Oculus Rift S - Review of the best headset available on the market

The virtual reality market is still in full evolution, the dynamics of this new technology are still to be explored. Today it is time to go and discover all the news that the new one will bring to this market segment Oculus Rift S.

The packaging of this product is extremely simple, and inside the box we find the viewer with the two touch controllers, a small box with AA batteries inside for both controllers and finally a HDMI-DisplayPort adapter. Indeed, simple and essential.

Design, fit and comfort

If you've worn other headsets before, you'll have a good idea of ​​how the new Oculus Rift S fits. Generally headsets (including the Quest) use a thin rubber strap that goes over the crown and around the back of the head; the Rift S instead has a curved plastic mold where the forehead and the base of the head are located, all accompanied by a velcro strap to position the headset, mainly tightened by the dial on the rear headrest.

The device is immediately comfortable, even if it cannot relieve that weight that is felt on the front of the face (we still have screens). This device probably makes itself felt - due to a different weight distribution - even slightly heavier than the original Rift: the Rift S eliminates external motion tracking sensors, which previously required the use of USB ports on the PC and routing cables around the room and desk, in favor of outward facing cameras. The cameras track your position in the room and the movements of the Oculus controllers in your hands.

This functional choice inevitably leads to a less attractive design from a more distinct point of view. With the “Insight” system, however, the device is able to track a player with greater effectiveness and precision. The pair of touch controllers that came with the device also differ from their predecessors. The use in game does not seem to undergo great news, they are light and intuitive, they use a single AA battery each, instead of being rechargeable (not a practical choice). The only difference is that their tracking ring is at the top, rather than the bottom, but this means that the two generations of controllers are no longer compatible with each other.

However, not all changes bring improvements. For example, the Rift S ditched the Rift's over-ear headphones in favor of directional speakers in the range. On the one hand, they offer a reasonable sense of directional audio in relation to what is happening in the scene in front of you, while also letting your ears unhindered to hear what is happening in the real world. After all, with your senses obscured by the VR world, it helps to be able to have an ear for what's happening outside of the game.

However, they disperse an incredible amount of sound, a potentially annoying situation for anyone who might find themselves sharing the same space with those who are in-game, not to mention that they lack any sense of bass, which can make the rougher scenes of a VR game feel faint. Also, while you can now slide the earbuds back and forth (as seen on the PSVR) or up and down on the face thanks to a release button on the underside, it feels a little tighter around the front overall, making difficult to fit the glasses.

Hardware

The hardware of this device is really interesting and contains some little gems to discover. First let's see the technical characteristics:

• Screen: single "fast-switch" LCD, 2.560 x 1.440 pixels (1.280 x 1.440 per eye), 80 Hz, 600 ppi, 115 °
• Size (viewer): 275 x 94 x 133 mm
• Weight (viewer): 563 g
• Size (controller): 120 x 110 x 90mm
• Weight (controller): 105g (without battery)
• Tracking and scanning services: 6 degrees of freedom for the head and hand tracking with Oculus Insight
• Audio: integrated speakers, audio jack, microphone

The new Oculus Rift S has an LCD panel  2.560 1.440 pixels x, with a high resolution, more than its predecessor which mounted a panel AMOLED pentyl. If this feature were to make you turn up your nose it would be understandable, but in fact the device is characterized by a higher refresh even than the Quest, and a powerful fast-switch that greatly improves the optical performance. In addition, the Rift S uses the new Fresnel lenses (the same as Oculus Quest) which manage to mitigate the overall door effect.

If the screens are not of the latest generation, it must surely be said that this sensor is one of the few capable of reducing all the symptoms of motion sickness. From the very beginning, first-person VR games have always caused motion sickness problems for many users eager to experience this new way of understanding the video game. The granite frame rate and the high resolution that this new product can boast represent the proverbial godsend, with motion sickness symptoms far more bearable even with particularly hectic experiences.

The new device does not have internal hardware to play games but relies on your PC, taking advantage of all its possibilities. The titles are thus played back at a higher frame rate and with fabulous detail rendering. In case you should have a thick graphics card, get ready to make the most of the games and sensor. Fortunately, however, VR titles do not yet need the latest generation hardware, proving to be easily usable even on less performing systems (beware, however, before buying it, read the minimum requirements carefully).

Recommended:

• PC with Windows 10 and internet access
• Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 480 or higher
• Alternative video card: NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD Radeon R9 290 or better
• CPU: Intel i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or better
• Memory: 8GB + RAM
• Video Output: DisplayPort 1.2 input or Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort adapter (adapter included in package)
• USB Port: 1x USB 3.0

Minimal: (not all games may work properly):

• PC with Windows 10 and internet access
• Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti / AMD Radeon RX 470 or better
• Alternative video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 4GB / AMD Radeon R9 290 or better
• CPU: Intel i3-6100 / AMD RyzenTM 3 1200, FX4350 or better
• Memory: 8GB + RAM
• Video Output: DisplayPort 1.2 input or Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort adapter (adapter included in package)
• USB Port: 1x USB 3.0

Quick and easy installation

With the internal camera system, the calibration of the game space turned out to be very easy and took only a few seconds, a big step forward compared to the past that will simplify things a lot even for less experienced users. When you put on the headphones for the first time, you are greeted with a black and white version of your real environment. The software will ask you to confirm the height of your floor. If the result is not sufficiently accurate, you can set everything manually by reaching the floor with your Touch controller.

To mark your boundaries, you have to trace your playing space with the controller by pointing it at a distance as if you were holding a laser pointer. Like the original Rift, this new version is compatible with SteamVR. However, the installation process does not match perfectly with the new hardware. SteamVR assumes that you are using external sensors when setting up a game space on a local scale, thus ending up in conflict with the integrated Insight cameras. The workaround is to set up SteamVR for standing and seated use.

Conclusions

The existence of Oculus Rift S is not very clear, as the same company has stated that this is not a second generation device and therefore it is not called Rift 2. Surely we are talking about a higher quality product than the original Rift, an easier to set up product that does not require strategically placed location sensors and that it does not produce the dreaded godrays that plagued the first version.

At the design level the company took a few small steps back from its predecessor, the headphones included an intelligent lens adjustment mechanism that allowed you to adjust the device according to your specific pupillary distance. It also included a nifty spring-loaded strap system that made it easy to remove the device by re-adjusting the straps. In short, the Rift S does not incorporate the best features of the original Rift.

Despite this, the product turned out to be a great device, with very high technical characteristics and an incredible ease of use. Taking this into account and given the really affordable price, we believe that this Rift S can easily be defined as an “entry level” model for all users who have not yet entered the world of virtual reality.