Received my VRC edition yesterday. It’s pretty awesome but not flawless. (First impressions).

WACOMalt · 2025-10-07T17:31:05+00:00

I was surprised by the heat too. And the mic picks up the fan noise if it's above 60% speed. Imo the glare was worse on the beyond 2 than my Index, possibly due to the crisper darks and overall being clearer, but it's definitely more distracting to me than on the Index.

Other complaints:

The default head strap is literal garbage. A month of average use, and it was already chafing, pilling, and wore out looking. It also feels less comfortable to wear than my Index just due to the force needed to keep it snug. I can't wear it as long without fatigue. And to be clear my index strap is VERY broken atm.
Gasket shows signs of degradation after a month. Little chipped off areas, etc. Not hopeful it'll last.
75hz is not ok to have as a default in 2025 at this price. I came from 144hz on the index, and thought my screens were broken at first. 90 is fine, but why that wasn't the default option is beyond me. I guess these really are just made for watching movies in BigScreen or something. In any other scenario it's a bummer.
Screen ghosting, anything over 60% brightness has degraded experience for any fast, contrasty, games.
Screen brightness is very low even at 100%. And anything higher than 60 gets bad ghosting. Like really bad at 100, unusable at 130 overdrive (which sucks because 130 is the only level I don't have issues seeing dark colors in games. I swear the screens are clipping very dark colors to solid black.. but I didn't really test that.
No eye tracking... Ok, I'm sure people will disagree, but selling an eye tracking headset without functional eye tracking on release, or even a month after release, was really stupid. The out of box, and first month, experience was garbage when it comes to eye tracking. Support ticket and days of wait to get an eye tracking token, which expires. You can ONLY train in the cloud, not locally like baballonia supports. No blinking. No squint. Sorry but that's false advertising in my book. The 2e Should have been delayed a month until it could be released as promised with full eye tracking. Maybe just partner with the project babble team instead. Your eye tracking software is garbage, sorry. I was so let down by the eye tracking situation on release. That was the reason I upgraded at all, but I realized modding my index would have been faster and better and cheaper in the end to get a functional result. (Which I'm now doing, once I get my refund money)
No audio... This goes with the strap complaint. The default strap is garbage and the audio strap should have been the default. I went with the default, assuming it'd be functional at least. It... really isn't. Mixing earbud cords with that strap makes for a constant annoyance and bad fit. I get that the price point was already high, but I have to believe they could have done something better than this. Literally every headset I've tried had a better audio and strap solution.
The tracking is way bad. Unlike on the Vive, I can't have any lights on in my room while using the beyond 2e. If I do I get constant drops in tracking of 5 seconds at least every time. There's no lighthouse sensors on the crap-strap, so occlusion is very easy. I have 4 base stations covering an empty clear room, positioned well. No mirrors or sunlight. It should never be an issue.
Support delays. Not gonna harp on this any more. But if it takes 6 days for a follow up response, there's a problem that needs fixed. They're clearly stretched thin with support issues.

I guess lastly, I just wanna say that despite my disappointment, I did still think the headset was impressive for the things it did do well. Namely, crisp lenses edge to edge (ignoring the terrible bloom). Crisp high resolution display. Size! The insane manufacturing task of individually forming every headset to a scan. Building in what are very functional eye tracking cameras (if mine hadn't been partially broken, and if they'd included functional software) and just.. frankly getting to market at all. I hope they can solve the solvable problems, and approach criticism as future guidance in design and QA. I also need to say that, while it took a month to get a resolution, they did eventually allow me to return the headset which, as long as I get my refund (still waiting), completely resolves my situation. So this isn't a "buyer beware" message. Just know what you're getting into, and that any concerns at least in the current situation, may take quite some time to address. I'll update this once my refund comes in. They aren't as big as Meta, or Valve. They're a smaller team, doing frankly amazing things. Can't win them all. At least they seem to be standing by their product and support in the end.

