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PlayStation VR2 – Hardware Review

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 It is exceedingly rare for you to get Two generations within One, yet, with the PS5 entering its 3rd year on the market that is exactly what we are getting again with PlayStation new generation of Virtual Reality. And just like that inaugural VR headset, this new one arrives on the cusp of that same 3-year Anniversary. Is this the catalyst to push VR onto the next level?

  I have already covered most aspects of the Headset, Sense controllers and contents in the box and comparisons to the first PSVR in my hands-on preview last week, so check that out to supplement this one. Here I wanted to break the overall review down into the key, constituent parts of the VR experience which are.

– Ease of use

– User Interface

– Image Quality

– Sound Quality

– Immersion Quality

Let’s start with the most obvious improvement over the 1st generation PSVR Headset.

Ease of Use/Set-up

 As I covered already the vast reduction in connection cables, power and tethering old vs new is gigantic. Now you simply take the headset from the box or stand and plug it into the front USB-C port on your PS5 which is related to the power source as the HMD has no battery to keep weight down, that’s it. From here all the screen is split out by the console itself with the Headset getting the required dual view ports and your TV being the social view via the HDMI out. This is always active outputting at 4K with HDR including sound and is formatted perfectly to the 16:9 ratio of your 4K screen. This means for anyone watching or as you see here for the game capture the quality is a gigantic leap, both in and out of the headset, which is powered with an OLED screen that also supports HDR @120Hz at 4K, which presents as 2000×2040 per eye. Top marks here and is certainly obvious over the 1080p Limit of the old output even with the PS4PRO as you see here that this is huge significant boost and brings it at the very least in line with the most premium VR set-ups in the market.

 Another vast improvement is in the set-up and configuration of the device, again using the PSVR original as our baseline. That needed to hook up all the Break-out box, power, PS4 Camera and then go through an alignment each time you turned it on. The first set-up was quick and simple, although the various elements did require eye alignment from the camera, controller and headset alignment were the most tedious parts and all felt quite cumbersome. The biggest issue though was the tracking, which could drift at times and in a virtual 3D space, you lose orientation with the real world. As such if you start turning away from the TV/Camera the tracking can lose your head/hands which could cause some frustration in games as you fail to pick things up, move correctly and even worse loose a life.

 The PSVR2 is again, right up with the most premium headsets and in terms of software and set-up is leading. One single USB-C cable goes into the front of the PS5 and then you are good to go and turn it on from underneath, which gives a nice little rumble to let you know it is powering on. Pop on the helmet and adjust as needed to your head and glasses using the band torque dial and front screen slider. Finally align the lens optics to your vision for the clearest image. Choose if you want to sit or stand and even create profiles for various game types. And then the excellent built in cameras and AR software create a low poly model of your layout and build a virtual and physical defined space to play in. You are also free to tweak this now or later to reduce or extend, all simply done within the helmet and Sense controllers but a full view of your room through the Headset. Once you are all done and ensured the floor has not fallen from under you. That is, it, you can jump into your game, compared to the previous generation this is incredibly slick and efficient and best of all it now stops you bumping into things as the virtual barrier pops up if you should get close. Best of all though, as the headset tracks you and the sense controllers from inside out, you can turn freely in any orientation and it will not lose sight or position, to an extent at least. Like other similar solutions you can effectively hide the sense controllers from the camera if you bring them to close and into your body when attaching items to a virtual belt buckle for example in Edge of the Galaxy, but this only happened in this game and is instantly remapped once back into view. The process of setting up and using is night and day to before and the ability to map your room and instantly jump to a see-through view at any time during a game is a god send. Making the entire VR experience far easier, tactile, and more pleasurable for you and others in the room. Just reaching out for a drink after a hard session can feel like the minority report.

In terms of comfort, it is better than the PSVR, but that was never bad. Comfort and openness are great feeling light on your head even for longer sessions and the new Shark Gill black-out gasket does a brilliant job stopping the light leak whilst in the game world. Compared to my Oculus Rift S headset it is far more comfortable to wear, lighter and has almost no light leaks, which can occur on the Rift around my nose. It is an evolution of the first VR headset but that is not a bad thing as this is only better where it matters.

For ease use & set-up this a huge step forward and aside making it completely wireless and auto configured I cannot see much to complain about in this area, I cannot praise the PlayStation engineers enough for how much they have improved some of the biggest issues of the PSVR and it now competes and in ways exceeds the Vive and my Oculus Quest 2 headset, high marks and praise indeed.

User Interface/Control

The world of VR gaming has unique needs and demands compared to the 2D variety. Filling a fixed screen with a clogged HUD is not practical in VR, just as loads of text or way markers on a map. Therefore, Diegetic solutions should be first & foremost, from in game hands, screens, or items. Operation requires more tactility to increase the solidity, control, and natural adoption to your virtual domain. And these are all aspects the PSVR2 tackles head on and moves on in huge strides compared to previous releases and the competition. Starting with UX the OS is fully integrated across everything, just like on the PS5. Pop ups are all based within the 3D world, taking focus above geometry and hands but much smaller and fixed within a vertex range, allowing you to look around it or over as needed, staying fixed within a range before popping back if you turn approx. 90oc away. The menu is reduced in size but can be easily browsed as the game world remains active. The ability to run the OS virtually within the game is due to the huge increase in performance power of the PS5 and Ram but the access speeds mean it is as seamless as the 2D experience.

