Pimax today announced the end of pre-orders and the beginning of general sales of the Pimax “8K”, “5K” Plus, and “5K” Business Edition (BE) headsets. With a current waiting period of 81 days until Pimax begins shipping the headsets though, the company seems to be blurring the line between pre-orders and official sales.

Pimax maintains that Kickstarter orders should be entirely shipped by “mid January to mid-late January.” A chart provided by the company shows that they’ve already opened two production lines to fulfill Kickstarter orders, with a third opening in late December to help with the final push.

According to the chart, pre-order delivery is expected to begin somewhere between January 13th and January 27th. Pimax isn’t allowing queue-jumping with general orders though, as it remains steadfast in fulfilling Kickstarter orders first, then pre-orders, then general sales orders.

Image courtesy Pimax

Currently, the company has quoted an 81-day waiting period for customers looking to order the headset today, requiring prepayment in full. It’s unclear what distinction the company is trying to make as it announces general sales with a lengthy waiting period; anyone could already pre-order all three headsets since late October at the same price.

If you were to hypothetically order today, November 30th, the company estimates they’d ship your headset on February 19th, 2019. The Pimax “8K” site notes that customers will receive their orders “within 90 days.” You can check out Pimax’s store page here.

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Quick History & Specs

Here’s some backstory in case you missed all the hubbub about Pimax’s wide FOV headsets:

The Pimax “8K” headset was the result of VR’s most successful Kickstarter campaign, beating out all others, including Oculus, with $4.23 million raised when the campaign concluded in November 2017. It’s primary claims to fame were its impressively wide FOV, high-resolution panels, and incorporation of SteamVR tracking.

Pimax “8K” V5 prototype | Photo by Road to VR

The company has weathered its fair share of delays over the course of the 2018, including lens redesigns that set back production of the final version well past the January 2018 estimated delivery date. The inclusion of a Knuckles-style, SteamVR-tracked motion controller was also devised, which the company is selling alongside SteamVR 2.0 base stations for a $300 deposit. No shipping date for the tracking/controller bundle is available at this time.

In a surprise move one month before pre-orders went live, the company shifted their plans to provide Kickstarters with the original “5K” headsets, instead tossing in an improved display in their newly christened “5K” Plus and “5K” Business Edition (BE) headsets, which offer native resolutions of 2,560 × 1,440 pixel count per lens (5,120 × 1,440 total).

Kickstarters then began seeing the first wave of headsets trickle in starting in late September. Now that you’re mostly caught up, here’s the specs:

Pimax “8K” Specs – $900

  • Display: CLPL (Customized low persistence liquid)
  • Resolution: 3,840 × 2,160 per display (7,680 × 2,160 total)
  • Input content: upscaled from 2,560 × 1,440
  • Motion to Photon latency: <15ms
  • Refresh Rate: 80 Hz, Brainwarp Support
  • FOV: ~200 degree diagonal
  • Audio: 3.5mm audio jack, integrated microphone
  • Output: USB 2.0/3.0, DP 1.4
  • Tracking: SteamVR 1.0 and 2.0 tracking
  • Content: SteamVR and Oculus Home
  • Fit: Adjustable headset strap (deluxe headstrap optional), IPD adjustment, VR frame
  • Minimum Recommended GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080Ti and AMD equivalent or above

Pimax “5K” Plus – $700

  • Display type: CLPL(Customized low persistence liquid)
  • Resolution: 2,560 × 1,440 per (5,120 × 1,440 total)
  • Input content: delivered at native 2,560 × 1,440
  • Motion to Photon latency: <15ms
  • Refresh Rate: 90 Hz, Brainwarp Support
  • FOV: ~200 degree diagonal
  • Audio: 3.5mm audio jack, integrated microphone
  • Output: USB 2.0/3.0, DP 1.4
  • Tracking: support for SteamVR 1.0 and 2.0 tracking
  • Content: SteamVR and Oculus Home
  • Fit: Adjustable headset strap (deluxe headstrap optional), IPD adjustment, VR frame
  • Minimum Recommended GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 and AMD equivalent or above

Pimax “5K” BE, costing $1,000, has the same specs as the “5K” Plus outside of an OLED display, clocked at 85Hz. The Pimax “5K” BE is said to be a limited time offer.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • theonlyrealconan

    They need some time to get everything situated/refined. I do expect to buy one evenutally, but i do not regret getting the $299 Odessey Plus to hold me over.