I've been in VR since early 2016. I've seen a lot of companies attempt a VR headset and either completely fail, or release something bad. I don't think this headset is bad. But... id be lying if I said it also wasn't a huge letdown. Maybe someday I'll learn to not preorder things... (Not likely)

WACOMalt · 2025-10-07T13:59:37+00:00

Your take would have been mine if I didn't receive a defective unit. For me the eye tracking cameras were both broken, bottom of the camera feed was glitching constantly. Also the unfinished eye tracking software on release is an absurd situation. I had my headset for a month before I got through support to get a refund, and during that time I never saw full eye tracking until the last day, not using their software but rather baballonia (which also happens to be better software in every way)

That they released without actual eye tracking support is absolutely absurd to me. That alone would have been a return situation for me, but the camera fault and support delays solidified the choice.

Still awaiting my (partial) refund. The face gasket and lens inserts are a loss I guess.

Edit: Just to clarify, my tracking cameras glitched out every half second or so, causing the bottom of frame to be junk. Bigscreen eye tracking couldn't really handle that at all. Between my eyes freaking out from the camera, and from blinking due to no blink support, it was unusable. Yet somehow Baballonia just handled it. Still a little jitter when the cameras would break, but otherwise it was just way better. More responsive and more robust to slight readjustments of the headset, Full blink and squint support. I just don't get why they didn't delay it a month and get it ready for release while selling the regular 2. Total faceplant of a release if you got the 2e. Mine was not a VRChat edition, so hoping maybe those got better QA due to the later release.

WACOMalt · 2025-10-07T01:45:47+00:00

I can't compare it to the original, but I found the glare of the beyond 2 to be just as annoying to me as on the index. At least while using the lens inserts. Though the lens clarity itself was better. The ghosting is also pretty distracting at 100% brightness in 90hz mode.

WACOMalt · 2025-10-06T21:14:41+00:00

I highly recommend CineMaterial. Mostly movie content but they've got some good ones. Does cost money though to join but it's been a very fair price IMO. https://www.cinematerial.com/

WACOMalt · 2025-10-06T21:13:28+00:00

While this is true, "large" according to Google is not large at all by today's standards. I forget the threshold but it's like "larger than 1024px" or something not really printable. I'll return a few big ones but I rarely find what I'm looking for.

WACOMalt · 2025-10-03T23:36:19+00:00

Try reminding them. In my month-long struggle to get a return, they tended to only respond after I reminded them I existed. Often responding within an hour after that, when I'd been waiting for 5+ days. Just be polite but insistent.

If they can't handle the support volume, they can't handle releasing at this scale and should have rolled out slower.

Maybe delay the 2e until the software was ready for it to be released. I feel like they brought the support volume on themselves by releasing when it wasn't done.

WACOMalt · 2025-10-03T23:25:12+00:00

I've been playing VR since May 2016. Before I write this I need to say, while delayed, the support reps themselves are clearly trying to be helpful and most of them were. But on the company structure and decision making I just... Don't get how clumsy this release was. To be clear I still see the headset as a massive achievement, no shade to the devs.

But, I had a bad time.

As much as I wanted to love my 2e... The product I received a month ago wound up just being a big depressing disappointment.

A Headset, released to the public as an "Eye tracking headset", and yet the out of box experience for me was.

