After five years with an HP Windows Mixed Reality VR headset, I looked over VR hardware choices in 2023 and decided to get a Valve Index. It has worked well through my first few sessions, and I wanted to write down my first impressions to see how they hold up after a few years. (In hindsight I wish I did this for my HP WMR headset when I got it in 2018.)

Reading various Valve Index reviews, the biggest recurring complaints focused on the display. The resolution is only incrementally higher than my five-year-old HP WMR headset. Compared against modern competition, it is lower than even the affordable Quest 2. Furthermore, it lacks the color and contrast of OLED panels used by some headsets in a similar price range. The redeeming feature of Index display is a high refresh rate of 120Hz with an experimental 144Hz mode available. While I know I would prefer OLED color and contrast, I don't think it would be a huge immersion breaker in VR. The same with resolution: I'm sure I would appreciate a higher resolution display, but it hasn't been a significant hinderance to my VR experience. What has been an actual problem were jerky movement. I decided I like Valve Index engineering team's decision to prioritize high screen refresh rate, and indeed motion has been noticeably smoother. (For low complexity content, at least. More on that later.)

But 120Hz refresh rate might not have been the sole contribution. Some of that might be due to the tracking mechanism of a Valve Index. Rather than using visual tracking with a pair of cameras, the Valve Index required external base stations to serve as lighthouses helping my headset (and controllers) figure out where they are in space. This was a minor extra hassle during setup, but not so much to justify the complaints I've read about their setup. Theoretically this type of tracking would be a more responsive system because it requires less computation than camera-based visual positioning. I know VR motion is smoother, I just don't know how much of that is 120Hz refresh rate, how much of that is beacon tracking, and how much is psychology.

A less-important but nevertheless appreciated bonus of beacon-based tracking is that my controller is no longer restricted to moving within a few camera cones of view. This came in useful for Half Life: Alyx which had two aspects problematic with the old headset. First is a motion where we put the controller over our shoulder to put stuff in our backpack, and the second is operating a mounted weapon late in the game. We have to aim with one hand on the rear of the large weapon, and fire with another hand on the handle midway up the left side of the weapon. In the real world this meant my left hand reached in front and the right hand near my chest. Problem: when looking up at the target, my HP WMR tracking camera couldn't see my right hand near my chest! That made it very difficult to aim and a frustrating encounter on the old headset. With the Index controllers, it was a nonissue.

On that front, controller position tracking is improved but still not perfect. On the old headset, if I held my hand in front of my face and kept it steady, its position would jump around by roughly 5mm. I had hoped the new headset's tracking system would fix this and keep it rock steady, but it did not. It still jumps around, though by a smaller amount. Maybe 2-3mm.

I really, really love Valve Index controllers, which were designed to allow me to open my hands without dropping them. Not merely for the VR immersion aspect, it also means less strain on my wrists because I don't need to keep a death grip to keep them from flying across the room. Another improvement is moving the tracking detectors from a front ring to an outside arc. This reduced the frequency of (but did not eliminate) times I whack controllers against each other in enthusiastic play. Hopefully they'll prove to be durable despite such abuse. I am worried about their shape, though. An advantage of rings is that, if I hit controllers against each other, the two rings would just bounce off each other.

In contrast, Index controller arcs have protrusions that can potentially snag on each other. It has yet to happen, so we'll see if my worries are unfounded. And finally, these controllers have built-in batteries rechargeable via USB type-C. More convenient than constantly removing, recharging, and reinstalling NiMH AA batteries.

Back to the headset, I like having built-in speakers that hover a few centimeters away from my ears. I no longer have to either route audio to external speakers, which loses positional audio effects, or use earbuds I find uncomfortable. Even better are eye adjustments: both front-back (focal distance) and narrow-wide (IPD, interpupillary distance) are adjustable with the Index, I no longer have to put up with not-quite-right fixed positions. These features add weight relative to the HP WMR, but the Index also has an additional third top strap to better distribute that weight. Altogether these features (especially the eye adjustments) result in a more comfortable headset.

A damaged cable and lack of support motivated me to retire my previous VR headset. Valve enlisted iFixit for repair support and has provided repair parts. If I damage my Index cable, I could buy a replacement for $129 unless I want to use that excuse to buy a new headset again. I also damaged the face surround foam on my previous headset and bought aftermarket replacements. Official Index face gasket replacements are available at $40 for a two-pack, which I consider reasonable. They are magnetically attached which allows easy removal for cleaning. And when I removed my existing unit for a closer look, I found this cool little design detail:

There's a tiny little ventilation slot molded into the top of this assembly. Airflow would be limited because of that lower tab blocking external light, but having this slot will help reduce the amount of humidity that gets built up inside a VR headset while in use. Small details like this show a great deal of thought went into design of this headset. I liked this headset enough to get a new PC worthy of it, and I hope they both hold up well to years of use in the future.