The Pimax Dream Air headset represents a brand new space of focus for the corporate. Whereas most of its headsets up up to now have been essentially cumbersome to realize their signature giant field-of-view, the Dream Air goals to make a headset that’s compact however nonetheless feature-rich. A type of options—a headstrap that mechanically tightens—can be an trade first.
Priced at $1,900 and purportedly delivery in Could 2025, Pimax’s Dream Air headset goals to tackle an rising section of compact high-end PC VR headsets like Bigscreen Past and the Shiftall MaganeX Superlight.
Nevertheless it wouldn’t be Pimax if it didn’t make extra formidable guarantees which threat pulling the corporate’s consideration away from delivering its merchandise on time and as promised. For the Dream Air, that extra promise is an optionally available compute puck which the headset can plug into to turn out to be a standalone VR headset. The corporate is asking the puck ‘Cobb’, and says it can embrace a Snapdragon XR2 chip and battery. Oh, and don’t overlook the optionally available SteamVR Monitoring faceplate.
Talking of pulling the corporate’s consideration… the announcement of the Dream Air continues Pimax’s pattern of unveiling new merchandise earlier than delivering on these it has beforehand introduced. The corporate’s Crystal Tremendous headset was introduced again in April 2024 and initially deliberate for a This fall 2024 launch, however is now stated to be releasing someday in Q1 2025.
As for the Dream Air, it can purportedly be compact and likewise filled with a wishlist of specs and options:
- Weight of 200g
- Decision: 13MP (3,840 × 3,552) micro-OLED per-eye @ 90Hz and “HDR”
- 102° field-of-view
- Inside-out monitoring
- Movement controllers & hand-tracking
- On-board audio
- Optionally available prescription lenses
- Eye-tracking
- Computerized IPD and computerized strap tightening
That final one—computerized strap tightening—is a characteristic that hasn’t been included in any main headset to this point. It’s an fascinating concept contemplating the problem of becoming a headset comfortably; many customers need to crank their headset tight to their face so it received’t transfer, however probably the most snug method to make use of a headset is to steadiness tightness with stability.
The design of the auto-tightening strap additionally seems to be rigorously thought-about. Whereas we’ve solely seen renders up to now, it seems the tightening mechanism is hidden beneath cloth, making the tightening of the headstrap seems to be prefer it’s merely shrinking in place.
If the headset might successfully dial within the superb tightness, it might be a boon for a lot of customers. Dream Air additionally has computerized IPD adjustment, which units the gap between the lenses to match the consumer’s eye width (one thing most individuals additionally aren’t good at doing manually).
Whereas it stays to be seen if Pimax can ship one thing as svelte as promised, for now it seems to be like the corporate is flexing an industrial design muscle that’s been largely hidden by the utilitarian and boxy fashion of its earlier headsets.
Nevertheless, Pimax isn’t giving up these boxy designs of yore. The corporate says {that a} compact headset is a brand new space of focus for the corporate, however it can proceed creating its bigger and wider field-of-view headsets.
Pimax is already taking pre-orders for the Dream Air, with a value of $1,900 and an anticipated launch date of Could 2025.
