Today I start a short series of post that talk about the three headsets of the moment: Oculus Rift S, Oculus Quest and Valve Index. In this series, I will talk about the main characteristics of these devices, so that you can decide if you are interested in buying them or not.
In this first episode, I will detail the Rift S. What it is, what are its features, who is destined to and its comparison to the Rift CV1. I will try to keep the various points clear and concise, to give you a better idea on this headset without making you read too much.
What is the Rift S?
The Oculus Rift S is the new PC VR headset by Oculus. It has been made in collaboration with Lenovo, and it represents a refresh of the Oculus CV1, that is better and easier to be used.
Is the Rift S the Oculus Rift 2?
NO. Oculus did not want to make an overhaul of the device, because it currently aims at keeping the prices low and offering a consistent experience between PC and mobile. So, it has created a device that offers a similar interaction to Rift CV1 and Quest and this makes sure that all the games work in a similar way across all the devices. From a business side, this is an advantage for Oculus, that is not fragmenting its ecosystem too much.
The Rift S is just a refresh of the Rift CV1.
Who is this device for?
The Rift S is a device for people wanting to buy a headset that is:
- polished;
- easy to be installed and used;
- affordable;
- able to offer the computational power of a PC;
- able to offer the great content library of the Oculus Store.
It is not for people wanting:
- the best technical features (there are other headsets for this, like Vive Pro, Valve Index, Pimax, etc…);
- an open ecosystem (Vive and Index are more open);
- a very cheap experience (WMR are usually cheaper).
It is a device that can make some newbies that want to play VR games happy, but that is delusional for VR enthusiasts and veterans like me.
Rift S specs
The main specifications of the Rift S are:
- Display resolution: 1,280 × 1,440 per eye
- Display type: LCD
- Refresh-rate: 80 Hz
- FOV: slightly larger than Rift CV 1
- IPD Adjustment: only via software
- Tracking: inside-out with 5 cameras
- Connection: 1x USB 3.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.2
- Mixed Reality: the cameras allow for black and white passthrough
- Audio: integrated speakers and microphone
Required PC specs
Minimum PC specs for Oculus Rift S
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti / AMD Radeon RX 470 or greater
Alternative Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 960 / AMD Radeon R9 290 or greater
CPU: Intel i3-6100 / AMD Ryzen 3 1200, FX4350 or greater
Memory: 8GB+ RAM
Video Output: DisplayPortTM 1.2 / Mini DisplayPort (with adapter included in the box)
USB Ports: 1x USB 3.0 port
OS: Windows 10
Recommended PC specs for Oculus Rift S
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 480 or greater
Alternative Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD Radeon R9 290 or greater
CPU: Intel i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or greater
Memory: 8GB+ RAM
Video Output: DisplayPortTM 1.2 / Mini DisplayPort (with adapter included in the box)
USB Ports: 1x USB 3.0 port
OS: Windows 10
Visuals
The visuals of the Rift S are a decent improvement over the ones of the Rift CV1:
- The resolution is a bit better (1,280 × 1,440 per eye vs 1,080 x 1,200 of the Rift CV1);
- The display is an LCD one, so it has a better fill factor than the previous OLED one. This, together with the increased resolution, makes the perceived screen door effect of the Rift S much better than the one of the Rift CV1;
- The lenses are next-gen, so the god-rays are much less than the ones that you could see in the CV1. There are still some, though.
There are also some downsides:
- Using LCD means that the colors of the display are less vivid;
- The refresh-rate is lower: 80Hz for the Rift S, 90Hz for the CV1. Almost no one will notice the difference, though.
Having only this slight improvement after three years from the previous device is really disappointing… and this is what made us VR enthusiasts angry.
Comfort
Oculus has partnered with Lenovo also because thanks to a previous agreement, Lenovo can exploit some patents that Sony has used in the PSVR. This has let Lenovo use in the Rift S a new halo-design for the headband, that makes it similar to headsets like PSVR or the Lenovo Mirage Solo.
The Rift S has so a rigid halo band that you should fit to your head by tightening or loosening a knob that there is behind it. Then you can fit it to your face (e.g. to accommodate glasses) by pressing a button on the headset and making it slide so that to move it closer or farther from your face.
