PlayStation VR2 Review: PSVR2 Tested In-Depth! 

PlayStation 5: amzn.to/3YXrmZk PS VR2: www.playstation.com/en-us/ps-vr2/ Disclosure: This hardware was provided by the manufacturer for purposes of review.

Norm is the person who got me excited about the possibilities of VR gaming way back in 2015-2016. Now, in 2023 I finally have the cash and space to get a PSVR2 as my first VR headset. Can’t wait to use it next week!!

Crazy how it has better specs than most PCVR headsets and still being cheaper, even including the price of buying the PS5. Can't wait to get my hands on this next week

I've been binging PSVR2 videos all morning and without a doubt, Norm's is the best review out there. Super detailed, but very well organized and presented. Great job!

Please do more reviews of PSVR 2 games & experiences later! We really love these 🙏

Glad you lumped your recommendations into categories. This is definitely a no brainer if you own a PS5, and don't have a PC to play high end VR games. Tons of games to play at launch if you haven't purchased all of the available titles on other headsets too. Can't wait to try this thing on in a week!

I’m so glad that Sony is making this! I don’t have a PS5 or plans to get one, but I do have an Index and I feel like the more VR headsets there are the better for everyone. It means it isn’t a dying platform. VR truly is special and hopefully lots more people will discover that now.

its crazy seeing how many reviewers haven't realized that the Y shaped bits on the headband are for storing the earbuds so they aren't dangling around

The more VR the better. I am a PCVR person but we need this for the masses. It is VR done right this time. So I am very happy to welcome you guys to good VR

THIS is the level of detail I've been waiting for from a review. Pixel density etc. Good job!

Norm is probably my most-trusted reviewer, and I thought he did an absolutely GREAT job with this review. Ultimately, it seems like his takeaway is that the headset is really good, but he just wants to see more games that truly take advantage of it. I can absolutely see if you've already got a decent PCVR headset with a bunch of games, you might hold off. For me, I don't own any VR games, so a launch with over 30 games seems like a lot - even if a lot are ports. The PS3 launched with 21 games, and the PS2 launched with 29 (and just 11 for the PS1). So, I don't think this is a poor lineup at all... but I DO get his point -- for many people it'll be worth waiting to see what's next before jumping in.

I've seen a running theme in PSVR2 reviews of people complaining about the games lineup. We aren't even at launch yet. No game console has launched with a million exclusive games. Like with everything else, the game library is going to fill out over time. Give it a year and there's gonna be tons of games for it.

One detail: turning off gaze tracking torns it off only for eye tracked controls (menus, aiming assists, etc.), but it doesn't turn off for foveated rendering, which remains active.

Coming from pc vr this is definitely done right and I'm getting it just to get the eye tracking and the hdr oled which I think are big features. As expensive as it is this would sell for $800-900 as a PC vr set easily.

I adore Tested's VR content. Thank you so much for this in-depth review.

Love me some VR. I'm still rocking the Rift S. It still holds up well! Been playing Skyrim VR. I think it's still my favorite VR game, especially with the seemingly infinite amount of mods that really make it an incredible experience. PSVR2 seems great! I hope the VR industry continues to grow and become more accessible.

If I'm going to spend money on VR, I just think that PSVR is a good choice. I'll need to look into games available, but the price and what you get for it is just too good to ignore.

I just tried vr for the first time ever this passed weekend and I have been debating since whether I should get pcvr or psvr2. I ended up choosing psvr2 and I am stoked for it to show up this week

Jeez, what a comprehensive and helpful review, thank you!

I'm one of those VR newbies w/ no VR experience and I'm super excited for this, mainly for GT7! All the other VR games are just icing on the cake, since they're all new to me! Can't wait! Thanks for your detailed review!

5:23 That room scanning feature is so futuristic, and it's NOW! Man, we are in the future. :D

PSVR1 came with a special short earbud cable that plugged directly into the rear of the headset. Also, nobody ever realizes the triangle looking holes on the side of the headset (both PSVR1 & PSVR2) are where you store the earbuds when you're done playing...

I'm hoping PSVR2 is a success and brings VR back to life after Facebook has killed it. VR has been dead in the water for years since Facebook bought up the market to turn into a mobile gaming system with low-effort developed games. What I really want is for Sony to push Valve to create more hardware and software for VR, help push VR forward, not backwards, like so many are doing. With that, maybe once Xbox gets rid of Phil Spencer and new blood at Nintendo take over, we will see a new generation of VR products connected to powerful consoles in the next 5 years. Restarting VR mainstream adoption and pushing developers to put effort and money into developing VR games. There is so much potential for VR, and very few are seeing it, or willing to put in the effort to learn from others instead of building something with ignorance.

glad to see all this new hardware and Norm / Tested getting back into reviews! :D

Beyond analysis of the angular pixels size compared to that of the PSVR2, most Quest 2 games will not render at 1:1 screen resolution after barrel distortion correction as been applied. For this to happen, Quest 2 must render ~1.7x the native resolution close to the center of the screen. Even if the Quest 2 game is rendering 1.25 or 1.5x the native resolution, this will still display as less than the native resolution of the device and appear softer. The reason PSVR2 looks sharper than the quest 2 is almost certainly because the PSVR2 is rendering closer to 1:1 on the final output, wheras the Quest 2 is typically rendering less than 1:1 on the final output. While the Quest2's resolution looks good on paper, it rarely showcases this resolution in actual games, and so is mostly a false representation of what to expect. There are a handful of examples on Quest 2 that show native resolutions. In Altspace VR and Bigscreen, you can set the multiple of the framebuffer size in the graphics option. A game called Sidequest game called H.A.X. features a super high resolution. Also the animation player can display high resolution if you toggle the "HD" button at the lower right of the menu.

