Pico 4 Enterprise Review

During the announcement of the Pico 4 VR headset, an enterprise version of the virtual reality headset was also announced, called Pico 4 Enterprise. A capable business VR headset with additional features crucial for enterprise use cases. But how does it fare against its closest competitor, the Meta Quest Pro?

In this comprehensive Pico 4 Enterprise review, we will cover its rich feature set, specifications, and performance, ending with a price comparison and conclusion. Ultimately, this is to help you decide on the best enterprise VR headset.

In this extensive review, we will cover:

• Pros and cons
• Specifications
• What is in the box
• Design and Comfort
• Ease of use
• Power and Performance
• Display
• Tracking
• App Store
• Streaming
• Sound
• Controllers
• Price
• Conclusion

Pros and cons of the Pico 4 Enterprise

Specifications of the Pico 4 Enterprise VR headset

Unboxing the Pico 4 Enterprise for the first time

Upon receiving the Pico 4 Enterprise box, you will notice a glossy white design that seems to be industry standard within virtual reality packaging today. Once opened, the VR headset is tucked safely inside, and what you will see is:

• 1x Pico 4 Enterprise
• 2x Pico 4 controllers
• 1x USB-C power adapter
• 1x USB-C to USB-C cable
• 1x Cleaning cloth
• 2x Controller lanyards
• 2x Glass Spacers
• VR Expert Product Guide

Design and Comfort of the Pico 4 Enterprise

Pico 4 Enterprise was designed to be worn without the top head strap. The reasoning is that a head strap can be uncomfortable, putting unnecessary pressure on the top of the wearer’s head while also messing up one’s hairstyle.

To achieve this goal, PicoXR – once again – placed the battery pack in the back, achieving a more comfortable weight balance. But it doesn’t stop there. The new Pico 4 Enterprise VR headset features the innovative pancake lens, an optics technology that enables a much slimmer and lighter form factor by shortening the distance between the wearer’s eyes and the display.

In practice, this feat of engineering means the Pico 4 Enterprise weighs only 295 grams without the headband, compared to the 395 grams of the Pico Neo 3 Pro. Its total weight clocks in at 586 grams compared to Neo 3 Pro’s 620 grams and Meta Quest Pro’s hefty 722 grams.

In our testing, the lighter weight translates to less strain on the bridge of the nose, which means the headset is more comfortable even after hours of use. As a side note, we also enjoyed the PU leather face cover, as it was easy to clean with a wipe with minimal sweat absorption.

The quickest telltale to know if your Pico 4 is the consumer or enterprise variant is to look at the front. The design of the Pico 4 Enterprise stands out with an attractive Gold sheen on the front visor compared to the Pico 4 consumer headset’s glossy black. The form factor looks like skiing goggles with a slight curvature on its visor and is dictated by the aforementioned pancake lens.

Additionally, we found the top velcro strap only necessary when using the headset for active purposes, such as outdoor training and simulation. For sedentary office and design use cases, the fit-wheel provided the headset to be sufficiently snug onto one’s head, alleviating the need for the top strap.

Overall the Pico 4 Enterprise aesthetic indicates a VR headset for productivity and business use cases.

Ease of use of the Pico 4 Enterprise

One of the key features of the new Pico 4 Enterprise headset is the automatic IPD adjustment. This means that upon taking on the VR headset, you will hear a tiny motor adjust the headset’s displays and lenses to be perfectly aligned with your eyes. The headset achieves this from its embedded eye tracking and makes using the headset straightforward and quick. We even found that it made the headset very compatible to be used by multiple people in the office. Something that also comes in handy at conference stands when numerous people need to use the headset in quick succession. Another perk of automatic IPD adjustment is that it alleviates simulator sickness, as this occurs from an unaligned headset with the wearer’s eyes.

If you find terms or abbreviations you haven’t encountered before, our comprehensive glossary for virtual reality will help you: The ultimate VR glossary of words, terms, and acronyms.

Getting started with the Pico 4 Enterprise VR headset means you need a Pico account. However, unlike the consumer version of the Pico 4, only basic information needs to be provided on Pico’s enterprise device, which means significantly less data is stored about the user than it is with Meta’s devices, for example. Registration can be completed on a PC, and we found the process swift and painless, taking about 2 minutes to complete. Furthermore, PicoXR offers a capable and user-friendly Mobile Device Manager (MDM). From that, you can wirelessly control each Pico 4 Enterprise headset separately, such as setting specific safety measures and updates.

After registration, setting up the tracking zone and guardian is also effortless. The reason is that the 16MP camera for full-color passthrough means you clearly can see your real world from inside the headset. This is not a surprising feature, as full-color video passthrough is becoming the industry standard for new virtual reality headsets. For example, Meta Quest Pro also features this capability. On Pico Neo 3 Pro, its video passthrough is black-and-white, which gets the job done, but it is more strenuous to set up the tracking zone as you see less detail.

