Today I tested some VR goggles and now I'd like to tell you my opinion about those glasses.
As you can see on the picture above I've tested four (five) different goggles with three devices and rated them according to my checklist, which consists of the following points:
- FOV (field of view)
- Adaptability (to different screen sizes)
- Fitting
- Cleaning
- Processing
- Usability
- Cost-benefit ratio
Why did i choose this criteria?
FOV
To me a big field of view is very important when it comes to VR experience. Because I believe that you get the best experience when your FOV is limited by your physical abilities (your eyes) and not by the glasses.
Adaptibility
As there are many different phones with different screen sizes available on the market, VR goggles should work good with as many phones as possible. I've used 3 different phones for testing the adaptability:
OnePlus One (5.5 inch), LG Nexus 5 (4.9 inch), Samsung Galaxy S3 mini (4 inch)
Fitting
VR glasses should be comfortable and fit everybody, therefore I added this criteria.
Cleaning
Nobody wants to play with blurred glasses. The quality of the VR experience suffers a lot from blurred glasses.
Processing
To me also the processing is an important criteria. Because you don't want to use glasses where you have the feeling they are breaking between your fingers just when you touch them.
Usability
Are the glasses easy to set up? What about carrying them around? That are just two of many important questions when it comes to usability.
Cost-benefit ratio
Of course the price is also important when it comes to buying something new, so I thought the cost-benefit ratio was not to be omitted.
The goggles
I've tested four glasses that are available on the market and one goggle my professor has printed with the 3D-printer. The self printed glasses are out of competition because they are my favourites anyway (how cool is it to design and print your own VR glasses ;-)). But of course I'm going to present them to you in the end of this post.
But now to the glasses you can buy:
As I told I've tested and compared four of them:
4th Place: Durovis Dive 5 (54 out of 70 points)
Those goggles are the most expensive ones from all tested glasses, but still (or maybe because of this) it reached the last place in my ranking. The Durovis Dive 5 is well made, but it's not extraordinary, which you would expect for the price of €48.98. In the following I'll tell you my opinion about the Dive in the categories I've posted above.
- FOV (field of view): 8/10 points
- The FOV of this glasses is okay. The lenses (diameter: 32mm) could be a bit larger to make it bigger but it's enough for a good VR experience
- Adaptability: 5/10 points
- The Durovis Dive 5 fits perfectly for the Nexus 5 (4.9 inch) but you can't even close the lid if you are using a bigger phone (like the OnePlus One with 5.5 inch). The experience with the smaller phone - the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini (4 inch) was ok, but it could be a lot better
- Fitting: 7/10 points
- This goggles would be very comfortable (actually they are the most comfortable glasses I've tested) but they don't provide a good head mount (you just have a strap around your head, but not on the top of the head, which is really important)
- Cleaning: 10/10 points
- It's very easy to clean the lenses of the Durovis Dive 5 - you can totally put them out or just clean them without (re)moving them
- Processing: 10/10 points
- The processing of this goggles is very good! The foam material that covers the plastic where it touches the face looks good and makes them really comfortable to wear. Also the other parts are well considered and designed
- Usability: 8/10 points
- Adjusting the lenses: it's very difficult to adjust the lenses perfectly. The mechanism would be very easy but it's different to get both lenses in the right position, because you can move them very far without any regulations. A good thing is, that you can move it to the left/right and closer/away from your face. This way you can compensate different pupillary distances and poor eyesight
- Adjust head mount: adjusting the head mount is very easy and works good, altough it doesn't make much sense because the strap over the head is missing
- Transport and using outside: By carrying the Dive in your bag you have to watch out to not move the lenses (otherwise a lots of tries to adjust them again may follow ;-)). You can use them outside pretty good, because they are closed on the sides and therefore protect against sunlight
- Magnet button: can be bought for €5.95
- Cost-benefit ratio: 6/10 points
- Price: €49.98
- The cost-benefit ratio is ok.. I think the goggles are a bit too pricy, because they don't bring any huge advantages to the other glasses which are way cheaper. The only big plus is the comfort while wearing the glasses. But for this price I'd expect bigger lenses, a strap over the head and a better system to adjust the lenses
3rd Place: AntVR (58 out of 70 points)
These glasses came as a surprise with the bigger version of the
AntVR (an alternative to the
Oculus Rift). I think that it's a cool idea to ship mobile VR glasses with the VR glasses for computer games. (By mentioning the AntVR in the following I'm always talking about the mobile version)
- FOV (field of view): 9/10 points
- If you just look at the FOV the AntVR is one of the best goggles. With 40mm lenses the AntVR provides a huge field of view. The only thing that lets it appear smaller is, that the glasses are not limited on the side and therefore a lot of light comes in
- Adaptability: 8/10 points
- The AntVR works very well with the two large phones (the Nexus 5 and the OnePlus One). With the S3 mini the VR experience was ok, but it could be way better
- Fitting: 5/10 points
- The fitting of these glasses is ok, but could be improved a lot. For example a strap over the head and some foaming material would be a nice point to start off
- Cleaning: 10/10 points
- Cleaning the lenses works well
- Processing: 9/10 points
- The processing of the AntVR is good - it's a cool design, good material and seems very stable
- Usability: 7/10 points
- Adjusting the lenses: As the lenses are very wide it's not possible to provide a big moving mechanism for the lenses. You can move them to the left/right for about 2mm, which is totally enough. You can't change the distance between your eyes and the glasses, but you can wear glasses underneath, which makes this configuration less important
- Adjust head mount: adjusting the head mount is very easy and works good, altough it doesn't make much sense because the strap over the head is missing
- Transport and using outside: The AntVR are definitely the best glasses for carrying around. You can fold them to a small, robust package and just open them to put your phone in if you want to. But using them outside in the sun is very bad, because a lot of light comes in from the side, which is really disturbing to me.