Some reviewers (like David Heaney) report it to be comfortable, while other (like Benjamin Lang) claim it is hard to fit it well to your head and face so that to make it feel comfortable and at the same time hit the sweet spot of the lenses. I guess that all depends on the particular shape of your head.
IPD
One of the main critics for the Rift S is that it lacks physical IPD adjustment (it uses one single display). There is only a software IPD adjustment mechanism, that you trigger in the settings of your headset. This means that the experience is optimal only for people with an IPD in the range between 61.5 and 65.5mm and may vary for people outside this interval. According to Ian Hamilton of Upload VR, changing IPD via software has far less effect than changing it via hardware.
This, together with the rigid strap design that may keep the screen not perfectly adherent to your face, may make some people enjoy a sub-optimal experience (e.g. see the visuals that are very slightly blurred).
Controllers
The controllers of the Rift S are the same Touch controllers of the Oculus Quest. They are very ergonomic and feature a thumbstick, two buttons, two triggers and a system menu for each controller.
They are slightly different from the ones of the Oculus Rift CV1. The biggest difference is that now they have an upwards ring and not a downwards one, since it has to be seen from the inside-out tracking system. Also, the ergonomics are slightly different and the buttons have a different arrangement.
The result is that the controllers are very good, but are a bit less comfortable than the ones of the CV1 and sometimes when playing it is easier to press accidentally the system buttons.
Tracking
Rift S track its position in space and the pose of the controllers thanks to the 5 cameras that it has onboard: 2 on the front, 1 on the left, 1 on the right and 1 on the top.
The position of the cameras makes sure that the tracking is stable and is able to track the controllers even when they are on the side of the head. Anyway, with some poses, like when you have your hands behind your head, the tracking of the controllers gets lost. For most of the time, this shouldn’t happen and your gaming experience should be fine. But in some games that require particular hands poses, like for instance Echo VR, this may be a handicap for players using the Rift S.
According to some reviews, the tracking of the controllers is better than the one of WMR headsets, but it is not as good as the one of outside-in tracked headsets like the Oculus Rift CV1: Ben Lang, for instance, reports a very slight jitter.
Positional tracking works very well, but of course, it needs some light in the room to work, because the cameras are not infrared ones.
Sound
The Rift S has an integrated mic like the Rift CV1.
For what concerns speakers, it has two integrated ones hidden in the headband… a solution similar to the ones of Oculus Go and Oculus Quest. Unluckily, this is reported to work only in a discrete manner: all the reviews highlight how the integrated audio is not satisfying at all. The high-quality headphones of the Rift CV1 that were close to the ear of the user were able to provide a far better audio experience. Luckily there is a 3.5mm jack for external headphones that audiophiles wanting a great audio experience will for sure use.
Passthrough+
The two frontal cameras of the Rift S are more or less in the position of the eyes, so it is possible for the Rift S to show you your surroundings inside the headset. According to Oculus, this passthrough feature is very fast and with no distortions, so it is the best passthrough among all the headsets, hence the name Passthrough+.
The passthrough will be used for:
- Letting you configure your play area: instead of drawing some lines with your controllers while looking at your screen as you do now, you will be able to actually see your surroundings and draw your play area with your controllers all around you. This is incredibly handy;
- Improving the Guardian: when you will go out your play area, the Passthrough+ will activate, letting you see your surroundings and avoiding you stumbling over your furniture.
Setup
Thanks to inside-out tracking, the setup of the Rift S is incredibly easy and just requires you to plug the USB and DisplayPort cables inside your PC, running the setup utility and bam, you’re done! No need to setup cameras, fill all the USB ports of your PC and so on.
This is really the greatest advantage of the Rift S over the CV1. It is super-easy to be installed: everyone is able to install and configure it. It is easy to be used and this makes it suitable for the vast majority of people and not only the techies as the Rift CV1 was.
Price and availability
The Oculus Rift S is available for preorders on Oculus website and on the website of selected partners (like Amazon). The shipping will start from May, 21st 2019. The final price is $399 (€449).
Is it worth the price?
Well, yes and no. If we look at the polished experience that Oculus always offer, and at its rich content library, then it is worth it. If we look at some competing devices, like some WMR headsets, that have greater resolutions and are often discounted at $200-$300, then no.
I hope that this post has satisfied your curiosity on the Oculus Rift S. If you need some more details, you may find a deeper description in this other post of mine and a wonderful review on Road To VR. And don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter…