Hi everyone!
I’m Cas, and this right is here is the Pico Neo 2 Eye.
This is an all-in-one, 6-degrees-of-freedom standalone VR headset built for business.
Some call it the Oculus Quest on steroids.
Others say it’s a Quest 2.0.
And its not without reason, because almost all hardware inside this headset is an upgrade
when compared to the Quest, and it offers some sweet new features too, like wireless
SteamVR streaming, and eye-tracking.
But who is this headset for exactly?
Let’s find out.
First, thanks to Pico for providing the headset for free.
And if you like to see more videos about VR, consider subscribing if you haven’t yet.
And now, join me beyond reality.
So for those who don’t know Pico.
Pico is a company that develops VR solutions, and they are not new in the VR industry —having
already brought out standalone headsets like the first Neo, and the Goblin series, which
we reviewed a while ago too (link is below).
But Pico technology is more focused on business.
They make headsets to solve the problems of enterprises like education, healthcare, and
public safety training, for example.
So the Pico Neo 2 is also built with business in mind, whereas the Oculus Quest is made
for consumers.
This doesn’t mean that Pico doesn’t do anything in the entertainment sector either,
though.
In Asian countries, consumers can buy their headsets for personal use also.
So I’m guessing that is why the Neo 2 also comes with SteamVR content streaming from
a VR ready PC.
I think this might be what future standalone VR headsets will be like - so let’s dive
into it.
Okay, so in the box you get:
- Two controllers - Two USB power adapters
- USB-C 2.0 data cable - A two-in-one USB-C charging cable for the
controllers - User guide and a lens cleaning cloth
And the headset, of course.
The headset has an interesting strap.
The battery is housed in the back here, providing a better weight distribution and comfort.
One of the cons with the Oculus Quest is that it’s very front heavy as the Quest houses
everything in the front.
So this might be a better solution, but more on comfort later.
Let’s remove the protective films first… :D
And here we have it…
While you’re watching, leave me a like if you thought that was satisfying or just for
support.
The Neo 2 has some nice upgrades for a standalone headset.
So in this video, I’ll be mostly comparing this, the Neo 2 with the Oculus Quest as most
of you are already familiar with the Quest.
So let’s start with some hardware specifications…
The Pico Neo 2 runs on a newer CPU, and it has more ram.
So it should run faster.
By the way, I have the Pico Neo 2 Eye right here, but they also have a Neo 2 version without
Eye tracking, which has precisely the same specs, except no eye-tracking module.
The display has a resolution of 4K:
Which is a lot higher than the Oculus Quest.
So yes, the visuals are very clear and beautiful.
Although, the headset does only have a single LCD panel, while the Quest has dual OLED panels.
So this means, the Pico Neo 2 doesn’t have the beautiful deep blacks as the Quest.
And it also does not have a manual IPD adjustment.
The Neo 2 only has in-software IPD adjustment, which is like what the Rift S has.
The IPD range for the Neo 2 is 55 to 71mm; my IPD is around 59 mm, so it is okay for
me, but it did feel uneasy at first, so I’m not a big fan of this.
The lenses and field of view aren’t that much different.
The speakers on the Pico Neo 2 are also built into the headband.
There is a 3.5 mm audio jack, too, and you can connect your own headphones with Bluetooth
directly on the headset.
I tried doing that with my Apple Airpods, and it works fine.
It makes me wonder why Oculus hasn’t opened up their Bluetooth functions as both the Neo
2 and the Oculus Quest run on Android, but okay 😉
Another interesting thing is that the Neo has a storage expansion slot up here.
The Neo provides 128 gigabyte on-board storage, but if needed, you can put in your own SD
card up to 256 GB for extra storage.
I mean, that’s nice!
So before we move on to my favorite part, the tracking, and some gaming, let’s talk
about comfort.
So I already mentioned that the battery is housed at the back, allowing for better weight
distribution.
The headband is also different from what we’ve seen before; it doesn’t use Velcro.
Instead, it uses this strap with three holes for adjustment.
At the back, there’s a dial to make the headset tighter, which is familiar.
But this headband can also be rotated 90 degrees.
The weight of the headset without the headband is 340 grams.
With the headband, I measured 692 grams.
While the Oculus Quest is around 617 grams.
It’s lower, according to Oculus, but this is what my scale says.
My Quest does have some extra Velcro stickers and an extra face cover, but that shouldn’t
weigh a lot more.
The face cover is made of PU-leather and its nice and thick.
And yeah, this is comfortable.
The face cover is soft on the skin even if I put the headset real tight.
And with the battery at the back, the headset does not feel front-heavy.
The middle hole of the top strap is perfect for my head, but I do wonder if having only
three holes is going to be flexible enough for different head sizes.
And with the rear-placed battery, this headset may not be as comfortable lying down or on
a chair with a headrest.
