Pico 4 test: the best helmet to (re) put the VR without headache and without breaking the bank

Color Passthrough, which allows you to see your physical environment without removing the helmet via a 16 Mp camera, works correctly. But I find that the scale of visible elements does not stick 100% to reality and depth either. Basically, we have a kind of very light visual gap when we want to catch something around you or when we walk.

PICO 4

The VR Pico 4 helmet has two screens of 2.56 inches each with a resolution greater than 2K per eye and which reach a refresh rate of 90 Hz. Note the motorized adjustment of the inter-pupil distance for a better user experience. The operating system “Pico OS 5.0 “is the part where you can find more than 250 applications.

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Learn more about the Pico 4

With its meta Quest 1 and 2, formerly Oculus, the company of Mark Zuckerberg was very strong. Sold at very affordable prices, these helmets were also completely autonomous, no needed PC to use them. Since then, we have been waiting for the Meta Quest Pro, but it promises a very high sale price which will leave on the side of many users.

A perfect opportunity for the manufacturer Pico who can go where Meta seems to lose interest: that of the very general and cheap VR helmet. The brand has a very interesting and more modern proposal than the meta quest 2. Here is the brand new Pico 4 helmet. We were able to try it during the Gamescom of Cologne.

You may not know this brand, but it was bought by bytedance in 2021. Bytedance is the successful publisher of the Tiktok social network.

Light and well thought out

The Pico 4 helmet uses a new design for the “pancake”, that is to say the layer between the screen and the eyes including the lenses. Result, we have a much finer and light helmet. A featherweight announced at 295 grams without the strap for the attaché to the head. It is immediately felt once the helmet is in front of your eyes. The lighter, the easier it will be to do long virtual reality sessions.

Good news also for eyeglasses, since the Pico 4 takes into account this use with a special spacer included in the box.

In front of the eyes, we will have the right to two LCD screens offering a definition of 2160 x 2160 pixels per eye, for a frequency rising to 90 Hz, it is higher than what the meta quest 2 (1832 x 1920 offers per eye )).

The helmet is completely autonomous thanks to a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chip using the 7 NMC manufacturing process of TSMC. It is supported by 8 GB of RAM LPDRR4X and 128 to 256 GB of storage UFS 3.0. The 5300 mAh battery promises 2 to 3 hours of use per session.

Among the additional characteristics to mention, there are the four cameras at the front allowing to make complete monitoring of the environment. In addition, Pico also placed a 16 -megapixel RGB camera at the front and center of his helmet. You can therefore see your very real and color environment if necessary without removing the helmet.

VR experience would not be complete without the controllers. Here, Pico offers two relatively classic controllers and using two AA batteries for an announced autonomy of 80 hours per set. The design is still interesting since the arc of circle formed by the infrared sensors around each controller is very compact.

If you have already played with a VR helmet, you know that it is often painful to knock the controllers between them while we are in full immersion. With this new design, Pico makes it possible to greatly limit this problem without completely doing it disappear. During our session, we could indeed see that we could bring the controllers closer which can be very practical to grasp certain objects with both hands.

For the rest we have all the sensors that are expected from a modern VR helmet: tracking on 9 axes for the helmet and on 6 axes for controllers thanks to a gyroscope.

Picoos and Steamvr software ecosystem

The helmet turns under Picoos, software developed from Android with a thought interface for VR. Let’s be honest, it seems very close to the design and interface codes of the meta quest. At least we find a fairly familiar environment.

This is the point that we are impatient to travel during our test. By being a leader in the sector, Meta makes sure to have one of the best market application libraries on the market. On the Pico side, we are promised a peak store richly endowed with sports games and applications. The good point is a possible connection with a PC to recover Steamvr.

In his press release, Pico highlights several titles such as The Walking Dead Holy & Sinners Chapter 2: Retribution Or Peaky Blinders the King’s Ransom. The brand also announces partnerships with VR content suppliers such as Discovery or Wave.

