I am a Premium Beta (2014) backer of Elite Dangerous and I can say that without a doubt ED is “THE BEST SPACE SIM IN VR”. For the past 8-9 years, I have been having a blast playing ED in VR. The combat is pretty great because of the situational awareness and depth perception. The cockpits of those ships feel as big as a train car in VR!
But my best experience is still mining asteroids. I can’t describe the feeling of flying around those monstrous asteroids. The sense of scale is really astounding. And when you blow one of them up and get cloaked in space dust… its really something else!
Anyway, I digress. You want to know which are the Best VR headsets for Elite and here are my top picks based on hundreds of hours of experimentation.
1. Pimax Crystal Light (Best Overall)
Pimax Crystal Light
- 2880x2880 resolution per eye
- High FoV, Best Comfort, Premium feel
- Eye tracking, Foveated Rendering
*Using the above link will automatically apply our special discount code (GBN) on the Pimax store!
Pimax Crystal Light is the new flagship from Pimax that offers unmatched clarity. Pimax have had some teething issues before but they have improved a lot and with the Crystal, they have finally achieved a level of quality and stability that demanding VR flight simmers expect.
Pimax headsets have always had very high resolutions but most GPUs struggled to push that many pixels. Now with the top end 4000 and 5000 series graphics cards, we can finally play on its glorious 2880×2880 resolution. In fact, I have personally tested the Pimax with the Nvidia 3080, 4090 and 5090 so far.
One thing that most people don’t realise is that the lenses are just as important as the panels in a VR headset. But lenses can be super expensive so VR manufacturers cheap out on them. The Pimax Crystal though has excellent glass lenses and I believe that is the reason for their unmatched clarity.
Pimax Crystal going strong even after 100+ hours of testing!
The headset offers a massive 130 degree horizontal FoV for amazing sightseeing. The resolution can be tweaked from 72 Hz to 120 Hz depending on your system. This is a true enthusiast product.
2. Pimax Crystal Super (Best Premium)
Pimax Crystal Super
- Resolution of 3840x3840 per eye
- Dynamic Foveated Rendering allows for better performance
- Highest FoV
*Using the above link will automatically apply our special discount code (GBN) on the Pimax store!
The Pimax Crystal Super dominates the competition when it comes to clarity, visuals and field of view. It offers almost double the resolution and FoV of most other consumer grade headsets and it does that at a price that is high but not beyond the reach of what us flight simmers have to pay for graphics cards, premium joysticks and other hardware.
My main concern with these high end headsets was that they would need so much GPU power to run, that performance would be miserable. However, we have come a long way since then and Pimax Crystal Super now offers Dynamic Foveated Rendering! This combined with a top end GPU means flawless flight simming for hour. Of course, this quality comes at a price.
3. Meta Quest 3 (Best Entry Level)
- Experience total immersion with 3D positional audio, hand tracking and easy-to-use controllers...
- Explore an expanding universe of over 500 titles across gaming, fitness, social/multiplayer and...
The Quest 3 is the best mid-range option for not just Elite Dangerous, but for almost every VR game. It is the quintessential jack of all trades headset that won’t break the bank. It has good resolution, good tracking, good value, good comfort, good build quality and good everything really. Not necessarily the highest resolution, but close enough to be viable in space sims. Which is what makes it an absolute work horse for VR gaming.
Get this headset if you are new to VR and want something that is good with all games, not just space sims. It is the safe option. I was actually surprised with the amount of goodness packed into this headset while still maintaining such an attractive price.
- THE NO COMPROMISE VR HEADSET - Realistic visuals, soundscapes, and superb performance come together...
- IT’S ALL INSIDE - Packaging includes HP VR Headset, 6m headset cable for desktop and mobile PCs, 2...