 One incredible feature though is the see through world view both in user experience and integration. No matter what you are doing a simple press of the function button will pause the game, bringing up a full view of your surroundings in sepia. This helps in so many use cases and feels so seamless I quickly got used to it and now would not want to play VR without it. It goes beyond though, as mentioned on your space scanning setup, should you or your sense controllers stray close then again, the core OS brings up these boundaries virtually within your virtual game based on reality. Even highlighting where your sense controllers are in the game and then instantly visible once the real-world swaps in. This is not the first time such a feature has been built into a VR headset, but it is one of the most accomplished and slick versions that completes a UX which is forward looking, tactile and intuitive, not an easy trinity to achieve.

 

 The control is another win over the makeshift PS3 move wands (you’re a wizard Harry) or dual shock4 options of the PSVR. In fact, you often had to use the dual shock as not all games supported the move and vice versa. The OS navigation could be clumsy and general fighting the tools issues popped up, no true here. The sense controllers give you the best of both and much more, dual sticks, all buttons and triggers of the dual sense means browsing menus, making choices and such all work as well as the dual sense. The L & R1 triggers are moved to the grips and make a skillful use of closing your hand as it can be used with the L&R2 buttons to track fingers and hold items. As they are fully tracked hand motion and even fingers, on a title by title, can be tracked on each hand. The design is superb, like the oculus touch controllers, just bigger, comfier, and more precise with diodes around the halos of each for tracking. They rumble and provide haptics to notify you of something or resist on triggers and even ping should you strike a rock with your ore and even your headset will vibrate if you bang into something or are hit. Again, these can all be turned down or off in the OS menu or game menu. But the fact you now have a pair of controllers that can do it all and then some but are always fully supported on every title and come with each PSVR2 means the control is always in your hands. An early poster boy for their quality Is Call of the mountain, climbing, swimming, running, and shooting all become so fluid and natural you stop think about doing and just inherently do. I can already imagine a Rambo II VR title would be epic. In both these areas the new system excels in many and leads in others, such as the room tracking and OS integration, high marks again.

Image Quality

  The obvious upgrade from all this new generation Console and HMD hardware is the gulf in image quality, world interaction and just how sharp, detailed, and vibrant everything is. The PS5 is packing a vast amount of power over the PS4Pro and even more of the base PS4 that the PSVR was designed for. As such the obvious high-level increase jump out as soon as you power on a game, be that a PSVR2 exclusive such as Galaxy’s edge or call of the mountain and even upgraded titles such as Moss and Jurassic world. Many of these games target a full 4K output to that screen and some use foveated rendering to reduce the resolution and shading quality into your peripheral vision. In addition, some, such as Horizon mix this with the gaze tracking so that it is not a fixed portion of the centre of that screen that dissipates outwards in ever reducing resolution circles. Instead, it keeps fixed zone within you gaze and this always moves around the world as you look, tracking it with a torch corona like beam that again reduces the shading case outwards. In the social screen capture here, you can notice this far more that in the headset, which frankly is often invisible unless you stop and start shifting your gaze around. The speed at which this shifts from gaze tracking is almost instantaneous and never cause any sudden resolution peaks or troughs.

 In addition, the FoV in the headset is now much wider at 110o and in addition many titles now have the in-game camera FOV expanded, using MOSS 1 here in side by sides you can see the PSVR looks claustrophobic in comparison with over twice the world visible from the exact same distance. This helps in every single title giving you more space and removing that telescope look you get experience in certain titles in the PSVR. The wider more open view not only helps with the visual upgrades but also helps reduce sickness levels as you can now see more of the world and have a better connection to it. It will not stop VR sickness mind and aside a choppy, stormy sea race in Kayak I never had a moments of VR legs kicking in and even the one I did only require me to take a 5-minute break after over 2 hours straight in VR. In game you rarely get any of the screen door effect now and the constant shimmer and aliasing that plagued the PSVR on either console before is almost eradicated now. In the virtual screen view when playing movies or 2D games or in the main menu though, a minor effect can still be noticed, however you can ensure you increase the brightness and set the optics in these areas to get the best view in the full 3D games, where this issue never visible. With many titles looking as good in the headset as PS5 titles on screen. Of course, higher resolutions and AA will only go so far and the model quality, materials, animation, effects, lighting etc will all be on a title and team basis. As the launch line-up of the PSVR2 is absolutely packed with over thirty titles I have been working through as many titles as I can for this review window, and you can expect a packed set of game reviews coming up over the next 7 days right here. Many I simply did not have for this review, such as big hitters in RE Village’s free VR full game update, No Man’s Sky (which I am gagging to try) along with some others and yes that does include one of the highlights in that launch window of GT7. Which was already one of the highlights of the PSVVR in GT sport but having a full grid of cars and racers may just blow our minds. I can confirm and am very happy that we all get that on the launch day of the 22nd, so see you in the grid for that.

