As a quick background, I should say that I have been using an Oculus Rift for about 1 year and a half and flying almost exclusively in VR in P3D, XP11 and DCS. While I am very happy with the current experience, I was really intrigued with the launch of Windows Mixed Reality Devices, especially the Samsung Odyssey, currently one of the HMDs with highest resolution available (same res. as the incoming Vive Pro).

The usual price for the Odyssey is US$ 499,00, but the headset is currently available for US$ 399,00. I would have bought the Odyssey much earlier actually, but I was waiting for it to be released in Europe. Considering that it is still no available in my country, I had to import the device and paid a total of 500 Euro for it. I bought it Tuesday from Amazon and got it today via DHL express (pretty impressed with the delivery time).

So, I have spent some hours testing it on P3D, XP11 and DCS and here are my short initial impressions:

The Good

• Relatively easy to set up. The fact that it does not need external sensors is a huge plus!
• The screen is better than the Rift. It is not a dramatic change, but things are clearer in the cockpit, especially with super-sampling.
• The integration with SteamVR seems to be MUCH better than the Rift! Even though it has a better resolution, I have the impression that it performs better on XP11`s Native VR and seems to have less glitches.
• Field of View is bigger than the Rift;
• The OLED screen, besides the resolution, seems to be better overall.

The Bad

• The controllers are not as good as the Oculus Touch. They are pretty bulky in comparison, but usable I guess;
• The headset itself is not as comfortable as the Rift. A bit heavier and bigger.
• The WMR software is not as good as the Rift (already experience some small quirks that will demand further investigation). There is no way to import windows yet, hopefully that is coming. There is at least the option to see your Desktop and then go back to the sim.

So, I just had some 2 or 3 hours to test the device and for sure will have more to share in the days/weeks to come. I am, nevertheless, pretty happy with my purchase and I believe that my Rift will be listed on eBay very soon! The screen resolution bump is great and I already noticed that it will be invaluable for IFR flying!

 

Thank you for your report. 

Can you tell us more about the incrase resolution !

for example if you use pmdg like the 737 ngx are you now able to see the minima altitude in the screen without zooming ? I supose the bigger difference is with small text not really with the outside landscape ?

I am very interested with the htc vive pro but I don't have enough 

comparative report  

 

Thiago,

A man of your word and great to see.

Thanks for your imparted wisdom.  I think this is one to keep an eye on, but I am still waiting on the Pimax8k hands on reviews.

I was interested to note your point regarding comfort. Whilst this will always be a personal preference thing, most of the limited comments I have seen are to the effect that it is indeed heavier but better balanced (weight is on the forehead) and therefore more comfortable. All comments say resolution and field of view is better and your comments are the only ones I have seen that are specifically Flightsimming related.

Also, I noted that XPlane handled it better than P3D and DCS but, I think XPlane is the only platform which specifically stated that it supported WMR and the Oddyssy.

I stand to be corrected here if that statement is incorrect. However, whilst on that subject, other than performance and lack of gliches, is XPlane, in your opinion, the best platform for VR and/or MR and if so, can you tell us why you think that. Again this is always going to be a personal opinion, but if you can give us that information, it may well help a lot of VR and MR novices to make a decision.

Thanks again Thiago for that report.

Regards

Tony

7 hours ago, guit32 said:

Thank you for your report. 

Can you tell us more about the incrase resolution !

for example if you use pmdg like the 737 ngx are you now able to see the minima altitude in the screen without zooming ? I supose the bigger difference is with small text not really with the outside landscape ?

I am very interested with the htc vive pro but I don't have enough 

comparative report  

 

Yes, with super-sampling set in SteamVR to 2.0 I am able to see most instruments without zooming in. It is still not as clear as a monitor, but considerably better than the Rift. The difference is quite remarkable when you look to the overhead as well, everything is clearer and easier to read. For some things, like the FMC for example, you would still need to look down and perhaps move your head a bit (I assume the same is true in a real airplane). As for the outside landscape, I believe the difference is not as significant. but that was really never a problem for me.

As I said, this device has the same resolution as the income Vive Pro, does not need external tracking sensors and cost only USD399. For sure the Vive Pro will cost much more than that!

6 hours ago, himmelhorse said:

Thiago,

A man of your word and great to see.

Thanks for your imparted wisdom.  I think this is one to keep an eye on, but I am still waiting on the Pimax8k hands on reviews.

I was interested to note your point regarding comfort. Whilst this will always be a personal preference thing, most of the limited comments I have seen are to the effect that it is indeed heavier but better balanced (weight is on the forehead) and therefore more comfortable. All comments say resolution and field of view is better and your comments are the only ones I have seen that are specifically Flightsimming related.

