Oculus Rift S PC-Powered VR Gaming Headset

I don’t usually write such long reviews but I felt it was warranted after my experience with the HTC Vive Cosmos and the Oculus Rift S VR Headset.A few months ago I started wanting to get in to playing my flight sim programs in VR. All the videos I saw on YouTube made it look really cool and I loved the idea of a more immersive experience. I had already gotten the PS4 VR Headset last year and found it to be fun but very limited and seemed more for kids games to me. Being the smart man that I am I waiting until the country was on shutdown to decide I could not wait any longer (being home all the time made me want more home entertainment). I had wanted to try the Oculus Rift S, just from the reviews and all the hype behind it but when O started looking t was sold-out everywhere and it did not look like it would be in stock anytime soon. Being determined to get a PC based VR Headset and being limited on room I needed model that did not require external tracking, limited me to only a few models. I looked in to the HTC Vive Cosmos and even though there were some bad reviews I figured it must be pretty good with the price tag of $699 and higher resolution that the Rift S. I ordered the HTC Vive Cosmos from Best Buy and was very excited when it arrived.My HTC Vive Cosmos Experience.The box itself was impressive and I found the instructions and setup to be fairly easy and was up and running is a short time. I downloaded a few games samples from the HTC Vive Cosmos app store and tried to play a few. This is where my first issues came up. How do you use this thing? I went through all the instructions and as each game or app would load it give some instructions on what the controllers do. I found the buttons did not do what it said a lot of the time or the game would load as if I were 10 feet tall of 3 feet tall. It was frustrating but I was brand new to this and figured I just needed to learn. I was ready to try my first VR flight sim experience and started up X-Plane 11 and turned on the VR setting and just like that I was in VR in a flight sim. Ok now how do I actually get a flight going or control the aircraft? It took me probably 2 hours to figure out all the controls and get to where I could actually get in a plane and fly. Now remember this was my first time trying a flight sim in VR, but all the videos I had seem made it look amazing, smooth and clear. I could not read any text on the dash, no gages, nothing. You can see it all just not clear enough to read the test. I took off and was impressed by the graphics when looking at a distance, looking at anything close and it was blurry, also jagged edges and low frame rate. I also found the controllers to be a bit on the large side and seemed too bulky and the battery life is not good. The headset itself was not very comfortable and was heavy in my head and face but usable. and I spend the next few days researching on how to get X-Plane 11 to work best in VR. A few changes to some settings and I gave it a few more tries. I got the graphics better to where I could read large text but that was about it. I did enjoy flying in VR but it was buggy and just not a great experience. I kept this up for a few weeks ad finally just gave up, it was too frustrating and too many glitches. I also did not have much luck on any other games or apps using the HTC Vive Cosmos, but DCS Wolds was better looking than X-Pane 11. I returned the headset and decided to wait until I could get the Oculus Rift S, although I was not sure if it would be any better.My Oculus Rift S Experience.It took me a couple of weeks to get an Oculus Rift S on preorder with Amazon, I finally got one (on pre-order) on June 3rd and it arrived on June 16th. I was very excited once it arrived and could not wait to see what it could do and if it would be any better of an experience. Once again the box was impressive but when you open it, it seem like less clutter in the box. Now for setup, it could not be any easier. You download the Oculus software and it basically walks you through step by step on how to set up your Rift S. I had already downloaded the Oculus software so my full insulation from opening the box to playing my first Oculus Rift S tutorial in VR took just over 5 minutes. It was amazingly simple. Ok so now I have it on and the first demo tutorials starts and I was blown away but how great the immersion was. It looked and felt so very much better than the HTC Vive Cosmos. I went through the tutorials and knew just how to use my controllers from the simple tutorials and I was ready to go. I download a few free apps and gave a few a try. I was so impressed by the VR immersion and overall experience. The headset itself is light and more comfortable than the HTC Vive Cosmos and it was easier to focus and overall it seemed brighter and clearer to me. The controllers are much more comfortable, light and fit my hands better, and so far the battery life is much better as well. I was now ready to give my flight sim’s a go. I booted up X-Pane 11 again and started the VR. Now this is where my experience really changed, for the better. Just the interface was smoother and I was easily able to select my options and start a flight all in VR. With the HTC Vive Cosmos I always had trouble using the controllers and trying to select something or flip a switch in the cockpit when flying. I had the hardest time aiming and selecting. With the Oculus Rift S it was so easy, just point and click and it just works. Now my flight starts and the first thing it was terrible, I had my graphics set to the highest possible settings (just to give it a try), I adjusted a could things and restarted my flight. Now I was in my plane, sitting on the tarmac and it was so very different from the HTC Vive Cosmos, the graphics were so much clearer and crisp. It just looked better and felt more realistic. I took off and flew around and was just amazed at how much better it was. I paid $699 for the HTC Vive Cosmos and really did not care much for it and felt like I wasted my money (I did get a full refund), I paid $399 for the Oculus Rift S and feel like I got a great deal. I have only spent a few hours on my Oculus Rift S but I am already very impressed with it and am quite happy with my purchase.I would rate the HTC Vive Cosmos a 5 out of 10 and I would rate the Oculus Rift S a 8 out of 10

