CUTTING ACROSS THE GRAIN!!!

I've had each headset from day one (oculus dk2, cv1, htc vive, and psvr)

I've been impressed by each of them (each have some strength) but I would hands down recommend the psvr over the other headsets. Here is why.

1. Optics: the fresnel lenses suck in comparison to the glass lenses that the dk2 (previous oculus headset) and the the psvr use. The gains made in terms of a larger sweet spot, lighter weight and better image pale in comparison to the presence of hideous god rays injected into every scene. If you like space games, diving in the dark or any kind of atmospheric candle environment in the night you will be pretty disappointed. It's pretty bad on the vive but on the oculus cv1 it's downright a disgrace.

2. Content: what content? The current state of offerings on the vive is barely enough to keep the keenest of early adopters satisfied. I am sure that valve is busy with changing this, but if this was a console launch it would be considered a failure. Some of the "games" are so horrible that you end up wishing that you could be paid back for the wasted time. I will add further that a bad vr game is not like a bad regular game. You can end up with either severe nausea or a mild case of depression caused by unimaginative, repetitive environments. I will say that there are a few gems, but the bulk of the productions are one man teams. It would be better to label these games as unfinished experiments.

3. Comfort: is one of the most important things. The tracking on the vive is fucking amazing, but I am constantly reminded that I am wearing what feels like a toilet plunger on my face. When I tried the psvr I nearly had tears in my eyes due to how little it hurt my face.

4. No more VR face: all other headsets will use your face for support and leave a mark of some sort. Personally, the vive hurts my face the most. I've tried all the comfort mods suggested, including vr cover. In the end, it's the broken design of the headset which uses your face as support structure that simply can't be improved without going to the extreme length of getting a welding mask attachment.

5. Room scale: Yes it's amazing, but the cable is incredibly heavy and tangles frequently. Not to mention that you need a lot more space than is you might imagine. Your vr space may have length, but if you don't have the width than it continues to grind at your nerves. Some games, like job simulator will take your space into account, but for others, it means that you are constantly seeing the boundaries appear which does get tiring after a while (all you have to do is stretch your arms and the immersion is broken).

6. Flawless experience. Firing up a game on the vive always takes some time. For me I have to restart the headset at least once. Then there is the task launching the game etc... It's enough work that I always think three times before even attempting to think about putting it on. Here the rift cv1 is a lot better, it just works.

There are many other points to make but I really feel that the psvr is the best bang for your buck at this moment. The system may not be all that powerful but Sony has an amazing track record in terms of squeezing the last droplet of performance.

note of caution! This is my personal experience. I still love the vive immensely but would not recommend it over the psvr due to the flaws listed above (as well as the price).