Pimax has two PC VR headsets in development: the ultralight Dream Air and the wide field-of-view Crystal Super. The company recently offered an update on the development progress of both headsets, including an update on the shipping timeline of Crystal Super.

Pimax Dream Air Update

Image courtesy Pimax

Pimax Dream Air is the company’s first effort to build an ultralight PC VR headset. First announced in December with a price of $1,900, the headset is undergoing various tweaks as the company completes the prototyping phase and moves toward an expected May release date.

In its latest update on Dream Air, Pimax says it has added speaker pods to the sides of the headset for improved audio.

Image courtesy Pimax

The headset’s tether is also changing from a single cable that runs along the left side of the headset to a split cable that will run along both sides and then combine into one cable behind the user’s head. Pimax says this change will help with the balance of the headset.

Image courtesy Pimax

Pimax is also moving the Dream Air’s USB-C accessory slot to the bottom of the headset to make it more accessible for clip-on accessories like trackers. And the newest iteration of the headset’s design now includes vents for active cooling, as the compact headset and displays will have plenty of heat to dissipate.

The company also says it has an early prototype of the headset’s pancake lenses, and specifies that they have a concave front surface that helps expand the headset’s field-of-view. Between that and slightly canting the lenses and displays, Pimax says it expects the final field of view to be 105° horizontally rather than the originally announced 102°.

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Image courtesy Pimax

Field-of-view isn’t the only thing that could increase, however. The company says it’s still choosing between two candidate displays. Both are micro-OLED with identical resolution. But one of the panels (from Sony) has “better optical qualities,” according to the company, but also a higher price tag. If the final version ends up using the Sony panel, Pimax says it could increase the cost of the headset “a tiny bit.”

While it’s nice to see the field-of-view go up, potentially changing already-announced specs and prices with little more than two months before the headset is supposed to ship seems to reinforce longstanding criticism that the company often gets ahead of itself in planning and execution.

Speaking of the headset’s purported May release date, Pimax indicates in this latest update that it expects to have a “proper working demo unit [of Dream Air]” in April, one month before the headset is expected to ship. And in May, the company says it’ll have a “public event” to showcase the headset.

The video concludes with the company saying, “we are fine-tuning the final parts and at the same time also minimizing the risk for delays. The Dream Air is on the way and we’ll be showing it publicly soon.”

Pimax Crystal Super Update

Pimax Crystal Super | Image courtesy Pimax

Crystal Super is the company’s latest large form-factor PC VR headset which aims for a wide field-of-view (130° horizontal) and high resolution (3,840 × 3,840).

Crystal Super was originally announced in April, 2024, with an expected release date of Q4 2024. In the recent update, the company shares its latest projections for the headset’s release date: the end of March for the 50 PPD version and mid-April for the 57 PPD version.

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Pimax says that early versions of the Crystal Super are in the hands of ‘beta testers’ who have been providing feedback. Based on that feedback, the company is seemingly regressing the Super’s headstrap design to something closer to its prior headsets: a simple over-the-head strap (instead of a horizontal strap with ratcheting adjustment) and a larger facepad for better weight distribution.

Image courtesy Pimax

The company also addressed newly imposed tariffs that the US has placed on products from China. Pimax says it will eat the cost of the tariffs for any orders placed before they were announced (February 4th). However, the company suggests that the tariffs will increase the cost of its headsets in the future.

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • impurekind

    Not a fan of the current visual design of the speaker pods on the Dream Air, as they look like they've just been plonked on there and kinda ruin the otherwise slick form factor. So hopefully the mould those into the design better in the final product. But, overall, nice to have the audio added, and the headset is certainly interesting.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      Yeah audio is certainly nice, I'm even surprised at how well the audio on the Pico 4 is compared to my HTC Vive Pro, I expected much worse, but it sure is good enough.

  • Dale Kirkley

    Any price changes after already taking money already is severe bait and switch.

    • Jaap Grolleman

      It'd be a small price increase if we do it but I see your point. The pre-orders are 100% refundable and we also allow $1 reservations.

      • Dale Kirkley

        Refundable is not the point, you’ve had a lot of people’s money since you announced, money that has not been working for them, but for you. Changing the price at some point down the line amounts to theft of potential interest if they decide to cancel because of it. Maybe you should tell everyone the potential price difference and they can walk away if they feel cheated.

