Welcome to the Oasis, my names Mike and today
is an exciting day because here we have the
brand new Oculus Rift S.
In today's video, I'm going to be showing
you what comes in the box, how easy it is
to get this headset up and running, some tips
and tricks I've learnt and some more hands
on impressions which I'll share at the end
of the video so make sure you stay tuned for
that.
This headset was provided for free and early
by Oculus so I could share my thoughts on
this headset with you guys and girls.
If you're interested in ordering a Rift S
yourself, you can pre-order one now for delivery
around the 21st May.
I've put some links in the description down
below which are my amazon affiliate links,
it just means if you order a headset through
the link it doesn't cost you any more but
helps support me and the channel.
I've also put timestamps to all the sections
in this video in the description down below.
I hope you guys and girls enjoy this one and
without further ado, let's dive in...
So we have the box of the Oculus Rift S, the
Rift S completely replaces the original Rift
in the Oculus lineup moving forward.
The original Rift is no longer being produced
and most outlets are now out of stock.
But this doesn't mean that the original Rift
won't continue to be supported.
It will still work will all the latest games
for a long long time to come as the both the
original Rift and new Rift S will use the
exact same store.
The back of the box features artwork of some
of the most anticipated Oculus exclusive titles
coming soon such as Stormland, Defector and
Asgards Wrath.
Also on the front you can see a single Lenovo
logo as this headset was designed by Oculus
in partnership with Lenovo.
So lets get inside the box and here you have
the new Oculus touch controllers with the
new inverted tracking ring for the Oculus
insight inside out tracking system.
You also get a pair of AA batteries to power
the controllers, they take a single AA each.
Here you have the Oculus Rift S headset itself
with a 15ft long cable which has a Display
Port and USB 3.0 to connect to your PC.
Also in the box you get a Display Port to
Mini Display Port adaptor.
Display Port to HDMI adapters could potentially
work if you don't have a free Display Port
on your PC but Oculus state they can't guarantee
compatibility.
And of course a Quick Start Guide and Warranty
Manual.
Now let's get onto the setup.
I have to say, the Oculus Rift S is the easiest
PCVR headset I've ever setup, it's super simple.
Ensure you have Oculus Home installed, I've
put a link to it in the description below
along with a system checker tool which you
can use to see if your Windows 10 PC is up
to scratch.
Once Oculus Home is installed plug in the
Rift S Display Port and USB connector into
your PC.
Open Oculus Home and you'll get a notification
pop up asking you if you want to set up the
new Rift S headset.
The system will check to ensure you've connected
the cables properly and will prompt a quick
firmware update.
Once the AA batteries are installed, the touch
controllers come pre paired which is really
handy and they get a firmware update too.
You then get greeted with a short health and
safety video which advises you to keep your
place space clear and to set a guardian boundary
at limits of your play space.
If this is your first time with a VR headset
note the content markers next to games and
experiences on the store.
Comfortable, Moderate and Intense.
Stick with comfortable games until you get
used to VR and then you can experiment with
more intense titles.
If you want some advice to help with motion
sickness, check out my video about it here.
Now you're ready to jump into VR and go through
the room setup.
Here you choose your orientation, set the
floor level and draw out the edges of your
boundary using the new pass through mode so
you can see your real room layout through
the headset.
This looks better in the headset and didn't
like being recorded in this mode.
Once that's all done which takes no more than
10 minutes you'll be presented with the new
Oculus First Steps experience where you learn
how to use the touch controllers and your
virtual hands.
You can see the controllers have the same
great analog triggers and grips with capacitive
touch sensors as the original controllers.
You're then are transported to the First Contact
demo where you interact with an adorable Wall-E
/ Johnny Five type robot that shows you whats
possible in VR.
For those who have a Rift already, you'll
be familiar with this.
Strangely during the setup process, I found
no mention of IPD adjustment.
IPD is the distance between your eyes and
its important to set this correctly for a
comfortable VR experience.
The Oculus Rift S features software based
IPD adjustment due to it's single panel display.
You can adjust it through the Oculus Dash
menu and selecting settings or on your desktop.
But sadly there's no IPD calibration tool
so I would urge new comers to try to measure
your IPD yourself or get your opticians to
do it for you.
So now you're all setup to experience applications
from Oculus Home, but you can also use the
Rift S with SteamVR.
All you need to do is Download and install
SteamVR from Steam and once installed click
the VR button in the top right corner of the
Steam dashboard.
Strangely SteamVR recognises the Rift S as
a Rift with three tracking sensors.
Choose the game you want to play and away
you go, simple.