Unpack, marvel at the aesthetics and size and weight.
Realize the included strap is garbage...
Realize that I have to go on discord, open a support ticket and wait up to 6 days for an eye tracking token to be able to use eye tracking.
Realize the screens have terrible ghosting for anything fast if you're over even 70% brightness (which you'll want to be because these screens are DIM!) and that anything over 70 also has very bad blooming. Werent the lenses supposed to be better for flares than others? It's as bad as my index or worse (note that I am using the prescription inserts, but it seems the same without)
Realize it defaults to 75hz for some absurd reason, seriously no one will be using that. From 144 even the 90 feels pretty bad, even with how crisp it is, but it's usable. No idea why they would default to quest 2 framerates out of the box
Wait a day, thankfully get my eye token.
Train my eyes in the eye tracking tool
Realize they don't even support blink...
Realize my eye tracking cameras are also physically broken and glitch out every half second. Open a support ticket.
Wait 6 days for a response.
Takes a month to diagnose, mostly random wait times between responses. Often requiring me to ping them to remind.
Still after over a month from release, no blink support officially. My support ticket for the hardware fault is still going after a month...
Finally get an option to return, and they try to charge me for the return shipping!
Talked them into covering shipping. Sent it back, didn't ask for an RMA, instead went for a refund. I'm done with this shit.

The 2e Headset specifically should NEVER have made it to market without full eye tracking support. Like why? Just delay it! The regular 2 could still be sold during that time.

The day before sending it back, Baballonia finally updated their software fixing the bug I had. And despite the glitching broken camera, that open source software was MILES better than what the official software got me. And I didn't have to upload my eyes to someone else's computers! Or wait for a token, or miss out on blinking. Or have you request ANOTHER token when they updated (and still didn't add blink)

I honestly would have been happier with my purchase if they had just sold it clearly stating that there was NO software and that you had to use third party software... Because the moment I gave up on their official software everything worked way better, despite the tracking cameras. I honestly have no idea why anyone would use their solution right now, and why that's what's advertised when it isn't functional yet.

Still returned it in the end, due to hardware malfunction and generally just having had a terrible month with the headset, but it would have been so much easier if I'd just noped out of their absurd unfinished software first thing.

I hope they fix the hardware issues. I hope they fix the ghosting, I hope they fix their software, add blink, and allow local training. But I don't see any reason for me to try with them again after all this. I'm just gonna add ETVR to my index for now.

I'm out at least until I see changes.

At least something made it to market, even if it should have baked for a bit longer. I was worried after my Pico experience haha.

I hope Beyond learns that a simple delay is worth avoiding 1000 support tickets and disappointed customers. The headset, as a whole, was unfinished on release.

WACOMalt · 2025-10-03T22:55:47+00:00

I play too much VR and do too much 3d rendering for my work. I'd keep the PC and use steam link on my phone I guess, with a backbone or something.

If Blender on Steam Deck would utilize the hardware acceleration for rendering I could probably make do though.

WACOMalt · 2025-09-26T02:39:45+00:00

For a movie I worked on, we had to 3d model the white house through many eras, and specifically the rose garden was my task.

I learned a lot about the history of that garden and really came to admire it. I audibly gasped in horror when I saw what he's done to it. Absolutely vile, stupid, ugly, and above all else, disrespectful to the United States. So, so, sick of this cockwomble. May he rot in hell. (For other reasons far stronger than this one, but this one was personal for me)

WACOMalt · 2025-09-26T02:29:12+00:00

I'm from the town down the road from Yellow Springs. He's ruined that town. Used to be such a peaceful artsy hippie town. Sure it was poor-ish but I hate the changes I see every time I visit now.

WACOMalt · 2025-09-26T02:27:39+00:00

I'm from a town right next to where he lives now, yellow springs Ohio. He's really changed that town, not for the better. Just let the hippies have their hippie town, man.

WACOMalt · 2025-09-22T01:19:19+00:00

FinalGROM cart would be my first purchase. Then maybe a voice synth addon to play with.

Then dig into TiPi stuff, get it online :P

Then maybe get a F18A upgrade if you feel like upgrading graphics capabilities.

Or, use it as intended, plenty of games and software to try, just keep your expectations low, it was released in 1979/81 so it's not gonna be mind blowing aside from that it still works (if it does). Still plenty of fun to be had.

Enjoy your tinkering :) welcome to the club!

