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u/HeadComprehensive265

▲ 40 r/Galaxy_XR+1 crossposts

Galaxy XR Update (Early May)

Hello All,

Good news (April update issues resolved)

I’ve been using the new firmware update (version I610UEU2AZD8) for the last couple days. The main issue that resulted from the April update (tracking stuttering/memory leaks) seems to been resolved.

More good news (Controller reliability improved)

In addition to that, while i primarily use the index controllers with this headset for PCVR, the Galaxy XR controllers have seen some improvements in their reliability. I’ve noticed it myself, and those in the Galaxy XR Discord server I’m in have also noticed it.

By no means perfect (Still needs work)

While the main tracking stutter issues and controllers have seen fixes and reliability improvements, both the tracking on the headset and controllers still need a lot of work to hold a candle to their industry competitors.

The headsets tracking can still drift at times, almost like it’s swimming around. This especially happens when close to walls, after very fast movements, or when sitting very still.

The controllers still feel slow compared to Meta’s quest 3 controllers, almost dragging along when doing fast movements.

Keep at it Google/Samsung!

P.S.

Thank you to u/GraceFromGoogle and the rest of the team for addressing the community in the uncertainty of it all.

reddit.com
u/HeadComprehensive265 — 4 days ago
▲ 6 r/Galaxy_XR+2 crossposts

So, where to begin.

The Pros (Largely the Hardware)

The GXR looks great on paper. 4k per eye, eye and face tracking, Micro OLED displays, WiFi 7, the list goes on. Coming from Quest 3, this headset truly makes everything look amazing. The eye and face tracking also adds a level of personality as social vr is a large part of my use case. I also like the Developer mode that allows you to just turn off the boundary, along with do other system level tweaks.

Eye tracked Foveated streaming with Virtual Desktop also unlocks this headset for PCs with less headroom available. I have a 7950X3D and a 5090, but this headsets panels push even the strongest PCs to their very limit. I would imagine that older or weaker GPUs would heavily struggle to run this without Foveated Streaming enabled.

That all being said, I can’t in good conscience recommend this headset to anyone right now. Here’s why.

The Cons (Largely The Software)

1. The Controller tracking

Meta has really done a fantastic job with their slam tracking, and it seems to have spoiled me. The tracking for the Galaxy XR controllers have been quite disappointing for any type of gaming applications. The best way that I can describe it is where the quest 3 controllers feel like you’re playing on a 120 Hz monitor, the GXR controllers feel more like 30 Hz monitor. The tracking will also just be a bit jittery at times and even disconnect for a split second before clawing back mid play session.

This issue made me skip these controllers entirely and purchase the EOL index controllers to use for PCVR instead. However, for those without base stations, there is no remedy or alternative option other than skipping controllers entirely which doesn’t work for PCVR.

If you want to play any fast paced games that require you to flick the controllers around at a fast pace, the GXR controllers will not be good for this as they stand right now.

2. The Headset tracking (During long sessions)

After fairly long play sessions, I start to notice that my GXR will start to drift in tracking and create a “wave like” boat sensation. I’ve been playing vr for almost 5 years now so my sense of motion/vr sickness is practically nonexistent. However, this issue gets me the closest to suffering from something like that in a long time.

3. The April Update

From a PCVR perspective, this update is a PLAUGE on this headset’s viability. Every 1 1/2 hrs, I have to do a full restart of the headset because there is a horrible memory leak (at least from what I’ve seen the issue chalked up to from other people). The tracking will fail, headset will flash black with a buffering screen and snap back. If you don’t do a reset to the headset mid play session, the issue makes this headset UNUSABLE.

Smaller issues (Honorable mentions)

  1. Can’t adjust floor height with Boundary off in dev mode.

  2. Bandwidth over WiFi 7 seems to fluctuate a lot.

  3. Cant go into pass through or use any system level applications while in PCVR. It will rip you out of your pcvr experience while you tweak or use other things.

  4. Mic issues with Virtual Desktop, along with overall audio latency for social vr.

  5. Green dot microphone indicator in the middle of the screen that can’t be turned off permanently. (yes I know about the Tyco tech temporary software remedy, should be a dev mode option)

  6. Doesn’t seem to play well with Space Calibrators continuous calibration for FBT. (Still figuring this out, lots of potential things at play here that may not be the headset causing the issue)

  7. The Comfort is pretty bad out of the box, just get the Globular Cluster comfort mod from Amazon. I’ve tried other options but this one is the best imo. https://a.co/d/06UpX7Ba

The Verdict

This headset has a long way to go before I would recommend anyone to buy this.

Most of the issues seem to be based in software/firmware, not hardware. The hardware itself is fantastic, and the reason why I got this headset. But it really goes to show the whole “Real application vs on paper” point.

If Google/Samsung can really step up and put some hours to improve and resolve the Three main issues above, then I would start to recommend this headset to anyone looking for a high fidelity PCVR experience with some useful social VR application as well.

u/HeadComprehensive265 — 16 days ago