*sigh* Reviewing this headset was a mess.
I've been checking out the Pico 4 for the past week.
This is their newest VR headset that's competing with Meta Quest 2.
But this is the first time they released a headset in the West for consumers with the
backing of Tiktok's mama Bytedance, and there's a lot to like about the headset, and there's
a lot of confusion that we need to talk about before you buy.
Thanks to Pico for giving me an early access review unit and now join me beyond reality.
The Pico 4 launched this month in October, starting in Europe and some Asian countries
from 429 euros.
There are no plans for a US launch just yet.
Pico has been making VR headsets for years, but they've been focused on business.
Only in China they had consumer editions.
UNTIL LAST YEAR.
the company was acquired by TikTok owner ByteDance, so I guess they've been throwing a lot of
money at this.
Their marketing completely changed.
Not sure if it was for the better, which I'll explain in a bit, BUT the hardware is slick.
Next to the headset, you get in the box: 2 controllers, including batteries and lanyards
Glasses spacer Nose pad
USB-C power adapter with USB-C to USB-C 2.0 Data Cable
User guides and safety warranties
The Pico 4 is the first from a major company with pancake lenses which allows for this
little form factor that feels light on the head.
Having tried it for a longer time, I think it's one of the most comfortable headsets
so far as it's perfectly balanced.
I'm a fan of the rear battery design and an Elite-like headstrap out of the box.
Comfort is very personal, so don't judge the headset on this part too much.
But it's not revolutionary yet, it's still not easy to drink my coffee with the headset,
and I'm not a big fan of the foam.
The material doesn't feel nice on my face and is stiff when you put on the headset initially.
After a while, it starts to conform to your face shape, and it's a bit better, but I still
want to switch it.
Thankfully, it's magnetically attached, so I'm sure there will be 3rd party foams available.
The strap is NOT replaceable, as there are cables in it for the battery and the integrated
speakers.
You can remove the top strap and replace that, but you're out of luck if the strap isn't
for your head.
But to my surprise, laying down with this was comfortable because of this back cushion.
It's still roomy enough for these kinds of glasses, and if you need a bit more space,
you can use the provided glasses spacer.
But I recommend waiting for some 3rd party lens adapters to not scratch the lenses.
Now before we jump into the specs and performance, let me set it up.
Right after putting on the headset, you are immediately inside Pico OS.
There's no need for a mobile app, and you don't need a TikTok account.
Only a couple prompts and disclaimers show you how to use the controllers, connect to
WiFi blablabla.
It'll then show you how to create your boundary, which is that virtual wall, so you can tell
where your furniture or walls are in VR.
You can pick from an easy circle or draw your own walls around you.
And that's all you need to get gaming.
It’s a breath of fresh air.
The Pico 4 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 together with 8 GB of RAM, 4K resolution
with 1200 pixels per inch on 2 LCDs, and it offers excellent visual clarity.
The headset has a new IPD adjustment that not many headsets have.
In the software, you can set your IPD, and the lenses will automatically move to match
your eyes.
I want this on every headset.
Pico says it has a range of 62 to 72mm, but to my surprise, you can actually ignore this
warning by clicking on the checkbox, and it can go even lower to 58-59.
Be careful tho cus it may squeeze your nose.
Ouch.
My IPD is 60, and with my tiny nose, it was perfect.
We were promised a field of view of 105 degrees, which is usually far off from what I see,
but it's actually close.
This is what I measured, and the FOV slightly improved over the Pico 3 and Quest 2.
Unfortunately, you won't notice the upgrade much if you don't directly look at the two
headsets right after each other.
But the high-resolution display and the pancake lenses MAKE UP FOR A LOT.
The overall colors are pleasing, the sweet spot is large, and you don't see god rays
often anymore.
Everything.
Looks.
So.
Damn.
Sharp.
Especially in the right games, it's just beautiful.
So I stand by my first impression that this display is where the headset shines.
It's also got a special Low Blue Light certification, which I don't really notice, but it sounds
safer :'D
Refresh rate options are only 72 and 90 Hz.
I've mostly been playing on 90 Hz, and that's smooth and plays well on the apps I've tried.
I really don't have many complaints about the display.
Maybe only that I'm sad it still doesn't use MINILEDS or OLEDs, so the black levels are
not that improved yet.
But I'm sure that'll come eventually.
The display also gets a bit warm after a while, and it makes fan noise too, but this wasn't
terrible.
So it looks great, but how does it sound.
The microphone sounds like this:
Sometimes sounds pretty good, but some noise filtering messes up the voice.
I hope they can adjust that.
The speakers sound pretty good; I mean not much bass, but it's not bad, and you can turn
it up loud with the volume buttons on the strap.
You'll have to use your headphones if you're an audiophile.
Unfortunately, there is no audio jack on the headset.
Only one USB-C slot for USB-C headphones, but you also use that slot for charging.
This is a shame if you don't have USB-C headphones as you cannot charge the headset simultaneously,
and it runs out of juice quickly in about 2 hours.
It supports fast charging, so that does help, and you can also use Bluetooth.
I personally think it's not that bad since all newer phones also don't have audio jacks
anymore, so I use Bluetooth anyway.
Bluetooth does have some delay, though, not as noticeable when watching movies or playing
adventure games, but if you play rhythm games, you’ll unfortunately notice it.
Now, before we talk about the mess and what I don't like, let's talk about what I do like.
Pico innovated with its controllers; they're the first to use an arc-column-like tracking
ring with a new placement.
The face buttons are what we're used to, a joystick with buttons.
