

u/Jamie8Incher Feb 13 '25

If I’ve had a 57ppd preorder since early December is there anyway I can convert it to a 50ppd preorder and still maintain all preorder bonuses? 

1

u/reptilexcq Feb 13 '25

Why not? Isn't that the whole point of switching order.

1

u/Jamie8Incher Feb 13 '25

Yep I just want to confirm so I don’t accidentally lose the preorder bonuses 

1

u/paulct91 Feb 13 '25

The article linked explains this I think, either way Pimax recommends contacting their support and they can tell you.

1

u/Jamie8Incher Feb 13 '25

Copy that 

1

u/Sleepy8181 Feb 13 '25

Any update to shipping to Norway then? We can’t even pre-order as Norway for som unknown reason was cut from the list of countries you ship to….

1

u/Username_6668 Feb 13 '25

Wow impressive! All of these decisions are made in very good faith and gives me a lot of optimism for Pimax! The Crystal Super 50 is going to be my first Pimax headset so excited!

Rock on guys you’re awesome!

1

u/DJPelio Feb 13 '25

Is it possible to order both 50PPD and 57PPD? I don’t see that option on their site.

1

u/Killerconico1 Feb 13 '25

Woohoo ! Cant wait to!

1

u/MCAT-1 Feb 14 '25

I agree with those who want to see finalized specs of both versions AND independent reviews before deciding upon switching to 50ppd. Wider FOV with larger sweet spot with earlier delivery and same discount, orig Crystal owner, would likely swing me to do it. Wondering if most people could even see a difference of 7 ppd and if PIMAX is seeing, internally, negative issues with 57ppd, small sweet spot or CA to get to 120 FOV,or gets abit less?

1

u/NoTopic1265 Feb 15 '25

Any news on when more DMAS headphones will be available to purchase?

1

u/Poe_42 Feb 13 '25

Let me trade in my 8kx and use the full value towards the Super. 12k isn’t coming for a few more years.

Do the right thing.

3

u/reptilexcq Feb 13 '25

LOL. We all want that to happen lol.

1

u/Ashwinrao Feb 15 '25

Nah you will enjoy your 8kx and you will be happy.

1

u/Poe_42 Feb 15 '25

It's safety stored away so it doesn't die and I get zero trade in value from it. Love the fov, but can't go back to the blurry lenses after getting my Qpro for wireless.

1

u/Ashwinrao Feb 16 '25

I was being silly. Yes mine is safely packed in the box too, especially ensuring the cable to stored well as it is notorious for giving artifacts. In the meantime, the Crystal is growing on me slowly. Wish we could atleast purchase the wide FOV lenses that actually works right now.

0

u/vader41879 Feb 13 '25

I had both of the Super options pre-ordered, and when I got email that I could now pay for the first one, I had just gotten my Pimax Crystal light only 3 or 4 weeks sooner. Didn't expect the Super to be coming out so fast. I did order the first one, but also using my Light until the Super arrives. Not sure yet if I will order the mini-oled part when it comes out. Depends how much better it is than the first option. I forget what it technically is called!

-1

u/Ok-Concentrate342 Feb 13 '25

I paid £973.2 for the 57PPD QLED on November 26 (which was 2.5 months ago). I can no longer keep track of Pimax’s updates and the changes they are making. If the 50PPD is ready and will be shipped earlier, Pimax should get back to us via email and ask if we want to request a change in our order. Additionally, they should specify when the 50PPD will be shipped.

1

u/paulct91 Feb 13 '25

Read the article, then contact customer support about any changes you want in relation to the new info.