Valve Index | First Impressions

After what seems like ages, the Valve Index finally appeared at my door. Watch the video for a detailed look at my first impressions.

Summed up thoughts, Pros + Cons: 08:05

The hype for the Valve Index was unprecedented. We had a new entry into VR from a company known for quality and pushing tech. Coming from those expectations, I was underwhelmed with the Index. It's an improvement for sure, with very little compromise, but it's not the giant leap many were hoping for. If you can afford it, this is the VR system to own, hands down. I will miss wireless, but I'll probably be sticking with the Index for most, if not all future games. Here are my final Pros and Cons.
Pros
- Comfort
- Optics (Clarity especially!)
- Build Quality
- Refresh Rate Options
- Audio
- Controllers in games that have updated for them
Cons
- Colors
- Weird light reflections
- Controllers with games not updated for them
- Joystick clicking
- Price

#awolfinvr #virtualreality #valveindex

[sekanuel]

Good job man, that was one of the best reviews I've ever seen!! Loved it

[greasedgaming]

For controller grip issues: you can hop into SteamVR - VR Controller Settings - (game title), then either create your own custom bindings or use a community-submitted one. In the case of grips being too sensitive, you can actually define both a force requirement threshold (to avoid gripping while just resting your fingers on the grip) and a force release threshold (very useful for fine tuning throwing release sensitivity). SteamVR has you covered.

I imagine lot of people will be newcomers to VR given that Boneworks and Half-Life: Alyx are on the horizon.

[GenghisGaming]

Personally the higher refresh rate is a big deal for me. I have a super beefy rig and can hit 144hz in a lot of games. I can't quite explain why it's so much better aside from smoothness, there's something about the smoothness that just puts my brain at ease and makes things feel way more comfortable and real, whereas 90 on my old Vive Pro, while it didn't make me nauseous, just creates a weird feeling of discomfort over long play sessions. I feel like I can play for hours on end now with absolute comfort with this thing now.

[spongeknock]

Nice video, There is a fix for the joysticks on reddit but you will have open up the controllers

[axxionjaxxn]

Omg, how could they fuck up the joysticks?? That's kind of mindblowing, that it got by testing, or was just ignored..? "naah fuck it.. who needs to run in a videogame anyways lol?"😂😭😂😭😂

[pumpuppthevolume]

htc needs to update DAS with similar speakers ...and keep the same price ...as if xD

[matrading]

What is the first game u played ? On video

[miguelmlopezjr]

Great video! Seen a handful and this one nailed it!

[Saturn]

After spending some time with them, how has your impression of the Index changed?

This is my first VR headset so I really don't have anything else to go off except one use of the Oculus Rift S at a Microsoft store.

My impression of the finger tracking lines up with your experience. This was immediately evident when playing The Lab after the recent finger-tracking update. I find the games a lot harder to play. I'm definitely not used to gripping like that. Finger tracking makes things more realistic, but grabbing and picking stuff up feels a lot worse than clicking in that trigger.

Also, Oculus Rift S has A, B, X, Y like an Xbox so some games expect you to have an X button like Air Car. It's really strange that the Index controllers are essentially the same thing, one on either hand. At that point, I'd say add more buttons.

The top and bottom of the touch-pad could be used to emulate X and Y, but I dunno if it's the same thing. Unless developers implement Index-specific controls, not having an X and Y on the other hand is pretty limiting in some games.

Quite a few games work fine, but like you said, the angle's off from the Vive controllers. Beat Saber is the one I've heard, but I also think there are other games suffering from the same issue.

[kyle]

My Rift S was always pulling hair. 4 days with my index and no hair pulled. It is overall way more comfortable.

[CaIIumscorner]

i think the contrast and god ray things can be fixed with maufacturing tweaks or firmware updates

[decosse]

Good fair review and thank you for describing the glare perfectly, it isn't god rays and when I see those that say it has terrible god rays I want to scream! It certainly is way less distracting that god rays ever were and I've been playing a fair amount of Elite Dangerous in it, I barely see them now and even the black level is really good overall and in no way ruins the experience. Such a huge upgrade over my CV1 - can we imagine what gen 3 will be Holy Cow :)

[MatchTerm]

Going for it... but I'm afraid I'll be called an idiot for doing it.

[stevejarvislocksmith]

What's going to happen with the controllers that's a hardware fix not a software fix when velve fixes the issue are they going to recall the bad ones

[ionhere]

I reserved one a couple weeks ago but clearly missed the first wave... Maybe if i buy more games on the summer sale lord Gabe will allow me throw more money at them

[gakmaster]

I ordered mine 10 days ago, still didnt get an email to pay

[AlxDk]

I need to know about installation of base ( yeah it’s my first vr headset ) how you fix them ?
the supports are screwed on the wall?