Varjo Aero vs Pico 4?

[Donka]

I'm using the Pico 4 as my first VR headset and really enjoying it in MSFS. I am looking at possibly picking up the Varjo Aero for improved visuals but the one concern I have is the vertical FOV which many say is reduced from the likes of the Quest and Pico series. Has anyone mad a similar upgrade and can comment on this? Does it have a noticeable impact?

[threexgreen]

I've tried the Varjo Aero as a possible upgrade from my G2 and I'll be blunt: It's not worth the money at all and I returned it after one day of testing.

As you've said, the vertical FOV is narrow - very narrow. A serious downgrade from the G2 which is about the normal vertical FOV you get with headsets currently. With the G2, I don't really notice the 'scuba diving' effect but the Aero made it very obvious because of the small vertical FOV. In comparison, the Aero felt too confined.

Another huge negative of the Aero is what I would describe as a 'waving' effect at the corners of the screen. When you move your head, everything in the left and right corners is 'waving' like waves at sea. This is the best I can describe it and for a headset this expensive this is unacceptable. Otherwise, the picture quality is good. You can upscale the resolution natively in the Varjo app for better resolution, however that seriously affects performance to the point I didn't find it useable. Default resolution is a little better than the G2 (which has 2160x2160 per eye).

It also doesn't have integrated headphones. It comes with in-ear headphones instead that you plug into the headset. Initially, I thought this was a good solution since the G2 headphones - while very good in quality - are somewhat displaced from the ears so that some of that bass goes missing. The sound of the in-ear headphones that come with the Aero are pretty low quality though. I guess you can use different ones that are better but again, at that price point it ought to have a decent (rather, very good) sound solution.

The Aero also still uses third-party base stations for tracking instead of inside-out-tracking which, you guessed it, is another negative considering the price. Two Steam base stations will add another $500 on top of the very expensive headset.

I also couldn't get eye tracking to work. I can't remember the reason exactly, but I seem to remember it only works with software specifically built for Varjo eye tracking. MSFS isn't, so it's useless for that purpose and you won't benefit from otherwise resulting performance boosts (don't quote me on this though - but it does not work with MSFS).

I'm very disappointed with the Aero overall. I don't get why people think it's some sort of next level VR experience. All things considered, I believe the G2 to be a much better experience and I was actually kind of relieved when I put it back on to compare after testing the Aero. The price makes this even worse. I also tested the Pico 4, but returned it too because the streaming solution doesn't convince me as I think a cable solution is much better, especially for graphically intense things like MSFS. Its visuals however are far better than the Aero's overall, no matter the higher resolution of the latter, so my advice strongly is to keep the Pico 4.

I'm not trying to rain on the Aero, but it just was underwhelming and the price is frankly outrageous considering the downsides. The visual quality isn't better than Pico 4, I'd actually say its worse because of the narrow vertical FOV and the horrible waving effect.

[Donka]

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. I'm thinking of sticking with the Pico 4 for the time being. It's a very good product for the money and I'm hoping to see some new options open up next year.

[vonduck]

Holy Moly threegreen! Great review and so happy i read this as was seriously considering getting something that i thought was 'better' than my G2! Yikes!

Seems ill stick wit this until something more suitable comes along...

Thanks again for saving me a butt ton of dosh!

[FlyIce]

That's a fantastic review about Aero. Happy I didn't buy and try it against G2. Kind of hard to believe G2 is still so hard to beat. XR-4 sounds like a dream on paper, but that's $4000. Half the price I'll be seriously tempted.

[zorro747]

11 hours ago, threegreen said:

I've tried the Varjo Aero as a possible upgrade from my G2 and I'll be blunt: It's not worth the money at all and I returned it after one day of testing.

 

A while ago I almost bought Varjo after they announced the price drop. I have watched many videos where people were praising the set. But then I spoke to some experienced people and they convinced me to forget about Varjo. As threegreen described, the same arguments I got from the people I spoke to. All those VR sim guyslike youtubers apparently get paid in order to advertise the products. According to the facts I've been given, Quest3 is the set which is still worth of trying. Those who are using G2 there is no need to upgrade. Because that headset is still capable.  But novadays there is still a lack of technologies which let us fully enjoy VR.

Edited December 1, 2023 by zorro747

[threexgreen]

15 hours ago, FlyIce said:

That's a fantastic review about Aero. Happy I didn't buy and try it against G2. Kind of hard to believe G2 is still so hard to beat. XR-4 sounds like a dream on paper, but that's $4000. Half the price I'll be seriously tempted.

The XR-4 is actually the one I'd suggest. The Aero seems old at this point and the XR-4 like the current Varjo offering considering the features of both, but, you know, the price.

[Donka]

2 minutes ago, threegreen said:

The XR-4 is actually the one I'd suggest. The Aero seems old at this point and the XR-4 like the current Varjo offering considering the features of both, but, you know, the price.

At this price point, I'm surprised they are not using OLED.

[threexgreen]

2 minutes ago, Donka said:

At this price point, I'm surprised they are not using OLED.

That's exactly what I mean. You'd expect more for the price and it's lacking in some areas compared to headsets that are way cheaper.

[Cargostorm]

I have both the Pico 4 and the Aero. My biggest complaint with the Pico was the resolution and the resulting blurry text in glass cockpits (with TAA). After the price drop of the Aero, I bought it and have it now in usefor several weeks. As mentioned above, the FOV of the Aero is not as large as on the PICO but the Aero wins in all other departments. You get used to the smaller FOV after a while. The image in the Aero is much sharper now, nearly as sharp as a monitor. Also the colours look better to my eyes. I am using two base stations with the Aero in order to cover all positions in the cockpit. With only one base station, tracking was lost at one point when turning to much to one side. As I use a headset in addition to the VR glasses, I do not not care that the Aero has no speakers or mic. I will keep the Aero and eventually sell the Pico4. It still has its merits as a standalone VR headset.

Edited December 12, 2023 by Cargostorm