- Magnet button: not available
- Cost-benefit ratio: 10/10 points
- Price: --
- As I told you the mobile version comes for free with its "big brother" ;-). So the cost-benefit ratio can't be anything else than perfect
2nd Place: ColorCross (59 out of 70 points)
The ColorCross glasses are the glasses I am using most of the time for testing playing or testing new apps. I really like them, but still they only reached the second place in my ranking.
- FOV (field of view): 8/10 points
- The FOV of this glasses is okay. The lenses (diameter: 32mm) could be a bit larger to make it bigger but it's enough for a good VR experience
- Adaptability: 7/10 points
- The Nexus 5 fitted just perfectly into the ColorCross goggles. It was ok whit the bigger OnePlus One and the smaller Galaxy S3 mini, but the VR experience was not very good with those phones anymore
- Fitting: 8/10 points
- A really nice thing about this goggles is, that the head mount is very good. There are two straps - one around and the other one above the head
But the comfort is not that good at this glasses. There is no foaming material that covers the parts touching the face so after some time the glasses get uncomfortable and you always have red stripes across your cheeks after wearing it. Another point is, that the glasses are made for people with small faces ;-) If you have a bigger face they get more uncomfortable
- Cleaning: 8/10 points
- You can screw the lenses of the ColorCross out for cleaning. It works pretty good but it takes a bit more time than with other goggles
- Processing: 10/10 points
- The processing of this goggles is very good! The plastic seems to be a good material and looks good
- Usability: 9/10 points
- Adjusting the lenses: I think that the people who manufactured the ColorCross just found the perfect system for adjusting the lenses. You can adjust the lenses to the left and the right with two sliders on the top, to get the lenses closer to or away from your face you can screw them in or out. A big advantage of this system is, that the lenses don't slip out of their position, even if you put them in a bag ore something like this
- Adjust head mount: adjusting the head mount is very easy and works good
- Transport and using outside: By transporting the ColorCross you don't have to be afraid to break anything or to move the lenses - it's a very good system. Also using it outside works well, because the sides are covered with black plastic
- Magnet button: not available
- Cost-benefit ratio: 6/10 points
- Price: €19.99
- The cost-benefit ratio is very good! You get a lot for your money and the glasses are totally worth the €19.99
1st Place: MB-VR61 3D VR Helmet (64 out of 70 points)
These VR glasses are definitely the best glasses out of the goggles I've tested. They look great and they are very good to use.
- FOV (field of view): 10/10 points
- Altough the lenses are only 2mm bigger than the lenses of the ColorCross or the Durovis the FOV is awesome
- Adaptability: 9/10 points
- The glasses worked perfectly with the Nexus 5 and the OnePlus One. It was ok with the Samsung Galaxy S3 mini, which surprised me a bit but was pretty cool
- Fitting: 8/10 points
- The MB-VR61 VR glasses provide a good head mount (with a strap around and over the head) and some foaming material on the parts that cover the face. But there is one big minus: The goggles are made for peoply with really small noses - the "nose-part" is not covered with any foaming material and the glasses apply a big pressure on your nose. We even tried to put something soft over this part, but still your nose starts to hurt after a few minutes
- Cleaning: 7/10 points
- Cleaning the lenses on the side where your eyes are is very easy, but it's hard to reach them at the other side
- Processing: 10/10 points
- The processing is just awesome! The glasses are well designed and made out of a cool-looking shiny plastic
- Usability: 10/10 points
- Adjusting the lenses: You can't adjust the lenses of the goggles, but the lenses are extra wide, so it's not necessary to adjust them to the side. The only adjustment that would be good, is an adjustment of the distance between your eyes and the lenses
- Adjust head mount: adjusting the head mount is very easy and works good
- Transport and using outside: You don't have to fear to break anything by transporting the 3D VR helmet (and you can't move the lenses anyway ;-)). Using them outside works good, as both sides are covered with plastic
- Magnet button: not available
- Cost-benefit ratio: 10/10 points
- Price: €19.99
- The cost-benefit ratio is awesome with this glasses. You really get a lot for your money and the glasses are great
Out of competition: the self printed goggles
As I told you before my professor has printed his own glasses with a 3D printer. Those glasses are my favourites, just because they are cool ;-).
You can highly customize them to your own phone by designing them. Of course there are some parts mitssing like a head mount. Adjustable lenses are not really necessary because you can align them in the right distance anyway.
Conclusion
Testing the glasses was very interesting for me, because I found out what's really important when it comes to VR glasses. The most important things to me is the FOV and the fitting/comfort of the goggles. The best glasses are the MB-VR61 VR goggles - they have a good (ok) fit, look good and the FOV is amazing.
