Pimax Unveils Dream Air Prototypes and Addresses Essential Inquiries

When Pimax unveiled its upcoming Dream Air headset, the virtual reality community had a lot to ponder. Naturally, we sought answers from the company, exploring early prototypes, comprehensive specs, and updates on previously announced yet unreleased products.

Pimax, with its extensive experience as a VR headset manufacturer, has faced frequent criticism over issues such as product quality, strategic planning, missed deadlines, and announcing new products before delivering on earlier promises.

The announcement of their latest product, the Dream Air, brought up these familiar grievances, prompting many to question how Pimax intends to improve this time around. We reached out with some of the most common queries, and here’s what we learned, along with some prototype images, a complete spec list, and updates on previously announced products.

Q: How confident is Pimax that Dream Air will be completed and ship in meaningful quantities by May 2025?

A: We’ve been working on both the Crystal Super micro-OLED and Dream Air for over a year (they’re essentially the same headset internally). We have a functional optical engine and believe the time remaining until May is sufficient to finish the rest, similar to the development timeframe of the Crystal Super over the past year. The Dream Air uses the same optical engine solution as the Crystal Super with a different design. Supply of micro-OLED panels and possible changes to the controllers are our main challenges. We’re planning to send out 200 to 300 headsets in May and that’s why we had to announce the headset now, for reasons detailed below.

Q: Why was the headset announced so soon after Super, and why are pre-orders already open?

A: We announced Dream Air to avoid surprising users after Super starts shipping, who might have preferred this model if they’d known. Customers can still transfer their pre-orders from the Super to the Dream Air if they wish. Moreover, due to high demand and limited supply of micro-OLED panels, we needed to gauge how many units our audience desires. Pre-orders help us plan better and secure the necessary panels ahead of time, given lengthy delivery times and supplier holidays around the Chinese New Year. Unlike some competitors, our pre-orders are refundable before shipping, and we offer a $1 reservation option.

Q: What do you say to people who think Pimax should focus on fewer products?

A: We aim to be a multi-SKU company as VR technology diversifies rapidly. Our commitment remains on delivering a top-notch experience and addressing various use cases with products like the Crystal and Dream lines. All our headsets incorporate core technologies shared from software to hardware, focusing on PCVR. We’ve learned from experiences like the Portal, which was not PCVR compatible. Pimax, with 9 years in VR, owns two R&D offices and is opening a second assembly line. By developing multiple products through shared technology, we allocate more resources efficiently and achieve steady sales throughout the year, avoiding inefficient peaks.

Q: Any more headsets coming from Pimax?

A: We plan to update some existing models, but beyond Dream Air and Crystal Super, there won’t be any headsets with more advanced specs, except for the 12K.

Q: How far along is the design of the Dream Air? Are the renders shown in the announcement just mockups or fully realized designs? Is there a functional prototype yet?

A: We’ve completed the internal design, with a fully operational optical engine and software shared with Crystal Super. For the exterior, we’re currently testing using the Crystal Super housing while developing Dream Air’s outer design. Here are two prototypes created during our development.

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Image courtesy Pimax

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Image courtesy Pimax

Update (December 31st, 2024): We’ve corrected an error in prototype image labeling.

Q: Will Cobb [standalone module for Dream Air] ship in 2025?

A: There’s no exact ETA for Cobb yet. It’s designed as a Dream Air add-on, and we’re still exploring additional features not mentioned during our Frontier announcement.

Q: What safety mechanisms are in place to ensure the auto-tightening headstrap isn’t dangerous if it malfunctions?

A: The strap is robust enough to secure the lightweight headset but not strong enough to cause harm. It uses elastic rubber, similar to the technology in Nike’s self-lacing shoes.

Q: Can the head straps be replaced, and how?

A: Yes, the head strap is removable at the stems.

Q: Could we see this running HorizonOS or AndroidXR in the future?

There are no plans for this. Since it shares the same micro-OLED optical engine as the Crystal Super, it will run on Pimax Play as a PC VR headset, compatible with OpenXR/OpenVR and SteamVR.

Pimax also released the detailed specifications for the Dream Air headset:

Pimax Dream Air Specs

• Visuals:

  • Dual micro-OLED display
  • 100% DCI-P3 colors
  • 13MP resolution per eye (3,840 × 3,552)
  • Unknown pixels per degree
  • 90Hz refresh rate
  • Pancake optics
  • 102° horizontal field-of-view
  • Black & white pass-through view
  • Continuous IPD adjustment (automatic), optional prescription lenses
  • 58–72mm IPD adjustment range

• Input & Output:

  • DP 1.4 (PC) to USB-C (headset) connectivity
  • Additional USB-C accessory port
  • Dream Air controllers (rechargeable)
  • Hand-tracking
  • In-headstrap speakers
  • Dual-microphone
  • Weight: 200g

• Sensing:

  • Inside-out headset tracking (no external beacons)
  • Optional SteamVR tracking (external beacons)
  • Controller-tracking requires headset line-of-sight
  • Eye-tracking enabled; no expression-tracking
  • Includes 4 tracking and 2 pass-through cameras
  • No depth sensor
• Price:
  • MSRP: $1,900

Pimax Product Shipping Update

Q: Can you provide the latest estimated shipping time for all unreleased Pimax products?

A: The Crystal Super, featuring the QLED 57 PPD optical engine, is ready for a showcase at CES 2025 and is shipping by late January. The 50 PPD optical engine and the micro-OLED variant are close to completion, with shipments scheduled for March and April, respectively. A non-local dimming version of the Crystal Light will be available around June 2025, offering an even lower cost alternative. The 60G Airlink for the original Crystal is also debuting at CES 2025, with public beta testing beginning imminently and shipping slated for April 2025. Unfortunately, we can’t confirm an ETA for the 12K as some solutions fell short of our quality benchmarks, including the dual DP 1.4 and an unnamed panel solution.

Got more questions for Pimax? Feel free to share them in the comments!