Valve Index VR headset Review By Sim Racing Corner

28/07/2019 Hardware Leave a comment

Valve Index VR headset Review By Sim Racing Corner

Virtual Reality is still struggling to become a mainstream entertainment market. Despite the slow growth, most HMD manufacturers such as Oculus, HTC, Pimax, and HP have upped their game with new and improved VR units. One of the more recent headsets to hit the market is the Valve Index.

Jeremy from the Sim Racing Corner YouTube channel reviews the new Valve Index VR headset from a sim racers perspective.

The Valve Index Kit is Including the Headset, Controllers, and two Base Stations is advertised via the official Valve website for €1079. The Headset + Controllers are on sale for €799, while the headset alone is available for €539. A separate base station will cost you €159, and the controllers sell for €299. Keep in mind that at the time of writing, all items were only available on pre-order.

Tech specs

Displays – Dual 1440 x 1600 LCDs, full RGB per pixel, ultra-low persistence global backlight illumination (0.330ms at 144Hz)
Framerate – 80/90/120/144Hz
Optics – Double element, canted lens design
Field of View (FOV) – Optimized eye relief adjustment allows a typical user experience 20º more than the HTC Vive
Inter-pupillary Distance (IPD) – 58mm – 70mm range physical adjustment
Ergonomic Adjustments – Head size, eye relief (FOV), IPD, speaker positions. Rear cradle adapter included.
Connections – 5m tether, 1m breakaway trident connector. USB 3.0, DisplayPort 1.2, 12V power
Tracking – SteamVR 2.0 sensors, compatible with SteamVR 1.0 and 2.0 base stations

Audio

Built-in: 37.5mm off-ear Balanced Mode Radiators (BMR), Frequency Response: 40Hz – 24KHz, Impedance: 6 Ohm, SPL: 98.96 dBSPL at 1cm.
Aux Headphone Out 3.5mm
Microphone
Dual Microphone Array, Frequency response: 20Hz – 24kHz, Sensitivity: -25dBFS/Pa @ 1kHz