I was impressed with the original version of the ZyberVR ZERO Quest 3 Elite Strap. They have now released an improved version with the ACE Quest 3 Elite Strap, I have been putting that through the same tests as the ZERO to get an idea of the improvements made.
Release Date: January 2nd 2024
Brand: ZyberVR
Price: £40.00
Reviewed On: Meta Quest 3
* Product Provided For Review *
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
In the box you get the headstrap (no construction needed this time), the instruction booklet and a tip card about the product.
ATTACHING TO THE HMD
The headstap is very easy to connect to the Quest 3. You will need to flip the rear head pad over the top strap, twist the top wheel to loosen top strap and finally attach the side arms to the headset. That is it you are ready to go, with the new support for the top of your head, there is no top-strap to connect to the front of the HMD.
BENEFITS
The ZyberVR ZERO headstrap tackled the comfort for the Quest 3 perfectly, with the updated version the team at ZyberVR have tried to improve this further with the ACE. With offering improvements in reducing facial pressure, more suitable for glasses wearers, improving the technological design and making it widely adapted to different head circumferences.
Again the ACE is perfect for doing what it is made to do, and compared to the standard elastic strap you get with the Quest 3, this is going to make a massive difference when it comes to comfort, which is exactly what it is designed to do.
With the ZERO you can get a battery strap or a rear battery bracket, however, at this moment in time I can not see this being an option for the ACE. Maybe we will see something like this coming further down the line.
TESTING THE PRODUCT
I thought the best way to test this updated headstrap would be going into the same games I played to review to ZERO model.
So, over the testing I made sure to check out Samba de Amigo, Synth Riders and Outta Hand, to see how it handled more active games with more physical movements. This gave me some mixed results for the active side, where it felt it was even more secure and comfortable on my head. With being able to tighten the back and top of the headstrap with a dial, this made getting it perfect for my head shape easy but, it does loose some of that security on the front offered by the usual top strap design. This meant the HMD moved a little as this is only now supported by the side arms, where this is only minimal and never had me worried it would fall off, it can still sometimes be a distraction – especially on the rhythm games. Although, it has this movement, it was still an improvement over the movement I got with the base strap provided by Meta.
I then moved into playing Assassins Creed Nexus, STRIDE: Fates and Sniper Elite VR: Winter Warrior. For these games I found it performed on par with the ZERO, but as mentioned previously it allowed for the extra comfort as it felt more secure and comfortable for my head shape. These games give me chance to try games with some physical movement, general feel for gaming and tilting my head. I then decided to jump in Asgard’s Wrath 2 for an additional test to test out the combat in that as I do find myself moving and weaving more in this game than the likes of Assassin’s Creed, and again there was some slight movement on the HMD.
In regards to what the team have aimed to improve on, I found the facial pressure has reduced by not having the top of the head support from front to back with a Velcro strap, but as mentioned this does allow for the HMD to move a little when playing more physical games. So, it will depend on the user if they can put up with this over the less pressure on the face. With the new style of the over the head strap, I can see the improvements in regards to head shape and it being more widely adapted, as it was very easy to get comfortable and felt more securely attached to my head.
Unfortunately, I am unable to test how it is for glasses wearers as I don’t wear glasses.
THE VERDICT
ZyberVR has certainly made improvements with the ACE Quest 3 Elite strap with it performing better than the ZERO in the areas the strap was updated to improve, but it does come with some caveats. I feel overall the headstrap feels more secure and the new technology used on the top strap makes it more adaptable and easy to get comfy, while offering reduced facial pressure. But, removing the full front to back top strap, where it does reduce the pressure on your face, in most active games it will allow for some minimal movement of the HMD. Which in most cases this is not much of an issue, but when playing rhythm games it can distract you at times. With this in mind I think it will depend on each user whether this is the right headstrap for them, mainly depending on the type of gaming you are looking to do with your Quest 3.
