Alongside updates to its PC VR headset lineup, Pimax revealed a new financing plan for Crystal Super and Crystal Light which makes both PC VR headsets more affordable, but also alters the payment structure and returns policy in a way that could raise a few eyebrows moving forward.

Announced back in April, Crystal Super is set to be the company’s next flagship PC VR headset, offering a base 57 PPD version with QLED panels that features a staggering resolution of 3,840 x 3,840 pixels per eye, a 120-degree field-of-view (FOV), and glass aspheric lenses with a reported 99% light transmission.

Additionally, Crystal Super supports eye-tracking, dynamic foveated rendering, inside-out tracking, and features swappable optical engines as well as offering a smaller, redesigned form factor for improved ergonomics. Principally targeted at VR simmers who already run a top of the line GPU, it basically represents a veritable wishlist of specs when the 57 PPD version arrives sometime in Q1 2025.

Pimax Crystal Super | Image courtesy Pimax

And even more so when the additional optical engines arrive at some point, which includes a micro-OLED engine for $699, and a 50 PPD QLED engine with 135-degree FOV for $399. Pre-orders for those optional add-ons are set to take place early next year.

Along with the fully updated spec sheet and launch of Crystal Super pre-orders, Pimax announced a new pricing structure for both Crystal Super and its previously released Crystal Light which reduces their overall prices, but makes some controversial changes to how the company’s payment structure and returns policy works.

While you can watch another one of Pimax’s patently byzantine video announcements to hear the marketing gist, we’ve dug a little deeper to find out what it means to the end user.

Pimax Prime (no relation)

On the face of it, the base price for Crystal Super is going down from the initially announced $1,800 to $1,695. Crystal Light, originally launched at $899, is going to $858. Notably, these pricing tiers both include controllers. As with all things Pimax though, it’s not so straight forward.

Now, the company is introducing a new mandatory financing/membership program, called ‘Pimax Prime’, which allows customers to purchase Crystal Super for $999 upfront, and Crystal Light for $599 upfront.

Pimax Crystal Light | Image courtesy Pimax

Similar to the previous Trial Payment scheme rolled out in May for Crystal Light, Pimax is offering a trial period so you can see if its right for you. When it ends, you’ll be on the hook to choose between one of two payment plans to keep the headset’s software working, or return the headset to Pimax for a full refund.

For Crystal Super, customers can choose between a one-time payment of $696, or a $33 per-month two-year plan ($792 total) for access to the required Pimax Play software. For Crystal Light, the one-time payment costs $259, or $12 per-month two-year plan ($288 total). If monthly payments are missed during the plan, software access is suspended.

After Prime payments are completed however, access to Pimax Play is entirely free for the particular headset in question. That’s seemingly great news if everything goes to plan, and you’re happy with the product, or if you find out it’s not right for you and you want a refund within the trial period.

While Pimax Prime hopes to sweeten the pot with extras such as early access to new software features, exclusive invitations to members-only events, and priority technical support, the payment plan is bringing along with it a fundamental change to how refunds work moving forward, effectively offering some customers less flexibility than before despite a lower overall price.

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Through its previous Trial Payment scheme released in May, Crystal Light gave users a 15-day trial period, where customers could make free returns, provided the device wasn’t damaged by the user, and 30 days if damaged in transit. Now, Pimax only offers a 10-day 14-day return window in both cases, meaning you’re on the hook for a payment plan after the trial period no matter what.

While return policies vary in the United States, as that country lacks any such federally mandated consumer protection laws, the EU and UK provide consumers with the right to return any physical product within 14 days without justification, and provides two years against faulty goods, which doesn’t cover the usual suspects: user error, misuse, accidental damage, normal wear-and-tear, etc.

Herein lies the problem. As keen-eyed Redditor ‘TotalWarspammer’ points out, Prime is basically non-refundable after the trial period. It is however refundable if purchased within the 10-day 14-day period, or at the discretion of Pimax thereafter (see update below). Essentially, if you’re on day 14 of your headset and choose to get the best deal by signing up for the one-time payment, and then you change your mind a few days later, it’s up to Pimax to determine whether it will process the refund in full, which would include the purchased Prime subscription.

Notably, Pimax’s 12-month limited warranty does not include “any software whatsoever, whether developed by PIMAX or a third party, even if intended or labelled as for use with the Product.”

The jury is still out on whether this calculated gamble could actually be a misstep, as it has the potential to overshadow ostensibly good hardware from a company that has been able to offer niche PC VR headsets at increasingly reasonable prices. Then again, it may be just what you need to see whether a Pimax headset is right for you, as you’ll have a few days to figure it out and send it back for free. Still, paying for access to middleware that should be included for free may simply not sit right with some, no matter the justification behind it.

Pimax says Prime membership won’t be limited to Crystal Light and Crystal Super either, as the program will expand to include the future Pimax VR headsets too. So we’ll just have to wait and see how the community reacts, and whether Pimax’s new strategy really is here for good.

Update (December 3rd, 2024): A few days after Pimax initially announced Prime, the company has decided to lengthen its 10-day trial period to 14 days. Pimax has also updated its FAQ regarding Prime and refunds.

We’ve included this in the body of the article above, maintaining however information on the previously announced 10-day trial for the sake of clarity.

 

Update (November 26th, 2024): An early statement found on the headsets’ FAQ stated Pimax Prime was non-refundable, which is not the case—at least within the 10-day trial period, or at the discretion of the company beyond that date.

