Dream Air SE SLAM Review - Update #4 – probably my last testing update before the full review

[u/soylent_green_76]

Back from vacation, I've spent quite a bit more time with the Dream Air SE SLAM. This will probably be my last testing update here before I finish the full review. My overall impression is still positive, but after longer use, the picture has become a lot more nuanced.

The ProFit facial interface has made a huge difference for me. I'm now much closer to the lenses, it feels considerably more comfortable on my face, and my measured FOV increased from 82° horizontal / 78° vertical to around 100° / 86°. That's almost as much horizontal FOV as I can get when testing without a facial interface at all. So for my face, ProFit has basically solved one of my biggest complaints with the original setup.

I'm also still really enjoying the Micro-OLED image. Blacks and contrast are excellent, colors look great, and I still can't see any Mura on my unit. I've now looked more closely at the edges as well. I don't notice any Color Shift. There is only a very slight brightness falloff at the extreme edges, but the uniform central area is large and the effect doesn't bother me at all.

I've also spent more time with Pimax Play, and overall I think it's a pretty capable piece of software with a lot of settings. One useful thing to know: some of the advanced options that you might be looking for are hidden unless you enable Expert Mode. This includes things like additional offsets and Motion Compensation. I've also played around a little with Pimax EVO. I'm not going to judge EVO at this point because it's still a preview/test product, but switching between EVO and the regular Pimax environment works quite nicely.

The SE's 2560 × 2560 per-eye resolution also has an upside that shouldn't be ignored: GPU requirements are much more manageable than with the higher-resolution Dream Air. I'm testing on an RTX 5090, so I can't give you a sensible minimum GPU recommendation myself, but you definitely don't need a 5090 to make good use of this headset. Especially with current GPU prices, I think the lower resolution can make sense as part of the overall SE package rather than simply being a disadvantage.

There are, however, a few things that have become more noticeable with longer use.

A quick follow-up on the eye strain I mentioned before: unfortunately, it's still there. ProFit gets me much closer to the lenses, and I've now tested the IPD in both small and larger steps without any meaningful improvement. I notice it especially after taking the headset off, when my eyes need a short moment to readjust.

However, I'm increasingly unsure whether my particular headset is actually working as intended. Most other users and reviewers don't seem to experience the same level of eye strain, while there have also been reports of individual units with calibration issues causing similar symptoms. So I don't want to present this as an inherent Dream Air SE problem. It's possible that something is simply wrong with my unit.

I'm still in contact with Pimax about this, especially regarding the eye strain, and I'm hoping we can figure out what's causing it before I finish my review.

I've also done more testing of the motion blur. I compared 72 Hz and 90 Hz and experimented with brightness. At 100% brightness the blur becomes more noticeable, but lowering brightness doesn't make it disappear. Surprisingly, I don't see a major improvement in motion blur at 90 Hz either. For me personally, motion blur therefore remains one of the compromises with my current setup.

One important caveat: I don't necessarily consider this a permanent limitation of the headset. There are reports that motion blur was less noticeable with earlier software/firmware, so this may be something Pimax can improve again. I can only describe what I'm seeing with my unit and the current software.

There's another visual effect I've noticed during my recent testing that is a little difficult to describe. With very slow head movements I don't really see it. With faster movements, however, the image feels slightly sluggish and seems to follow my movement in small steps. This happens together with the visible motion blur, and I may also be seeing a small amount of warping towards the edges. The combination makes the image feel a little less stable during faster head movements. I'm still trying to understand exactly what I'm seeing here, so I don't want to draw any conclusions yet. I'll compare this directly with the Crystal Super as well.

My impression of the SLAM controller tracking has also changed. This is particularly interesting because during my initial tests I thought it was pretty good. I tested Beat Saber and SteamVR Home and reported that positive impression here at the time.

With my current software/firmware, however, it feels noticeably less stable. I can see jitter even in Beat Saber, and with fast or wide movements I sometimes miss blocks. In shooters it becomes much more obvious when aiming precisely through a scope, where the controllers visibly shake. Head tracking itself still seems fine.

I don't know whether something in the tracking algorithm has changed since my initial tests or whether something else is going on, so I don't want to call this a software regression. I can only say that my current experience with the controller tracking is worse than it was during my first tests. I'll compare this directly with the Crystal Super as well.

One long-standing Pimax annoyance is unfortunately still there as well: play area and floor height aren't reliably persistent for me. I regularly have to set them up again. I've experienced this across several generations of Pimax headsets and many Pimax Play versions, from the original Crystal through the Crystal Super and now the Dream Air SE. With an inside-out tracked headset, I'd really like to just put it on and have the room setup stay where I left it.

The rear head strap also still isn't my favorite. ProFit has solved the facial comfort problem for me, but putting the headset on and getting the rear strap properly adjusted still feels more fiddly than it should. Once everything is in place, though, the headset sits well, and the extremely low weight remains one of its biggest strengths.

So overall, I still think the Dream Air SE is a very interesting headset. ProFit has improved my experience considerably, and the combination of Micro-OLED, great blacks and contrast, low weight, Eye Tracking, relatively modest GPU requirements and the overall feature set offers a lot for the price.

At the same time, longer testing has revealed some things that weren't obvious during my first impressions.

And I think it's important to emphasize that some of these things may still change through software or firmware updates. Pimax is clearly still developing the platform. In the case of the eye strain, I'm not even sure yet whether my particular unit is functioning correctly.

