Gadgetory

the windows 10 fall creators update is here and with it comes a bunch of mixed reality stuff like paint 3d and the mixed reality viewer along with some new partner developed hardware to support these mixed reality experiences and that is what we're checking out today the Acer Windows mixed reality headset is the first of a wave of compatible headsets all of which have similarly brutal names but just what is so mixed about it and at $400 can it compete with incumbent VR heavyweights like the HTC vive and oculus rift the meteoric SAR series from Roseville features a black exterior with white interior accents a detachable five and a quarter inch Bay and more check it out at the link below okay first things first the ACE or Windows mixed reality headset you know what I'm just gonna call it Almer looks more like a mixed reality play set it's glossy plastic finish can best be described as power rangers esque and its overall feel is less premium than either the rift or the vibe I mean nobody ever looks cool with clunky headgear but this one is probably among the uncoolest that I've seen yet and it has some issues with fit as well the padding around the goggles plugged the nostrils of almost everyone in the office who tried it and the headsets sole adjustment point which to their credit is super easy to use tightens the headband without pulling the goggles themselves closer to your face so it's designed this way so that you can flip the goggles up which is great for taking a quick look at the real world or having a conversation with a colleague but the result is that the bottom edge of the goggles is further from your face than it needs to be making it difficult to get everything perfectly in focus let's talk screen now compared to the rift and the vibe Almer uses a significantly higher resolution screen 2880 by 1440 this results in a noticeably sharper image and reduced though still noticeable screen door effect with that said don't get too excited unlike the rift in the vibe Almer uses an LCD display instead of an OLED display so even just wandering around in virtual space there is noticeable smearing behind even moderate speed objects with the effect most noticeable against contrasting backgrounds Elmer's biggest claim to fame though is its inside-out tracking so what this means is that the system's awareness of its decision is all done in the helmet itself rather than having it rely on a constellation of motion trackers placed strategically around your desk this means that set-up time a significant pain point with other solutions now takes just a couple of minutes but this does come with some drawbacks if the controller's are moved beyond the field of view of the front-facing cameras they may glitch out for a second while they recalibrate and well traditional outside-in tracking will always be more accurate especially if you're using three or more satellites so this combined with the LCD display already disqualifies Armour for gamers and probably high-level content creators on the subject of the controller's let's take a look at them you can actually save a hundred bucks if you don't want them but a lot of the experiences definitely worked better with them they're designed by Microsoft so you can expect other upcoming mixed reality headsets to use them and overall while they won't win any organ Annika Ward's your thumb rests sort of between the trackpad in the joystick rather than on either of them and the handles don't taper toward the end for some reason the build quality is okay and they're small light and pretty simple to use I'm actually genuinely a little annoyed though that they use double-a batteries rather than charging over USB that said the fact that the windows home button takes you to a literal Windows Home definitely delights me ok then I'm glad to hear you're delighted Linus but so far all you've shown is a VR headset isn't this the Acer Windows mixed reality headset how does Armour let you interact with both the real world and the virtual world at the same time haha that is a long and wonderful question it doesn't no no there's there's no funny a punchline here it just doesn't and I'll be honest with you this confused us a little bit - in fact truthfully I probably wouldn't have requested one of these from a sir if I had fully understood what it was or more accurately what it wasn't so after some digging it appears as though Windows mixed reality is more like aspirational branding for a platform that will eventually support AR VR and M are tools like the microsoft hololens then it is a description of the actual products that are labeled with it today so despite the name headsets like this one are pretty much last year's hardware with a high resolution display on next year's platform which makes it kind of hard to understand why exactly someone would buy them back in April when Acer first announced this product pricing was gonna be the big advantage but then oculus hardcore used that Facebook money to kill it when they slashed the price of the rift which even includes headphones and a bunch of games at the same price of $400 so should anyone buy this thing ok actually maybe inside out tracking makes armor way more portable than other flagship VR systems since there's no satellites to cart around and then stick on tripods and then plug in the wall and then calibrate blah blah know it's basically plug and play and there will be lots to play the theater experience is legitimately better thanks to the intuitive navigation and higher pixel density and by the end of the year wmr will support steamvr so assuming your gaming rig has the horses you'll be able to play most of the same games as everyone else with some tracking and pixel response compromises so all told Ben Albert isn't a terrible product and for the person who needs portability it or Samsung's upcoming OLED competitor is a much better experience than a phone based the Google cardboard or whatever but for an enthusiast like me I mean I was already a little disappointed when it didn't have the next-gen VR field that I would have expected over a year after the launch of the rift and the vibe and then when it didn't even begin to deliver on the promise that was right in the name and didn't manage to undercut existing offerings enough to be a budget alternative I mean that was just the cucumber icing on a gluten-free cake so I'll be waiting to see what's coming from oculus and HTC in the coming months but before that happens I'll be telling you guys about ting ting is the mobile carrier that is focused on customer satisfaction that's right if you're on ting you can actually pick up your phone which for some reason isn't in my pocket I have this in my pocket here it is you can pick up your phone and you will get put through directly to a person and you don't pay a premium for that kind of service you actually pay only for what you use both minutes and data and the average ting bill is just 23 bucks a month per device if you're stuck in a contract and you switch to ting they'll cover 25% of your cancellation fee up to $75 and they've got lowered mobile data rates mate it's just $10 per gig beyond the first gig so head over to Linus ENCOM try their savings calculator which will tell you how much you'll save then sign up at our link and you'll also get 25 bucks in service credit or towards a shiny new device so thanks for watching guys if this video sucked you know what to do but if it was awesome get subscribed hit that like button or check out the link to where to buy the stuff we featured in the video description also linked down there is our merch store which has cool shirts like this one and our community forum which you should totally join