How do the media that tested Valve Index evaluate it

The main question for Valve Index, of course, is whether the advantages of the helmet justify its high cost compared to other headsets on the market?

A little about the novelty

• it is equipped with two monitors with a resolution of 1440×1600 each. Monitors support refresh rates up to 144 Hz;
• the controllers are equipped with 87 sensors to track the position of the hands and the compression force. By the way, they can be bought separately and connected to another headset;
• the speakers do not touch the ears and create a surround sound;
• external Lighthouse base stations are used for orientation in space;
• the helmet is connected to the PC via a wire. The list of minimum desktop requirements includes 8 GB of RAM, a dual—core processor with hyperthreading and GeForce GTX 970 or Radeon RX 480 graphics cards;
• the cost of the headset is $1000 (twice as expensive as HTC Vive and Oculus Rift);
• Valve Index is not being delivered to Russia yet.

KOTAKU
The editors of Kotaku answered this question negatively, although they were impressed by the advanced controllers.

The publication notes that Valve Index controllers track every finger on their hands, and they are “a million times more ergonomic than HTC Vive.” However, the journalist did not find any games for which the finger tracking function is important.

The picture issued by Valve Index, according to the journalist of the publication, surpasses everything that exists on the VR market. Nevertheless, a great inconvenience is the cord for the PC, about which the user “almost stumbles”.

ENGADGET
Engadget portal has highlighted the pros and cons of Valve Index in a separate list.

Advantages:

• excellent image quality;
• full immersion;
• already mentioned controllers;
• high accuracy when tracking movements;
• convenience and ergonomics.

Cons:

• the price is suitable only for pro-gamers;
• inconvenient wire for PC connection;
• difficulties in setting up the environment using external sensors.

As Engadget notes, Valve has managed to create a VR headset that can be worn tirelessly for hours. This is a comfortable helmet, whose refresh rate is higher and the viewing angle is wider than that of other headsets. Consequently, the gameplay in Valve Index is smoother and more comfortable.

But it was not without drawbacks. Some of them are the legacy of HTC Vive. This is a wired connection and dependence on external sensors. By the way, both Engadget and Kotaku mentioned that the process of setting up the game environment in Valve Index is long and very tedious.

One more nuance. The operation of the helmet at a frequency of 144 Hz, according to Engadget, is not too stable. And the image at the same time looks almost the same as at 120 Hz.

TECHRADAR
Another list of pros and cons was provided by Techradar:

Advantages:

• wider viewing angle than other VR headsets;
• controllers-“knuckles”;
• the ability to cover the entire room during the game;
• great sound.

Cons:

• still connected to base stations;
• poor SteamVR optimization;
• lack of games;
• it is inconvenient to play with glasses for vision.

According to the publication, Valve Index has no critical flaws that make its cost unjustified. In addition, the journalist is sure that in the future, many games will be created for the helmet and its controllers.

In general, Techradar recognizes Valve Index as “the best VR headset to date”, and its controllers as “a breakthrough in the industry”.

Nevertheless, it is worth considering the difficulties with launching SteamVR. For example, the software will not want to work if you move the Valve Index base stations — you will have to configure the connection again. And the headset itself had crashes and connection problems due to firmware updates.

IGN
IGN gave Valve Index a score of 8.5 out of 10 due to the high-quality image, controllers and ergonomics of the helmet itself.

Even external base stations do not seem to be a problem to a journalist.

And yet IGN has a couple of tips for Valve.

To begin with, the lack of games negates all the innovation of the novelty, so it would be better for the company to immediately release a special VR game with finger tracking.

In addition, the experimental frequency of 144 Hz causes the image to shake noticeably, which distracts the player from the gameplay. This feature needs to be improved.

THE VERGE
The innovativeness of the “coolest controllers on the market”, excellent visualization, comfort — all this was also discovered in the Index by The Verge journalist.

But he also found several problems that cast doubt on the stated cost of the helmet.

Firstly, like many media outlets, The Verge notes a shortage of games with support for controllers-“knuckles”. And probably most igrodelov will not develop titles specifically for them. This fact beats the helmet’s ability to provide a “unique gaming experience”, widely advertised by Valve.

Secondly, it is not easy to synchronize with external Index base stations. There are fewer problems with them than with stations 1.0. But the same company Oculus has already made a choice in favor of more convenient front-facing cameras (and its helmet, we recall, is twice as cheap). After the wireless Quest, Valve’s novelty looks slightly outdated.

Thirdly, the sounds from the speakers are audible to strangers at a distance of several meters. It would still be excusable for a cheaper product, The Verge journalist believes.

POLYGON
The Polygon edition directly calls the Valve Index “very disappointing.”

Calibration of external stations, connection via cable, SteamVR departures, error messages — according to the media, “difficulties are expected with the Index player in everything.”

Hardware problems prevented the journalist from enjoying the game properly, even despite the expanded field of view and convenient (but sometimes slightly inaccurate) controllers. And Valve Index is also seriously lacking in stability. Therefore, Polygon is ready to call this helmet one of the best on the VR market, “only when it works.”

Also on the topic:

• Leak: Valve’s VR Headset will be released on June 15