PC VR News & Reviews

Somnium Space, the Czechia-based social platform creator, has raised prices on its enthusiast-grade PC VR headset, Somnium VR1, something the company says was done to “maintain the highest quality standards.”

The company announced last month it was paring down the number of previously offered configurations of Somnium VR1 alongside the news that, after January 16th, 2025, it was going to raise prices on its three remaining variants—but not by how much.

Now, the company has released that updated pricing info (excluding local taxes), which amounts to a €500 – €700 increase over previous prices:

The company says in a blogpost that the price hike is due to additional production costs:

These changes reflect the complex production processes and our unwavering commitment to delivering the best PCVR experience possible. High-quality materials, intricate designs, and rigorous quality control result in additional production costs, including the inevitable scrap of some expensive components to meet our standards. Our dedication to uncompromising quality ensures that each VR1 headset is a masterpiece, designed to exceed your expectations.

Originally offered in seven different consumer variants, the company has since discontinued its Classic Edition, Striker Edition, Specter Edition, and Translucent Edition—also likely done to slim down production costs.

Previously, Somnium Space’s entry level offering was its Classic Edition, which as its ‘barebones’ PC VR headset, didn’t include eye-tracking. That was priced at €1,900 (~$1,980 USD), which (like the table seen above) doesn’t account for local taxes.

Additionally, the company says it’s now adjusting its delivery timeline for new orders of Somnium VR1, with the updated delivery window slated for March–April 2025. Somnium Space maintains it’s working to reduce the delivery window to “just two weeks from order to shipment by mid-2025,” which includes most of Europe, the UK and US as supported shipping regions.

If you’re looking to learn more about Somnium VR1, make sure to check out our hands-on from the company’s annual Somnium Connect event last July.

Somnium VR1 Specs

• Display: QLED Mini-Led Fast LCD – 2,880 × 2,880 per-eye
• Field of view: 130° horizontal, 105° vertical. The VR1 can render up to 140° horizontally, though the actual FOV may vary slightly depending on face and eye shape.
• Refresh rate: 72 Hz, 90 Hz, upgradeable to 120 and 144 Hz (experimental)
• Local dimming zones: 576 per eye
• Eye tracking: 120 Hz, with an open-sourced algorithm that can be used and modified for any use case
• Connectivity: USB-C, DisplayPort 1.4, 3.5mm audio jack
• IPD Range: 57 to 76 mm

Pimax, the Chinese startup known for its wide field-of-view (FOV) PC VR headsets, has secured an additional ¥CN100 million (~$13.6 million USD) in an extension to its Series C funding.

According to an initial report from 36Kr (Chinese), the investment round was led by Zhuji Jingchuang Rong Investment Co, and supported by previous investor Ivy Capital, which took part in the company’s $20 million Series B in 2020. This brings to company’s overall outside investment to $82.7 million, according to Crunchbase data.

Pimax says its latest funding round will allow it to further expand its R&D group in the US, and establish a new R&D group in Europe. The 36Kr report maintains Pimax’s customer base is largely outside of China, accounting for as much as 80% of the company’s headset sales.

“This is mainly due to the company’s continuous R&D and innovation capabilities, complete product matrix layout, and mature overseas market strategy,” Pimax founder Robin Weng told 36Kr. “It is also due to the general trend of the global high-end VR market entering a stable and rapid growth track.”

Since its founding in 2015, Pimax is best known for its wide-FOV PC VR headsets, such as its latest ‘Crystal’ series headsets. The company has also shown increasing interest in the burgeoning slim and light headset category with the announcement of Dream Air in December, a slim and feature-rich PC VR headset.

Priced at $1,900 and expected to release in May 2025, the company also announce an optional puck-style compute unit ‘Cobb’, which houses a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset for standalone VR.

While Pimax has garnered an impressive amount of funding over the years, and largely delivered on its most important promises, the company has some notable challenges ahead.

In November, Pimax introduced a new payment model moving forward, allowing customers to buy their headsets at a lower price and try either its Crystal Light or soon-to-launch Crystal Super risk-free for 14 days. Instead of buying a headset at its full MSRP, the new structure puts requires the user to make an additional one-time payment after the trial period in order to gain continued access to the headset’s required software.

While the program was initially announced to include a 10-day trial period, the company quickly changed course to offer an additional four days after community backlash, and also an ostensible realization that it was obligated to offer 14 days as per consumer protection laws in the EU and UK.

More recently, the announcement of Dream Air seems to continue Pimax’s tendency to reveal new products before delivering on those it has previously announced. Revealed back in April 2024, the company’s Crystal Super headset was originally planned to release sometime in Q4 2024, however that was delayed to Q1 2025.

First batches containing the QLED 57 PPD optical engine are expected to start shipping at the end of January, with additional optical engines slated to release in March and April, the company tells us in a recent Q&A.

As for Dream Air’s separate compute unit, Cobb, Pimax says its has “no exact ETA,” as the company still wants “to add some features that we did not communicate in our Frontier announcement.” Based on Pimax’s past approach, it’s possible we may hear additional announcements before Cobb reaches consumers.