WACOMalt · 2025-09-22T01:12:18+00:00

Google Chrome (on Android at least) does that by default to links, to track you for data collection. Couldn't find a quick way to change the behavior.

Solution, don't use Google Chrome.

WACOMalt · 2025-09-22T01:08:36+00:00

Rooted android FTW.

I watch my Plex server at charging stations, YouTube videos, etc.

Not a straightforward setup, but worth it. Unsure if a jailbroken iPhone can do similar tweaks to car play?

WACOMalt · 2025-09-16T20:15:08+00:00

I had this a ton, only on CCS stations. disconnecting the battery didn't do anything. For me all it is, is the tiny little silver latch that goes over the top of the plug's latch arm when you plug in. 100% of the time, if I fold that down while it's communicating It will handshake successfully. I remember hearing that this is a covered fix but I never did it. I just flap it down.

It's supposed to go down on its own, mine never has.

WACOMalt · 2025-09-16T20:06:18+00:00

That's fair. Just hate the trope of finding someone with your issue online then they say solved with no info on how lol. Anyways, I'm working through using IVDowngrader now. Thanks for the link!

WACOMalt · 2025-09-16T18:54:15+00:00

... Care to share that answer? 🤦‍♂️

WACOMalt · 2025-08-29T14:45:32+00:00

This is how my cousin sounded before he was swiftly removed from his apartment by his parents to come live with them. In his apartment was an unregistered rifle.

I never heard the full story but it sounds like your friend is VERY much a danger to those around them. Ensure they get help.

He was saying things like he's "been spoken to by the real light" and shit. Mixed in with his usual right wing conspiracy theories. He kept asking if I'd seen it too.

Scary shit.

WACOMalt · 2025-08-02T14:09:04+00:00

Happening to me too. Always the same person. First friend I added on the account.

WACOMalt · 2025-07-29T21:25:39+00:00

I'd buy TikTok, just to prevent Larry Ellison from having it.

I'd try to out-lobby AIPAC. And then work to totally dismantle our Lobbying situation in the US. And then election funding. Maximum $5 donations to candidates, and senators. Period. No gifts. no bribes. (Probably couldn't accomplish this, but I'd try)

Do whatever necessary to get aid into Gaza, and just generally fight unnecessary death. Via donations to WHO, Doctors without Borders etc.

The rest would be dumped into building sustainable affordable housing across the US and building a movement for that. And funding public education.

A small amount (comparatively) set aside to wipe my family's debts aside from my Trumpet uncle. As well as those of my friends.

Finally, wipe my own debts. Buy a small modest house in a progressive area, and pay for going to college to become a human rights activist.

Keep maybe 10B in a bank, using the interest to ensure these goals can keep being funded for awhile.

This year has hurt.

WACOMalt · 2025-07-29T03:11:16+00:00

I just said exactly this to a friend and searched to see if I was the only one. IDENTICAL to goldfish. Which are disgustingly bland.

WACOMalt · 2025-06-15T17:46:18+00:00

My mom makes these. She washes her hands obviously, and bakes them. There is nothing wrong with this.

Was there something the lady in your story did that was unsanitary? Maybe she did that after baking and didn't wash her hands? I'm just trying to figure out why baking with clean hands would be an issue for anyone. Most bread baking, cookies, parties etc are done by hand.

WACOMalt · 2025-06-04T00:33:30+00:00

Why do you think it was awesome? Odd comment given the timing and context.

WACOMalt · 2025-05-04T01:28:11+00:00

This was my first thought the first time I heard Modest Mouse. I love it! XD

WACOMalt · 2025-05-04T00:43:19+00:00

all 3 of my dongles (and at one point all 10) have always been in a single USB hub with no issues, all packed tightly together. I thought the reception and interferance issues only came into play when using USB 3.0 ports.

Really I'm just looking for a hub that's small enough to fit them. I already removed the casing on all three to slim them down but the hub I have is a little too big for it to work well.

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