Pimax says the Dream Air and Dream Air SE is behind at least until December, but the former promises to have the widest FOV of any microall headset.
Pimax announced the Dream Air at the end of last year. Pimax claims to be a subgram tethered PC VR headset with micro all panels, eye tracking and integrated audio. The Dream Air is set up to have a 4K panel, but the Dream Air SE has a 2.5K panel and a less advanced lens.
Pimax plans two variants for each, with four models in total for Inside Out Computer Vision or SteamVR “Lighthouse” base station tracking.
The Dream Air lineup is set to showcase completely unique features that have never been seen in another headset, similar to Nike’s self-racing shoes. Pimax claims that in combination with automatic IPD adjustment, this allows buyers to place their headset quickly and easily without having to manually adjust anything.
Pimax is a China-based VR headset company most famous for its extremely wide View PC-based headsets on Kickstarter in 2017, but in recent years it has shifted its focus from field of view to resolution.
Pimax currently sells two products. Crystal Light and Crystal SuperBoth are tethered PC-only VR headsets.
The crystal light costs $700, offers a 2880 x 2880 QD-LCD display, while the Crystal Super costs $1800, and has a 3840 x 3840 QD-LCD display, with local dimming and integrated eye tracking, and a wider field of view lens.
Pimax uses an updated “Pimax Prime” finance system for both devices. This will allow you to make your first payment of about two-thirds of the price and try the headset for 14 days. If you then choose to keep it, you will pay for the rest. If you don’t want to keep it, you can return it for a refund.
More delays until December at most
When it first announced the air of dreams, Pimax claimed it would ship in May. However, after a long history of repeatedly failing deadlines, when it arrived in May, the company revealed a delay to “August or early September.”
| Pimax The atmosphere of dreams | Big Screen Beyond 2 | |
| Pixels per eye | 2560×2560 | 2560×2560 |
| Field of view | 110° | 108° |
| Visor weight | ~140g | 107g |
| IPD | Automatic | Manually Adjustable |
| Eye Tracking | ✅ | +$ 200 (Over 2e) |
| strap | Self-bright Soft strap | Soft strap |
| speaker | ✅ | $130 add-on |
| price | $900 (Lighthouse) $1,200 | $1020 (Lighthouse) |
| release | ❌ | ✅ |
Now that early September has passed, Pimax says SteamVR tracking variations for Dream Air and Dream Air SE will actually begin shipping in December, while the inside-out computer vision tracking model will not ship to customers until next year.
“ConcaveView” lenses and price hikes
Pimax claims that the high-end dream air model has the broadest field of vision for headsets that use micro-all panels.
Micro-Oled allows for a compact headset with high resolution, punchy colors and excellent contrast, including true black, but the small panels are much more difficult to enlarge with a wide field of view.
Pimax calls lenses developed for Dream Air’s “Concaveview” and, as the name suggests, they feature a highly concave shape. This has two advantages: Both capture light at a sudden angle, allowing you to move your eyes closer to the lens without touching your eyelashes. Both factors improve your vision.
Pimax is not the first company to take this approach. The Apple Vision Pro also features concave pancake lenses.
| Pimax The atmosphere of dreams | Shiftall meganex Super Light | |
| Pixels per eye | 3552×3840 | 3552×3840 |
| Field of view | 110° | 90° |
| Visor weight | ~170 grams | 185g |
| IPD | Automatic | Manually Adjustable |
| Diopter Adjustment | ❌ | ✅ |
| Eye Tracking | ✅ | ❌ |
| strap | Self-bright Soft strap | Forehead pad +Soft strap |
| speaker | ✅ | ❌ |
| price | $2000 (Lighthouse) $2300 | $1900 (Lighthouse) |
| release | ❌ | ✅ |
According to Pimax, the Dream Air achieves a horizontal field of view of 110°.
The widest currently available shipping is over two large screens, claiming a 108° horizontal for comparison.
However, this increased vision is coming with price hikes. For new orders for the Pimax Dream Air, the price is $2,000 for the SteamVR “Lighthouse” tracking model and $2,300 for the Computer Vision tracking model.
Pimax finally showed footage of what it says is a pre-production Dream Air prototype used by multiple testers. Previously, it only showed rendering.
As always, the company’s long history has had a history of repeatedly failing to ship deadlines and shipped products without the promised features, so we highly recommend that you take caution by waiting for a final hardware review before placing a pre-order for a Pimax headset that has not been shipped.
