My Experience with Pico Neo 3 VR All-in-One Headset

About Pico Neo 3

Pico is a brand owned by Beijing Xiaoniao Technology Co., Ltd. Established in March 2015, it is a technology company dedicated to the research and development of mobile virtual reality technology and products, and is committed to building a leading global mobile VR hardware and content platform.

On August 29, 2021, Pico was acquired by ByteDance and will be integrated into ByteDance's VR-related business line. Neo 3 is Pico's latest VR product, and currently one of the most complete VR products in China.

Choosing a VR All-in-One Headset

Before purchasing, I roughly learned about another popular VR all-in-one headset, the Oculus Quest 2, which is produced by Facebook (now called Meta). There are many comparisons online between Oculus Quest 2 and Pico Neo 3, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Based on my personal understanding, I made a simple comparison table.

The hardware differences between Oculus Quest 2 and Pico Neo 3 are not significant, but Pico Neo 3's ecosystem is not as good as Oculus Quest 2's. However, the official is constantly improving and introducing games, and it is clear that the game library is becoming more and more abundant. The reasons I chose Pico Neo 3 are as follows:

• Extremely high cost-effectiveness (half price return after 180 days of check-in)
• Convenient purchase and after-sales service (Oculus Quest 2 is not sold in mainland China, can only be purchased overseas, and there is almost no after-sales service in China)
• Smooth network connection, as Pico Neo 3 is domestically produced, there are basically no network issues in China

Personal purchasing advice: Choose Oculus Quest 2 for better ecosystem and gameplay, choose Pico Neo 3 for higher cost-effectiveness.

My Purchase Price

I purchased the 128G Pioneer Edition of Pico Neo 3 on September 29, 2021 (the so-called Pioneer Edition comes with free games, I recommend choosing the Pioneer Edition, otherwise it would be more expensive to buy games separately). The price was ¥2589.00 (I have completed the activity of returning half of the price after 180 days of check-in, which is equivalent to more than 1000 yuan). I also received a coupon for hairy crabs and a headset foam pad. The order screenshot is as follows.

JD.com occasionally holds promotions, and the price seems to be even lower now, so if you are interested, you can purchase it.

Purchase Link: https://u.jd.com/WI9e4jN

Unboxing

Here are a few photos I took before.

This is the storage bag provided by the official after 120 days of check-in. It is much more convenient to bring Pico back to my hometown.

About Check-in

Every time you check in, you need to play a game for more than 30 minutes. When checking in, pay attention to whether the timer is counting. There was one time when I had already checked in for more than 30 minutes, but the timer didn't count, which resulted in missing a check-in (if you miss a check-in, you have 3 chances to make up for it, but it will deduct part of the refund amount).

For those who choose the Pioneer Edition, you can receive a game for each consecutive month of check-in (a total of 6 months, I don't know if the rules have changed now). I still have 3 games to claim.

There is also a 180-day check-in activity, and different stages will receive different rewards, such as Pico coins, peripheral gift packs (including USB drives, T-shirts, various accessories to choose from). As of now, I have checked in for more than 180 days, and I have already received all the previous rewards. Now I am waiting for the official to give me the half-price return reward.

Note: Different activities need to be checked in separately, which means you have to check in twice for 2 activities. When checking in, pay attention to whether the timer is counting, otherwise it will be in vain.

How is the Movie Experience?

If you have never experienced VR before, let me tell you, when you first encounter a VR all-in-one headset, you will likely be amazed by the visual effects. I haven't watched many proper movies, but I have watched a few informal ones. You can imagine the feeling of a pair of big waves hitting your face. However, after watching a few times, the effect is not so obvious.

In addition, when watching movies, you must choose resources with 4k resolution and high bit rates, otherwise there will be noticeable graininess. There are many 4k-level resources on PT forums, you can go and find them if you are interested.

How is the Gaming Experience?

Although the number and quality of games on Pico Neo 3 are not as good as Oculus Quest 2, there are still quite a few games available, and they are constantly being added. However, there are relatively few high-quality games with high replayability.

Some games are quite fun, not only can you relax, but also get some exercise. However, it is impossible to expect Pico to achieve the purpose of fitness through gaming. And some games may cause dizziness when playing, especially games that require rapid movement or FPS games, maybe I'm just not used to it.

If you want to play Steam VR streaming games, the minimum graphics card requirement on the PC is GTX 970. I used my RTX 3050 to smoothly run games like "Skyrim VR" via wireless streaming. I have also played VR Kanojo (unfortunately it was a censored version, it would be even better if it were uncensored), hehe.

What I'm Not Satisfied with Pico Neo 3

1. I have to go through real-name authentication just to play a game.
2. Redeeming activity codes requires entering them on the headset, which is extremely inconvenient. It could have been activated in the app.
3. To claim peripheral gift packs and the half-price return after 180 days, I need to fill out forms on a third-party website instead of completing the process in the app, which is not user-friendly.
4. Sometimes the timer doesn't count.

Conclusion

1. For those who want to experience a VR all-in-one headset, I recommend Oculus Quest 2 or Pico Neo 3.
2. Different activities need to be checked in separately. When checking in, pay attention to whether the timer is counting.
3. When watching movies, look for resources with a resolution of 4k or higher.
4. When playing Steam VR streaming games, the minimum graphics card requirement is GTX 970 or above.
5. Overall, Pico Neo 3 is not perfect, but I am quite satisfied with it.

If you have any other questions, feel free to leave a comment.

Purchase Link for Pico Neo 3: https://u.jd.com/WI9e4jN