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Rift versus Vive. I have only one winner.

janherca
Explorer
After using both during a few weeks for me there is only one clear winner: Oculus Rift, and let me explain my reasons for saying this.

Five key points:

1. Products are compared poorly. We must compare the HMD on one side and the controllers in the other. Since Touch will not come until September, we must remove Valve's "cutlass" controllers from the comparison. We must also take concepts as room-scale outside the comparison. Both Rift and Vive allow room-scale. Simply games for Rift are more focused on playing seated. But that will change with the arrival of Touch. We have to compare pears with pears, so I will focus on comparing the two HMDs and nothing else, which for now is what Oculus has released.

2. Focusing on the HMDs, there are four key aspects. First is the arrangement of pixels. Rift is noticeably better what means it feels to have higher resolution than Vive, and also less screendoor effect. It is quite remarkable, not slightly. For example, in a game like Elite Dangerous it means that in Rift you can comfortably read the interface panels and in Vive you need to lean forward. It is a very noticeable difference.

3. Ergonomics. Absolute Zero for HTC Vive. Vive in my opinion is a Developer Kit 2 put in a nice box. It has the same ergonomics as the Oculus DK2, I mean, painful. Weight badly distributed that causes that after half hour of play my cheeks hurt, where all the weight is supported, and it hurts my head. From the backside there go four wires attached! (yes, yes, four), which form a rigid assembly pulling you down and creating an enormous discomfort in both standing and sitting experiences. Sitting is even worse. The absence of integrated headphones is very noticeable and it is a mistake. Putting them on is a nuisance every time you use the HMD. Rift is more rigid in its foam, but on the contrary it feels super light on the head and it don't press your face at all. This allows a huge difference in terms of hours of use. I have played up to two hours at Rift without any discomfort symptom. With Vive, half an hour and I'm in trouble.

4. Lens glare. This effect of Fresnel lenses is equally pronounced in Vive than in Oculus Rift. Both share the same problem. In games with high-contrast black backgrounds with bright interfaces, such as Elite Dangerous, it is a problem that is very pronounced and very annoying. You can only reduce it by decreasing the brightness of the interface, but even that way it pops out. This is no better in Vive than in Rift. Both equally bad.

5. The most important point in my opinion, the one and only that leave in nothing previous three, is the Async Time Warp, the wonder created by the genius John Carmack. HTC Vive does not have this technology and it is super noticeable. I have done tests on a PC slightly above the minimum specs required by Oculus and Valve. The card I've used is a GTX970. In Rift all games are extremely smooth, even the most demanding, as Elite Dangerous or Project Cars. Never, never I have a drop of frames. In any moment. With HTC Vive sometimes there is judder. Not a judder to stop you playing, but there are moments in games as Elite Dangerous when entering a space station where definitely the wonder created by Carmack shines in all its glory. A GTX970 is enough to play Elite Dangerous in Rift, but not in HTC Vive.

All my current experience, both sitting and standing, both installing, buying games, settting options, etc. Everything is comparatively better in Rift than with Vive. The only plus point for HTC is the tracking system. It is very good. The sensors have a huge tracking volume and are very accurate. Oculus camera, although is great for being just a camera, is below. But also consider that HTC Vive are two base stations that must be placed in a very specific position in the room, and that is a hassle installation.

Overall, after two weeks of testing with each other, I have a clear winner. Oculus Rift. There's no more. I only can say that from now on, except for games or apps only available in SteamVR, I'm going to enjoy the rest in Rift. And I am convinced that when Oculus releases Touch most of the content that is now exclusive to SteamVR and is only room-scale oriented will also be available for Rift. So I have no concern in that regard. Oculus is not going to be as a device with a fragment of the content of VR. Developers are super eager to get their creations to the widest possible audience.

I do not do this analysis in order to alienate anyone from the idea of ​​purchasing the product from HTC. I only expose this as informative, but I recommend to anyone who is in doubt of what product to buy that if he or she has a way to test the products by a friend, do it, try the same game in both headsets, and evaluate calmly after a long gaming session which product you are interested in more. Rift and Vive are expensive purchases. My advice if you are in doubt is to have patience and seek the opportunity to try and see if what I say in this analysis is true or not. I've read dozens of reviews and each makes an assessment putting pears and apples on the table. There are those who appreciate the room-scale above all things, and of course that is a feature with limited support in Rift since it only gives you one sensor and HTC Vive carries two. If all you want to experience the VR is the room-scale, then surely Rift disappoint you. But in my opinion, that is not the way to do an objective review of the products. We have to compare what is now available in both products, and within that, evaluate all what they offer, from installation, to purchasing of content and using the content. Again I recommend to not trust any review, including this one, and please, try first hand the products before buying them. Perhaps if you are patient and wait for Touch you end finding that all Oculus products (HMD, sensors and controllers) are better than HTC equivalents. And that would make worth the waiting.

