Pimax Introduces Crystal Pro VR Headset and Spation PC
Pimax, a manufacturer of PC virtual reality equipment, has announced several new products during its Frontier: Change To Stay The Same launch event. The presentation introduced the Crystal Pro, a wireless PC VR headset built around Native Foveated Streaming technology. The manufacturer also revealed a set of new ringless controllers alongside a compact computer system named Spation. The company also introduced a revised brand identity featuring a new signature corporate colour known as Stratosphere Blue.
The Crystal Pro headset incorporates aspheric glass lenses alongside QLED panels. The displays provide a resolution of 2880 X 2880 pixels for each eye. A 110-degree field of view supports the visual experience, and the device operates at variable refresh rates reaching up to 120Hz. Additionally, the panels utilise Mini-LED local dimming technology divided across 576 individual zones per eye.
The spatial tracking system integrates eye-tracking capabilities with SLAM 2.0 inside-out tracking. The mechanism operates via four internal cameras, a dedicated motion sensor, and integrated infrared illumination hardware. The headset chassis accommodates interchangeable faceplates to modify device functionality. A lighthouse faceplate enables external base-station tracking while letting the headset remain fully wireless when paired with the optional 60G AirLink kit. Pimax says the Crystal Pro is currently the only wireless headset that supports this operational tracking mode. Alternatively, a mixed reality faceplate provides full-colour visual passthrough capabilities and features LiDAR technology for environmental depth sensing.
The Crystal Pro has no internal battery. An included external pack supplies power, with a total capacity of 16,000mAh. In tethered PC VR mode, the system requires a graphics processing unit equivalent to or exceeding an RTX 2070. The headset can also function as an independent all-in-one device without connecting to an external computer. In this standalone configuration, an integrated Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen1 chip handles processing tasks.
Standard wireless connectivity comes through integrated Wi-Fi streaming and a dedicated Wi-Fi 6E network adapter. A wired connection is supported via an optional DisplayPort 1.4a cable. For transmitting a graphics processing unit’s native image directly from a computer, the optional third-generation 60G AirLink kit is available. The supplementary kit utilises a 60GHz connection and employs the headset’s eye-tracking data to transmit the image directly to the panel area where the user is focusing. The process bypasses the encoding procedures normally required for conventional Wi-Fi streaming. Ten separate infrared emitters per eye track optical movements 120 times a second.
The 60G AirLink kit relies on two room antennas operating in a 2×2 multiple-input multiple-output configuration. Pimax claims this antenna arrangement represents a first for virtual reality headsets. The communication system is developed to deliver up to 6 Gbps of combined throughput while adding less than two milliseconds of latency. Standard Wi-Fi serves as the default connection method and automatically falls back if the 60GHz signal loses direct line of sight. The dual antennas provide redundancy if one signal path becomes temporarily obstructed. The manufacturer notes that the high-frequency 60GHz signal cannot transmit through solid walls.
Alongside the headset, the manufacturer introduced new ringless VR controllers that replace the traditional physical tracking ring. The redesigned controllers rely on camera-based hand tracking combined with infrared and motion-sensor tracking to achieve latency levels below 15 milliseconds. The input devices can also clip into a gamepad configuration that is fully compatible with Windows and Steam.
The newly announced Spation mini-PC packs desktop-class internal components into a chassis smaller than a typical desktop tower. The computing hardware features an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor. The CPU is paired with either an AMD RX 9070 XT or an Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti graphics card. The system supports Windows and SteamOS, and the hardware will be available in a do-it-yourself configuration for users who want to assemble the components themselves.
