Soon, a new standalone virtual reality headset will throw its weight into the fray. Meta’s Quest 2 will then have competition from the Pico Neo 3 Link, which can now be pre-ordered for 449 euros and will be delivered in May. What can you expect from it?
When you get the Pico Neo 3 Link you have to take into account that you are dealing with a beta product. The company regularly asks you for feedback about the Pico Store, where you get apps and games for the virtual reality glasses. Incidentally, the Steam VR Store is also supported.
You can also contribute ideas about Pico accounts, payment systems, social functions and other (future) possibilities. It is clear that Pico Interactive, which is in the hands of the Chinese TikTok owner ByteDance, is targeting the Meta Quest 2. The company is after a complete ecosystem, which should initially seem attractive due to the hardware you purchase.
The Quest 2 requires a Facebook account, but the Pico Neo 3 doesn’t require a TikTok account or anything like that. An email address is enough.
But what exactly is the Pico Neo 3 Link?
The Pico Neo 3 Link is therefore a standalone headset for virtual reality. The VR glasses have four cameras on the outside, with which it can follow the supplied controllers. This is also known as inside-out tracking. This means the headset follows the movements you make.
Under the hood we find 256 GB of internal storage space, as well as 6 GB of RAM. In addition, there is a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 processor. In any case, the basic specs of the Meta Quest 2 and Neo 3 Link correspond to this.
The 5.5-inch screen offers a resolution of 3,664 by 1,920 pixels and a refresh rate of 90 Hertz. The system is able to stream games wirelessly via the SteamVR platform, which works via WiFi 6. But you can also decide to use a cable, so that you can connect the headset to your computer wired.
The system has been available in Asia since the end of 2021, which means that a lot of content is already available. So you can expect more than two hundred 6 DoF games. DoF is an abbreviation that stands for Degrees of Freedom. This relates to the freedom of movement of players.
The movements take place on a certain axis. If we are talking about 6 DoF, then movements in virtual reality can take place on three directional and three rotating axes. Each of those axes then represents one DoF.
Price and availability
Pico Interactive announces that the Pico Neo 3 Link will be delivered from May in some European countries, including the Netherlands (but not Belgium). The company promises to make the headset available in more countries; new countries are added every month. The price: 449 euros.
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