Also, I noted that XPlane handled it better than P3D and DCS but, I think XPlane is the only platform which specifically stated that it supported WMR and the Oddyssy.

I stand to be corrected here if that statement is incorrect. However, whilst on that subject, other than performance and lack of gliches, is XPlane, in your opinion, the best platform for VR and/or MR and if so, can you tell us why you think that. Again this is always going to be a personal opinion, but if you can give us that information, it may well help a lot of VR and MR novices to make a decision.

Thanks again Thiago for that report.

Regards

Tony

I am also interested in the Pimax 8K, but I believe we will need new hardware for that HMD. In XP11 I am almost maxing out my VRAM (11Gb), so anything with an increased resolution would demand a new GPU with more VRAM.

As for WMR devices, any solution that supports SteamVR will work on these devices. That means not only DCS and P3D, but also pretty much any VR simulator/game/app that is on Steam. The Odyssey is as easy to use with P3D/DCS as an Oculus or a Vive.

Regarding the best platform for VR, I believe XP11 currently has the most potential, but it is still under constant development. It is currently the only one that allows you to interact with the flight-deck using your touch controls. DCS is still the best one in terms of performance, fluidity and looks...that thing is beautiful. As for P3D, it also works really well and it is definitely more stable than XP11 at the moment, surely because it is not as ambitious.                                                                                               

When we will have the new headset like the vive pro and a good single pass mod in p3d ( this mode is incredible) we would be near heaven in flight sim !!

thank you for your answer for resolution, it seels to be good !!

Look like my timing is fight on to enter the VR world. I just started a thread to try to determine whether to buy an Oculus or a rift but I think this is the one! At $100 off, higher resolution and head tracking without base stations its got to be the winner. I'll be ordering any day now

 

EDIT: OK, I see I'll have to update to Windows 10 too

1 hour ago, guit32 said:

When we will have the new headset like the vive pro and a good single pass mod in p3d ( this mode is incredible) we would be near heaven in flight sim !!

thank you for your answer for resolution, it seels to be good !!

Why wait for the Vive Pro? The Odissey has the same resolution and it’s already available. Besides, it needs no external sensors and costs just 399USD. For sure the Vive will cost at least 600. 

Because i already have a vive with the base station and i aslo like to play other games in roomscale so I will prefer to stay in this solution ! I heard a lot of review about the controleur in wmr headset not so good ...

Hello all,

Thiago, thanks for your reply, please keep these observations coming. These are the the only VR/Flight sim related comments I have seen so far.

Now for something completely different LOL The new Vive Pro has just noted to have two cameras similar to the Oddyssy.  No prices have been mentioned but in simming terms it ain't gunna be cheap I don't think.

I am still waiting for Pimax to "bring it on" but it certainly just keeps getting more difficult to make an HDM or VR system decision.  I wonder how many people are playing the "wait and see" game just like me. I hope I do not miss the boat LOL

It is all very interesting and I cannot wait for all the incoming news (particularly from Pimax)  Magic Leap, I think is going to be another one to keep an eye on.

Cheers to all

Tony

I just ordered the Odyssey.  Really looking forward to trying it out.  

lol I'm playing rift games on the odyssey thanks to the revive app! which I bought at the store or the demos ;) still tweaking x-plane and p3d and many thanks to Thiago for posting his experience here, the odyssey is good so far. make sure you have good lighting and Bluetooth connection is decent. controllers seem big at first if you tried the rift which are smaller, but its fine I got used to it fast.

 

https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive for The Odyssey  it works in steam vr.

Edited March 7, 20188 yr by Silverbird

I bought the odyssey a few months ago and didnt care for the controllers.  I play alot of room scale stuff on the rift and the tracking is perfect.  I also had a few issues getting it to work in P3D/Xp so i returned it.  Although I dont know if I could stick with it and only use it on flight sims for the cost.  The screen was REALLY nice though in comparison and I never even got to enabling the super sampling!

On 3/11/2018 at 12:56 PM, pegruder said:

I bought the odyssey a few months ago and didnt care for the controllers.  I play alot of room scale stuff on the rift and the tracking is perfect.  I also had a few issues getting it to work in P3D/Xp so i returned it.  Although I dont know if I could stick with it and only use it on flight sims for the cost.  The screen was REALLY nice though in comparison and I never even got to enabling the super sampling!

So far I haven't had any tracking problems but I could see were it might becomes a problem for some games.