Pimax announced and opened preorders for Dream Air, a tethered PC VR headset it says has 4K micro-OLED panels, eye tracking, inside-out tracking, and a weight of less than 200g.
What Is Pimax?
Pimax is a China-based VR headset company best known for its 2017 Kickstarter for an ultra-wide field of view PC-based headset, but in recent years it has shifted focus from field of view to resolution.
Pimax currently sells two headsets: Crystal Light and Crystal Super, both being tethered PC-only headsets with an optional wireless adapter.
Crystal Light is priced at $700 and offers 2880×2880 QD-LCD displays, while Crystal Super is priced at $1800 and has 3840×3840 QD-LCD displays with local dimming and integrated eye tracking.
Pimax also plans to release a micro-OLED variant of Crystal Super for $2000 later this year, using the same BOE panels as Dream Air.
Pimax Dream Air will seemingly use the same BOE 3840×3552 micro-OLED displays that are also being used in Play For Dream MR, Immersed's Visor, and Shiftall's MeganeX superlight 8K. These BOE panels are set to usher in a new era of compact 4K per eye headsets, albeit at a steep price.
Pimax has a rather strange sales model for its headsets. It will sell you Dream Air for initial payment of $1199 to try out for up to 14 days, after which you'll need to pay $33/month for two years if you want to keep it, totalling $1991. Alternatively, Pimax says you'll be able to pay off the remaining value for $697, totalling to $1896.
A render of Pimax Dream Air's self-tightening strap.
Dream Air is a PC-only headset, and will come with a "thin, soft and lightweight" 5-meter DisplayPort cable to connect to a powerful gaming PC. Pimax says Dream Air has four integrated cameras for inside-out SLAM tracking of the headset and included Touch-like controllers, meaning you don't need base stations or Index controllers, though the company also plans a Lighthouse tracking addon. Further, Pimax claims Dream Air's cameras also support hand tracking.
Pimax Dream Air also introduces a completely unique feature we haven't yet seen on another headset: a motorized self-tightening headstrap, similar to Nike's self-lacing shoes. Combined with the automatic IPD adjustment, enabled by integrated eye tracking, Pimax claims this will let buyers quickly and easily put on the headset with no need to manually adjust anything at all.
| Pimax Dream Air |
Shiftall MeganeX superlight |
Bigscreen Beyond |
|
| Pixels Per Eye | 3552×3840 | 3552×3840 | 2560×2560 |
| Visor Weight | ~200 grams | 185 grams | 127 grams |
| IPD | Automatic | Manually Adjustable |
Custom Fit |
| Diopter Adjustment |
? | ? | ? |
| Eye Tracking | ? | ? | ? |
| Strap | Self-Tightening Soft Strap |
Forehead Pad + Soft Strap |
Soft Strap |
| Speakers | ? | ? | $130 addon |
| Price | $1896 (full package) |
$1899 (headset-only) |
$999 (headset-only) |
| Release | "May 2025" | "March 2025" | September 2023 |
Dream Air also has built-in speakers and microphones, something not present in Shiftall's MeganeX superlight, Immersed Visor, or Bigscreen Beyond by default.
Pimax claims that Dream Air preorders will start shipping in May. However, Pimax has a long history of repeatedly failing to meet its deadlines, announcing new products before delivering what it already announced, and of shipping products without promised features. For example, Crystal's eye tracking didn't work until four months after launch and the company still hasn't shipped the "Reality 12K QLED" headset it announced in 2021 with impossible-sounding specs like 6K per eye resolution and 200° field of view. We strongly recommend exercising caution by waiting for reviews of the final hardware before placing a preorder for Pimax Dream Air.
To use Dream Air without a PC, such as on a plane or train, Pimax says it's also developing a compute puck called Cobb, with an integrated Snapdragon XR2 chipset and battery. No further details were given, and Pimax has yet to ship the "VR Station" PC VR console it announced back in 2021.
