At the press conference for the 8th anniversary of Xiaomi, in addition to the mobile phone products of Xiaomi 8 series, Xiaomi also updated many products. Among them, for consumers who pay attention to VR, Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine may be more attractive than Xiaomi 8. As a brother machine, Oculus Go was brought into China by Xiaomi after it was listed overseas, officially known as Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine.

Appearance design

On the outer package, Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine is a large square box like Oculus Go. Because of different sales regions, the name and related information printed on it are naturally different. The Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine basically prints the Xiaomi logo and domestic resources. Of course, the partner Oculus also appears.

After opening, you can see the Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine. The whole package is still very compact. The arrangement of various accessories and control handles can be said to be stuffed in as much as possible, but the overall layout is very orderly. In the machine itself, Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine is different from Oculus Go in color matching. Oculus Go uses full gray color matching. The front panel of Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine uses gray, but the body uses white, which is related to the color orientation of the two companies.

All the accessories of Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine are listed. In addition to the conventional manual, data cable, charger and control handle, glasses washers are specially equipped to take care of users wearing glasses, which is very considerate.

According to Xiaomi's description, the integrated face sticker is properly filled for Asian face shape, which is slightly different from Oculus Go's adaptation to European and American people. In addition, most parts of Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine used for fixing and contacting with human face can be disassembled, which is convenient for users to clean, and there is no need to worry about dirt after a long time of use.

The Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine does not use a hard fixed headband in the headband, but a soft cloth T-shaped headband. It also uses a pull design, which makes it easy for users to adjust their head shape. The fit is also very good, improving the comfort of wearing.

The only three buttons on the Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine are the power key and volume key. The power key accessory is an indicator light to remind the user of the machine status. The bulge of the three buttons is obvious. When wearing the Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine, it can be easily identified by hand, and the control is not a problem.

The customized Fresnel lens, which is mainly in the charge of Oculus, is a key point of cooperation between Xiaomi and Oculus. This exclusive customized optical module is also the biggest difference between Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine and other VR models.

To briefly summarize the wearing experience, the Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine is well designed in terms of weight distribution. The large area of face stickers and properly adjusted headbands, stability and comfort are among the top VR devices at present. Wearing for a long time will not easily cause discomfort. In the past, the problem of uncomfortable wearing for a long time due to the weight of VR equipment in front of the head has been greatly improved. Although it will also be noticed after more than 2 or 3 hours, considering the length of time most people use VR, this problem is not serious.

Configure Performance

According to official data, the Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine has a customized driver version for the Snapdragon 821. According to the disclosure of President Tang at the media conference, the Snapdragon 821 has been customized for overclocking operation. At the same time, the GPU level is set to the highest Level 4 to ensure maximum performance. In actual use, this Snapdragon 821 ensures the smoothness of the system. There is no jam or suspended animation during the experience, which is believed to be related to the more radical design. After all, it is used for VR rendering and processing. The Snapdragon 821 runs at high load most of the time, so the heat is naturally not small. The heat dissipation of Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine is as far forward as possible, so it is difficult for users to sense the temperature change, which ensures the experience of use.

The screen part is a 2K Fast Switch LCD exclusively customized to BOE (BOE), which can achieve a refresh rate of 72Hz, which is slightly special. After all, other manufacturers basically use AMOLED materials. It seems that the resolution is high, but the single eye is 1280 x 1440. In addition, the distance from the eye is closer than that of the mobile phone, and the pixels will be more obvious. Fortunately, the actual performance is not bad, and it can rank top among VR products that the author has experienced. Today's consumers have long been spoiled by smartphones with high-resolution screens. If VR devices want to reach the same level, they should look forward to 4K and 8K screens in the future.

Since Xiaomi and Oculus have customized heterogeneous Fresnel lenses, Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine does not have the function of adjusting pupil distance in previous VR products. Although the pupillary distance is not adjusted, you can use it with confidence: for short-sighted users, you can use the attached glasses washer to help them directly wear glasses and then wear the Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine, and the legs of the glasses will not be affected.