Our quick test session

So we were able to try the Pico 4 for a few minutes during Gamescom. Obviously this is not worth a full test, in particular concerning autonomy and long -term fatigue to wear this helmet.

However, we must admit that we were very convinced by our experience. The helmet is light and easy to install in front of the face. The controllers are very well recognized in space and allow as promised to be brought together without moving. Getting out of the perimeter delimited for the experience triggers the same kind of “guardian” as on a meta quest, but the RGB camera at the front allows us to really see the environment in this case in this case.

We can’t wait to be able to test the product longer to get a better idea of ​​the user experience.

Price and launch in France

The Pico 4 will be offered from 429 euros, 20 euros less than the Meta Quest 2. If you prefer bytedance to Meta and Mark Zuckerberg, it may be a good alternative. Pre -orders will be open from October in large brands like Amazon.

Fans of the brand will be able to pre -order the Pico 4 from September 23 if they are members of the Neo3 link Beta program.

VR Pico 4 helmet

The Pico 4 is an autonomous or all-in-one VR helmet. Basically, you can use it without having to connect it to a PC and headphones, such as controllers, work wireless (although connection to a PC via USB-C or WiFi 6 is possible, for Big games).

The Pico 4 is sold 429 euros for the 128 GB version and 499 euros for the 256 GB version. Both are equipped with 8 GB of RAM. You can easily find it on Amazon. It arises as a direct competitor of the meta quest 2, 50 euros more expensive.

But this is the last time that I will make a comparison with the Meta helmet in this test. I invite you to read the Meta Quest 2 test of my colleague Matt who knows herself much better than me on the subject.

• Also remember to consult our selection of the best all-in-one VR headsets in 2023

Yes, I am a pure noob in terms of VR. I have not tested any other recent market model. And I’m not a VR gamer at all. But in fact, it does not pose any problem. It is precisely the players like me that targets the Pico 4.

Its price is relatively affordable compared to pricing aberrations that are the meta quest pro and htc xr elite at 1500 euros, or more. But its technical sheet is very competitive with its Pancake lenses, the good autonomy of its on -board battery, and the reliability of tracking its controllers.

It’s really a very good front door if you want to (re) put the VR without ruining yourself too much and especially without taking the head too much.

Bytedance PICO 4

Instead of € 429, or 9% reduction

• See the offer 389, 00 € (Amazon)
• Find on ebay (ebay)

Configuration & gear

The Pico 4 is an all-in-one helmet, its first advantage is that it is very easy to install and configure. No cables to connect, the experience is really plug and play.

The strong points of the Pico 4:

• Very easy and well guided installation
• Handling and very intuitive basic checks, especially if you have already used a game console once in your life
• Adjustment of the precise interpupillary (IPD) deviation (IPD)

The weak points of the Pico 4:

• Obliged to give your data to Bytedance

In the big box of the Pico 4, we obviously find the helmet itself with the 5300 mAh battery already integrated into the strap at the back. We also have a spare frame for the visor, the two wireless controllers (which work with AA batteries), a USB-C charger and cable. That’s it that’s all.

Just put on the helmet, light it via the power button on the right side of the visor, light the controllers via a simple button on each of them, and off.

The first thing to do is to define the game area. It’s really very simple, just follow the instructions and make a ground layout using the controllers. The helmet is then in “passthrough” mode, that is to say that you see your environment and can therefore easily locate yourself.

It is then necessary to connect to the internet via the parameters, go through the pico lab settings to activate the refresh rate of 90 Hz (the 72 Hz by default may reinforce the feeling of vertigo or cinetosis), and to connect either to its Tiktok account (Bytedance obliges), either to its PICO account.

The helmet also offers a very good adjustment of the interpupillary gap to align the two “glasses” of the helmet with the center of your eyes. The adjustment range goes from 58 mm to 72 mm and offers notches every 5 mm. The rotary crown to adjust the strap is rather ergonomic.

In short, it’s easy to install, easy to configure and no need for tutorials or guide to start the experience from the unpacking of the Pico 4.