Power and Performance of the Pico 4 Enterprise

The Pico 4 Enterprise is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1 chipset seen in most VR headsets today. A capable yet dated processing unit, introduced in late 2019, using the System-on-Chip infrastructure from the smartphone Snapdragon 865 chipset.

Despite the generation one processing, we found it capable of running most business applications with ease and done so power efficiently.

Regrettably, the Pico 4 Enterprise headset does not come with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ (Gen 2) chipset featured on Meta Quest Pro. A processing unit providing approximately 50% faster and more capable speeds than its Gen 1 predecessor. In practice, this can mean the Pico 4 Enterprise headset will encounter future complications as new VR software is released, requiring faster processing and graphical capability.

Where Pico 4 Enterprise has improved from the Neo 3 Pro is its RAM. Pico 4 Enterprise comes with 8 GB of RAM, whereas Neo 3 Pro only has 6 GB. Effectively, we saw a significant difference in how many applications the headset could run simultaneously. However, if we compare this to Meta Quest Pro, the headset has 12 GB of RAM. So while the processing and running of demanding applications were smoother on the Quest Pro, it does come with a higher price tag.

You can get a personalized assessment to see if your needs will be met by the Pico 4 Enterprise’s Snapdragon XR2 chipset by contacting our experts here.

Display of the Pico 4 Enterprise

One of the drawing features of the Pico 4 Enterprise is its visual experience. In fact, PicoXR announced it as its ‘best display to date’, which undoubtedly is the case. Numbers-wise, the Pico 4 Enterprise has a crisp resolution of 2160 x 2160 pixels per eye, delivering 35% better visuals than its competition. For example, the Pico Neo 3 Pro sports 1832 x 1920 per eye, with the new Meta Quest Pro having 1800 x 1920 per eye. In other words, the Pico 4 Enterprise has one of the most immersive and detailed displays on the market, which in our testing, meant we could read text easier and see the tiniest labels in simulations.

Secondly, what impressed us was its ultrawide 105° horizontal field of view, delivering a similar experience to Meta Quest Pro’s 106° FoV. We can’t overstate how immersive an ultrawide field of view is. For comparison, some VR headsets have a distinct ‘movie theater effect’ where it looks like you are in a darkened movie theater, as opposed to a virtual reality headset.

Similarly, we found the 90 Hz refresh rate on Pico 4 Enterprise plenty sufficient for most business applications tested. Sure, Quest Pro can be clocked to 120 Hz at the cost of battery life. But the difference, in our opinion, is barely noticeable to the human eye.

Lastly, we are extremely happy to find that Pico 4 Enterprise has integrated eye tracking. A feature that allows for numerous use cases and the prospect of dynamic foveated rendering on the headset. Dynamic foveated rendering is an innovation that optimizes the resolution to where you are looking in real time, blurring the display at the edges of your vision. In effect, this focuses computing to where it matters rather than rendering the whole scene on the screen. Dynamic foveated rendering is exciting as it can increase visual fidelity by up to ten times, making it feel like you are looking through a window rather than at a screen.

Tracking of the Pico 4 Enterprise

Like its consumer variant, Pico 4 Enterprise has five external tracking cameras in total, two at the top edges and two at the bottom edges, with one extra camera on the front of the headset. Comparably, Pico Neo 3 Pro has four external tracking cameras. The fifth extra camera on Pico 4 Enterprise is the 16MP full-color camera mentioned in the video passthrough. We found that it delivered impressive colored video passthrough for mixed reality purposes and decreased the instances of dead zones within the tracking for both hand tracking and the new Pico 4 controllers. In reality, we thought Pico’s first foray into native hand tracking was admirable and certainly useful, coming very close to Meta/Oculus Quest 2’s hand tracking.

Finally, the tracking area has also been increased to 10×10 meters, compared to the virtual reality standard of 8×8 meters.

Tracking has improved not only on the outside of the Pico 4 Enterprise headset but also on the inside. Two extra internal tracking cameras have been added for eye tracking – one for each eye – and one internal tracking camera for face tracking.

For eye tracking, we have tested such headsets using one camera versus two, and the difference in tracking fidelity and reliability is miles apart. Two eye-tracking cameras enable the tracking to be fast enough to follow micro-movements such as eye twitches, while the general smoothness of pupil tracking is remarkable.

Secondly, face tracking is relatively new for PicoXR, so we were excited to see how they would handle it. We can say that the added face-tracking camera mimics facial expressions quite realistically, making meetings more lifelike, and is something many remote workers would treasure.

While the tracking on Pico 4 Enterprise isn’t as comprehensive as Meta Quest Pro, featuring 16 tracking cameras between the headset and controllers and body tracking. We conclude that with Pico 4 Enterprise’s lower price point compared to the Quest Pro, its tracking options are exceptional.