God I really hope this thing grows the VR player base and we get more games across the board because of it. For PSVR and PCVR.

Thank you for explaining the IPD thing. I couldn't find details on it and your review gave me the reason why

Was looking forward to this review thanks Norm.

Best review so far ! Thanks ! Cheers from France

Norm, thank you for your reviews as literally everyone else on the internet pales in comparison per the thoroughness and quality you provide.

Outstanding review!

Real excellent review thank you for such an in depth review. My VR gets here tomorrow.

AFAIK the original PSVR has 2 variants, and seconds one come with a pair of in-ear just like this PSVR2. The attachment is very similar if not identical. I do have the second version.

Thank you for this, especially for covering the foveated rendering!

On the audio front, not sure why it wasn't mentioned but PSVR1 had a mid gen refresh that condensed the headset cables from two parallel cables into a single lighter one, moved the headphone socket and level controls up onto the headset, and also has pretty much the same custom removable earbuds piece as PSVR2. This minor "PSVR1.5" headset refresh was at the same time they updated the breakout box to support HDR pass through. A minor but welcome comfort upgrade that appears to have been kept as-is for PSVR2, which is great.

Great review, can’t wait for mine to arrive!

Can’t wait should be getting mine next week

Great, in depth and balanced review.

Comprehensive review and much apprieciated.

Honestly. PSVR2 is the Future that VR has promised to be for a long time. That standard we expect is finally here. Gran Turismo 7 and Resident Evil 8 are unmatched titles in VR, going back to a standard screen will never happen. The future is now.

Your reviews / previews are superb! Thank you Sir.

Thank you for the in depth review. I’m contemplating buying a unit. How many of you at 19:57 followed the dot as if you were setting up the PSVR2 for yourself?

been waiting for this one

the game launch lineup is actually one of the reasons im getting it day one and there are a lot more games at launch and because you cant play them early before launch doesn't mean the games are lacking

Finally the details I was looking for re: Cinematic Mode - thank you!

I miss hearing you and Jeremy geek out over new VR gear on the podcast!

The BEST PlayStation VR2 review!!! Detailed and thoughtful! Thanks!

Tested got me into VR back in 2014/2015. Also "a couple of years" since the PSVR launch? That was over six years ago.

The most informative review on psvr2! So great to see an objective review, only issue I see with vr2 is considering the lack of storage real estate even with an optional internal storage, not sure it is important enough for me to get vr2. Also all the charging requirement of the controllers add to all the other stuff in the game room. Maybe when serious racing sims support vr2 like Assetto Corsa and acc support this it will become more enticing! Nice design, and I am sure the old psvr games will at some point be emulated with free updates, hopefully!

I sincerely hope this succeeds. I am also interested to see what Valve conjures up next for Index 2

29:40 thank you so much for this clarification! I have been searching high and low for this, thinking that there would be compression artifacts because of using USB-C. Only think that sucks is that if it is proprietary, this will probably never work with a PC.

Great review, thanks for posting

Excellent review...many thanks

When i placed my preorder months ago, i was really hoping for an Astrobot announcement along the way :/ But I’ve mainly been playing gt7, so THAT announcement took me totally by surprise and now i can’t wait to play it

If you could use 3D blu rays in cinematic mode think they could have something there...

13:52 Thank you someone mentioned the grip buttons i was worried about them aswell. We all remember the garbage Vive grip buttons that had no travel time.

That GT 7 VR is going to give me all the pleasure of PCVR drifting without any of the god damn PC jank. I'll sit down behind my wheel.. Turn on the PS5, put the PSVR2 on my head and start driving... The ease of use is going to be a massive change of pace from the airlink/VD hellfest of the past 2 years.

Thanks for the great detailed review cheers.

I've got a second rift and have played a ton of VR, but I still ended up getting this headset. I've got the Fanatec wheel and I am in love with GT7. Also excited to try out Resident Evil 8 in VR.

This is great VR coverage

Very solid review! I only wish the video is cut into sections with a timeline.

great review thank you.

I'm so excited for this!

Finally someone with a lot of knowledge about vr hardware doing a review of it. I own a quest 2, and a gaming pc, but I also have owned every PlayStation so I own a 5 obviously as well. I’m getting psvr 2 mainly to be able to play on an oled. The quest 2 is the only gaming display I use that still has lcd. Also I really hate the compression over link/airlink and the extra latency you specifically notice with the touch controllers.

