Pico 4 - The great long term review
The Pico 4 has been my daily driver for just under 4 months now and here are my experiences with the headset.
I know the headset has been on the market for a little over 4 months now. But I have so far resisted to publish a review for the headset, because I had some problems with my review headset. At times even to the point of pulling my hair out, that I would have preferred to have a long-range throwing contest instead of a game review with that headset. I was also quite disappointed that after my positive pre-release hands-on, the headset unfortunately came up with some bugs and other inconveniences. This completely turned my initial impression at the time into a negative one. Over time, however, Pico (aka. Bytedance) were able to iron out these bugs with updates and since then the Pico 4 has become the headset I use daily on my trips into virtual reality. Today we’ll take a look at whether the headset is the holy grail for budget VR or whether the Pico 4 can rather be thrown in the garbage can.
General specifications
- Resolution: 2160×2160 per eye
- Pixel density: 20.76 PPD
- FOV: 105° diagonal
- IPD: 62–72 mm
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2
- Weight: 586 grams
- WiFi: WiFi 6 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax
- Price and storage: 128 GB — 429.99 euros/ 256 GB — 499.99 euros
- Battery: 5300 mAh — approx. 2–3 hours runtime
Good technology for little money
In things like clarity, comfort, and sweet spot, the affordable headset doesn’t have to hide. The pancake lenses, which were previously reserved for very expensive VR headsets, are one of the biggest upgrades. Blurry edges and ring artifacts from outdated Fresnel lenses (like in the Valve Index/Quest 2, etc.) are now a thing of the past. In some cases, I even like the picture better than on my Quest Pro. The headset also comes up trumps in terms of comfort. The headset weighs 586 grams and is perfectly balanced due to the integrated battery in the back of the headset. Even longer play sessions and faster movements do not bother me and do not leave the typical VR marks of the face pad, which we know from many other headsets. The controllers are also impressive. They feel very high-quality and also have good tracking coverage due to their strange design. Even in shooters, where the controllers are often overlapped, I rarely had problems.
Not all that glitters is gold
So far, we have only looked at the positive aspects of the headset. But now we will take a closer look under the hood. A few things still bother me, and I wish Pico had made more of an effort in some areas. Basically, the headset is good, but not perfect. The first point is the supplied face pad. Depending on the shape of your head, the face pad doesn’t adjust properly and can cause light to fall in, which is then reflected on the lenses. This even bothered me during my gaming sessions and had me out of immersion many times. The comfort could also be better, because out of the box the face pad is very stiff and uncomfortable. However, this will subside after about 20 hours of continuous use and then it feels quite good. Another point is unfortunately the missing Displayport connector, which we know from the Pico Neo3 Link. Wireless PCVR gaming is quite nice with the headset, but with an optional Displayport connection, the headset would have been the perfect choice for PC VR. But unfortunately, no manufacturer seems to show interest in bringing the VR scene’s jack of all trades to the market. Too bad Pico…
My standalone experience
In itself, my standalone experience with the headset is very solid. The Pico Store offers many must-have VR titles like Red Matter 2 and Superhot. But unfortunately, you will have to pass on certain games. Beat Saber, Resident Evil 4 VR, and even popular Star Wars VR titles like Galaxy’s Edge are disappointingly not coming to the Pico Store. Still, there is something for everyone among the available games. I never felt like I was missing anything and had a lot of fun in standalone mode. As a little treat, Pico will even bring the Just Dance series exclusively to their headsets in the near future, where you can then shake your body wildly to the latest popular tunes. For me, the Pico 4 also had another great feature. One of my highlights was the virtual cinema, where you can watch movies, shows and 3D media. The pancake lenses, the resolution of the displays and the comfort of the headset were impressive as a portable cinema.
PC VR - Yes please!
This is where the Pico 4 really flexes its muscles. Thanks to Virtual Desktop, which you can find in the Pico Store for about 20 Euros, you can easily stream your PC VR games wirelessly to the headset via your Wi-Fi network. Pico also offers a free solution, but I was not completely convinced by the latency and quality, but it should be enough for casual gamers among you. However, I would rather recommend Virtual Desktop, since I like the quality and the settings better. The glasses themselves are the star of the show here, though. Thanks to the pancake lenses, relatively large FOV and decent audio solution, the glasses are the best PC VR option in the low-budget range. For just over 400 Euros, you won’t find a VR headset that offers a better PC VR experience. This is a clear buying recommendation for me.
My conclusion: The best complete package in the budget range so far!
You won’t get a better headset for the price of 429.99 Euros for the 128 GB variant or 499.99 Euros for the 256 GB variant. It doesn’t matter if you only want to play in standalone mode or if you want to dive into exciting PC VR worlds. Pico offers a very affordable headset here, which will please VR newbies and even experienced PC VR veterans. If you’re not waiting for a possible Quest 3 and want to jump into virtual reality right now, the Pico 4 is my absolute recommendation to buy. I just hope Pico does their homework here and learns from their mistakes. Because a successor could turn the already good VR headset into a perfect all-around VR option.
