Lenovo Explorer Mixed Reality Headset for $99USD

[Duke]

Going to give this a go especially at this price, apparently works fine & is compatible with all STEAMVR games. Also works in iRacing which is where I found this deal originally posted.

Lenovo Explorer Mixed Reality Headset (Iron Gray) $99 from bhphotovideo

Shipping to AUS is around $30USD, so all up is about $180AUD for 1 HMD unit (no controllers)...

[pixelboy]

What's the the catch?

[pixelboy]

OK, I jumped.. $181 shipped

[Duke]

OK, I jumped.. $181 shipped

I bought 2 as RenZ wanted one, brought the price down to about $170aud each.

[Sarsippius]

Yeah I heard about this too over at iRacing, someone bought one as a backup for their Rift, let us know how they go.

[DarrenM]

Well worth it in my opinion. The steamvr support for them sounds pretty solid now. The controllers don't look as good as the Vive/Oculus ones, but for sims it's a bargain.

[nutty]

So whats the quality like compared to the more mainstream and $$ VRs? Ive been on the fence about VR for awhile as not wanting to drop $900 on a setup..

[DarrenM]

Pro's:
Cheap vs $650AUD for a Rift and $900 for a Vive
No external camera/sensors required.
Higher res than rift. 1440x1440 LCD vs 1200x1080 OLED. (not sure how lenses and screen door compare. I've read it had less "god rays" than rift)

Cons:
No physical IPD adjustment. This is a biggie. If your IPD is more than a few mm from 64mm it probably won't work very well for you. There is software IPD adjustment but you'll be out of the lens sweet spot.
No built-in headphones or mic.
Controllers aren't as good.

[KNAPPO]

Let us know how this works out for you when yours lands and you get to give them a go guys.

[Duke]

Darren has covered the pros & cons well, the guy over at iRacing has posted the below as well.

The software IPD implementation worries me a little. Apparently a vr cover is recommended as it brings it closer to your face widening the fov a bit too.
Also I will probably need prescription lenses but I'll cross that bridge when needed. For this price even if it doesn't work for me I'm sure I can flip them & get my dollars back.

I have all 3 units so I will try to give you some insight.
If money was no object, out of the 3 the Rift is the best option for Simracing.

However for $150AU the Lenovo is a no brainer.
Setup is easy as sitting in your rig and following the prompts.
The resolution is a tad higher on the Lenovo which makes things a little sharper. Colours seem a bit dull however compared to the Vive and Rift.
The Lenovo has a flip up feature which works a treat for sim racing, jumping in and out of sessions. Vive and Rift do not.
The Lenovo is not as comfortable as the rift but better then the Vive.
It is easy to adjust with a knob to tighten and loosen the fit.
It has a light single cable similar to the Rift.
There are constant updates via Steam VR which means the experience is improving.
There is no IPD slider you have to adjust your IPD via software. If you are the only one using it this wont be an issue.

Thats about it. For $150 bucks you can go wrong.

[pixelboy]

My IPD is 61mm and I'm short sighted...we'll see.

Thanks Duke.

[renesis37]

From the video reviews it also has a bit of a blue push to the screen calibration that will bug me.. IPD will be an issue for Duke I think as when he tested my rift it was maxed, Im also over 70mm (big heads = wide eyes).

There is a crappy review vid on youtube where he actually puts a camera on the lens and the SDE does look significantly better than rift which I am looking forward to.

[Cursed]

I'd be more motivated by better lenses that didn't flare like the Rift. SDE is easy to mentally tune out, depending on the scene.

[pixelboy]

Its arrived... amazing.. 4 days from the states.

My order of shoes from Catch of the day hasn't even been picked up 4 days later

[Duke]

Its arrived... amazing.. 4 days from the states.

My order of shoes from Catch of the day hasn't even been picked up 4 days later

Damn mine still hasn't arrived yet.

[Duke]

Mine arrived at about 5pm, won't have time to set it up till the weekend but can't wait.

[smithcorp]

Its arrived... amazing.. 4 days from the states.

My order of shoes from Catch of the day hasn't even been picked up 4 days later

Give us a review Pix

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[pixelboy]

so far so good, got the basic windows app working.. vision is good.. no issues with IPD..

Installing Steam VR now

[pixelboy]

Got Pcars 2 going.. needs lots of tweaking but looks great...

Install Steam VR, then install the Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR app from within Steam.. reboot, the start PCars with right click , Launch PCars 2 in Oculus Mode"

[thornz]

Do these things need a monster graphics card or anything to run them?

[pixelboy]

Mine is a 1070.. I don't think it needs to be that powerful.. You need a free hdmi slot on your gfx card

[Cursed]

Do these things need a monster graphics card or anything to run them?

More is always better. I have a 1080 and there are places where I wish it could do more. That said, most games and things can usually be tuned to work acceptably at lower levels.

Just don't go into the VR thing expecting a perfect experience. FOV, screen-door effect, resolution, comfort and physical space availability have ways to disappoint the masses.

[pab]

Can someone who has one of these answer a question I have please?

These things are called mixed reality, does that mean they can do AR as well as VR (do they have camera(s) on the front to allow seeing both the real and virtual world at the same time)?

Thanks!

[Duke]

Thornz, I'll be trying to run mine on a GTX970 which is pretty mid-range these days.

pab, yes I believe this is the main for use these, they have cameras on the front for limited roaming using mixed reality apps & experiences as they are not wireless. But I haven't looked into the MR aspect I only know the cameras are used for the headtracking in VR games & sims.

[pab]

OK, thanks. Would be good to know, once some of you have had time to have a bit of a play with them, if they'll work well with overlaying virtual models on top of a real world image.