        • Christian Schildwaechter

          Changing the price after taking preorders is bad. If component costs change, adjusting the price can be justified/required,
          but here it happened mostly because the product wasn't finished. It's a blunder, impractical as an intentional money grab due to the inevitable backlash that will cost them reputation and orders.

          Changing the price at some point down the line amounts to theft of potential interest […]

          Preorders opened ~2.5 months ago, so assuming 5% interest rate, the full USD 1900 would at most have generated 1.01%/USD 19 interest over ~75 days. Still money lost, but for those that can afford to pre-order a USD 1900 HMD, the time spent on gathering information and pre-ordering will be a lot more expensive.

          The damage caused here is in the order of the money/effort it takes to return a package after receiving the wrong article, IMHO more (avoidable) inconvenience than crime. Sure, taking even one Cent is technically theft. But focusing on unrealized profit from interest seems a little overdramatic when their refund policy is very fair and paying full price in advance not even necessary. The real issue is the unreliable product policy.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          But isn't the money for the preorder only deducted once they start shipping?

          • Dale Kirkley

            Nope, they take it at the point of order, ask me how I know.

          • Markis

            Ouch. I'm afraid ot also inquire…

            How many times did you have to RMA parts/entire headset until you got a working one, too? How many delays and difficulties getting the original one or getting later RMAs/tickets taken care of, too, while they had your money?

            Did you ever finally get a properly working product or gave up and refunded? Did they try to scam and blackmail you to not return your money like they have others?

          • Somerandomindividual

            Was that a rhetorical question? I mean come on, use some common sense and focus on the quality of replies and not the quantity.

      • Somerandomindividual

        Jaap please just stop with the lies. You have consistently lied in the last two product launches/reveals and at this point your word means absolutely nothing, your credibility is in tatters. The Super was never going to release in early Q1 and the Dream will never release in May. Pimax and its employees just lie through their teeth on a constant basis.

        • Jaap Grolleman

          The Crystal Light shipped exactly on time as promised, and we're on schedule to start shipping the Super in Q1.

          • Markis

            Well the Super was supposed to be shipped early Q4, then late Q4, and then January, then February, and then supposedly now late March. Nothing about that is "on schedule".

            Heck, the fact your company is still heavy in R&D on the Super means a nearly certain chance for Pimax to repeat its typical low quality/defective release of a product as you push up to release, and likely also severely lack stock availability. Clearly, your company has learned absolutely nothing and lied, once again, just as you are here.

      • Markis

        Pimax also promises trade-ins and upgrades for the 12K, but then offers new headsets that don't take trade-ins and delays 12K. Then offers more new headsets that don't allow trade-ins towards those for many of the popular headsets… Then offers Crystal Super with no proper trade-ins once again. Oh, and then you got the 12K none of these will trade in for. So what should have been a 1.5k purchase and trade in to make the next purchase a total of around 3k now becomes 15k in intermediate repurchases to upgrade their experience because Pimax keeps abusing its customers. Oh, and lets not forget the 12K was delayed because lack of DP2.1 despite the fact DSC on DP 1.4 already can handle nearly two of them in terms of bandwidth.

        Ah, lets not forget the mods, Pimax employees, that got caught committing felonies on the Reddit with Paypal scams, blackmail, and other leaked info they keep trying to cover up from users and banning people to silence.

        Pimax is a joke.

  • Stephen Bard

    IF in fact the Dream Air has only recently added speaker pods, split cable, USB C accessory slot reorientation, and is still trying to decide which display type and lens configuration to use . . . they then have to finish testing/optimizing the new hardware features with the software, then "tool up" to manufacture all these late-breaking features, actually establish factory time to manufacture a few thousand units . . . does anyone actually think that they will accomplish all of this and deliver you a headset in May?

    • Somerandomindividual

      Of course they will not deliver the headset in May, it's just typical Pimax lies to get us to fund their R&D.

  • XRC

    Very interested to see the final headstrap/ergonomics of the Super

    currently using the Crystal and Crystal Light, after some strap mods and addition of Studioform Creative cushions, both are comfortable, well balanced and usable for hours; typically I'm using the original Crystal for 4-5 hour sessions playing Into the Radius

  • My Thoughts

    Stop giving money to these con men. They lie constantly and provide garbage in return.

  • openface

    If pimax are still tweaking the dream air design then take note of the meganex and offer an adjustable halo mount. The motorised face clamp is the wrong direction.