But an extra button on the right controller allows you to screenshot, which is actually
sweet.
I love this slider, toggle thing that pushes up the battery cover so you can easily switch
batteries.
It still uses optical tracking, but with the new tracking rings, Pico promises better controller
tracking and the ability to move your hands closer together.
And it's true, controller tracking is pretty good using the cameras and sensors on the
headset.
I can indeed put my hands closer together.
I have no occlusion issues, not while scoping down my friends and not while reloading guns
or holding guns two-handed.
I did find some blind spots.
It'll lose tracking when you put the controller right next to the headset and right below
the headset like this.
This doesn't matter for most use cases, but it's not as fun playing archery on this headset
as with flawless base station tracking.
But that is an unfair comparison as the base stations cost about as much as the headset.
Overall, the tracking is really good for anything else.
Pico did a great job improving this over previous headsets and I imagine it’ll only get better.
Head tracking was perfectly fine as well; no problems here.
Now, you might have noticed an extra camera on the headset that other headsets don't have.
At the center, a 16 mega-pixels RGB camera is used to make the passthrough colorful.
Like with Quest, you can activate passthrough mode with a button or turn on a shortcut to
double-tap the headset's sides.
This combines all the cameras to show you your real-life room, cat, kiwi, or whatever
you like.
And I was pretty excited about this new feature, but I think I expected too much.
The footage still looks noisy, and while I can make up some of the text on my monitor
or paper, it gets distorted/warped, so reading for a long time is uncomfortable.
It looks stereo, though, so the left and right eye are seeing a different image which is
helpful to see depth but the footage isn’t one-on-one with real life; the things you
see in the passthrough are a bit larger, which you need to get used to.
Don't get me wrong, it is heaps better than Quest 2's black & white passthrough, and I'm
happy we got this improvement.
I can tell that some software magic is happening to make it realistic enough.
But this will likely not be used for anything game-changing yet.
Only to see where you are or spy on your girlfriend
Training my Pokemon in my house will also have to wait
Found it nice to do some quick things on my PC or phone without taking the headset off,
though, which was pretty cool.
But now games.
Is there enough to play?
I think so; Pico has been investing a lot of money in getting Quest games on the Pico
Store.
Titles you may know like Blade & Sorcery, Less Mills, After The Fall, The Walking Dead,
and they are working with many developers to add more.
The good news is it all plays the same and even looks better on this headset.
I watched an 8K 360 video demo on this headset and my goodness, it looked amazing.
The bad news is that Meta is playing a clever game and buying up VR developers.
So they have a couple of exclusives you won't be able to play on Pico 4, like Resident Evil
4, Beat Saber, and the upcoming Iron Man VR game.
To get people in, Pico needs to step it up and find partnerships like that for their
platform.
They HAVE set their first step with Just Dance, their first exclusive coming out next year.
If you have a gaming PC, you can play SteamVR games through streaming or cable.
You can use Pico's software, which works, but I get better quality and stability with
Virtual Desktop.
Yes, that app is now also available on Pico, and with it, I don't think you'll need the
cable anymore; it's fantastic.
So good news for PC gamers as you'll have access to many more games like Half-Life Alyx
and the PC version of Beat Saber.
Now, this is where it got messy.
During the Pico launch event, they showed us how ready they are to compete with Quest
2 by offering all the same software features and more.
Which is great, and I believe they can do it, but it wasn't ready, and they didn't clearly
mention that.
Pico has been sending out review units with different embargo times and a review guide
that doesn't say things aren't available yet.
This has caused major confusion in the VR community and headset reviews that said the
headset was bad.
This was so unnecessary; I hope Pico improves this next time.
I waited until the latest software version was out, which is Pico OS 5 that everyone
gets at launch, and it's a ton better than version 4.
The menu looks better, and it's much like Quest with multitasking, avatars, streaming
and recording options, and hand tracking.
Hand tracking is in beta right now and is set to release by the end of the year.
You can already try it out by turning it on in the developer settings.
It works, but it is still finicky and reminds me when hand tracking just released on Quest
2, which got better over time.
So we'll have to wait and see what it's like when this fully releases on Pico 4.
What I really like is how open the system is.
If you want to sideload APKs, for example, it's so easy.
You don't need developer mode, a credit card, or sign-up for anything, just plug the headset
into your PC, copy your APK in there, and in VR, you can install it from the File Manager.
Here, you can also access almost everything on your headset.
There are no blocks or restrictions.
Nice.
However, the system is barebones if you compare it with Quest.
But I think we got to give Pico some time to work out their software, as it took Meta
two years or so before it got all these features.
Things already announced coming later are mixed-reality features, remote assistance,
a friend system, and a new social VR app.
There are also accessories coming, like a PC VR dongle for better stability while streaming
SteamVR, and a Fitness Band that can track your arms or legs.
All features I’m really excited for.
That doesn't take away that I don't know if Pico can deliver.
We need proof of that, so consider this if you buy this headset.
But it has all you need to play games, which is most important.
So yes, if it was just the hardware, I would recommend the Pico 4 in a heartbeat.
As you can tell, there's much to like about this headset; the price is hard to beat for
the value you get from it.
The biggest thing it lacks right now is the software and content, but that's also Pico's
primary focus to improve in the upcoming months.
We'll have to wait and see, but I can imagine them catching up with Quest.
If you don’t mind taking that risk, the Pico 4 is a great option.
This headset is truly set to compete with Quest 2, and I cannot wait to see what this
will bring to the industry.
Is this a headset you would buy, and if so, what made you pick it over the Quest 2?
Let us know in the comments below.
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