Pimax announces the Dream Air and it's got some great features at a very large price

I've been using my Meta Quest 3 headset a ton more than my PC headsets because of its flexibility and great pancake lenses. It's my go to VR headset for everything including PC gaming now that the HP Reverb 2 is no longer viable and I don't have access the Pimax Crystal Light anymore. I really liked the Crystal Light except for the form factor. Pimax is looking to change that with their latest headset announcement.

The Pimax Dream Air is Pimax's answer to a portable VR headset and it doesn't compromise on features. We're talking micro-OLED displays at 3840x3552 resolution per eye. I've been a big fan of micro-OLED panels that are in my AR glasses that I also use a ton to consume content. Unlike AR glasses though with its small FOV, the Dream Air will feature a 102 degree FOV providing a much larger view than those types of glasses. And yes, the Dream Air will be sporting pancake lenses.

Eye-tracking is built in and it's one of the features that I wish more VR headsets would have. It's great for things like VR Chat and dynamic foveated rendering. The eye tracking also helps with auto IPD adjustments in the Dream Air.

Tracking is done via cameras so it'll support inside out tracking. But like their other headsets, they are planning on allowing for a plate to support Lighthouse tracking. Nothing beats the accuracy of Lighthouse tracking and the Dream Air looks to support both.

There are going to be two USB-C ports on the Dream Air with one being used for tethering to a PC for a display signal. The other will let you attach peripherals such as a headset.

Design wise, Pimax is going with a big change from their large angular headsets. It reminds me of the PICO VR headsets, but much smaller. Pimax is looking to make this a portable solution and thus, the small size allowing for a lot lighter headset to sit on your face. It helps that it's not going to have a battery so that's a good amount of weight and size removed from this design.

Controls seem to be the same ring-less controllers you get with the Meta Quest 3. It should be good enough for all your control based VR gaming needs. Pimax will also be supporting hand tracking so if you want to control some of your games or applications with just your hands, you'll be able to do so.

Pimax is also going to make a portable device using a Snapdragon XR2 chipset with a built in battery so that you can attach it to the Dream Air and use it on the go. It sounds like it's what some companies like Rayneo has with their GoogleTV device or VITURE's Neckband. With an XR2 chipset, it should be powerful enough for some gaming on it, but we'll see what Pimax has in store for it as more information comes out in the future.

So everything sounds really solid, but how much and when will it be available? They are targeting a May 2025 ship date and the price. Well, the price is pretty big. We're talking $1895. Yes, that's a little over half the price of an Apple Vision Pro and more than three times the price of a Meta Quest 3 with 512GB of storage. Now, is it worth more than 3X the price? We won't know until we get some reviews on it, but right now that looks like a pretty big sticker price. Don't get me wrong, it sounds like it has a great deal of tech, but that price is going to make a lot of people hesitate.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get a look at it at CES as this does sound like a pretty slick VR headset in a small form factor.