  • JesuSaveSouls

    Demand and availability can make or break a company.Td jakes said that in a sermon.

    • Graham J ⭐️

      God is a myth. Stop posting just to have your name show up everywhere.

  • NooYawker

    Some people claim they’ve been shipping “100’s” Pimax’s already but every article seems to state otherwise.

    • FireAndTheVoid

      I’m Kickstarter backer ~3500 (about middle of the pack) and have yet to hear anything from them about shipping.

      • bud01

        checking comments around 48 hours ago, they are up to unit 1300 or 1400 or so, that range of client are getting shipment emails.

      • NooYawker

        I hope you get yours and it’s everythogn they said it would be.

      • El_MUERkO

        I’m in the 1700’s and got an email this week. Given they’re making 60-80 per day last I checked, and are probably improving that as time goes by, I guess you’re not far off.

    • Hivemind9000

      The weekly production quantity is at the top of that chart. So as of today they should have completed around 1380 units. Seems to fall in line with what the Kickstarters are hearing (with receiving shipment emails).

    • FireAndTheVoid

      I see several people here commenting that backers (in the 1400-1700 range) are receiving e-mails requesting shipping information. Even though this is the case, very few backers have actually received their headsets. The community is filling out a tracking spreadsheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sK1w_-gU6LaPYmZF1B-5W-Mr7gC1pFTuGkv2WBrQr-Y) and, as of today, it shows that only one backer beyond backer 152 has actually received their Pimax. People are seeing additional wait times of more than a month.

  • Raphael

    Their website is still screwed.

  • JesuSaveSouls

    Is there a reason why the standard headsets dont yet release fov of 200 ?
    Imagine mobile and standalone being fov at 200 being able view photos and watch movies.

    • Blaexe

      Significantly higher FOV means you will also need significantly more pixels just to keep the same sharpness. Which in conesequence means you’ll need much more powerful hardware.

      The big players obviously won’t target GTX1080+ users only, that’d be a commercial disaster. Also the usable, horizontal FOV of the Pimax is about 150°.

      • Caven

        And given the limitations of the lenses currently used on VR headsets, you’re not actually getting sharpness all the way out to the edges. Even 90-110 FOV headsets start getting noticeably blurry outside the center sweet spot. That blurriness just extends farther out with a wide FOV headset. For wide FOV headsets to make sense, I think proper eye tracking (for foveated rendering) and improved lenses are needed in order to keep processing requirements reasonable. I don’t really see a whole lot of benefit to a wide FOV if I still have to turn my whole head to see something clearly

        • JesuSaveSouls

          Also good explanation

      • JesuSaveSouls

        Thanks for that explanation

    • Ellon Musk

      You need curved displays to achieve this.

  • Trip

    Switching to regular sales before even making decent progress starting to fulfill long overdue kickstarter orders? I want what this headset promises, but Pimax just keeps doing things to reinforce my not trusting them.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      huh? but they are first fulfilling the kickstarter order before they will shop the general sales ones.

    • Kev

      They are shipping all the KS ones first. Those are only after the KS fulfillment is over. They are building over 100 units a day now.

    • Trip

      I’m aware of this guys, that’s not the point! What landmark did they hit that they switched to general sales? Now they are at serious risk of going way past their deadline without any excuses. I’d give them 50/50 odds at best that the “general sales” orders actually go out on time.