Hi , great content as always. How do you compare the visual clarity and sharpness of the PSVR2 compared to the Oculus Quest Pro?

well most people don have any vr, so this is awesome.

I can also vouch that the image quality in this headset is a significant upgrade over the Meta Quest 2. Which I think looks good but this looks great. But I also agree that if you have a 4K TV with Dolby Vision, you will still want to play your non-VR games on that versus in the headset. A perfect example is Hogwarts Legacy. Tried playing that in cinematic mode and even put on the special setting for 120hz in cinematic mode and it doesn't come close to my TV with Dolby Vision. I highly suggest having Gran Turismo for this because you can play that with a dual sense controller and be charging up the VR controllers while you do that. Plus it looks amazing and feels nice on a dual sense. I can only imagine if you have an expensive wheel accessory, It's even more sweet.

I'm probably very late with this since I mostly just watch the VR stuff but I guess Jeremy is no longer at tested? That's too bad, I thought they made a really good team with Norm.

Apparently the connection is virtualink and it does connect to graphic cards that have it. Unfortunately they ditched the connection on more recent cards and they are only available on top of the line 2080 series. It would be interesting if recent cards bring it back and drivers are developed to make it compatible to PC as well…

Can't wait to get mine next week

Thank you for sharing. 👍🏼

Thanks for the review. Tried any 3D movies? Either the 3D BD or other?

Any word on 3D bluray support?

great review. also the sweat spot and the field of view and ghosting are better if you are not use glasses. when you use vr without glasses your eyes can be nearer to the lenses compare to person who use glasses and the overall experience is way better compare to person who use glasses. in my opinion for its price psvr2 is a great vr headset compare to other expensive headsets.

Wow. I am very impressed with this video. Thumbs up man.

What a great piece of hardware! Excited for Wednesday!!

The last version of the PSVR1 also had the same earbud cable design and the port was also located in the band of the headset

Great review

Great review mate! Thank you! Question if I may, when playing in cinema mode do you have the option to play the audio through an amplifier or is it only through a headset? Thanks and g'day from downunder 🇦🇺😍

Norm providing more useful information about this in the first few minutes than the entirety of any other review I’ve seen. Man is a pro. Every other video is a mid-tier RU-vidr reading the press sheet verbatim with no useful insight whatsoever. Big up norm

This is very exciting. I wish the price for PS5 + Headset wasn't so high. But it seems worth it. I wonder if the moiré effect comes from the subpixel arrangement of OLED screens. Developers need to take this into consideration.

In case you were wondering, his shirt says "Mecha Godzilla"

norms the goat for VR reviews. a full scale astro bot 2 game has gotta be coming right? i felt like the ps5 intro thing was sony going all in on him as a mascot. i could see it getting announced around E3 season

The dual sense controller has led lights on the top of the controller. The inside out tracking only needs the cameras to look at the controller to track for it, in addition to the gyros it will be fine.

So excited to get mine

Awesome review

I think it's wild that there's no Astro game at launch, or even announced.

I've been waiting to go VR since 1992 - I think the time has come!

I had to buy one today hopefully it arrives this week. I need to experience VR for myself now that it has only one cable connection and 4K OLED displays with eye tracking. Also better controls for a more immersive experience. Can't wait to see the next Astrobot hopefully they give a remastered version of the first game.

Awesome i need this great norm sir

I've been using my Rift CV1 and never bought a new headset. My 3rd cable stopped working on my CV1 about 6 months ago and I've been waiting for the next great PC VR headset. Well, I bought a PS VR2 as I own a PS5. While I may buy Valves' next great headset I'm really looking forward to the PS VR2 headset. Pre-ordered and counting the days!

Very good review. I am looking forward to picking up PSVR2. I am so excited to see this for PS5.

I want to watch 3D movies with it!!

such a perfect combination with a console, like you said it comes down to the software in the end

Yeah if they really pushed open world games like cyberpunk and GTA it would be crazy imagine driving like Grand Turismo 7 then running around a mega city as a charecters now that would be insane especially running red lights jeez would be super fun kind of like blood & truth but a little bit more free roaming

I got mines can't wait til it comes in hopefully ps5 changes it to different versions like the quest

Great review i had psvr1 the problem i had was i had my knee operated on and couldnt stand for a lot of games and they required you to stand. Does psvr2 have an option where you dont have to stand? And use the controller when moving in a direction and shooting? If the pavr2 can do this im sold and will get one. Thanks

They aren't using regular fresnel lenses. They call it next-gen fresnel.

This is a fairly decent overview but with the audio solution you made it seem as though the ear buds connected in the back are new to PSVR2. They are not. Sony had already done this with a hardware revision with the original PSVR. Also the ear buds don't "just dangle". The soft spots on either side of the headset are where you store them when not in use.

@24:00 it's not just pixels per angle since the distortion is slightly different between different lens types, the true pixels per degree in the center foveated area may be slightly different