“If a customer has upgraded to Prime and decides to return the headset within the 10 day window (or at discretion of Pimax, which we sometimes do), both the base price as well as Prime would be refunded,” says Jaap Grolleman, Director of Overseas Marketing Operations.

We’ve included that information in the text above, and also added a statement regarding the limited 12-month warranty.

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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.
  • Arno van Wingerde

    One word for the prescription model: No! The one-time payment would do it, but seems to be forfeit if you return the headset after the first 10 days? What if there are problems to be solved with later updates, as seems to happen a lot with Pimax? What happens if you resell your old Pimax, to get a newer one? Seemingly, you first need to have a lawyer look over this contract – or shop elsewhere.

    • foamreality

      Agree. subscriptions for hardware are the work of the devil, all primarily designed to prevent you reselling your device. The internet is awash with stories of subscription services blocking hardware with ever changing kafkasque payment demands: electric vehicles, garage doors, home automation devices. The more expensive the hardware the worse the demands get as they know you have invested a lot already. I am really keen to buy a pimax soon, but I have been totally put off now by their ability to disable the hardware remotely. I will never own the device. Any hardware company that chooses to go down the subscription route should not be trusted IMO, and the evidence for this is everywhere . Louis Rossman has a youtube channel dedicated to exposing this very problem. No, pimax, just no.

    • Somerandomindividual

      They clarified in the latest video that if there is a refund for any reason that the membership will be refunded.

  • flynnstigator

    Pimax doesn’t seem to understand their market position. Forcing customers into byzantine payment agreements is what a shady company does when it’s already dominant in the market, not when it’s a small player trying to grow into a household name. From their missed deliverables to their hit-and-miss features and software to the unfocused scattergun approach they’ve taken to releasing new headsets, Pimax has shown that they don’t have what it takes to become a major player.

    • Somerandomindividual

      It's really a shame that the management decision-making at Pimax is so bad and lacking in common sense, because if they had better management decision-making they could do far greater things and really start to take huge chunks of the market. All they had to do was make a Crystal Light with a full range of customizable options including eye-tracking and they would have created the defacto generalist and simmers headset. What Pimax need to do now to catapult themselves into sales heaven is to make a Crystal Light Pro (or whatever) next year that migrates the Crystal Light 2880x panels with Local DImming 2.0 into the new smaller Crystal Super chassis and add eye tracking as an option for a higher price somewhere between the Crystal Light and Super. This is literally all they need to do to make the two perfect headsets aimed at mid and high-end PCVR. Pimax, you are welcome, and if you want any additional consulting you know where to find me. :)

  • Jaap Grolleman

    Any refunds issued would include the cost of the headset as well as Prime.

    The confusion seems to resolve about the 10 day return window (in which Prime isn't required). But to say Prime isn't refundable is not true.

    If a customer has upgraded to Prime and decides to return the headset within the 10 day window (or at discretion of Pimax, which we sometimes do), both the base price as well as Prime would be refunded.

    • Hey Ben, in case you don't know, Jaap is from Pimax, so this is like an official answer to the community's concerns.

    • Hi Jaap. I did not say it wasn't refundable, but rather it was "non-refundable after the 10-day period."

      Considering Prime isn't required within that period, it leaves Prime refunds at the discretion of Pimax, which is a distinction I made in the original article, although I've articulated it better with the help of your statement.

      • Jaap Grolleman

        Thank you

        • XRC

          Hey Jaap!

  • foamreality

    Whatever happened to the 12k pimax that was promised 2 -3 years ago where they promised part exchange if you bought a then current headset (now dated). Why arent VR tech journos/youtubers talking about this and demanding answers instead of just pushing Pimax's ever growing array of slightly updated headsets with extremely minor improvements or in some cases regressions.

    • Dodo Zapp

      I agree that while the intention possibly was good, just as may be the case with this subscription (read: customs/duties evasion) model, the former has blown up in the faces of those who purchased a Pimax headset they wouldn‘t have considered if it had not been for the trade-in program, and the latter is simply ill-conceived.

      I will not consider buying the Super if Pimax Prime is mandatory. That is sad because I am actually interested in the wider FoV version of it, but this is far too dubious for me. What if Pimax suddenly think that customers who accepted a subscription may be willing to pay a lower support fee for software updates, new features? Subscription models are pandora‘s box, just don‘t go there!

      On the trade-in scheme Jaap mentioned in an interview that they might offer a split trade-in for the Super and 12K, but that would still mean you‘d have only half the benefit on one future headset purchase, and would effectively need to purchase two competing headsets to see it materialize fully. It‘s unclear if you have to return the 8KX directly after using 50% trade-in value on the purchase of a Super – if yes, you are gifting Pimax the other 50% if you never purchase the 12K; if no, you may retrieve the other 50% by simply selling the 8KX instead of waiting for a 12K purchase (though I doubt that the market value of the second-hand 8KX is 50% of the price you paid).

  • Andrew Jakobs

    Pimax’s 12-month limited warranty

    So they can't sell the headset in the EU, which has a mandatory 2 year minimum waranty.

  • Jaap Grolleman

    We've also changed the 10 day return window to 14 days.

  • Somerandomindividual

    @jaapgrolleman:disqus@jaap_grolleman:disqus what about the EU/Swiss mandatory 2 year warrant, will the 12 month limited warranty be extended to 2 years for consumers buying from these regions?