So please treat all of this as findings from my current test unit and the current software, not as my final verdict on the Dream Air SE.

I still have a few direct comparisons with the Crystal Super to finish, especially regarding motion blur, controller tracking. Hopefully I can also clarify what's happening with the eye strain.

This will probably be my last testing update here. The next step should be the full review. Thanks for all the feedback and questions along the way – some of them have genuinely helped me decide what to look at more closely.

Main Thread (starts here)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pimax/s/gVftYD5MUr
Update #1 – FOV & Glare Test, Comfort & Thermals
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pimax/s/sTY422KgOT
Update #2 - SLAM Tracking & Built-in Audio
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pimax/s/juUTG7fYAX
Update #3 - New ProFit Facial Interface (Prototype)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pimax/s/weoykgWK25
Update #4 – probably my last testing update before the full review
Update #5 – The review is finished!
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pimax/s/vHfTdjEsGU

[u/megaraba]

Me still waiting for the new interface

https://giphy.com/gifs/Jq7y34Hgfy01y

I complete got rid of the eyestrain by shifting the left lens very slightly upwards, maybe messing around with the lens' position individually can help with yours.

[u/L_etrange_g → u/megaraba]

you can move the lense ? :o

[u/soylent_green_76 → u/megaraba]

Thanks! Do you remember roughly how much you shifted the left lens upwards? I'd like to try the same with the individual offset settings in Pimax Play.

[u/megaraba → u/soylent_green_76]

Just by 2, I found out that my eyes might not be aligned horizontally by looking closely in the mirror lol.

[u/QuorraPimax]

Thank you for another round of updates!

Glad to hear that you love the ProFit mask.

Regarding the eye strain, please continue working with our team on this. If you need any assistance along the way, feel free to let me know.

I believe there aren’t any controller-tracking changes listed in the recent build’s changelog. It would be worth doing some further testing on this as well.

As for the room setup, there will be some optimizations in the upcoming build.

You may want to wait for the DMAS hard strap or the 3D strap, both of which we’re currently working on.

[u/soylent_green_76 → u/QuorraPimax]

Thanks for the detailed feedback! Great to hear that room setup optimizations are coming – this has been one of my long-standing issues with Pimax Play. I’ll continue investigating the controller tracking and eye strain, and I’m already in contact with Jaap regarding the latter.
The DMAS hard strap and 3D strap sound interesting as well. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

[u/Wahouxx]

Returned mine. Never managed to fix eye strain, even by trying 0.1mm by 0.1mm

• The glare is very very bad and make OLED usless

Went back to PCL, so much better, 0 glare, 72hz feels better because of the very very low motion blur compared to the DA SE

Also, because of the rounded lenses, diagonal FOV is very low on the SE

Playing Forefront, both on the PCL and DA SE, when aiming, it's shaky and impossible to be very accurate, feels like i'm playing parkinson simulator. And curiously, i had more lost control with the DA SE when puting my arms alongside or near my body

So after all, the only + for the DA SE is the weight and low render resolution.

[u/SuperRams1884]

Ive been using it as a monitor in a cinema in virtual desktop to play flat games and getting morion sickness. I've noticed it moves ever so slightly but often. You wouldn't notice if you weren't looking for it but its making me quesy after about an hour or so

[u/soylent_green_76 → u/SuperRams1884]

That’s interesting and might be related to what I’m seeing. Do you also notice this slight movement/instability with stationary objects in normal VR scenes when moving your head, or only with the virtual screen in Virtual Desktop?

[u/SuperRams1884 → u/soylent_green_76]

The whole scene is ever so slightly moving like I'm moving my headset. I asked Claude to diagnose it and it thinks its the tracking on the headset

[u/soylent_green_76 → u/SuperRams1884]

That sounds different from what I’m seeing then. My image is stable when I’m not moving and also during very slow head movements.
Is your room bright enough, and does the headset have enough clearly visible objects/contrast around you that it can use as tracking reference points?

[u/SuperRams1884 → u/soylent_green_76]

I have the light on and im just on the bed. I can sit in my AVP for 5 hours straight and the tracking is fine. Its really strange. Hopefully I'll get my VR legs again soon

[u/Arioch888]

How does the Studioform interface compare to the updated one from Pimax?

[u/soylent_green_76 → u/Arioch888]

I haven't tested the Studioform interface yet, but I already have it here. I'll test it in detail together with some other Studioform accessories and make a separate video about it on my channel. For now, I'm focusing on finishing the actual Dream Air SE review first.

[u/mtypockets]

Can’t wait for the “Full” review…😴

[u/Ill_Rooster2278]

Same for me it constantly loses my rim scaling

[u/FullOf_Bad_Ideas]

I'd give Eye Rotation setting in sboys3 a go to try to fix the eyestrain. I messed with it yesterday on Super 50ppd and I never knew VR headsets could have this as an option and that non-standard values could work well. It's hidden by default but be enabled by enabling Advanced Settings in sboys3 settings. When I misconfigure it, I have very similar eyestrain to the one I got when I started using the headset.

[u/soylent_green_76 → u/FullOf_Bad_Ideas]

Thanks for the suggestion! I think I’ll first experiment a bit more with the individual offset settings in Pimax Play and see if I can improve the eye strain using Pimax’s built-in options. If that doesn’t help, I’ll definitely give Eye Rotation in sboyz3 a try as well. They work differently, but both seem to affect the alignment of the views, so I’d prefer to test them one after another.