My experience with virtual reality headsets have always been a little…nauseating. Early headsets like the PlayStation VR looked frankly terrible especially if you were playing fast-paced games. But now, I got the chance to check out a brand new standalone VR headset from PICO. It’s called the PICO 4 and things are looking…interesting.
It’s not an understatement to say I was shocked at how much fun the PICO 4 was to play. I think the brief bouts of nausea I encountered was more down to the game that was being played than I think the hardware that was running it. Once I had the movement down right, it honestly didn’t bother me anymore.
I was probably most impressed with how balanced the weight of the headset was. I think they’ve absolutely done a great job with moving the battery to the back so it takes a lot of weight off the front of your face. Though, speaking of the front of my face, I had to get the nose flaps installed because my Asian nose was just too flat to seal it.
The screen was crisp and responsive, the controls were also very quick and easy to get used to. But I think as a media device I think the speakers are the most impressive. They tuck away so neatly into the band, but they’re still more than loud enough for an immersive experience. Yes, they’re not the best sounding speakers, but they’re good enough that it doesn’t take away from the immersion and honestly that’s all I really need.
For RM1,699 for the base model and RM1,999 for the version with more storage, I don’t really think it’s too much to ask for the kind of experience that you’d get. It’s sort of like buying a gaming console.
