Say hello to the Pimax Dream Air. The world's smallest full feature 8K resolution headset, that packs 27 million pixels, head, hand and eye-tracking, integrated spatial audio, a Display Port connection, and a self-adjusting backstrap.
To really go where no one has gone before
Pimax always pushes boundaries, that is higher resolution, higher FOV, and higher clarity. That has always been true, and it's our DNA. But we want to add another dimension to that: Size.
The Pimax Dream Air is the first headset of Pimax that focusses on being small form factor, without sacrifising on features or clarity. The Crystal line-up focusses on providing top-notch resolution and comfort, especially for simulator gamers, offering an immersive experience that other brands can't match. The Dream Air however, focusses on light weight, small size and portability, while still providing high clarity.
Exterior
Design
The Pimax Dream Air is light and small. It's a new direction for Pimax to appeal to a new type of user. And so we have chosen a new design language and a new look.
The Crystal line, like the 5K and 8K before it, are very futuristic. There is almost no curved line in the whole design, very angular, blocky. It's like a strong and powerful design. Industrial almost. And we see that same industrial type of design for that use case. If you look at steering wheels or racing rigs, or the cockpit of an F16, then it's all that type of design language.
The Dream Air however, is much more contemporary and modern. It's more fashionable. It has curved lines, made of new, different materials. It's social. It's friendly. It's soft and gentle. It's light and small. But obviously, we still put the Pimax V shape on the front. It's still a Pimax inside.
Weight
The headset itself is light weight and less than half the weight of a Coca Cola bottle, which is incredible for a full-feature VR headset with an 8K resolution.
With that we mean a resolution of 27 million pixels, integrated eye-tracking, hand-tracking, integrated inside-out tracking, and integrated audio. We use a Display Port connection for uncompressed visuals at 90 Hz. All inside it.
Portability
The Dream Air is made with small size and portability in mind. Small size and ultra low weight to make you forget you are even wearing a VR headset.
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You can just put it into a backpack and go on a journey. You can also lay down on your sofa or your bed to watch a movie, or enter some worlds like, for instance, VRChat.
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The strap is strong yet flexible enough to provide an ergonomical position for every headsize.
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The softstrap, by the way, is self-adjusting! It's like those shoes in Back to the future. Press the center button to automatically adjust the headset, and the headset will choose the ideal strength for being stable as well as comfortable.
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The front is cooled using vapor chambers, making sure we keep the headset light and small.
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As for the cable, we use a thin, soft and lightweight Type-C display port cable.
Specs
Panel & Optics
The headset comes with two micro-oled panels, the same as in Crystal Super — each with a resolution of 3840 by 3552, at 90 Hz. This is the highest resolution available for micro-OLED panels at the moment. Thanks to our integrated bridge chip and onboard processor, this resolution can be run at a refresh rate of 90 Hz, visually uncompressed.
Micro-OLED panels don't need local dimming, as each pixel can turn off and on individually. There is no backlight panel. The contrast are incredible, and with this latest generation of micro-OLED technology, they also deliver visuals in HDR: High Dynamic Range.
We use our own developed pancake lenses — again, the same as on the Crystal Super. These are developed not just to be small enough to fit into this headset, but also to create both a large sweetspot and a wide FOV.
Tracking
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It has four integrated cameras that support six degrees of freedom (6DoF) head movement tracking. This is our fourth headset with integrated SLAM tracking.
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Compared to traditional base station tracking, DreamAir uses inside-out tracking to provide a simpler experience, without the need to install base stations. You can easily move from the game room to the living room, or even use the headset with a laptop on the train.
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The Dream Air comes with ringless controllers with haptic feedback. But, if you forgot them, then you can use hand tracking with gesture control.
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There's also eye-tracking for interaction with software or games, which also contributes to more natural interactions in games such as VRChat, and powers features such as Dynamic Foveated Rendering and Auto-IPD. This is the only VR headset in this weight class and form factor with eye-tracking, which we think is a neccessity for premium headsets like this
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For those who want to keep using base station tracking, we will also offer a click-on Lighthouse faceplate in the future.
Other Features
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Prescription lenses: We'll have prescription lenses available on purchase. These you can just attach on top of the lenses.
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High-quality sound: The headset has integrated speakers for spatial audio, as well as a high-quality microphone.
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Interface: On both sides you'll find USB-Type C interfaces, one to be used for display signal from the PC, and the other one for accessories such as audio devices.
Cobb
We said the Dream Air is made for portability. So what if you're on the train or an airplane? You could bring a laptop. But what if you don't own one, or don't want to bring one?
We are developing Cobb — a small puck with inside a Snapdragon XR2 chip and battery. With it, you can use the Dream Air freely in more scenarios, for instance to stream movies or light applications from this device. Clip it on your belt, or put it on a table, and enter VR without a PC.
How does it compare to the Crystal Super?
So how does it compare to the Crystal Super?
The Dream line differentiates from the Crystal because its main focus is small form factor, while providing high clarity and full features, while the Crystal line is no compromise on visual clarity.
If you value portability and still want to experience high-definition VR, Dream Air is your best choice. It is suitable for daily entertainment, light gaming and travel, with high portability and flexibility.
Pre-order
We expect to start shipping the Dream Air in May 2025, which is slightly later than the micro-OLED version of the Crystal Super.
But we are opening up pre-orders for both of these now.
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One-time payment (12%discount): 1199USD+696USD
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Installment plan: 1199USD+32.99 USD/month(24 months)
At the same time, we're also opening full orders for the 60G Airlink now, shipping early next year. There will also be new batches of the Crystal being produced, for users that want wireless PCVR.