I have been completely blown away by the quality of the Rift S given it's $400 MSRP. The price and quality of this headset make it THE headset to buy in 2020. Any apprehensions I had about this device were completely smashed after my purchase and use.Inside-Out Tracking/Room Scale. Is the Rift S tracking as good as the Vive/Index that use multiple towers and outside-in tracking? No, BUT, during gameplay is there any noticeable or meaningful differences in the Rift S? Also no. I don't know how Oculus has done it, but the tracking in this headset is phenomenal given you need no towers or outside sensors to dive into a VR title. While it's not AS good as other methods if you really test it and look for flaws, you wont notice in normal gameplay and the Oculus' inside-out tracking makes it much more portable and easy to set up. A definite win for this headset.80hz Displays. I game at 144hz on my desktop monitors and was expecting to find issue with the 80hz displays built into the Rift S. Surprisingly, I rarely ever notice and when I do, it's the fault of my aging GPU causing hitching and not the displays. Is it as good as the 120hz displays on the Index? No, but it's also less than half the price.Display Clarity/Quality. I expected to have visual compromises in a $400 VR headset. Imagine my surprise to find that the Rift S looks MILES better than the HTC Vive. The "screen door effect" of this headset is very, very minimal, and the picture is much clearer than expected. About the only time I've ever found myself squinting because it was hard to see was on the rare occasions that I'd be tinkering with settings in a browser or application while mirroring my desktop in VR.Halo Strap. I didn't think it would be comfortable, but it is hands down the best VR strap I've ever used. But, there is a learning curve to figuring out the proper way to put this headset on so that it's comfortable and fits well - be sure to do some reading online because Oculus does a poor job of explaining the best way to use this somewhat unintuitive headset strap. Once you find the proper fit, you'll be able to play for hours comfortably.Durability. As soon as I opened the Rift S I immediately became apprehensive of the durability of the Halo strap, mounting point of the display to the Halo strap, and thick kink-prone cables. The concerns I had with the Halo strap and mounting point for the headset are all but gone after many on/off repetitions and a few hard bumps. Inevitably, the cable will get kinks, but it's thick, sturdy, and has survived being yanked out of the top of the headset display a couple of times. At the end of the day, I'm satisfied that the Rift S will last years. Worst case, if it doesn't, the halo strap can be replaced for $60 and the cable for $80 (both are available to purchase from the Oculus website).Built-in Speakers. Me, before buying the Rift S: "How can tiny speakers built into the strap of a headset sound like anything but complete garbage? At least I can plug my good Shure earbuds into it." Me after buying the Rift S: "I'd rather use the built-in speakers than mess with headphones and cables." Are the built-in speakers bass-thumping mad-houses? Absolutely not. But the sound is very crisp and clear, has plenty of volume, and the positional audio is surprisingly great.Other Observations:Camera View - You can set a shortcut so that the double-tap of the menu button turns on the exterior camera view, this comes in handy.Controllers - I expected these to be better than the god-awful Vive wands, they are. These controllers are comfortable and intuitive. Battery-powered is a plus, they tend to last for a couple weeks with heavy use and only 1 AA battery is needed per controller.Storage - I recommend getting a small case to store this headset in, due to the long cable and multiple peripherals it'll quickly clutter up your computer desk/office. It's very easy to set up/teardown because there is only one cable to plug in and no towers.Steam Integration - This headset integrates with Steam VR pretty seamlessly, and built-in access to the Oculus store is a plus.Displayport REQUIRED: Read the fine print people. You MUST have Displayport in order to plug in and use this headset. This should not be an issue with most modern desktop GPUs.Overall: If you are thinking about getting a VR headset and don't want to blow the budget, get the Rift S.

I was pleasantly surprised with how new and unused the product looked. Even the packaging itself looked new as if the box had never been opened before, and all of the items normally included in the box of a new product were all present here as well. I was really impressed.Performance wise the product also worked straight out of the box without any issues and over several weeks later there still aren't any defects or malfunctions for me to point out.It works and feels so good that I sometimes even forget it's second hand, it was simply a dream come true!I also thought the 5 yen coin included along with the note was a really lovely gesture and I appreciate it a lot, thank you!Overall there were no problems with the product and everything from the packaging to functionality to what I actually got more than exceeded my expectations.I'll certainly be sure to purchase again from here in the future if I find something else I want.