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Touch vs Index controllers and why I prefer Touch

MowTin
Expert Trustee
When I first saw the knuckles/index controllers being demoed, I was wowed by them and couldn't wait to get my hands on them. Now that I have them, I think I prefer Touch and I'll explain why...

The Thumbsticks


1. Notice how the index is dimpled. You have a much better tactile feel and grip for your thumb. Both XBox One and PS4 controllers have this. Why mess with perfection?

2. With Touch your last two fingers, pinky and ring finger, both grip the end of the controller as you move the thumbstick giving you better leverage and control. For the Index, griping is grabbing so can't grab.

The buttons

1. Notice how the Touch has four distinctly labeled buttons A, B, Y, X just like the XBox controller or PS4 controller using symbols. Index has A, B for both. They can be mapped differently but in games, you can't get a convenient Y or X indicator for what button you need to press. 

Grabbing

1. On Touch, grab is a trigger type button with travel. You clearly feel it and know how much travel you're applying. The Index depends on pressure. If you squeeze it hard enough you'll feel some click like feedback. This creates ambiguity when holding something. If the pressure your applying drops below some threshold, you drop what you're holding. I find that I grab things I didn't intend to grab and drop things that I didn't intend to drop. 

Tracking your ring and index finger serves very little practical use in games. Game makers aren't going to want to use a feature that's exclusive to the Index. And it's hard to imagine what you would really do with those fingers in a game that would be meaningful. 

Strap

1. You have the extra hassle of slipping your hands into the traps and out of the straps. It's not a huge hassle but it feels like taking gloves off one at a time versus just putting the controller down. 

2. Because your hands are strapped in, you can't slide your thumb up and down as easily as you can with touch. 

Charging

When I finish playing with my Index I have to remember to plug the controllers in to charge. With Touch I use rechargeable batteries and I can always just swap out batteries when they get low. It takes about 3 hours to charge the Index controllers. But that's a matter of preference. Some people prefer the ps4 controllers vs xbox battery swap. 

Price

1. We all smash our controller onto the wall or a desk once in a while. So, it's better if they're cheaper to replace if you break them.

The bottom line is while they look better and have this cool looking finger tracking feature, they're not functionally better yet cost much more. And for some crazy reason, they abandoned controller conventions that have been around for decades. 

I'm not even going to discuss how bad the trackpad/d-pad thingy is because Touch doesn't have one so overall it's an advantage for the index. You can press it like a button and use it like the d-pad in the xbox and ps4 controllers. 

It may seem like I'm trashing the Index controllers but I'm not. They're a huge improvement over wands and finger tracking is cool. 
 



i7 9700k 3090 rtx   CV1, Rift-S, Index, G2
159 REPLIES 159

RuneSR2
Grand Champion
Fun fact - or a tragedy - but some Scandinavian dealers still have good ol' Touch in stock for the original price of dkr. 2300 and more. That's $350 :# 

https://www.proshop.dk/VR-Gamer-Briller/Oculus-Touch-Controllers/2576276 ;

https://www.skypilot.dk/shop/oculus-rift-touch-controller-818p.html

Everything is just so much cheaper in the US, had to bleed $1250 for the Index kit over here. But you can't put a price on happiness, lol. In short - yes Touch is cheaper than Knuckles, also if you value the software, but at launch both controller types were considered expensive by many persons (also depending on your location on the planet 😉

Oculus Rift CV1, Valve Index & PSVR2, Asus Strix OC RTX™ 3090, i9-10900K (5.3Ghz), 32GB 3200MHz, 16TB SSD
"Ask not what VR can do for you, but what you can do for VR"

Zenbane
MVP
MVP

RuneSR2 said:

Fun fact - or a tragedy - but some Scandinavian dealers still have good ol' Touch in stock for the original price of dkr. 2300 and more. That's $350 :# 



Rght now Valve Index with Knuckles is selling for $1,500 on E-Bay:
Full Listing



RuneSR2 said:
Everything is just so much cheaper in the US



Well, we need to consider that we are comparing the prices of US-based organizations. So it's not about just picking and choosing which Region to use for our Math comparisons. Valve is a US-based company, and so is both Oculus and Facebook. So if we're going to compare retail prices of US-based company products, then we need to do so in US dollars. Especially if we're going to try to proclaim which one was truly cheaper at launch.

RuneSR2
Grand Champion
I like this one better, lol:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Valve-Index-Full-VR-Kit-Includes-Controllers-Headset-and-2-Base-Stations/17...

Rift isn't cheap too:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Oculus-Rift-Touch-Virtual-Reality-System/112707591973

But agreed, Index is more expensive  😉

Oculus Rift CV1, Valve Index & PSVR2, Asus Strix OC RTX™ 3090, i9-10900K (5.3Ghz), 32GB 3200MHz, 16TB SSD
"Ask not what VR can do for you, but what you can do for VR"

Zenbane
MVP
MVP

RuneSR2 said:




I like this. The Rift at $1500 with a perfect 5-star product rating. Sounds about right for a legendary first gen product. I'm sure @OculusHomie loves that.
😉

Anonymous
Not applicable
The software you got for pre ordering the Touch controllers was just plain ridiculous. I felt guilty about getting it all lol

Techy111
MVP
MVP
How about this cheapy guys 🙂

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F372073539635
A PC with lots of gadgets inside and a thing to see in 3D that you put on your head.

Luciferous
Consultant
touch were and still are brilliant controllers although we would have to compare index against the current model which is now sensor free which is a plus for set up but a negative for accuracy. So for me current touch would be a no go full stop.

Have not  tried the index controllers yet but I would have been happy with just the old touch and 200 dollars cheaper but will reserve my opinion until I have tried them personally..

Zenbane
MVP
MVP


touch were and still are brilliant controllers although we would have to compare index against the current model which is now sensor free which is a plus for set up but a negative for accuracy.



So do you own the new Touch Controllers for either the Rift-S or Quest? Because it is not true to say that they are negative on accuracy. My Touch controllers for Oculus Quest are incredibly accurate. And I've done some fast movements with Light Sabers in Vader Immortal. I see no difference in accuracy between Quest's controllers and my original Touch controllers for the CV1.

So while it is true that we need to compare against "current model," we also need to compare by being truthful about the products.

From my personal experience I see zero difference in accuracy between old and new Touch.

There's lost tracking if too close to the headset which I think is a different issue and in practice this only happens when I scratch my face when holding the controllers. I also don't put my hands behind my back much!

Different areas of occlusion too of course. The outside in Touch are occluded when something is between them an the cameras, the inside-out Touches get occluded when one hand is between the other and the headset. Again, in practice, this only happens when a hand is too near to the headset.

I had only 2 sensors with CV1 so occlusion was happening all the time, completely impractical for anything other than forward facing and I believe people who say inside-out is better than 3 sensors.

But that's occlusion. Accuracy... no difference that I can make out.

MowTin
Expert Trustee


From my personal experience I see zero difference in accuracy between old and new Touch.



I have my VR setup in my home office. I have a desk and an office chair. 

So if I'm playing seated, my chair and desk can sometimes create spots that occluded from the cameras. With the Rift-S inside out tracking, I have none of those issues.

Of course with the base stations, you don't have to worry about your controller being too close to your face or other problems. 
i7 9700k 3090 rtx   CV1, Rift-S, Index, G2