Two and a half years ago, Pimax announced VR Station, a compact, console-like computer for running PC VR content that would be wirelessly streamed to its Reality “12K” and Crystal headsets. And while the “12K” still hasn’t shipped (and the Crystal still doesn’t have its wireless streaming add-on), Pimax insists the VR Station is still in the works.

Pimax announced two new headsets last week, but the company still hasn’t delivered much of what it announced years prior, including the VR Station.

The VR Station was announced in late 2021, and is said to be a compact PC that’s designed to play PC VR games wirelessly thanks to a high-resolution 60GHz accessory.

In its announcement last week, Pimax offered an update on the 60GHz ‘Airlink’ wireless accessory: it should ship later this year with a $300 price tag. While it can be used with any PC, the Airlink tech is an essential part of the VR Station.

Pimax’s 60GHz Airlink accessory | Image courtesy Pimax

But there was no update about the VR Station itself, so we reached out to ask. Pimax tells Road to VR that VR Station is still in development.

“Currently, the development of the VR Station is progressing smoothly. We are focusing on optimizing software usability, and our collaborating PC case manufacturers are producing a new batch of PC cases. Once delivered, we will assemble some VR Station prototypes,” a spokesperson says. “We believe that we will soon have further updates to share with everyone. For now, we can share that VR Station is a comprehensive solution combining a portable desktop PC with a [wireless transmitter for streaming VR games]. With VR Station, we aim to enhance the PC VR user experience and ultimately achieve a “plug-and-play” experience similar to gaming consoles. In our planning, both software usability and hardware stability are top priorities. Therefore, we are still in contact with several PC manufacturers to explore the possibilities of VR Station.

So there you have it. It’s still not clear when, but Pimax still expects to eventually deliver the VR Station.

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When it does launch, it unfortunately won’t be compatible with either of the company’s latest headsets (Crystal Light and Crystal Super), because only the original Crystal headset is compatible with Airlink. But perhaps the Reality “12K” headset—which Pimax also says is still in development—will be ready by the time VR Station launches.

Note: We put the “12K” part of the headset’s name in quotes because Pimax isn’t referring to the same 12K that is often used to describe TVs and monitors. The headset’s total horizontal resolution is near 12K, but this is split across each eye. Additionally, the resolution height is just half the height of what one would expect from a 12K TV. When referring to the headset’s name, we put “12K” in quotes to help our readers understand that it’s being used differently than they might expect.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • gothicvillas

    Weirdly im interested. I would need a full package, Crystal and Station. Im afraid it will have an eye watering pricing.

    • Arno van Wingerde

      Yes and delivered a few years later than originally announced and have a few annoying problems that will be rectified in the next model… which will also come a few years later, rinse and repeat.

      • kraeuterbutter

        and still.. there is no other headset in the moment to compete with some of the parameters (fidelity, brightness, resolution, asphärische lenses, local dimming, eyetracking)
        yes: Varjo Aero –> but (too) small field of view
        Varjo XR4 –> 4000Euro+
        Apple Vision Pro –> 4000Euro+
        bigScreen Beyond –> less resolution, darker colors, little brownish at the edges, no eyetracking..
        HTC Vive PRo 2 –> no comparisson

        for that small of a companie they are (compared to Meta, Valve, HTC, HP, …)
        they bring a lot of headsets and features you do not see from others

        • foamreality

          Agree, they push boundaries, its a shame they can’t deliver when they say they will, on any product ,at any time, ever. Otherwise they might actually be doing well by now. Their problem is that people don’t trust them to do what they say.

      • kraeuterbutter

        for the VR Station: i also see not realy a reason for doing such a product…
        backpack-Rucksack?
        gamers already have a Gaming-Mashine under there Desk
        i think it would be better they focus on the 60GHz Modul-Thing for its own, so everybody with a gaming-rig can upgrade easily to 60Ghz-Gaming

  • That name is getting pretty close to “Mobile VR Station”

  • ViRGiN

    They always work on everything, and still failed massively to deliver anything than headset hardware with missing features. Pathetic company who doesn’t even know what it wants to be. Funny how they became “simmers headset” after literally nobody else was desperate enough to play using it.

  • “It’s progressing smoothly”. Sure.

  • Arno van Wingerde

    Of course it is “still in development”!
    Aren’t all Pimax products?

  • Arno van Wingerde

    Apart from all the scepsis around any announcement from Pimax: what could this thing bring to the table? It could be PS5 like in performance which will disappoint demanding VR gamers. or it could offer RTX 4090 performance levels, but then would be prohibitively expensive. At small quantities, a price advantage like for PS5 and Xbox over equivalent PC hardware is unlikely, especially since Pimax cannot subsidise the consoles from the profits they make of games. Portable might be nice, but reuires still a cable or a huge and heavy, expensive battery. So it is anybody’s guess how such a device would be better than a PCVR setup…

    • foamreality

      Agree, plus most people would rather have a PC with a decent graphics card that they can use for other stuff too, than a console that can’t for the same price/spec.