Source
r/PicoXR•
tmvr

Fan noise on Pico 4

How is the fan noise on your Pico 4? My one spins up shortly after starting up the HMD and is pretty loud. It is like that since the beginning after the OS update installed. First start out of the box, setting up the account and going through the rest of the setup was fine. Then the OS update was offered which I did and after the reboot I noticed the fan spinning up shortly after getting into Home and it is pretty loud. Similar noise to the small fans from Dell/HP/Lenovo office laptops when they get under load (not the full speed, but the one you notice after them being silent before).

Posted Oct 29, 2022, 8:11 AM UTC

422
Enough-Class-11•

I don't hear it at all even with my ear to the headset. I'm using 90Hz and I'm hoping the fan is not broken if I'm not hearing it. How would I know if it's broken? Would my headset just die or something?

2
tmvrOP•

LOL, we have the same worry for the completely opposite reason :)) I'm worried that my one is broken because it is so loud. The answers until now in the thread also do not help much with nailing it down (of course thank you to everyone who bothered to answer) because we now have:

1x don't hear it at all
1x only hear it with 90Hz
1x it's loud all the time

OK, technically there is two of us with "it's loud all the time", but the data pool for now is too small. I wish my one was quiet, I barely hear the one in the Quest.

1
Enough-Class-11•

Yes, it's a strange one LOL. Now I'm even thinking I might be a bit deaf. I do keep asking people to repeat themselves lolz. I do hear my computer fans though, but the fans on that are as big as wind turbines LOL. I hope more people respond to your post so we can get some idea.

Where do you look to see what version software you are on? Ill take a look at that to see if I'm on the latest one.

1
tmvrOP•

I'm not near the HMD, but it's in the Settings under System or System Update or something similar.

1
Enough-Class-11•

I'm on 5.1.0v

1
sed888•

Lol dont hear it neither with earbuds in :D

1
tmvrOP•

Lifehack! :)

1
hansaplastique•

I can’t hear mine either, but I do feel a very subtitle airflow.

1
Bauxitedev•

I like it because it keeps my head cool and reduces condensation and sweating.

2
tmvrOP•

I have to say the fact that it is blowing inside and prevents condensation is a nice thing to have. Does your also blow mainly from the right? I do feel the breeze on my right eye when it's on, but not on the left eye.

2
Enough-Class-11•

I don't even feel a breeze. What with the not hearing the fan and now not feeling a breeze, this obviously makes me partly deaf and I must have lost feeling in my face LOL. Are you sure you are feeling a breeze in the VR headset itself?

2
tmvrOP•

Yes, it's inside the HMD, feel it on my eye and eyelid.

1
ManuAU•

I find it noisy when using 90Hz option. On 60Hz, not so much.

1
JustAnotherLurker001•

I feel like its on most of the time and loud, I'm on OS 5.1 still.
Battery drains fast too i feel, can barely watch a full lenght 3D movie on a full charge 🤷‍♂️
Hoping 5.2 fixes some of these issues 🤞

1
Enough-Class-11•

Yes, my battery is draining fast. Can a software update fix this?

1
AcdcFTAR•

I've heard it pins the processor to the max which is a bug, assuming that they will fix and battery length will increase

2
Enough-Class-11•

But wouldn't Pico have noticed this when declaring that you get around 2 to 3 hours of use? Have you emailed them about it just to let them know?

1
tmvrOP•

It does, they have an Metrics tool on their site that you can download and run on the Pico 4 where you can see the CPU and GPU levels (besides a bunch of other info) in an overlay window. It shows the CPU and GPU being constantly on L5 regardless what the HMD is doing.

EDIT: here is the tool
https://developer-global.pico-interactive.com/sdk?deviceId=1&platformId=1&itemId=15

1
JustAnotherLurker001•

ey have an Metrics tool on their site that you can download and run on the Pico 4 where you can see the CPU and GPU levels (besides a bunch of other info) in an overlay window. It shows the CPU and GPU being constantly o

yeah read something like this, no need for it to go full power all the time. And the battery power save function does jack 💩Seems most of the very positive reviews were people on 5.2 software so i'm hopefull a fix is eminent 🤞😃

But i did buy one of those usb-c dongles that has 3.5mm jack and extra usb-c for charging (dont work with picos charger though but my motorola charger does)

So far i'm happy with the headset (sanse fan noise and battery drain) and i'm happy i picked it as my first VR experience 😃

The future is VR, they should shoot movies and not just porn in VR, such a different experience than regular 3D 👀

EDIT: does anyone know how/where to turn up the mic, was going to record something for a buddy but the mic is really low 🤷‍♂️

EDIT2: So was playing around on the headset and noticed all of a sudden it does not charge fast enough,it still drains battery while charging 🤔 seems the USBC to minijack is not a solution after all 🙃

1
KevinReems•

When I turn the headset off and the fan stops is the only time I really notice it.

1
Replect•

I got mine on Monday and I also clearly hear a consistent noise, no matter if I'm in a game or in the home screen, it doesn't feel like it would throttle up or down. I also sometimes believe I'm hearing the hardware like processing if you understand what I mean.

In th beginning I was wondering if what I'm hearing actually is not coming from the headset, but from the speakers like ambient sounds, but since it was still present after muting the sound or loading up any game/app, it must be from the ventilation or something.

I've read comments here about that 5.2 update and the CPU running on full throttle all the time (potentially being the reason the noise is consistently high?), so I hope that will do something good, including in regards to the battery draining so fast, I feel like it barely crosses 60-70 minutes used standalone only.

But then again some are saying they don't hear anything... so either something is wrong with mine too, those who don't hear anything just have great noise filter in their ears 🤪, or I don't know what...

1
Dizzy_Vacation5312•

Mine stopped making constant noise after I did a reset after the update. I only play Xfitness at 90hz. I don't hear the fan anymore. Before it was indeed annoying.

1
No-Tone4801•

I have 2 picos....one has a constant fan noise....the other nothing. Both exactly the same settings.

1
No-Tone4801•

I can confirm....the silent one isn't blowing air through......

1
No-Tone4801•

After playing a game the silent ones fan came on and stayed on (even after shutting down). I suspect the thermal properties of each headset is slightly different....the fans are a bit noisy....

1
Direct-Cartoonist-87•

Did you reinstall the update after reset?

1
Mr_Weebster•

My fan makes kind of a buzzing noise when i turn my head. Is that normal?

1
tmvrOP•

My one doesn't make any noise besides the normal fan/air noise.

1