The Reverb G2 has a beautiful 2160×2160 screen for EACH eye. This is significantly higher than what any of the competing headsets in this price range have. The FoV, sweet spot etc. are all good. Nothing groundbreaking but pretty much all VR headsets are in the same ballpark on these metrics . One unique advantage of this headset is that it is a Windows Mixed Reality headset and WMR is Microsoft’s technology. You can use OpenXR which gives you a small performance boost.
Its high resolution is what makes the Reverb stand apart from the crowd. I have been using it for a while now and it offers the best clarity to read your gauges and instruments in space sims. It doesn’t not have the best controllers, but you don’t really need them for a flight sim. My controllers are still inside the box!
But the Reverb is out of production so its a runner up.
4. Meta Quest Pro (Best mid-range)
- Meta Quest Pro unlocks new perspectives in work, creativity, and collaboration.
- Multitask with ease with multiple resizable screens so you can organize tasks, work on new ideas or...
The Quest Pro is the new King of clarity when it comes to space simming. This makes it one of my top recommendations for Elite Dangerous and the only thing only it back is the price. But if you are willing to spend that extra cash, its the best premium option right now.
Clarity: The most important thing for a flight sim headset is clarity. More so than in any other game. You need to look at your Garmin, look at your readouts, look at all the beautiful scenery and you need to be able to actually tell what you are looking at. The Reverb does this well but it has a small sweet spot. The maximum clarity is only at the very center which was good enough for 2019 to 2021 or whatever, but The Quest Pro now has excellent quality throughout the whole lens! This is really a game change for Elite Dangerous because you can now see everything clearly without just looking at the absolute centre of your lens.
Field of View: The FoV is pretty good actually. Higher than what I expected and definitely in the top 3 among the premium headsets.
Colours: I never thought I would talk about colours but then I met VR. I started with the HTC Vive back in 2016 and it had a beautiful OLED panel with awesome colours. Since then, everything I have used has had washed out colours. I am happy to report that the Quest Pro is excellent on this regard too. Much better colours than the competition and no godrays, fringing, muras, glare or any other such issues.
Comfort: Comfort is fine for me but it really depends on your head shape. I have had headsets that would to much pressure on my nose bridge but this one seems pretty good so far. I would not call it perfect, but I don’t have any serious issues either.
Tracking and battery: Tracking is really good and battery life is decent. One hour of use drained about 15% battery life. You can also keep it plugged and it will keep charging so that’s nice.
Software & setup: Much better and easier than Windows Mixed Reality.
| Headset | Resolution (per eye) | Total Pixels (both eyes) | Refresh Rate | Horizontal FoV | Weight (with headstrap) |
| Reverb G2 | 2160 x 2160 | 9,331,200 | 90 Hz | 98° | 498 g |
| Quest 2 | 1832 x 1920 | 7,034,880 | 72 Hz | 97° | 503 g |
| Quest Pro | 1800 x 1920 | 6,912,000 | 90 Hz | 106° | 722 g |
| Vive Pro 2 | 2448 x 2448 | 11,985,408 | 120 Hz | 116° | 850 g |
| Pimax 8K X | 3840 x 2160 | 16,588,800 | 90 Hz | 159° | 850 g |
| Index | 1440 x 1600 | 4,608,000 | 144 Hz | 108° | 809 g |
| Cosmos Elite | 1440 x 1700 | 4,896,000 | 90 Hz | 97° | 702 g |
| Rift S | 1280 x 1440 | 3,686,400 | 80 Hz | 88° | 590 g |
This is what Elite looks like in the Reverb (actual lens shot). It actually looks better than this but the iPhone camera can capture only so much.
4. Valve Index (Most Versatile)
The Index is an expensive option because of its lighthouses and hand controllers. The thing is you only need those controllers and lighthouses for games other than flight, racing or space sims. So if mostly intend to play those games, this might be good option if you are willing to fork out that much.
But if your true passion is exploring the stars or flying around between in mountains, then you don’t really need to spend this much. Not to mention the Index is very rarely in stock.
About the Author