After playing around with the Rift S for a
while there's a couple of things I found that
would be useful for those picking up a Rift
S, so here's a couple of tips;
The first tip is about the cable on the headset.
The plastic cable hook on the left hand side
of the headset isn't in an ideal location
as it makes the cable hang over your left
shoulder and generally gets in the way.
I found by using a Velcro cable tidy I was
able to move the cable to hang directly over
my back which got the cable completely out
of my way.
You could use a velcro strap like me or an
adhesive plastic cable tidy clip, ideally
you want something to give the cable some
slack so it doesn't hinder the headsets adjustment.
The second tip is about the pass through mode.
The pass through mode of the Rift S is a really
useful and a feature I know I'm going to love
using in the future.
It's not a perfect view but good enough to
see whats going on around you.
In Oculus Dash in the settings you can toggle
a setting which allows you to just double
press the Oculus Home button to enable pass
through at any time.
It's great if you just want to take a quick
drink or chat to someone around you.
The third tip is about the cable length.
The Oculus Rift S comes with a reasonably
long 15 ft cable which is great for those
with larger play spaces but I wanted to push
that even further and I found you can extend
the Display Port and USB 3.0 by a further
6 ft and I've not had any issues.
It will be interesting to see with experimentation
how much further you can go with this.
Final tip is great for those that wear glasses.
The Oculus Rift S uses practically the same
display and lenses as the Oculus Go.
This means if you've bought prescription inserts
for the Oculus Go they'll fit in your Oculus
Rift S like the ones I'm showing here from
WidmoVR.
So now lets move onto some final thoughts
now I've had more hands on time with the headset.
Audio isn't great, I thought this at PAX but
was difficult to tell on the show floor.
I can confirm it's ok.
For the best experience use some headphones
but getting headphones over the chunky Halo
strap is an issue too.
I'm really hoping Oculus release some official
accessory to make this situation better.
The headset itself is really comfortable and
I'm starting to enjoy the halo design more
and more.
The only criticisms I have is that the spongy
facial interface material that sits on your
face is glued to the removable plastic surround.
It would have been nice for a velcro surround
so pads could be swapped out easily for hygiene
reasons.
Controllers feel familiar in VR to the original
controllers, they are actually a bit lighter
than the the original touch, both had controllers
batteries installed during this test.
The Oculus Insight tracking system is really
impressive.
I've not had any issues with it so far and
I was surprised about how well it tracks even
with half my room being a plain green wall.
You're going to think I'm crazy but the controllers
actually feel more responsive than the original
Rift.
I tested the tracking in a darkened room with
only my PC lights providing some ambient light
and it worked just fine.
It a pitch black room it won't work that well
or at all but with a small amount of ambient
light it should be fine.
The only issue I found is that the tracking
doesn't work well with gun stocks in my brief
testing.
The good news is that the new touch controllers
will fit the Oculus Rift holders on a ProTube
and sit in their nicely due to the new textured
grips.
The problem is that one controller is occluding
the other in a straight line and one is fairly
close to the headset.
Also reloading tends to hit the tracking ring
on the tube.
I'll need to spend more time testing this
more but just a word of warning to the hardcore
fps players.
Due to the new LCD panel everything in the
headset looks slightly sharper and clearer
than the original Rift with less screen door
effect and reduced godrays.
The panel running at 80hz really doesn't make
any difference at all and I would be hard
pushed to tell the difference between 90hz
and 80hz.
So the big question is, will I be using this
headset over my original Rift moving forward?
Absolutely.
I can't wait to play Stormland on this headset.
Ok, so there we have it guys and girls, that's
how to setup the new Oculus Rift S, what comes
in the box and some tips and tricks and hands
on impressions.
Overall I think the Rift S is pretty great
and it far exceeded my initial expectations
of this device.
It marks as a slight upgrade to current Rift
owners who want the highest resolution and
clarity on the Oculus platform but with the
main compromise being the built in audio system
which I wasn't a big fan of.
It's definitely one of the easiest headsets
to setup and use with a vast library of content
available from Oculus and SteamVR at a competitive
price of $399 making it very accessible to
VR newcomers.
Personally, I think Oculus have raised the
bar and now set the standard of what a PCVR
headset with inside out tracking can achieve.
If you want to try out the Rift S yourself
before pulling the trigger you can demo the
headset at select Microsoft stores starting
from the 21st May.
If you've got any questions about the headset,
put them in the comments below and I'll try
to answer as many as I can.
Leave a like if you liked the video, make
sure you're subscribed for all my future content
and as always.
I'll see you on the next one.
Cheers!
