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Test Setup
Over the summer, we spent an extended period testing the Pimax Vision 8K Plus. Typically, we spend about a week with a headset before writing a review and determining if it’s worthy of our best VR headsets page. That didn’t happen this time for a few reasons.
First of all, we received the headset during the height of the pandemic, which complicated our testing. Furthermore, we had numerous difficulties with the headset that prevented regular testing, including inconsistencies with test results and occasional hiccups with SteamVR that required unplugging the headset and rebooting the computer to correct.
Our experience with the initial unit was pretty great when we had it working, but it never seemed to work consistently. Pimax's support team ultimately helped determine that the headset was faulty and sent us a replacement. The failing headset is headed back to Pimax for further diagnostic, as they are not sure of the issue. Whatever happened with our first unit doesn't seem like it's a widespread problem, but we couldn't leave these details out of the review.
Our replacement headset seems to be operating as it should, and that’s what we used for the following benchmarks.
We tested the Pimax Vision 8K Plus with our standard VR testing system, which comprises an Intel Core i7-8700K at the stock 3.4 GHz clock speed, 16GB of G.Skill DDR4-3666 RAM and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition slotted into an Asus Prime Z87 Pro motherboard.
We used the latest versions of the Nvidia GeForce drivers (version 457.30) and the Pimax PiTool software ( V1.0.1.266 ) available at the time of testing. The headset had firmware V2.1.255.269 installed.
So Many Test Variables
Pimax headsets present a somewhat unique challenge for benchmarking. Most VR headsets offer a small number for performance-altering configuration options, allowing us to compare settings relatively easily. Pimax offers so many customization variables that it dramatically increased the number of tests to run and charts to produce.
With four games tested, Space Pirate Trainer, Serious Sam VR, Half-Life: Alyx and Beat Saber, we produced 185 charts for you to visualize the performance that we experienced.
We measured performance at 72 Hz, 90 Hz and 110 Hz and two resolutions for each refresh rate option. We let Steam VR dictate the suggested resolution for the first test and set Steam VR to 100% render scaling for each refresh rate for the second test.
Additionally, the Pimax 8K Plus supports variable FOV adjustment and allows you to run the device in one of four screen widths. We tried each field of view, but the performance tests were limited to the two widest options.
Test Results
Beat Saber
Beat Saber is one of the most popular VR titles.We usually use it to test the latency and tracking accuracy of VR controllers, but that's not as important because Pimax doesn't yet sell controllers. For this headset, Beat Saber gave us a way to test the image persistence of the screens subjectively. And in the case of headsets with variably refresh rates, such as our review focus, the game gives us a way to see the difference a faster refresh rate makes. And it makes a pretty big difference.
72 Hz worked, but the beat boxes were harder to hit at the lower refresh rate. At 90 Hz, gameplay feels quite a bit smoother, and 110 Hz made it feel like we could see things in slow motion. This allowed our minds to prepare for the next swing a touch sooner.
Our test system handled each refresh rate and each FOV in Beat Saber, but looked the best at 90 Hz with the normal FOV and 100% render scale on our test system.
Space Pirate Trainer
Space Pirate Trainer is an oldie but goodie. It's a good test because there are tons of particle and lighting effects when the action picks up. The game is exceptionally well optimized, but this game still gave our rig a run for its money in the large FOV setting.
With Normal FOV enabled, we were able to play this game at any of the resolutions we chose and with either refresh rate enabled. With the Large FOV setting enabled, we saw performance drops at 90 Hz and 110 Hz.
If you keep the resolution to the suggested settings, it should perform well across all refresh rates, but your image quality will suffer. Rendering the image quality at 56%, like the 110 Hz setting recommended, looked aliased.
To achieve the best possible image quality, you may need to sacrifice some performance unless you have a GPU more powerful than our RTX 2080 FE.
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope has been in our test suite since the beginning because there’s so much action that it's sure to give our system a hard time. With the Large FOV enabled and the resolution set to SteamVR's recommendations, we had excellent performance with almost no frame loss. 100% render scale proved too much for our GPU to deliver without catastrophic frametime issues.
The Normal FOV setting, once again, gave us far superior performance. The games ran buttery smooth at 110% render scale at a 90 Hz refresh rate and 92% at 110 Hz. We didn't have any frame drops with the Normal FOV enabled.
Image quality wasn't as good as expected. Serious Sam looked really good on the HP Reverb G2. The displays in the Pimax 8K Plus are nowhere near as good at color reproduction and contrast, and you can quickly tell that there's a difference in pixel density when you look at fine details.
The screen in the Vision 8K Plus feels somewhat washed out. While you can adjust the settings to dial it in how you would like it, having a factory-calibrated display would go a long way for consumers, especially people who would rather plug in and go than tinker for hours.
Half-Life: Alyx
Ever since Half-Life: Alyx launched, it’s been part of the test suite for one specific reason: It's one of the prettiest games around with some of the highest quality fine details to observe through the lens. It's also well optimized but not so optimized that we can't push the limits.
In Normal FOV mode, we experienced strong performance in all settings, except the highest refresh rate at full resolution, where we observed 10% to 15% late frames.
With Large FOV enabled and the resolution set to the recommended option, we observed consistent performance with all three refresh rates, but, again, the image quality suffered greatly. 100% render scale gives nearly passable performance at 72 Hz, with just over 80% of frames delivered on time.
The higher refresh rates don't fare so well, with 50% or more frames coming in too late to avoid reprojection. These settings were downright uncomfortable to play through. If you don't have a strong stomach for VR, you'll want to stay away from performance this bad. You need a potent GPU to run this headset properly.
Bottom Line
The Pimax Vision 8K Plus boasts several upgrades over the original model, including higher-refresh-rate displays, a more robust outer shell, soft-touch plastics and an upgraded head cushion. Those upgrades don't sound like much, but when you combine them all with Pimax's ultrawide headset platform, it adds up to a big improvement.
Overall, we’re quite impressed with the Vision 8K Plus headset. It offers the highest total resolution and the most expansive FOV of any VR headset that we've tested. The display isn't as crisp and clear as that of the HP Reverb G2, but the Vision 8K Plus' broad view into the virtual world is second to no other headset that we've tested.
However, there was one big road bump in our experience: This is the second Vision 8K Plus that Pimax sent me because the first one had a firmware problem that rendered it unstable and borderline unusable. An isolated problem with one piece of hardware shouldn’t dissuade you from considering a device, and we're not suggesting that you avoid the Pimax Vision 8K Plus or any other Pimax headsets.
Out of all the VR headsets we’ve tested, the Vision 8K Plus’ image clarity is only bested by the Reverb G2. If you're after the largest window into the virtual world, we've yet to try a headset that compares (other than Pimax's own 5K Plus lineup) to the Vision 8K Plus. Perhaps the Vision 8K X will claim the crown one day, but we've yet to test Pimax's flagship HMD formally.
In the meantime, give this headset a lot of consideration if you are seeking an upgrade from the original HTC Vive. If ultrawide is a big deal to you, the Pimax 8K Plus would offer a serious improvement in visual clarity and FOV. If you're coming from something like a Valve Index, you won't be as impressed unless, of course, FOV is your biggest concern.
The Pimax 8K Plus bundle with the base stations and Valve Index controllers would be a decent pick for anyone without Lighthouse base stations. Still, I would hesitate to suggest this headset to a VR newcomer because of the extra calibration efforts required. The Pimax 8K Plus is best suited for VR enthusiasts who aren't afraid to tinker.
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