Best VR sets for gaming review

Best VR headsets in  2019: HTC Vive, Oculus, PlayStation VR Head-to-Head.

All in all, the setup process for the HTC VIVE VR takes around an hour from unboxing to jumping into a game. If you’ve got a second pair of hands (and aren’t screwing beacons into the wall), you can probably get it done in less time.

In terms of games and apps, the choice is increasing all the time. Elite Dangerous is definitely worth picking up if you want to experience a truly fantastic VR game, although it’s at its best when played with a flight stick setup – adding to the cost of your newly purchased VR rig.

Thankfully there are plenty of enjoyable indie games and short little titles to sink your teeth into. Valve’s own playground The Lab is great fun for both a quick VR gaming blast and as a way to show your friends just how immersive VR gaming experiences can be. There’s also the truly bizarre Selfie Tennis, which sees you playing tennis with yourself while candy-coloured, tennis-ball-headed jesters dance around the outside edge of the court. CCP Games’ upcoming VR Tron-style arena battler Sparc is also on the way to HTC Vive later this year and, having played a prototype build back in April 2016, this could well be the first major VR release to come to PC unless Valve rolls something out soon. Still, don’t let that discourage you from buying a HTC Vive. If you have the cash and fancy dipping your toes into VR, you won’t be disappointed.

In its price range, the HTC Vive VR isn’t cheap. To compare, Oculus Rift now comes with Oculus Touch in the box and you get an Xbox One controller thrown in too. The extra cost by the Vive in comparison is really being spent on Vive’s room-scale setup, which would cost you a fair bit if you opted for Oculus’ room-scale solution as you need to buy an extra sensor to get it to work.

In terms of design, the only criticism we’d have to level at the Oculus Rift is its built-in on-ear headphones. It’s handy not having to fumble around for a pair of earbuds or over-ear headphones with your headset on, but they do always seem to get in the way and don’t feel overly comfortable to have perched on your ear. Oculus does offer an option to switch them out for its alternative built-in earbuds, which aren’t included in the box. The general sound quality is pretty impressive, if not slightly over loud, but they’re just not really for us.

In terms of headset hardware specifications, the Oculus Rift is practically identical to that of the HTC Vive. Both have 110-degree viewing angles, twin 1,200 x 1,080-pixel OLED displays and a 90Hz refresh rate. The difference in visual clarity also seems to be down to personal preferences. One thing the Oculus Rift does have going for it over the HTC Vive is its lower minimum system requirements. The HTC Vive needs at least a Nvidia GTX 970 to run, along with an Intel Core i5-4590, but thanks to AMD’s Asynchronous Spacewarp technology, Oculus Rift can actually run on an Intel Core i3-6100 or AMD FX4350, Nvidia GTX 960 or Radeon R9 290 and 8GB of RAM.

You’ll be pleased to know that Oculus Rift is actually rather straightforward in terms of initial setup. Thanks to the lack of Lighthouse beacons, and no need to put out a separate feed from your computer to a TV, it actually has fewer cables than both the HTC Vive and PlayStation VR. Because of this, you can simply plug in the tracking cameras you have into USB 2 or USB 3 ports. The software detects if you have one, two or three cameras hooked in and follow the on-screen instructions. In total, setting up for standing play with Oculus Touch took around ten minutes once all drivers were installed.

If you like games, and you only see owning a VR headset as a gateway to playing more games rather than VR experiences, Oculus Rift is for you. It’s got a fantastic catalogue featuring some of the best VR games around and, because Oculus works directly as a VR games publisher and with game development, many VR titles feel fantastic to play with an Oculus Rift.

If you own a PS4 and a DualShock 4 controller you’re already halfway there. The PSVR simply plugs into the back of the console via the bundled control box, with the only other requirement being a PlayStation Camera. This doesn’t come with the headset, but several retailers are selling it as part of a PSVR bundle pack, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble tracking one down. The PS Camera you’ll most likely see being sold is the new second-generation version, which now has a cylindrical design and hinge-stand making it easier to align with the headset. The hardware inside it is exactly the same as the previous model, though, so don’t make the mistake of upgrading if you already own one.

With those three things in place, you’re good to go. There’s no PC involved, no hassle of having to upgrade any of your rig’s components, and you don’t need to clear out a significant portion of your living room to use it. Sony still recommends you sit around five feet away from the camera, but given that PSVR is primarily a seated VR experience, at least you won’t have to move the furniture around every time you want to start playing.

Just like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, Sony PlayStation VR is a tethered headset. That means there’s a long cable that trails from the back of the headset into the main control box, which in turn plugs into the back of the PS4. You’ll be sitting down most of the time, so it’s unlikely you’ll find your legs getting tangled up in them, but it’s something to be aware of if your console lives in a busy living room with kids or pets rushing in and out. You can stand and move about a little bit if you’re playing a game that supports Sony’s optional motion-sensing PlayStation Move controllers, but these are still largely stationary experiences that don’t require you to walk around.