Somnium Space, the Prague, Czechia-based social platform creator, has officially begun launching its PC VR headset, Somnium VR1, in the US. Additionally, the company announced its streamlining the number of available variants, bringing it to just three consumer-focused versions, and also increasing prices soon on its higher-end units.

The company says it’s now discontinuing a number of previously offered configurations of Somnium VR1, including Striker Edition, Classic Edition, Specter Edition, and Translucent Edition.

The Classic Edition was previously its entry level, priced at €1,900 (~$1,980 USD), which didn’t include eye-tracking. Now the company’s cheapest VR1 is the Visionary Edition, which does include eye-tracking, and is priced at €2,499 (~$2,600 USD). Notably, these prices don’t include local tax.

“For those who have already purchased these discontinued editions — don’t worry, your orders are safe, and you will receive them as planned,” the company says in a new announcement. “In fact, owning one of these variants will make your headset even more exclusive and unique.”

Continuing, the company outlines the reasoning behind discontinuing those versions:

“This decision allows us to focus our efforts on delivering the Visionary, Ultimate, and Titan Editions faster and more efficiently, while continuing to meet the highest standards of quality you expect from us.”

Somnium Space is also increasing prices of its Visionary, Ultimate, and Titan Editions. For now, it’s unclear what those new prices will be. The company says it’s keeping current prices until January 16th, 2025. Thereafter, new pricing will be announced and become effective on January 16th, 2025, the company says.

Here’s a recap of its variants and pricing structure as it stands today (tax not included):

• Visionary Edition (VR, eye-tracking): €2,499 (~$2,600 USD)
• Titan Edition (VR, eye-tracking, hand-tracking): €2,899 (~$3,020 USD)
• Ultimate Edition (VR, eye-tracking, hand-tracking, MR passthrough): €3,499 (~$3,659 USD)
• Military Edition (VR, eye-tracking, hand-tracking, MR passthrough): ???

“While we strive to make Somnium VR1 as affordable as possible, we also refuse to compromise on quality. The production process for these headsets has turned out to be far more complex than initially anticipated. As a result, we will be increasing prices for the Visionary, Ultimate, and Titan Editions,” the company says.

Somnium Space maintains orders made today are currently estimated to arrive in February – March 2025, with shipping regions including most of Europe, the UK and US.

Moving forward into 2025, the Somnium Space says it plans to eventually sell spare parts for the Somnium VR1, including items such as optical modules, main boards, electronics, cables, screens, and more.

Somnium VR1 Specs

• Display: QLED Mini-Led Fast LCD – 2,880 × 2,880 per-eye
• Field of view: 130° horizontal, 105° vertical. The VR1 can render up to 140° horizontally, though the actual FOV may vary slightly depending on face and eye shape.
• Refresh rate: 72 Hz, 90 Hz, upgradeable to 120 and 144 Hz (experimental)
• Local dimming zones: 576 per eye
• Eye tracking: 120 Hz, with an open-sourced algorithm that can be used and modified for any use case
• Connectivity: USB-C, DisplayPort 1.4, 3.5mm audio jack
• IPD Range: 57 to 76 mm

Looking for a more in-depth look at Somnium VR1? Check out our hands-on from July 2024 to hear our impressions.

Fallout: London is a total conversion mod based on Bethesda’s popular Fallout 4 (2015) for PC. While the team behind the mod hasn’t mentioned whether potential VR support is in the works, an intrepid modder is taking things into their own hands.

As first reported by PC Guide’s Charlie Noon, it’s still early days for this particular VR mod, which hopes to let PC VR players jump into the post-apocalyptic London as envisioned by the FOLON modding team. It’s a complete overhaul, with custom maps, assets, and even voice acting—all built independently from Bethesda.

‘Raezroth Elnheim’, the unassociated creator behind the VR mod, says on the Fallout: London Discord it’s “a passion project right now,” however they note they’re “interested in making it a reality.”

Here’s an early look at the VR mod in action, which also includes support for motion controllers.

Notably, while many flatscreen Fallout 4 mods work when applied to the official VR version by managing mods via the Nexus launcher, Fallout: London presents a few more challenges, it seems.

Raezroth says experimentation started when the Fallout: London DLC was released back in July, which is the result of importing Fallout: London files into Bethesda’s Fallout 4 VR (2017), although it’s clearly not such a simple plug-and-play solution.

Just how they did it will be revealed “in time,” Raezroth says. In the meantime, the VR mod is still a solo project—at least for now—as the creator is hoping to get the attention of the mod’s FOLON team to dig in further.

Still, progress looks good thus far, as Raezroth notes the mod can load save files and the mod’s custom assets, saying however “there are missing meshes and such [that] need fixing.” Additionally, some patches are required to make the FOLON UI compatible in VR.

While it’s still too early to download Raezroth’s mod yourself, we’ll be keeping our eye on the project and let you know as soon as you can.

Alongside updates to its PC VR headset lineup, Pimax revealed a new financing plan for Crystal Super and Crystal Light which makes both PC VR headsets more affordable, but also alters the payment structure and returns policy in a way that could raise a few eyebrows moving forward.