 Early stand outs that show of the drastic increases in graphical quality is FireSprites astonishing work on Horizon which is even better that what you see here in the headset. Sporting some of the best models and detailed worlds so far and exceptional object physics and interaction. Kayak VR is another one that looks great due to its baked lighting and high quality Physically based materials. This title is also another stand out for physics and haptic interaction as being able to push off from a rock surface or bounce a ball with your ore is something quite special. The high quality and art direction of both MOSS titles also are a revelation here and along with the wider FOV, higher graphical fidelity and 4K outputs it makes the already brilliant looking Pro version here look soft, shimmery, and instable with far less world in view. 

Sound Quality

 With the PS5 being designed around the PSVR2 its 3D audio was always going to be a key feature here and even if you use the very comfy earbud earphones that come with the PSVR2 or a wired or wireless headset such as the Pulse, this is an equally if not great leap in audio fidelity. Being able to track objects in 3D space was possible before but now the separation levels and vertically of the sound propagation and reverberation can amplify every aspect of a title. Be it a disembodied head talking you through a Populous revival intro, to a long neck almost crushing you under foot. The depth, quality and sheer quantity of sound sources and what they add to each game is stunning, Star Wars also stands proud here, least of which is the very good voice quality work but also the mix of excellent sound mixing of the game and the rich tapestry of sound scape the world draws from the Foley legends in Sprocket systems and Ben Burt.

 Music and mixing of sound effects is not only a core aspect of the VR experience you can tweak the balance as needed in the OS menu and in the game menu. Allowing each of you to pick the perfect balance of sound, ambience or even silence of you are an audio heathen. This is an area I will come back to in a deeper dive later, but the early signs in this review period sample have got more than just my ears pricking up.

Immersion quality

  And with all four pillars covered in this VR ingredient, we come to the proof of that in the pudding. With VR being all around the experience, the suspension of disbelief and as I often say, the new form of Arcade or theme park rides we have, in my opinion, the absolute best VR headset money can buy on the market. All the elements are here to delivery rich, engaging and visual sumptuous playgrounds, racetracks, or adventures to escape to. From the world class Comfort levels, ease of use, practicality, and sheer brilliance of the entire set-up. To the best on the market refresh rates, screen quality and optics leaves you in no doubt that even if you have the best PC money can buy, the PS5 is currently home to the most impressive and immersive VR platform you can get. The sense controllers are small enough to feel extensions of the Dual Sense, with faultless tracking quality, up with the best levels of dexterity tracking and offer a full suite of control in every game type to be perfect for all options, be they bows, guns, volume dials or even tiny mice or men these over deliver on expectations and leave the previous solution almost unusable now. The earbuds are ok for those that want a simple and neat choice, but they will never match a Pulse 3D or other full blooded audio solution. Also, the hassle of charging the Sense controllers from the cable(s) does add unwanted clutter from your console set-up, so add another £40 if entry as the charging stand is required-in my opinion. The controllers themselves last approximately 7 hours in my tests, which is really a day’s play in VR at best, but some may find that low, but I am not one of them. As it really becomes a warning sign if you hit that limit in one session, but all power to you.

Summary

If I had to pick a single element that is the top it would have to be the harmonic balance of function and form the headset and software deliver. It only takes a few minutes to escape into this PS5 VR world and yet it all feels like an extension of that 2D experience until now. From the lightweight ergonomics and equilibrium of the headset itself, to the eye tracking and pass-through view. The team have thought of every problem area and if not fully resolved it, such as the core USB wire required for power and UHD video feed they have severely mitigated or full resolved it. I think the best way for me to sum up how impressed I am with this second-generation VR solution from Sony is to say that I have never spent more than 4 hours straight in VR ever since I first played it back in the 90s. But after 2 days of having the PSVR2 with only around 6 games to play at that time, I spent over double, more than once in that time. And the best part of all of this is the feeling we are here at the ground level; this is only the beginning of what can be achieved with the PSVR2. PlayStation have delivered all the tools, technology, and quality to be market leaders in this growing VR space. The premium VR option right now will all hinge on the most important aspect of this world we all love so much of gaming, the games themselves. The early pack I have sampled here already give me some highlights I will cover in the coming days in video reviews but also a glimpse into just what teams can and will conjure up with this incredible piece of Virtual Reality entertainment. The price may be over £500 to get yourself a ticket for entry, which is not that far from the £399 of the PSVR which never even came with a camera or Move controllers out of the box. Back to reality though, VR is the very definition of premium entertainment, and you will know if VR is your cup of tea. If you struggle with the controls, VR sickness or just the feeling of enclosure putting on a helmet, earphones, and gloves then I doubt as great as this is, the pSVR2 will make any difference to that. But if you are on the lookout for the next step up in VR gaming, I can only recommend the PSVR2 and the promise this hardware brings is extremely hard to ignore.