Somnium Connect 2024 Recap — Somnium VR1 Influencers’ Take on the production VR1 units
The amazing Somnium Connect 2024 event, which we hosted in the vibrant city of Prague on July 12th, is already behind us. Time to look back and reflect on the feedback and what some of the YouTubers and VR influencers, who we invited to join us on this special day, have said about the event in general and the VR1 in particular.
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During the day, everyone had the opportunity to demo the VR1 in one of the demo booths. Suffice to say that after all the anticipation, many wanted to try the headset. And so did the YouTubers and VR influencers, who subsequently shared their impressions with their own communities of course.
We’ve gone through some of their reviews and feedback and in this post we are thrilled to share their opinions.
Road2VR, UploadVR, VooodooDE, SadlyItsBradley, Tyriel Wood, SkarredGhost have visited Somnium Connect and tried VR1!
Field of View (FOV)
One of the standout features of the Somnium VR1 is its expansive field of view. David Heaney, UploadVR editor and developer, emphasized that it offers the widest undistorted FOV among consumer headsets, surpassing the Meta Quest 3 and Valve Index. In his ‘first impressions’ article on UploadVR he writes:
“What I immediately noticed when putting Somnium VR1 on was that it indeed delivers the widest undistorted field of view of any consumer headset to date”.
He also writes that while it is not like the $10,000 XTAL 3, which delivers a 180° horizontal field of view, the Somnium VR1 is still a noticeable step up in immersion for a fraction of the price.
Scott Hayden, editor at Road to VR, echoed this in his article, pointing out the VR1’s 130° horizontal and 105° vertical FOV as ideal for immersive experiences like flight simulators.
“The headlining feature undoubtedly though is its large FOV — 130° horizontal and 105° vertical — which was perfect for the fully-kitted flight simulator I played, which is basically the only thing missing in my life right now. Coupled with the display’s brightness, the large FOV is something I hope all headsets, standalone included, should aim to achieve one day.”
Optical Stack: Image Quality, Brightness, and Clarity
The VR1’s image quality received high praise from the reviewers. David Heaney found it comparable to the Varjo Aero, but with superior contrast, better colors, and significantly improved brightness.
“Given how much I use Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest headsets these days, I was taken aback by just how bright Somnium VR1 can get”
He also appreciated the ability to adjust the lens distortion matrix settings in the VR1 software tool, which enhanced his visual experience (he had some focus issue), though he noted that perfecting these settings would take more time.
Scott Hayden highlighted the lenses’ remarkable clarity and excellent light transmission, noting a large ‘sweet spot’ and a wide range of interpupillary distances (IPDs) that the VR1 accommodates, thanks to the manual IPD adjustment.
On chromatic aberration, which was pointed out by people when testing pre-production versions, he wrote:
“Chromatic aberration was thankfully a non-issue”
He also wrote:
“Another clear win is VR1’s display, which is very bright — a reported 210 nits and the highest I’ve seen in a production headset.”
And:
“It’s also notably the exact same QLED mini-LED fast LCD with local dimming you’ll find in Pimax Crystal and Pimax Crystal Light, providing 35 PPD via its dual 8.3MP (2,880 × 2,880) per-eye displays, clocked at 90Hz, but with 120Hz and 144Hz modes planned to arrive at some point. Here, the screen door effect feels essentially non-existent.”
YouTubers SadlyItsBradley and Tyriel Wood both noted significant improvements in the optical stack. SadlyItsBradly was relieved to find that a previous pre-production issue with a “weird stitch line” in the lenses had been resolved. On X he wrote the simple, but telling words:
According to Tyriel, pretty much everything that he had complained about when testing pre-production versions had been fixed. According to him, the VR1 improved in every single detail.
Comfort
Comfort is a crucial factor for extended VR sessions, and the Somnium VR1 delivers on this front as well. David Heaney found the headset surprisingly comfortable despite its 850-gram weight, attributing this to its unique hinge design. He wrote:
“The hinge halfway along the side straps allows you to pivot the meaty back padding to exactly where you want it on the back of your head, while independently positioning the visor itself to align the lenses to your eyes”
Tyriel Wood noted that the longer top strap helps distribute the weight more evenly, enhancing comfort.
Passthrough
The passthrough functionality of the Somnium VR1 was another highlight for the reviewers. David Heaney praised its quality, stating it was better than any other headset he had tried, including the Apple Vision Pro and Varjo XR-4. He wrote:
“This is seemingly thanks to the use of much larger sensors than the tiny little ones used in other headsets, bringing in more light and avoiding graininess”
What he also found impressive was the fact that the Somnium VR1 software let’s you mask out specific areas, which in the demo booth was used to show the real flight simulation cockpit and controls, as well as hands and arms, while outside the cockpit remained fully virtual.
Scott Hayden found the passthrough particularly impressive in the context of flight simulation. He wrote:
“The flight sim really shows off the full-fat experience of what VR1 has to offer”
He appreciated how well the passthrough allowed him to see the flight stick and instrument cluster while keeping the rest of the world virtual.
Tyriel Wood also praised the clarity, mentioning:
“The results [of passthrough] were absolutely fantastic as I could read every little thing on the knobs.”
VoodooDE VR echoed these sentiments, stating:
“Everyone in the whole room was very impressed by the VR1 mixed reality passthrough.”
Conclusions
David Heaney suggested it would be ideal for flight simulator and racing simulator enthusiasts willing to invest in a premium setup. He wrote:
“A native DisplayPort image delivered to a truly wide field of view with nearly 3K resolution and eye tracking isn’t something you can currently get from any other company, at any price”
SadlyItsBradley noted the significant improvements since the last demo.
“Overall, it feels like an actual product now compared to the last time I demoed it”
He also recognizes the challenges in designing and mass-producing such a complex headset in Europe.
“It’s hard to design a headset as complicated as this. It’s even harder to mass produce a headset as complicated as this…”
Tyriel Wood appreciated the community feedback integration and the transparency of the Somnium team. He remarked:
“The VR1 is made completely in the European Union. No production in China. It has amazing clarity, resolution, brightness, great passthrough, and they listen to the feedback of the community”
VoodooDE VR praised the professionalism of the Somnium Connect event and the seamless execution of the demos, underscoring the VR1’s potential in enterprise applications. He said:
“Somnium connect 2024 was a really really nice event. One of the best days I had in the last few years”
SkarredGhost has also concluded in his article that:
…from what I saw, I think that Somnium VR1 is a great headset to be used in simulators. What counts in simulator games is especially a high resolution and a wide FOV, and Somnium VR1 delivers them very well. For enterprise uses, it is also important a high-definition passthrough and also that one is included in the package.
We thank all the journalists and friends who came to Somnium Connect and we hope to see you next year!
Please also check July Update from our CEO — Artur Sychov
And as a bonus — here are some great pictures from Somnium Connect!
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