Announced back in April, Crystal Super is set to be the company’s next flagship PC VR headset, offering a base 57 PPD version with QLED panels that features a staggering resolution of 3,840 x 3,840 pixels per eye, a 120-degree field-of-view (FOV), and glass aspheric lenses with a reported 99% light transmission.

Additionally, Crystal Super supports eye-tracking, dynamic foveated rendering, inside-out tracking, and features swappable optical engines as well as offering a smaller, redesigned form factor for improved ergonomics. Principally targeted at VR simmers who already run a top of the line GPU, it basically represents a veritable wishlist of specs when the 57 PPD version arrives sometime in Q1 2025.

And even more so when the additional optical engines arrive at some point, which includes a micro-OLED engine for $699, and a 50 PPD QLED engine with 135-degree FOV for $399. Pre-orders for those optional add-ons are set to take place early next year.

Along with the fully updated spec sheet and launch of Crystal Super pre-orders, Pimax announced a new pricing structure for both Crystal Super and its previously released Crystal Light which reduces their overall prices, but makes some controversial changes to how the company’s payment structure and returns policy works.

While you can watch another one of Pimax’s patently byzantine video announcements to hear the marketing gist, we’ve dug a little deeper to find out what it means to the end user.

Pimax Prime (no relation)

On the face of it, the base price for Crystal Super is going down from the initially announced $1,800 to $1,695. Crystal Light, originally launched at $899, is going to $858. Notably, these pricing tiers both include controllers. As with all things Pimax though, it’s not so straight forward.

Now, the company is introducing a new mandatory financing/membership program, called ‘Pimax Prime’, which allows customers to purchase Crystal Super for $999 upfront, and Crystal Light for $599 upfront.

Similar to the previous Trial Payment scheme rolled out in May for Crystal Light, Pimax is offering a trial period so you can see if its right for you. When it ends, you’ll be on the hook to choose between one of two payment plans to keep the headset’s software working, or return the headset to Pimax for a full refund.

For Crystal Super, customers can choose between a one-time payment of $696, or a $33 per-month two-year plan ($792 total) for access to the required Pimax Play software. For Crystal Light, the one-time payment costs $259, or $12 per-month two-year plan ($288 total). If monthly payments are missed during the plan, software access is suspended.

After Prime payments are completed however, access to Pimax Play is entirely free for the particular headset in question. That’s seemingly great news if everything goes to plan, and you’re happy with the product, or if you find out it’s not right for you and you want a refund within the trial period.

While Pimax Prime hopes to sweeten the pot with extras such as early access to new software features, exclusive invitations to members-only events, and priority technical support, the payment plan is bringing along with it a fundamental change to how refunds work moving forward, effectively offering some customers less flexibility than before despite a lower overall price.

Through its previous Trial Payment scheme released in May, Crystal Light gave users a 15-day trial period, where customers could make free returns, provided the device wasn’t damaged by the user, and 30 days if damaged in transit. Now, Pimax only offers a 10-day return window in both cases, meaning you’re on the hook for a payment plan after the trial period no matter what.

While return policies vary in the United States, as that country lacks any such federally mandated consumer protection laws, the EU and UK provide consumers with the right to return any physical product within 14 days without justification, and provides two years against faulty goods, which doesn’t cover the usual suspects: user error, misuse, accidental damage, normal wear-and-tear, etc.

Herein lies the problem. As keen-eyed Redditor ‘TotalWarspammer’ points out, Prime is basically non-refundable after the 10-day period. It is however refundable if purchased within the 10-day period, or at the discretion of Pimax thereafter (see update below). Essentially, if you’re on day 10 of your headset and choose to get the best deal by signing up for the one-time payment, and then you change your mind a few days later, it’s up to Pimax to determine whether it will process the refund in full, which would include the purchased Prime subscription.

Notably, Pimax’s 12-month limited warranty does not include “any software whatsoever, whether developed by PIMAX or a third party, even if intended or labelled as for use with the Product.”

The jury is still out on whether this calculated gamble could actually be a misstep, as it has the potential to overshadow ostensibly good hardware from a company that has been able to offer niche PC VR headsets at increasingly reasonable prices. Then again, it may be just what you need to see whether a Pimax headset is right for you, as you’ll have a few days to figure it out and send it back for free. Still, paying for access to middleware that should be included for free may simply not sit right with some, no matter the justification behind it.

Pimax says Prime membership won’t be limited to Crystal Light and Crystal Super either, as the program will expand to include the future Pimax VR headsets too. So we’ll just have to wait and see how the community reacts, and whether Pimax’s new strategy really is here for good.

Update (November 26th, 2024): An early statement found on the headsets’ FAQ stated Pimax Prime was non-refundable, which is not the case—at least within the 10-day trial period, or at the discretion of the company beyond that date.

“If a customer has upgraded to Prime and decides to return the headset within the 10 day window (or at discretion of Pimax, which we sometimes do), both the base price as well as Prime would be refunded,” says Jaap Grolleman, Director of Overseas Marketing Operations.

We’ve included that information in the text above, and also added a statement regarding the limited 12-month warranty.