Good day fellow VR enthusiasts!
I want to review the Valve Index Controllers separately as mentioned in our review of the
Valve Index headset because I think some people are interested in just the controllers as
an upgrade to their current VR setup.
So I thought it would be interesting to review the Valve Index Controllers by comparing them
with the controllers of two other major VR brands: the Oculus Touch and the HTC VIVE
Wands.
At the end of this video, I’ll let you know what I recommend.
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Let’s start with the Look & Feel of the Controllers.
Here are all three controllers together.
They each have a distinguished design.
As you can see on screen, they each have a different weight too.
These are the Oculus Touch Controllers.
They are the newest revision for the Oculus headsets released in 2019.
The first generation Touch Controllers won’t work with the currently-available Oculus headsets,
so don’t buy that one.
The Oculus Touch Controllers go for 138 US dollars or 158 euros for a set of two.
The HTC VIVE Wands are the first generation controllers by HTC made in collaboration with
Valve.
They released in 2016.
You can buy a set of two for 259,98 US dollars or 289,98 euros.
The Valve Index Controllers are the newest controllers out of all three.
Released just recently in 2019.
They go for 279 US dollars or 299 euros per pair.
Now, let’s talk about the build quality per controller.
The Oculus Touch Controllers feel light.
Light controllers have their advantages for competitive play.
Although, for a casual gamer, this won’t matter much.
But when compared with the other two, the material does feel the most breakable.
Especially the ring that is important for tracking feels like it could break after a
couple of bumps against a wall.
The HTC VIVE wands feel very sturdy, and as the HTC VIVE was our first VR headset, we
have been using it for about two years.
And since it was our first headset, this is also the controller we bumped on our walls
the most.
Heck, I even threw away the controller out of fear when playing a VR horror game.
And they never broke.
The only issue I had was one of the controller’s touchpad would lose a click on one of the
sides.
It was a common problem.
The Valve Index Controllers feel sturdy too.
Less than the VIVE but more than the Oculus Touch.
This tracking strip might be a weak point though if you bump this against a wall.
So in regards to build quality, I think the HTC VIVE Wands wins.
Don’t get me wrong, though; all three controllers don’t feel cheap and are not of bad quality.
But by comparing them, this is my opinion.
But what do the controllers feel like when you hold them in your hands?
Are they ergonomic?
The Oculus Touch Controllers have been my favorite controllers for a long time since
it felt the most ergonomic and natural compared to the VIVE Wands.
Maybe that is because these controllers were the closest to what I was used to with console
gaming controllers.
The Oculus Touch kind of melts in your hand, which makes it feel great.
The base handle is rather short though which does cause me to have less grip.
I could imagine people with bigger hands having more trouble with this too.
The battery cover is magnetic.
And a lot of you have reported that the battery cover would come off if you grip it too tight
or when your hands get sweaty.
I’ve had that happen only very occasionally.
The HTC VIVE Wands do no have this problem as it has batteries built-in.
The handle is also the longest of all the controllers, and while it would fit every
hand and give you a good grip, I always found the HTC VIVE Wands too bulky and not ergonomic.
The Valve Index Controllers are different.
You put your hands in these straps, tighten it up and then you can let go of the controllers
without dropping them.
In the virtual world, you would be able to pick up and drop an object like you would
in real life.
I will talk more about what this does to Hand Presence later.
Moving on, I like the long handle.
It feels great, although to get the most grip, you sometimes have to strap tight.
I had others test this controller too, and people with bigger hands could have a problem
reaching the thumbstick or buttons comfortably with their thumb.
So as for ergonomics, I think the Oculus Touch wins here.
The Valve Index comes close but sometimes feels a bit tight for the same grip feel.
As for tracking…
The Touch Controllers have a ring with LEDs in it that are invisible to the naked eye
but allows the Oculus cameras on the headset to track the controller.
Since the newest Oculus headsets only use inside-out tracking technology now, the tracking
of the Touch Controllers is the most limiting out of the three.
At least in some scenarios.
When you move the Controllers out of sight of the headset’s camera, you might lose
tracking.
Although, recent software updates improved this a lot.
It is certainly not bad tracking and still very playable, but out of the three, the Touch
Controller’s tracking might cause the most occlusion.
Both the HTC VIVE Wands and the Valve Index Controllers use the same kind of tracking
technology.
They both use the Base Stations, also called the Lighthouses, which are external systems
that emit light not visible to the naked eye, but are picked up by the receptors of the
controllers — allowing it to calculate its position accurately.
So yes, you need these Base Stations to make these controllers work.
If you already have Base Stations, then you can use them with both the VIVE and the Index
Controllers.
You can’t use the Base Stations with the Oculus Touch Controllers though.
So if you only have an Oculus headset and are considering the other controllers, then
you will have to consider the whole kit.
But the advantage of an external tracking system is very accurate 360 degrees tracking.
Occlusion is less likely to happen, especially if you place the Base Stations efficiently.
I haven’t noticed a difference in tracking between the VIVE Wands and the Index Controllers.
Both designs work great with the Base Stations so as for tracking, I think both the Vive
Wands and the Index Controllers tie as winners in regards to tracking.
Before we move on, don’t forget to leave a like if you found this helpful so far!
Let’s talk about the buttons and their placements on each controller now.
One Oculus Touch controller has two face buttons, a menu button, a thumbstick, a trigger, and
a grip button.
The trigger & grip buttons are particularly light to press in compared to the other controllers.
All the buttons and the thumbstick on the Oculus Touch are capacitive too, so it senses
whether your finger is on them and it shows that in-game.
So for example, by releasing the index finger from the trigger button, you can point with
your Index finger.
This feels very natural with the Touch Controllers.
The HTC VIVE Wands is the most different out of the three.
Instead of thumbsticks, it uses a touchpad.
The touchpad acts as the thumbstick.
You can touch it in every direction which can be appointed different actions by a developer.
You can also hard press it in every direction to click.
While this is advanced, it is also the touchpad that I dislike the most about the VIVE Wands.
It is too easy to touch it accidentally.
For example, if the touches are mapped to movement in-game, it’s too easy to move
in the wrong direction because my thumb is not in the right place.
The grip buttons are at the sides.
You have to press them by squeezing it hard using a fist.
It’s not very intuitive, especially hard to explain to VR newcomers.
It’s also not comfortable to press them.
The uncomfortable grip buttons combined with the accidental touch caused me not to want
to use the HTC VIVE Wands anymore.
The Valve Index Controllers are like the offspring of the two.
It has both the thumbstick like the Touch Controllers with a thin Touchpad like the
VIVE Wands.
What’s different is that instead of grip buttons, there is a pressure-sensitive handle
here that acts as a grip button.
So if you squeeze this handle, you’ll activate a grip action if available.
It is the most intuitive way to grab a virtual item.
It’s sensitive too, so you don’t have to press it in very hard.
And if the developer allows it, you can even squeeze virtual items since there are different
layers of pressure sensitivity.
What’s also different in that the handle can track your fingers individually, allowing
for more hand gestures and natural input.
Even more than the Touch Controllers.
All the buttons are capacitive too, similar to the Touch Controllers.
This makes the Valve Index Controllers the most advanced out of the three.
What I don’t like though is that the touchpad is in the middle and since I like using the
thumbstick, I still accidentally touch this pad when moving to the face buttons with my
thumb from the thumbstick.
There’s also a design flaw.
The thumbsticks do not click in every direction which many people say is a manufacturing defect.
This is especially bothering because other controllers do have this click and therefore
many games like first-person shooters utilize these clicks.
It doesn’t mean you can’t play the game anymore, but you might have trouble running
in a first-person shooter for example.
Unless you rebind the button.
Right now, there are no solutions given by Valve for this.
Some people don’t mind this as much because they don’t play a lot of games that need
that click.
I have encountered games before that uses this and yes, it is bothersome.
So I do hope Valve will address this, but right now, it seems like they won’t recognize
this as a problem.
Because of this, I think the Oculus Touch wins in this section.
One of the most important things in VR is hand presence.
The more natural your hands move and touch in-game, the more immersive the game
gets.
At least to me.
The Oculus Touch has good hand presence.
With the capacitive controls, you’re able to make some hand
gestures like I explained in the buttons section of this video.
The HTC VIVE Wands…
Well.
I said it before, they are bulky controllers and with its weight, also the heaviest.
These controllers do not make me feel immersed in the game, unless it’s a game where I
am holding a wand similar to the HTC VIVE Wands, like a tennis racket or a golf club.
The Valve Index Controllers are on a whole new level, in my opinion.
As explained in the buttons section of this video, these Controllers are the most advanced.
And because of that, they make the games that support it fun and the most natural.
Although, developers need to add support for it.
If the game is not compatible, then you won’t be able to take full advantage of the extra
features, and unfortunately, right now there aren’t many games with full finger tracking
support.
This is going to need some time.
But if we would compare the controllers with games that have support, then the Valve Index
Controllers wins by far with its hand presence abilities.
The Oculus Touch uses one AA battery and has exceptional battery life.
I am, unfortunately, not entirely sure how many hours this is, but I am guessing over
12 hours.
The only issue I have here is that sometimes the Touch Controllers activate themselves,
even though I am not using the headset.
It happened once or twice that it drained the batteries without me using it so if you
don’t want that to happen at all, its best to take out the batteries when not using it.
Or I recommend using rechargeable batteries and buying extra so you can always swap them
out whenever needed.
Both the HTC VIVE Wands and the Valve Index Controllers have batteries built-in.
You can recharge them using a cable.
The VIVE Wands uses a micro-USB cable, and the Valve Index Controllers uses USB-C. I
think both have similar battery life, over 7+ hours at a full charge.
I am using the 2nd generation of the HTC VIVE Wands by the way though but the first generation
isn’t much different.
Personally, I like being able to charge a controller using a cable.
That way, I don’t need to make an effort to check battery life every time I enter VR,
because I can recharge them after every session.
Both of these are not dealbreakers though, and I think all controllers perform well in
regards to battery life.
As you can see, there is no one clear winner here.
Every controller has its advantages and flaws.
To make a good choice, I suggest looking at what is most important to you.
For me, ergonomics and hand presence are the most important, because I want to be immersed
in a VR game.
So because the Valve Index Controllers has its flaws at the moment and doesn’t have
much content now, I recommend the Oculus Touch Controllers.
It still has one of the best ergonomics and hand presence.
Plus it is the cheapest overall option, and it provides you access to the most content.
My 2nd recommendation is a hard choice.
I would have put the Valve Index Controllers on this spot directly or maybe even recommend
it over the Touch Controllers if it wasn’t for the thumbstick clicking design flaw.
The innovative approach and intuitive controls allow for the best hand presence.
If a game has full support for it, it is the most fun.
But currently there aren’t many games with full support, so it will take time to get
more content.
The Valve Index Controllers are also the most expensive of all three, and with the design
flaw, I can’t recommend it yet.
So if you already own a headset and are looking to upgrade just the controllers, I would wait
until there is more news with hopefully a fix.
If you don’t own any headset yet and want to buy a new headset, then I would go for
the Oculus Touch Controllers.
But if money is not an issue at all here, I would still go for the Valve Index Controllers,
because I think the Valve Index Controllers with the click problem is still better than
using the touchpad of the VIVE Wands.
If you play games that use that click.
You could consider remapping the click on a different button.
I think just for 10 euros more than the HTC VIVE Wands, the Valve Index Controllers do
get you the most advanced Controllers out there at the moment.
SO!
I hope this video helped you out on your choice.
If you have any questions at all, feel free to ask them below and let me know if you agree
or disagree with my points!
I especially love to hear if you think the Valve Index Controllers click problem is an
issue to you.
A special thanks goes to artArmin, and a special shout out goes to his Patreon page –
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And as always VR on!