Design & ergonomics

The Pico 4 is a comfortable helmet to wear, even on long sessions. The visor lined with fabric will not appeal to everyone, especially if you sweat a lot. And the helmet lets the light pass a little too much on the sides. But he is quickly forgotten once on his head.

The strong points of the Pico 4:

• Good mass distribution with the battery at the back
• Comfortable port
• Ergonomic controllers

The weak points of the Pico 4:

• No jack
• The visor lining from the visor absorbs perspiration

In all and for everything, the Pico 4 weighs 586 g, but I found it very light in feeling. Pico has chosen to deport the battery at the back, directly on the strap. The distribution of the masses is more balanced.

I may have a cranial morphology close to that of a Giger xenomorphic, the adjustable strap has properly adapted. I often have this problem that VR headsets go up on my head, making the image completely blurred. Here, nothing moves.

In terms of finish, we are on good big plastic without too much refinement. But the two -tone coating is visually pretty pretty. Its matt side makes control of the controllers more pleasant, offering enough “grip”.

The controllers themselves are very ergonomic. We have two triggers, two action buttons and a joystick on each of them. The pimples fall under the fingers, and the hoops are compact enough to prevent the controllers with the hand when you move your hands in the game.

Image quality & audio

One of the main sales arguments of the Pico 4 is its famous Pancake lenses. They offer a resolution of 2160 x 2160 pixels per eye. I found the image quality very good in terms of sharpness. The LCD tiles are however sometimes a little too dark, I would have liked a little more contrast and light.

The strong points of the Pico 4:

• Very clear image and correct fluidity at 90 Hz
• No God-ray effect
• Completely usable passthrough
• The wide field of vision of 105 °

The weak points of the Pico 4:

• Lacks a bit of brightness and contrast
• Sometimes grid effects
• The 90 Hz not activated by default

Pancake lenses

The Pico 4 therefore has pancake type lenses in opposition to fresnel lentils in the meta quest 2. Each technology has its advantages and faults.

Fresnel lenses do not assum the screen unlike Pancake lenses. Pancake lenses do not suffer from the “God-ray” effect, unsightly light rays that appear when the light strikes the circular streaks of Fresnel lentils.

Pancake lenses are also more compact and need to be spaced the screen less, so less software correction to limit the so -called “pad” distortion (as if you are stretching the corners of a square).

In short, in general, pancake lenses are a preferable choice for most users and users.

A very clear image without any God-ray

As for Pico 4, I found the picture very clear. The field of vision is also quite wide, with a 105 ° FOV without distortions on the edges of the image.

I did not note any God-ray effect during my use, which is very good. However, I found the screen a little too dark in certain scenarios. In some games, I was missing a little contrast and brightness, the image gave the impression of being a little washed out.

Sometimes I have noted a grid effect or “screen door effect”. On monochrome surfaces or in the menus, one has the impression of being able to see a thin grid that separates the pixels, as if we looked at the image through a mosquito net. It is not at all obvious, but it is punctually notable.

The correct passthrough, but not optimal

Color Passthrough, which allows you to see your physical environment without removing the helmet via a 16 Mp camera, works correctly. But I find that the scale of visible elements does not stick 100% to reality and depth either. Basically, we have a kind of very light visual gap when we want to catch something around you or when we walk.

To walk around peaceful, it does not, however, pose any worries. You can read the screen of your smartphone quite easily even if I found the image a little too rough sometimes.

Surprisingly correct audio quality

The Pico 4 incorporates two microphones in the lower helmet part, closest to your mouth. I was able to play in multiplayer and ask people if they used the default microphones. And those who responded positively sounded intelligible and rather clearly. The quality is not transcendent, it is of the order of what we have when we speak on the phone.

The speakers speaking placed in the branches of the helmet are of very good quality. The stereo sound is binaural and it strengthens the feeling of immersion, especially when you move your head. The rendering seemed clear to me with good spatialization.

Unfortunately, the Pico 4 does not have a jack to connect a micro wired helmet. We can nevertheless connect a headset or wireless headphones, although it affects the autonomy of the helmet.

