First time VR owner review [part 2] - 10 days later

I did my first initial review here: https://www.reddit.com/r/HPReverb/comments/k0cirt/first_time_vr_owner_review/

And I wanted to let you guys know if I still stand by it after 10 days of usage. I also recently purchased a 2nd hand Vive, so I can try out Lighthouse tracking and compare.

tl;dr of part 1:

• Didn't run into any problems (using X570 mobo too)
• Display good
• Speaker good
• Tracking not great, but usable

So, do I still stand by my initial experience? For the most part, yea.

1. Tracking

So lets start with this, since most people probably want to know about it. I've grown used to using the Reverb G2 tracking and it's just a really complicated thing to explain. I would say, the tracking is good enough for most games and for a lot of games, it's all you need. I did some additional testing and with more games this time around: The Walking Dead Saints and Sinners; Vivecraft (Java Minecraft VR); I expect you to die and even more VR Chat and Beat Saber.

For Vivecraft, everything worked really great. If you can put up with your arms being in a weird position when you don't need them (e.a.: you're resting your arms to your side), then everything else works great. I did dual wield swords fighting and even managed to do archery with it. Absolutely no problems with it.

For I expect you to die, same story. The tracking part, everything just worked, no problems at all. The only thing I have issues with are more keybinding/control issue and not tracking itself.

For VR Chat, I want to adjust my answers a bit. VR Chat, functionally, it's more than good enough. However, if you are concerned about how you look to others OR if you stand behind mirrors a lot OR you love using your hands and arms to do gestures while talking OR you just like roleplaying; then the small tracking volume just isn't good enough for it. The blind spot makes the area you can move your arm very limited and your arms will go into a weird position when you're idling. It'll look weird (to others) and if you're concerned about how you look, this isn't the tracking you want.

For The Walking Dead game, it was surprisingly good (aside the melee combat). You had to reach behind your shoulder or your sides to grab stuff, like backpacks, weapons, etc. It actually just worked. The only thing I had issues with, were the Melee weapons. It felt really hard to use, but I can't tell if the game is just clunky or if I just plain suck. I don't know if tracking could be the cause of the clunky melee mechanic. One of the reason is that the melee combat is dependent on the swing distance of your melee weapon and NOT the speed it travels. (In Minecraft, you can just make super small swings and it'll just do full damage I believe). This means that big, precise, overswing will work better with melee weapons, but it also means your controllers will go into the blind spot of the Reverb G2. I wanted to try out with the Vive controllers to compare and nail down the issue, but I couldn't get past the intro screen where it tells me to reset the HMD view, by pressing a button that the Vive controller doesn't have. The melee swings also have, which seems like, a 'limit' to how fast it can travel. So if you swing faster in real life, it doesn't translate 1 on 1 in the game itself. An issue that Vivecraft doesn't have. So I 'suspect' the tracking is fine for it, I just suck at it.

Beat Saber Ok now this is a bit more complicated to explain. I can only tell you my experience up to Expert mode difficulty, since I'm super new to Rythm games and VR and I can't challenge Expert+ at all. (Expert K/DA is the only song atm that I can get full combo and S rank currently). I have the HTC Vive for its lighthouse tracking, so I can do a direct comparison. It definitely 'feels' easier and more consistent to play Beat Saber with my Vive controllers (even though I have been playing Beat Saber with my G2 controllers every day and I only JUST started playing with my Vive controllers!), but the reason for it is a bit more complicated than 'just better tracking' in my opinion. First of all, the weight balance, the size and the vibration of the Vive controllers just feels way more natural and better for Beat Saber. That kind of 'feel' just makes Beat Saber more comfortable to play. But I think one of the biggest reason is because with the G2 controller, I am ALWAYS concerned and aware of the small tracking volume. And that can be pretty distracting while I play. I can get similar scores and full combo with the G2, but it definitely requires a bit more, mentally. I also have to constantly (over)compensate so I can make sure the tracking will go through (making sure the controllers are in view as much as possible). I don't have to worry about these things with the Vive controllers.

Beat Saber (at least up to Expert mode), is definitely doable, but Lighthouse Tracking will absolutely just give you much better experience.

2 Display

I'll give a bit more information on the display with my experience. Yes, it is very pretty, but people are concerned about 'sweet spots' and I'll tell you my experience with it. So there are 2 parts when we talk about 'sweet spots',

1. how easy it is to readjust your HMD to get the right sharpness
2. how much % of the display is actually sharp when everything is said and done.

It is VERY easy to find the right spot for sharpness for me, (though my HMD tend to sag down after some time, so I usually have to readjust after a while. Maybe I should strap it tighter next time).

But, like many people said, not the entire display is sharp. The edges of the display is definitely blurry and if you move your eyes to the side, you will notice it. But is this a problem? It really depends on what you're playing and using it for. If you look at a small area, then the blurriness doesn't matter. For example, when I play Beat Saber, I really only focus on the small part what's ahead of me. When I play VRChat, I only look at people's faces when I talk, and don't pay much attention what's happening around us.

But when I look at a big screen, for example watching a movie or reading a large notice board, it does get in the way of the experience. It's still usable, but it's VERY noticeably in cases like that. I don't mind it personally, but I don't know if other people are the same; you gotta try it out yourself and see.

3. Speakers

I still think it's great. It's good enough that I don't want to bother grabbing my headphones. But it might not be good for enthusiasts or audiophiles. It definitely is worse than a dedicated quality headphones (and I have them myself), but most people aren't audiophiles. Don't listen to people that say that the speakers are shit, because they aren't. You know fully well if you're an audiophile or not.

4. Other stuff

Honestly, the biggest annoyance I have is the keybinding-related stuff. The WMR is usable, but definitely not polished at all and it sometimes just doesn't play nice with SteamVR. Having to try and make keybinding work is probably the most annoying thing about this whole thing, but once you do get it work, it is fine.

I also kind of appreciate the AA batteries and build in tracking (without lighthouse) a bit more now. Ever since I get the Vive, it can feel a bit annoying to do that extra few steps, which I don't have to do with the Reverb G2. The extra steps are like: turning on my lighthouses; (plugging in dongles, or in my case the Vive HMD itself); having two controllers that needs to recharged at your power outlet (or wherever you want to charge them).

I kind of enjoy of just powering on my Reverb G2 and just immediately, start playing (implying you already have batteries still inside the controllers).

I like putting my controllers away when I'm done playing, so it's nice to just have rechargeable AA batteries at my power outlet, instead of having 2 controllers. Depending on what game I play, I might not bother with Vive lighthouse tracking, since those require a few more extra steps to start up and clean up.

Edit: Also the vibration rumble still sucks lol. After experiencing with the Vive (which doesn't seem that amazing either), hitting cubes in Beat Saber with G2 controllers felt like hitting a cube full with air.

In conclusion

I definitely don't regret buying the Reverb G2. I don't think the Lighthouse Tracking is worth the extra investment for your G2, unless you really have specific use cases for it (like me, with VR Chat and Beat Saber). And I still use my Reverb G2 daily (almost as soon as I come back home from work).

I hope the rest of you get to experience it as well soon, problems free.