Pico 4 Enterprise’s business app store

What is noteworthy about the Pico 4 Enterprise VR headset is that it allows sideloaded software and APKs on the device. This means businesses won’t have to publish their customized software on the Pico Store before installing it on the headset. Instead, enterprises can tailor their HMD specifically for their unique purposes. In fact, Pico 4 Enterprise’s operating system is Android-based and subsequently open-source, which means developing customized software is straightforward.

Furthermore, the Pico 4 Enterprise app store is unique from its consumer counterpart and offers productivity applications not seen on the Pico 4. In other words, we get the sense that PicoXR is continuing its focus on enterprises despite its foray into consumer virtual reality.

Streaming

In the past, we have praised the Pico Business Suite on its VR headsets, and it is worth pointing it out again. Pico Business Suite is centered around three pillars: synchronization, streaming, and kiosk mode. The second pillar, streaming, is completed through the helpful Pico Streaming Assistant, making the process user-friendly to set up. Furthermore, we knew ahead of release that the Pico 4 Enterprise headset would not feature a Display Port. In theory, eliminating the option for wired streaming for the VR headset. However, after exploring options, we found the included USB-C port able to stream wired to an external screen via the Pico Streaming Assistant software. It was also possible to play SteamVR content on the Pico 4 Enterprise via Wi-Fi or USB-C.

Alternatively, streaming can also be completed through the wireless dongle accessory. Although the wired connection was more stable, we found the synchronization between the headset and its streamed content using miracast quite well with only little latency. It is certainly capable of showcasing VR content on an external display. 

In the same context, Kiosk Mode on PicoXR’s devices – enabling the business to control access to specific content – has always been user-friendly and quick to enable. The same is the case for Pico 4 Enterprise.

Sound

As we concluded in the review for Pico 4, the consumer variant, the integrated speakers on this enterprise version are the same.

The headset does deliver a similar auditory experience to the Meta Quest Pro and is better than Pico Neo 3 Pro with a deeper bass, punchier mids, and clear highs. However, we always recommend using a pair of 3D audio-enabled Bluetooth headphones over built-in speakers.

Controllers

Another improvement from its old variant is the new Pico 4 Enterprise controllers with superior comfort and performance.

First, despite the controllers using optical tracking instead of LiDAR or IR, our testing of the new controllers performed admirably with minimal dead zones and general smoothness from a high tracking frequency. We speculate that it is due to the controllers’ diagonally pivoted tracking ring enabling a wider tracking area together with the extra tracking camera on the headset.

Secondly, care has been put into the feel and build quality of the controllers compared to the old ones for Pico Neo 3 Pro. In our stress testing, the new controllers had little wobble and give, with no loose bits clinging around.

Another surprise worth pointing out is the higher fidelity haptics featured in the new controllers. In fact, you can feel the difference between writing on a virtual whiteboard with a marker and a piece of digital paper using a pencil. It is a small feature, but something we found adds tremendously to its immersion.

Price

Contrarily to previous PicoXR VR headsets, the Pico 4 Enterprise HMD will come in one version of 256 GB of storage for the price of €899.

Interestingly, PicoXR decided not to include a secondary eye tracking variant as previously seen, indicating that eye tracking has become the industry standard for enterprise VR. With this in mind, the Pico 4 Enterprise is far superior to the Pico Neo 3 Pro, despite its higher cost. However, when we compare it with the eye tracking version, Pico Neo 3 Pro Eye, available for €749 – the final decision is more nuanced.

Nevertheless, the closest competitor of Meta Quest Pro, retailing for €1800, shows the Pico 4 Enterprise VR headset to be a far better deal regarding its rich feature set.

Conclusion

In many ways, the Pico 4 Enterprise VR headset is the new best enterprise VR headset for most use cases. However, when specific enterprise needs are to be met, the conclusion changes.

What is the best overall enterprise VR headset?

Hands down, the Pico 4 Enterprise offers the best feature set for its price point. The equation is simple: for half the price of Meta Quest Pro, you get a superior 4K+ resolution display, eye, face, and hand tracking, full-color video passthrough for mixed reality purposes, automatic IPD adjustment, and first-class comfort with 586 grams in an incredibly slim form factor. Yes, Meta Quest Pro has a faster processor and body tracking, but it is over double the price.

I am in the US – what enterprise VR headset is best?

Unfortunately, there is no update if Pico 4 Enterprise will be available in North America. In this case, we recommend the Meta Quest Pro.

What is the best enterprise VR headset – price is no issue.

If the cost doesn’t matter and you want the most advanced VR headset, we recommend either Varjo Aero or Varjo VR-3. However, we generally only recommend these advanced VR headsets for demanding design, development, and simulation use cases.

I want a VR headset with eye tracking: I don’t need the other bells and whistles.

In this case, we recommend the Pico Neo 3 Pro Eye. This headset is still admirable, and its eye tracking is solid. However, be cognizant of a smaller field of view, lower resolution, and no face and hand tracking.