Performances & Tracking

The Pico 4 incorporates a Snapdragon XR2 and 8 GB Snapdragon Soc. The helmet is supported by Bluetooth 5.1 and wifi 6. For follow -up, he joined 4 cameras and a 6dof system with followed by the head, eyes and even hands (the latter is useless for the moment).

The strong points of the Pico 4:

• Excellent handle monitoring
• Equally efficient head tracking
• The easily adjustable and adaptable play space

The weak points of the Pico 4:

• Hand follow-up not mature enough and under-exploited

The monitoring of the Pico 4 is excellent. We can manually define the game area with a free layout. We can also opt for dynamic monitoring that adapts according to our trips. The helmet can understand if you are standing or seated. You can also deactivate the tracking to simply land on your bed and use the Pico 4 as a giant deported screen.

Even the most lively movements are transcribed in a fluid and precise manner. The immersion is total when you start a game. You can stroll and gesticulate freely in the game area without the slightest jerk. In some games, gameplay mechanics require a lot of precision, and the controllers have never been lacking.

I mainly played an FPS named Breachers, a kind of Rainbow Six Siege For those who know. I had no problems with alignment of my weapon with my angle of aim. The recharging of my weapons was also without incident and the controllers did not bang each other.

I also used the virtual desktop application a lot which allows you to “caster” your PC on the Pico 4. It’s nice to watch YouTube videos, movies and series on Netflix and. No, nothing else. This application offers a mode followed by the head so that the content of the screen aligns with your head movements. And the head tracking worked very well there too.

Unfortunately I did not test to play Steam games by connecting the Pico 4 to a PC. My laptop is not powerful enough to run Half Life: Alyx in a fluid way. But the wireless link via WiFi 6 worked very well.

I found the tracking of the hands too anecdotal. Pico mentions that it is still experimental and it is also necessary to unlock the developer options to be able to activate it (Settings> General> About> Software version> Click 8 times on this last element)).

I did not find any application compatible with hand monitoring, I think we have to wait until Pico/Bytedance develops this techno more.

Interface

Le Pico 4 runs on Pico OS 5, based on Android 10. The interface could be qualified as rudimentary if we wanted to be severe or minimalist if we were more forgiving. The settings are quite limited but go to the essentials. And navigation is rather intuitive.

The strong points of the Pico 4:

• Clear and easy to navigate interface
• Nice paid and free paid games in the native catalog

The weak points of the Pico 4:

• Not enough exclusives compared to Meta
• Unable to adjust the headset via the Pico VR application

On the home screen, we have a toolbar made up of seven widgets. Your Pico account, the discovery tab (game recommendations, news), the shop, the list of friends, the file manager, the apps and game catalog and the settings.

The Pico 4 also works with the Pico VR application, available for free on Android and iOS. Above all, it goes, and only in fact, serve you to make your games and applications purchases. In any case, for the first purchase, it will necessarily be necessary to go through the application to add a means of payment. Thereafter, you can buy games directly via the helmet.

But I find it unfortunate not to be able to access the settings of the Pico 4 via the Pico VR application. We can manage a few things, such as files, the wireless link with the PC and the broadcast of the screen. But that’s all. And it’s a bit of a shame.

Apart from that, the Pico 4 offers some nice features. I am thinking in particular of the double tapping on the right side of the helmet which allows you to quickly switch to Passthrough mode. The automatic “alarm clock” function is also very cool and allows you to launch the helmet and resume what you did as soon as you put it on your head.

Pico’s shop is quite well supplied, I find. Yes, some Meta exclusives are missing. But we are really spoiled for choice, if only in terms of free games.

I found the paid games a bit expensive, around thirty euros on average. But there too, we have fairly interesting titles.

Navigation was rather pleasant. The fact that the front trigger is the everything button is a bit counter-intuitive, especially when you are used to playing on console. It took me a long time not to mechanically press the A or B buttons to validate something.