  • Andrew Jakobs

    And how are the actual headsets proving to be? are people happy with them or what are the negatives?

    • Hivemind9000

      The Pimax reddit forum is a good place to look. A little bit of a mixed bag (some happy, some not so much), but for some of the negatives it’s hard to tell if it’s just setup issues or something else.

  • Rogue Transfer

    The article specs are incorrect. The input content is native 5120×1440 total – each eye gets a different native input content of 2560×1440 each to present a stereoscopic view – not just one, as incorrectly implied above. Content isn’t monocular.

    • Baldrickk

      Typically, the resolution presented for a HMD is per eye. granted the “8K” moniker is talking about the resolution across both eyes, but that’s just marketing wanting a bigger number.

  • kool

    Damn, the selling these pies fresh to order!

  • Sanguine Rose

    i mostly play flightsimulators (DCS World & Xplane 11) , my current Vive is some low res blurry garbage for trash, all reviews i have watched about the Pimax5k confirms dramatic changes from a simple Vive.

    • MW

      Yes, it looks better in terms of resolution. No doubt about it. Dramatically better?
      I don’t think so (higher fov-lower res). But questionn is – is it work? Pimax doesn’t have there one platform, like Oculus store or Steam VR. They just trying to connect to those. And it just doesn’t work sometimes (did game start, did tracking works, did controllers works correctly etc.?)
      Another thing is availability of the headset. If you will be able to try this HMD in your store – it will be another story. Now it’s just even 6 months waiting for shipping from China. Customer service doesn’t exist. Well… your money and choice.

  • Patrick McKee

    dude who cares about pimax since the valve leak lol come on people.

    • NooYawker

      I just looked it up, man that’s exciting.

    • Icebeat

      yeah, half life 3 dude.

    • quadrplax

      We have no clue when its coming. They’ve been talking about knuckles for a very long time but a consumer product has yet to appear. Who’s to say they will release their HMD anytime soon?

  • Patrick McKee

    You guys can think about pimax all you want, since the valve leak. Ask yourself one question.

    Should I wait for valve vr hmd?

    • Baldrickk

      Given that the Valve HMD hasn’t even been announced yet… it could be some time, and while we know Valve has a decent track record for hardware quality, we don’t know the full specs of their headset either.
      So the answer could swing either way, that Pimax is actually shipping headsets now is a big plus for them – you know the product is coming and you can actually order one today.

      I’m holding off for a Valve one – or at least, I’m waiting until that is released before I decide. Gives me more time to save up too. the 5K+ also seems to be a nicer proposition for me than the 8K.

      • Patrick McKee

        Also I would like to say, if you don’t want to wait for Valve time buy an htc Vive, used or new, cheaper than a pimax, also we are all waiting for more gpu in general. I have 2 vives on tpcast and a 1080ti and 980ti, so I’m fine but you should wait or buy a vive aand upgrade your gpu gnd wait for the Valve show. Just my experienced opinion. If you are gonna get a pimax everything I read and saw said to buy the 5k+

    • Sion12

      no

    • Icebeat

      Valve’s time

  • Graham J ⭐️

    There are no quotes around Pimax’ product names.

    • MosBen

      The quotes are due to disputes about whether the headsets meet a technical definition of 5k and 8k.

      • Graham J ⭐️

        I know, which is stupid and passive aggressive. It’s a product name; get over it and learn grammar. (not you, the author)

        • MosBen

          Ok, fair enough. I think that putting quotes around something like that is fine, because consumers shouldn’t just take the product name as proof of hardware specs, especially if that’s what the manufacturer is hoping will happen. The article has the necessary information to explain the quotes, but I would have recommended a very short blurb at the end explaining the use of the quotes.

  • Kenji Fujimori

    Why are you giving the limelight to this shady Chinese company? especially when its FALSE ADVERTISING, NOTHING IS 8K

  • Kenji Fujimori