Content section

Of course, it's hard to make bricks without straw. There are a lot of excellent hardware on the VR product line, but the content is another important factor that will ultimately make consumers willing to pay for it. The overseas manufacturer Oculus is obviously not sufficiently rooted in the domestic market, so the domestic operation and content are entrusted to Xiaomi, which is also a big difference between Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine and sister machine Oculus Go.

Xiaomi still attaches great importance to this aspect. At the same time of the launch of Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine, the corresponding VR mall has been ready to go online, and has cooperated with Oculus, Youku, iQiyi and other manufacturers to launch many applications. The initial number of applications can be said to be basically satisfactory. In the app of Xiaomi VR, you can browse various relevant resources for purchase and download. The Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine will automatically download from the connected network according to the cloud information, or directly purchase and download from the Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine.

From the perspective of the resources of Xiaomi VR, Xiaomi has done a good job in localization. The resources obtained from Oculus have been put on the shelves after Chinese culture. At the same time, there are also resources for cooperation with local manufacturers, which is not bad for a VR product that has just entered the domestic market. But for the time being, most of the excellent resources need to be purchased for a fee, so it still needs a lot of money to experience. I hope that Xiaomi can provide a trial later.

There are not many related settings. Basically, it is a routine operation to connect the WiFi and control handle of the Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine, upgrade firmware, and push notifications. On the whole, the Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine is highly independent. Except for the first use of paired apps, most functions can be realized independently, without the involvement of mobile phones.

Practical experience

Since the Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine cannot capture the screen for explanation, the picture of the app store is quoted here for explanation. Basically, the screenshots you see in the Xiaomi VR Mall can be used as the real effect of the Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine when running, but the actual game is 360 degrees, not a plane. The Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine also tracks the user's head movements in a timely manner. It can achieve high accuracy with the control handle. The screen refresh rate and delay control are good.

With the magic track speeder officially recommended by Xiaomi as a reference, the visual impact of the game is very strong, which is similar to the actual visual experience of riding a roller coaster. The biggest difference is that there is no change in gravity. Due to the fast movement and the requirement to shoot the target, the attention is not focused on the image quality when playing. The 2K screen is enough, perhaps because it is too "realistic" to simulate the change of perspective when riding a roller coaster. After several games of continuous play, the author has a similar feeling of nausea after riding a roller coaster (laugh).

In the experience, the author recommends the guided meditation app, which has a simple function. It can keep your mind calm through pictures and music. Because VR completely covers your sight, the immersion is stronger than when you watch it on any screen. It has to be mentioned here that the hidden loudspeaker opening of Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine can transmit sound to the ear, which not only maintains a certain sound effect, but also has little impact on the surrounding environment, which can make people more confident and bold to use.

Xiaomi said that it will launch multiplayer games later, which can enable Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine to realize online functions similar to the host computer. It can't experience it for the time being, but it has opened multiplayer cinemas. When experiencing the multiplayer cinema, the screen play and voice conversation between characters are relatively smooth, and the experience is good under a good network environment. It is interesting for several virtual characters to watch Jay Chou's concert in the same VR cinema.

summary

Admittedly, there is a gap between the higher end HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, but the all-in-one design eliminates the dependence on PC, while CardBoard and GearVR need mobile phone support, which is the advantage of Xiaomi VR all-in-one. It is suitable for users who need light entertainment. Play with it without too much preparation.

At the same time, the pricing of Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine can be said to be conscience, that is, on the basis of Oculus Go, the domestic value-added tax has been increased by 17%. The 32GB version is 1499 yuan, and the 64GB version is 1799 yuan. For the introduction of VR, the threshold is greatly reduced, and the experience is still guaranteed. But finally, we remind interested users that it is better to decide whether to cut hands after offline experience. Everyone has different acceptance of VR, which may not be suitable for everyone.

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