In short, the only defect in the Pico 4, for the moment, is its catalog of exclusive games. The manufacturer promises that it will be more provided over time. And you can in any case access your Steam toy library if the native catalog is not enough for you.

Autonomy & recharge

The Pico 4 has a 5300 mAh battery which allows you to use the helmet for 2:30 am continuously. The controllers work with two AA batteries and their autonomy seems huge.

The strong points of the Pico 4:

• Excellent controller autonomy
• Can be used while recharging
• Cable and USB-C charger provided

The weak points of the Pico 4:

• Slow recharge
• The autonomy of 2h30 a little just given the size of the battery

In concrete use, I have always been able to reach more than two hours of use. I tell myself that with the link to a PC, autonomy must necessarily be reduced because of the streaming.

We can say that 2:30 am that doesn’t do much. And above all, it does not do much more than the meta quest 2 whose battery is however significantly smaller. But it is more than enough for a large game session at the end of which you will be vertigo or will be dripping with sweat.

I also appreciated the fact that we can continue to use the helmet while it recharges in USB-C. Okay, head movements, it’s a bit complicated, but it’s still a good thing.

The wired recharge in 20 watts is moderately slow. It takes two good hours for a full recharge. The helmet has a small LED on the right side which indicates the battery level. You can also consult it via the Pico VR headset or application.

The controllers have much greater autonomy. AA batteries that feed them can last a very long time. I have been using the helmet for two weeks and has still not had to change the batteries of the controllers.

Technical sheet

Conclusion

The Pico 4 is, in my opinion, the best front door in the VR. For mixed reality, I find Passthrough technology not yet mature enough or hand tracking for concrete applications in augmented reality.

But if you are looking for an affordable VR helmet in terms of price and accessible in terms of use, the Pico 4 is an excellent choice. The image quality is top and the helmet is very comfortable to wear. The follow -up is simply excellent and never breaks the immersion in play.

Bytedance PICO 4

Instead of € 429, or 9% reduction

• See the offer 389, 00 € (Amazon)
• Find on ebay (ebay)

I seriously think of buying a. I really liked the plug and play experience and without headache. I just hope that the game catalog will grow over time.

The Pico really made me want to replay VR games. I think using the helmet as a remote screen can also find lots of daily applications. In any case, I feel that the desire to play itchs me. I would even say that she. tingling.

What do you think of Pico 4 in terms of value for money? Could he reconcile you with the VR as is the case for me? Do you think it is better than the meta quest 2?

To go further, go see our Meta Quest Pro test, the most successful and most expensive VR helmet on the market. You can also consult our HTC Elite XR test, a high -end alternative for a VR/XR helmet.

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Black belt reading technical sheet. Fanboy OnePlus in remission. Average reading time for my articles: 48 minutes. Fact-checker of good tech deals at my spare time. Hate talking about himself in the third person. Would have liked to be a JV journalist in another life. Does not understand irony. Responsible for editorial content for Nextpit France.

PICO 4

The Pico 4 is an autonomous virtual reality headset that offers immersive experience to its users. It is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chip, which guarantees high level performance for a gaming and fluid content experience.

This helmet also has LCD displays at 2000 x 2000 pixels per eye, with ultra-thin pancake optics that guarantee a clear and detailed image. It offers a wide range of motion thanks to 6DOF monitoring technology, which allows you to move freely in the virtual environment.

It is also equipped with two ergonomic movement controllers which allow natural interaction with hands in the virtual environment. It is also equipped with a front camera for augmented reality.

The Pico 4 will be available in Europe from October 2022, at the indicative price of € 429 for the 128 GB version, and € 499 for the 256 GB version. It is an ideal choice for users who are looking for a high -quality virtual reality experience, with exceptional performance and great freedom of movement.

Test summary

Notation history

On the emerging market of virtual reality headsets, some manufacturers are filming their weapons in an attempt to counter Meta’s domination with its quest 2. Pico has thus drawn his Pico 4, a very promising model that could be technically better. Verdict after more than three months of testing.