Have fun
208 REPLIES 208

FokkerFace
Explorer

Zoomie said:

Quick question @FokkerFace, is your rig mounted on the ceiling?


You've almost guessed it right. I was planning to run extension cord to the ceiling, to the center of the room.
DK2 sold Rift - preordered, shipment estimate March 28. cancelled. MSI X99A RAIDER, i7-5820K + Corsair H110i GTX, Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 64 GB (4x16GB Quad Channel), AMD Radeon R9 Fury X, SSD RAID0 (2x256GB Sata3 A-Data SX900), OCZ ZX 850W 80+

Zoomie
Expert Trustee
K, just wondered how you were running with such a large play area.  Cheers,
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. - Arthur C Clarke

CharlieHobbes
Rising Star

Right, so for the past 2 days I've had the option to really put a Vive to the test.


One thing is clear, both parties rushed to release earlier (or at the very least around the same time) than the other.

For the Rift this results in having to wait for Touch and for Vive this results in a headset that in a lot of ways is a dev kit.

The Vive controllers are good, they track really well but ergonomically they leave some things to be desired in my opinion. As for the headset itself, I would say it has NO ergonomics.

Weight distribution is not quite right, the cable can tug quite a bit, no integrated sound is a mistake in my opinion and I find the image quality to be perceived as less than the Rift, I don't see much of an FOV increase (I wear glasses in both), Also it gets very sweaty, even compared to wearing the Rift and moving around

This is a system that is fun to use and works well, but could do with a bit more polish.

On the other hand you have the Rift, which is a very polished headset with excellent ergonomics but it launched without the Touch controllers and there are currently questions if it can do roomscale as well as the Vive does.

On top of that it seems Oculus is trying to steer dev attention away from 360 degree roomscale.

This is clearly also a mistake.

Obviously this is yet another opinion piece and your experience may be different but right now I feel I want the functionality of the Vive with the ergonomics and display of the Rift.

It makes you think that if Oculus and Valve had stuck together and created one system it would have been the best of both worlds.

Now for the obligatory: If I could only buy one headset? question.


I don't really want to answer this conclusively until after Touch launches but considering I spend a lot of time in simulators (flying and driving) right now I would still prefer a Rift for the above mentioned reasons.

They are both cool devices though, and both are short on killer apps.

It's going to be an interesting second half of the year for sure.


I'll give the Vive back to my mate and I may buy one eventually, but not until there are full-fledged games utilizing hand controllers and Roomscale, and if by that time the Rift turns out to have Touch and work just as well, I may not bother at all.



ThreeDeeVision
Superstar

@CharlieHobbes I am wondering how the Rift will hold up in the more active room-scale titles though.  It has a shorter HMD cable, no breakout box, less FOV, and there is material in between your face and the components.  One Rift user has already reported damp hair caused condensation under the lenses, so the facemask cloth might be light, but might not stand up to the steam and sweat that will inevitably happen when playing the more active games.

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Hanover
Rising Star


@CharlieHobbes I am wondering how the Rift will hold up in the more active room-scale titles though.  It has a shorter HMD cable, no breakout box, less FOV, and there is material in between your face and the components.  One Rift user has already reported damp hair caused condensation under the lenses, so the facemask cloth might be light, but might not stand up to the steam and sweat that will inevitably happen when playing the more active games.



Not when the Vive creates a vacuum seal against your face vs the Rift that breathes.  Damp hair is not a typical use case in my opinion.  If the Vive is not letting any airflow in at all, why wouldn't that be worse?  Anyone who steps out of the shower and into their HMD, no matter which HMD that is, is most likely going to end up with fogged lenses.

Also, if people are hard core enough to buy tripods, or mount hardware to ceilings and plug all sorts of hardware into electrical outlets, I don't see how an extension cable would put anyone off.

It's like so many Vive owners will bend over backwards to clear out dining rooms and drag their PCs  make sure it all works, but suggest you lift one finger to do the same sort of thing for the Rift and that's crossing a line.

Zoomie
Expert Trustee

@ThreeDeeVision At the moment I'm mostly concerned with things that Oculus can't solve.  They can cheaply and easily surprise everyone with extension cables and a breakout link (similar to a wired Xbox controller) packaged with Touch.  It wouldn't have to be a full breakout box like Vive since the Rift only uses a single HDMI cable.  The Rift does have a smaller FOV but I don't think this would prevent the Rift from playing room scale experiences.  You're better positioned to answer this than I am, obviously.