You’ll find two joined-up cables trailing out the back of the headset: one HDMI cable and one proprietary connection that can either plug into the bundled extension lead, taking the total cable length to 4.4m, or straight into the main control box. Dubbed the “Processing Unit”, this device mirrors the design of the original PS4, with a split running down one-third of the box and an LED light strip across the front. The smaller section neatly slides backwards to reveal two ports, which Sony has marked with its classic Square, Circle, X and Triangle symbols. Then you slide the housing back to keep everything looking neat and tidy.

The Oculus Go VR requires nothing to function aside from your head. You don’t need to keep it attached to a powerful, expensive gaming PC. You don’t need to insert the right type of phone to power it. The Oculus Go is neither PC VR nor phone VR. It’s a standalone device and may very well be remembered as the first VR headset to bring virtual reality to the masses.

You simply pair the standalone VR headset with your phone, put it on your head, and you’re off to the VR races. For the multitudes who have been sitting on the VR sidelines due to pricing, complexity, attachments, or all of the above, the Oculus Go will be the headset that put them into the game. Or rollercoaster. Or virtual social gathering. The reasons why are obvious: It’s easy to set up, it’s comfortable to wear, it’s immersive, and it’s cheap.

The controls on the headset are simple. There’s a power button on the top-left corner and next to it is a volume rocker, but you don’t need to push the power button because the headset has a sensor so it knows when you put it on your head and it powers on. It also powers off when you remove it from your head, which is pretty slick. On the left side is a micro-USB port for charging the headset, and a headphone jack if you don’t want to use the Go’s excellent speakers, either for privacy concerns or just consideration for those around you. The Go’s speakers offer a spatial sound that aid the immersive feel of the headset, but everyone else in the room can hear the audio too. The Go also has a microphone for social interactions as well as voice search.

Also in the box, in addition to the headset, is a controller (with an included AA battery to power it and a lanyard), a glasses spacer, lens cloth, and the charger. You don’t get two controllers as you do with the Oculus Rift, but the Go’s simple, the small controller gets the jobs done just fine for entry-level VR. It features a trigger button, a small touchpad, and back and home buttons. I became acclimated to blindly using the basic controller in a matter of minutes. Setup is super simple; just download the Oculus app on your iPhone or Android device, create an account, pair your phone with the headset, pop the battery into the controller and start shopping for apps and games. You can browse the Oculus Store with the headset or on your phone. Navigating the Store using the headset is a breeze; it’s easy to browse its offerings because things are intelligently organized, the controller’s buttons are intuitive, and the Oculus Home interface feels responsive with little to no lag.

This VR headset is free of cords and smartphones that affords you limited movement by way of its integrated sensors and proprietary technology. However, VR aficionados looking for a cordless room-scale experience may feel the Solo comes up short, and the content options are lacking compared with the cheaper new Oculus Go.

At 22.7 ounces and 10.6 x 8 x 7.1-inches, the Mirage Solo is the heaviest VR headset on the market. It’s even heavier than PC-powered head-mounted displays, like the Oculus Rift (16.6 ounces, 7.2 x 4.5 x 3.5 inches) and the HTC Vive (19.9 ounces, 7.5 x 5 x 0.4~5 inches). It makes mobile HMDs like the Oculus Go (16.5 ounces, 7.5 x 4.1 x 4.5 inches), Google Daydream View (9.2 ounces, 6.6 x 4.6 x 3.9 inches) and Samsung Gear VR (12.1 ounces, 8.2 x 4.8 x 3.9 inches) seem like featherweights in comparison.

Despite the padding and the adjustable headband, you can really feel the weight of the Mirage Solo against the face shortly after putting it on. It wasn’t uncomfortable, per se, but there was noticeable pressure along the apples of my cheeks. The feeling became much more present if you wear glasses but ultimately, no big deal. Lenovo sent the VR unit with specific demos pre-loaded and no real setup. That won’t be the case for you. Similar to the Daydream View, before you start playing with the headset, you’ll have to do a wee bit of setup to calibrate the controller and headset. It takes about 4 to 5 minutes and is actually charmingly fun. Best of all, the Mirage Solo’s setup process is totally self-contained, unlike the Oculus Go that requires initial assistance from a smartphone app. One thing the Daydream platform is still missing is Voice Search, which is confusing to me since Google is putting the feature in just about everything these days, including headphones.

Regarding resolution, both devices deliver 1280 x 1440 pixels per eye, which is better than the 1080 x 1200 per eye (2160 x 1200) provided by the Rift and the Vive. However, the Mirage Solo has only a 75-Hz refresh rate. That’s better than the Go, which can vary between 60-72 Hz depending on the app, but not the Vive or the Rift (90-Hz). Where the Lenovo Mirage Solo with Daydream does match the PC-powered rigs is in its 110-degree field of view, which affects how immersive a VR experience feels.