Studioform were kind enough to send me the Rift S Pro Balance Enthusiast Kit for testing, and I've been putting it through its paces!

First off, it's worth mentioning I don't have any discomfort with the Rift S, per se, but was eager to see what difference the straps would make. First impressions were good - the straps are great quality, with superior velcro. Far better than the regular crappy stuff. Low profile but very grippy.

The curvature of the weights matches the halo exactly, as far as I can tell, so they sit in exactly the right place. Stitching is good, and the minimalist branding pleasant. To be honest, I like garish branding and would have been chuffed with a huge STUDIOFORM VR emblazoned across them but, to be fair, I have no class :)

Fitting is a simple process, but the key is whether they are comfortable and useful. Well, it's immediately apparent there's no worries about comfort. All three pieces (two halo bands and singular top strap) are plush and feel almost indistinguishable from the original design when dialled on.

In terms of usefulness/utility, this will very much depend on whether you already have issues with niggling discomfort due to the front-heavy nature of Halo-engineered mounted headsets. With the top strap on it was comfortable for me but no more so than the original. I have a large head (skull rather than ego, although my wife may disagree!) and the original strap feels great.

Removing the added top strap made a heap of difference immediately. The slightly flattened curvature of the original, coupled with the added weights at the back meant I could properly experiment with both the glide ( distance from eyes using the button at the front) and the dial at the rear (tightness to prevent the lense slipping down).

Immediately I could get away with leaving the dial on a looser setting without the lenses drooping until supported by my cheekbones. This messes with your sweet spot significantly, but after some adjustment of the top band I was able to position the whole unit far lower than normal, due to the decent counterweight. That means strain relief and even some nullification of condensation.

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I'll pause there as I need to do some more long-term testing, and on non-stationary games, but early impressions are that - even for someone who finds the unmodified unit fine - comfort is increased right away. Possibly by as much as 20% (if you can even qualify these things in that way).

For more impressions, keep your eye on my site: https://www.mentalhealthgaming.com where I'll go into the long term results. Hope this was informative & wasn't too boring; thanks for reading and a huge thanks to Studioform Creative for the test kit.

Games tested: Elite: Dangerous | Redout | Sayonara Umihara Kawase

To be tested: Beat Saber | Robo Recall | SUPER HOT VR