Thinking about it, two cables bundled with Touch would solve most of these problems.  An HDMI extension with a quick disconnect link will solve the length and break out (box) problems.  A USB 3 active extension paired with the second camera  will give users the option to place the camera in the optimal position for 360 tracking of the Touch controls.  The headset will work regardless of where you put the second camera because of the rear LED's.  I think Oculus should strongly consider the benefits of bundling $10 worth of cables with the Touch to support this.  The only reason to not do this is if Constellation really can't handle tracking something like a 5m x 5m volume.  This very well could be true, but most developer leaks and my own experiences with a single camera suggest it should work just fine.

Oculus has been silent about room-scale experiences lately but it does seem like they've asked developers to focus on front facing, based on the recommended two camera setup.  Even if this trend continues, the Vive 360 experiences should work with the Rift as long as you're willing to use an extension for the rear camera.  This would also mean that any Oculus titles would be playable on the Vive, but might not take advantage of full 360 facing.

I expect Oculus to make an announcement at E3 next month.
I can't see the Rift headset being any worse than the Vive in terms of sweat and condensation.  The Rift has the nose gap and cloth covering that should permit more airflow.  The faceplate with the Rift is harder sponge, and it doesn't seem to soak sweat even compared to my DK2.  YMMV if you have a VR Cover or if we gain access to softer faceplates in the future.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. - Arthur C Clarke

Anonymous
Not applicable


They are both cool devices though, and both are short on killer apps.


I somewhat agree, but like all new technologies, its all about that tick/tock of hardware catching up to software, and then software catching up to hardware. Once big studios see the install base growing to the critical mass, our triple AAA titles are just around the corner.

CharlieHobbes
Rising Star


@CharlieHobbes I am wondering how the Rift will hold up in the more active room-scale titles though.  It has a shorter HMD cable, no breakout box, less FOV, and there is material in between your face and the components.  One Rift user has already reported damp hair caused condensation under the lenses, so the facemask cloth might be light, but might not stand up to the steam and sweat that will inevitably happen when playing the more active games.



I'm not worried about cable lengths, this can be solved easily and cheaply. 
I also believe that with the ergonomics and construction the way they are, the Rift has the potential of being the more comfortable room scale HMD. 
I still don't see the less FOV argument holding up that much, but perhaps this is because I wear glasses and I cannot benefit from max FOV on either device. 

My only reservation with Rift and roomscale is that Oculus is encouraging development around 180 degrees and double front camera setup. If the reason for that is technical in nature and even more so, hardware related.
(say the cameras have issues actually tracking properly) it may become a problem. 

If the hardware allows for it however I am sure it won't be a problem.
For all we know it's the Facebook lawyers that are against 360 degree/large roomscale as they fear lawsuits for personal injury. 

Time will tell. 

ThreeDeeVision
Superstar
Don't get me wrong folks, I am not saying the Rift won't do room-scale.  I think it already can do room-scale for the most part with one camera.  I am just thinking the Vive package does it a bit better, even when the Touch controllers release.  The smaller FOV isn't going to keep people from playing anything, that wasn't what I was implying.  I like the larger FOV when playing the room-scale games in general, but it is just my preference.  I find myself barely catching objects in my peripherals on some games (Audioshield Hardest mode and ZenBlade mainly).

@Hanover When you start playing the more active room-scale games you will sweat, I don't care how in-shape you are.  The damp hair post just proves that the facemask cloth isn't repelling moisture.  And you can't turn off your pores around your eyes, so you will be sweating into the Rift.  This will create the possibility of condensation on the inside and outside of the lenses.  I personally won't be risking my Rift by sweating into it until I see some confirmation that it handles it.  If I did try it, I would have a large fan pointed at my face and hope that the cloth was breathable enough to keep up.  I sweat like a pig in the Vive, like the kind of sweat where you go through a couple shirts.  The facemask on it is completely sealed so I never get moisture under the lenses.
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Gerald
Expert Protege


IMO having a camera on the HMD is pretty important for proper room scale unless you're in some kind of dedicated VR gaming facility.  Not that someone couldn't make a little USB addon you attach to the CV1.  But out of the box it's a major advantage in room scale (for me) in the Vive.  And I think we have yet to see (in real home environments) how well room scale will work with a second camera that comes with Touch.


Have a Vive Pre and still have never activated that camera after months of using it. Chaperone will do just fine for headsets without a camera (though of course it is still a neat feature).

But that said - I wait on how well the Touch does 360° before I consider adding a Rift. The headphones are really sweet and something I would care for more than the camera, but everything I have seen so far leads me to believe that Touch might only really shine in 180° use cases. I am open to be proven wrong - but in development I need 360°.
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