But so far, I like it.
Even though the Pico Neo 2 is a little heavier, it’s still a lot more comfortable than the
Oculus Quest out of the box.
Now, one of the things that excite me the most is the Pico Neo tracking method.
It’s different from other VR headsets.
You might have noticed already; the Neo 2 only has two cameras in the front, which are
mono fisheye cameras.
Usually, with other headsets, you might get worried about your controllers losing tracking
with only two cameras to track it.
But, the Neo 2 doesn’t use optical tracking as the Oculus Quest does.
Instead, it uses an electromagnet and an inertial measurement unit for the tracking, and without
going too techy, this allows for controller tracking without occlusion issues.
This means that you can put your controllers in front of the headset or behind your body
without tracking loss.
And yes, I’ve been playing some game demos on the headset, and it works very well
Yes, I’ve done some crazy moves too for science :D
I’m going to test the tracking out with more games on SteamVR to see if there is any
precision loss later on.
At the moment, I wasn’t able to make SteamVR content streaming work with my computer, unfortunately.
For SteamVR streaming, Pico provides streaming software that works over a 5G WiFi connection
or with a USB 3 cable, which should work similarly as Oculus Link.
However, both methods haven’t gotten me any results yet.
Maybe, my router isn’t compatible or something else, as this software does have some limitations.
Like no support for AMD graphic cards and specific CPU series isn’t supported either.
So I’ll come back to this.
Now here’s something you don’t see on headsets often yet, but it would be very cool
to have.
The Pico Neo 2 Eye has integrated eye-tracking capability.
It uses Tobii technology, who is one of the market leaders for eye tracking.
This also enables dynamic foveated rendering, which leads to higher quality visuals without
using more hardware resources.
And the eye-tracking works well.
This is a demo for eye tracking where I can turn eye tracking on and off.
And it’s on now, and as you can see, it’s following my eyes.
I can close my eyes, I can wink… etc.
To me, it makes the avatar feel way more lifelike than when I have eye-tracking off.
I think this would be a great addition to social VR.
What do you think about having your eyes tracked on VR headsets?
I’m curious, so let me know in the comments below.
So I was talking about the controllers already just now, but let’s have a closer look.
It has a familiar button layout, with joysticks, A+B buttons, trigger, grip, and menu buttons.
It has one additional button here that functions as the ‘go-back’ button in Pico’s software.
It has a USB-C port below, which is used to charge the controllers, and there’s a spot
for lanyards.
The controllers are okay.
They are not the most ergonomic, and they are not capacitive, but they fit well in my
hand, and it should be easy to use these in most games and apps.
As for battery life, I was able to get about 2 hours of playtime while recording at the
same time.
Recording at the same time probably also deducted the battery life so this doesn’t seem bad,
especially with these specifications.
The software also allows you to change the headset to a battery saver mode in case you
want to preserve the battery.
There’s also a high-performance mode for better performance, but less battery life.
Now, here’s the thing about the Pico headset.
Straight out of the box, it doesn’t have a lot of content.
There is an integrated Pico Store that you can visit, with some familiar titles like
Wands and OhShape, but as a VR gamer you might find content lacking.
It does run on Android, just like the Oculus Quest, but you can’t play Oculus Quest games
on it, not even if you sideload games from SideQuest, because developers need to make
their game work with the Pico Neo first.
And I don’t see a lot of game developers doing that unless a lot more gamers buy this
headset.
But it could be interesting if you can play SteamVR games on 4K quality wirelessly.
So you can get a Pico Neo 2 without eye-tracking for 699 US dollars, and the Eye version is
899 dollars.
This might sound expensive compared to the Quest.
However, Quest also has a business edition, and that one goes for 999 dollars.
Products for businesses just usually cost more as they include extras for enterprise,
like developer support.
So compared to that, I think the price is pretty good.
The Pico Neo 2 is currently the most powerful 6DoF standalone headset out there.
Having these specifications like 4K resolution in such a small form factor and wireless is
pretty amazing.
It doesn’t have a lot of competition right now, but seeing this headset, I do feel like
we’re getting a look into the future of standalone VR headsets.
And that’s exciting!
But the question was…
Who is this headset for exactly?
For now, I think the Pico Neo 2 is mostly interesting for developers who are looking
to create apps for enterprise.
You get a comfortable headset that’s powerful and has features not seen in other standalone
headsets.
For consumers, this headset is less suitable as content is lacking.
But it is interesting to look at the specs to see what’s coming next.
What do you think about the Pico Neo 2 specifications?
Exciting or not so much?
Let me know in the comments below.
And thanks for watching once again, really, I can’t do all of this without all of you,
so thanks.
Lastly, special thanks to our Patrons and Right-Hand Patron Baxorn VR, support him supporting
us and check out his VR YouTube channel.
As always VR on!