Best Acer Windows Mixed Reality Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020:

This virtual reality headset designed by Acer is the first in the “Windows Mixed Reality” series to enter our lab. Sold € 449 with two controllers, it promises a high-end VR experience and great ease of use. Pleasant prospects, but a mixed assessment.

Presentation

With Lenovo, HP, Dell and even Samsung, Acer is one of the first to draw a “Windows Mixed Reality” virtual reality headset. Designed in partnership with Microsoft, it takes advantage of the brand new Windows 10 environment dedicated to virtual reality, introduced during the Fall Creators Update . Before continuing, a point “vocabulary” is essential: Microsoft and its partners speak here of “mixed reality” and try to put this type of headset in the same basket as a HoloLens type product. The two have nothing to do with it: if HoloLens has made augmented reality its creed, the Acer headset is a virtual reality headset, no more, no less. It is indeed not capable for the moment of making augmented reality, despite the presence of the two cameras on the front. This abuse of language is therefore above all a marketing trick to try to differentiate these helmets from the competition.

These details made, let’s move on to the presentations. The product from Acer is presented as a “classic” virtual reality headset and uses a design inspired by PlayStation VR. It comes with two motion recognition controllers … and that’s it. Unlike the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive , it does not need external sensors to function properly in space. The cameras on the front of the helmet are used to recognize the position of the head, as well as that of the controllers. The promise: to be able to do ” room scale ” – that is to say to move freely in a space of a few square meters without having to make adjustments beforehand.

Best Acer Windows Mixed Reality Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020

1. Acer (AH101-D8EY) Windows Mixed Reality Headset Model VD.R05AP.002

2. Acer Windows Mixed Reality Headset & Controllers | AH101-D8EY (Renewed)

3. Acer Windows Mixed Reality Headset Model VD.R05AP.002 (Renewed)

4. Acer Windows Mixed Reality Headset and Motion Controllers Blue

Ergonomics

We said in the introduction: the design and conception of this Acer virtual reality headset is very much inspired by that of the PlayStation VR. The attachment system is similar: it is necessary to tighten the headband around his skull, thanks to the rear wheel, to wedge the visor at the front. An effective and proven system, but we deplore here a weight rather badly distributed. The helmet itself is very light (468 g, the lightest on the market), but the difference between the rear and the front is quite obvious, so much so that it is necessary to tighten the headband more than necessary around the skull to enjoy good stability. 

The area at the back of the head and at the forehead rests on a soft and thick comfortable rubber; however, it may sweat when the outside temperature rises. The foam around the eyes is quite good, but our test model showed some weaknesses in terms of integration: the foam is completely detached at the nose. On the other hand, once put on, the helmet does not let any outside light through – a very good point for immersion.

Those who are afraid of feeling too isolated once the helmet on their head will be delighted to be able to easily raise the visor. On this point, the product stands out from its competitors. Because it allows you to keep an eye on the real world very simply. Thanks to this system of simplicity and foolproof efficiency. This is certainly one of its big strengths.

Image quality

This first Acer virtual reality headset offers a definition of 1440 x 1440 px per eye, via an LCD screen. The field of vision delivered is 100 °. So we have a fairly high definition – at least higher than that of Rift and Vive (1,080 x 1,200 px per eye) -, but a slightly narrower field of vision (110 ° at HTC and Oculus). The use of the LCD also raises fears of a somewhat fair contrast ratio. But the 1440 x 1440 px limit the very visible grid effect on the virtual reality headsets currently on the market. Finally, like its competitors, the refresh rate rises to 90 Hz, which ensures, if the PC follows in terms of power, sufficient fluidity to avoid motion sickness.

We were unable to apply our probe to obtain precise results, but the rendering seemed satisfactory to us; the use of an LCD screen has very little impact in the end. But the restricted field of vision remains damaging. The grid effect is still visible, but remains attenuated by the rather high definition. A ghosting effect  is also quite visible in the event of rapid movements of the head, which causes the image to drool slightly. A defect which is noted especially during scene with fast movements and remains in all cases not very annoying.

CONCLUSION

By teaming up with Microsoft, Acer provides its first virtual reality headset with a certain flexibility of use. Particularly easy to install thanks to the absence of external sensors, this Windows Mixed Reality Headset offers a complete virtual reality experience and well highlighted by a very well thought out Windows ecosystem. But the balance sheet is tarnished by approximations in the recognition of movements, the ergonomics of the controllers that can be improved, as well as a weight distribution that could have been better. So many flaws that prevent this new VR headset from standing among the best.

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