A combination Nintendo Switch and Meta Quest
The Pimax Portal is an ambitious project that’s essentially looking to combine a Nintendo Switch with a Meta Quest. Running Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 chip, the device has more than enough power to run Android games or cloud gaming, and you can get it standalone if that’s where your needs end. What that’ll snag you is the 4K handheld, which comes in either LCD or QLED, plus the two joycon-like controllers, which attach to the side of the device (or each other) with some scary strong magnets. Seriously, be careful to avoid pinching.
But spend $100 more on a VR bundle, and you’ll also get a headset to slot the Portal into, plus two VR controllers. The Portal’s got 6 cameras on the back, allowing it to do room scale VR, and anecdotally, I found it was competitive with the Meta Quest 2 when walking around a virtual Grand Canyon while wearing it. Pimax claims it’s actually 50% faster, but we’ll have to review it ourselves to confirm that. -Michelle Ehrhardt
