AWE EU – MeganeX Superlight 8K hands-on: impressive resolution but at a price

Yesterday was my first day at AWE Europe, and I have tried some very interesting devices there. My first test was with MeganeX Super Light 8KShiftall’s new headset with a very high resolution in a very compact design.

MeganeX Super Light 8K

Just a quick history of the MeganeX Superlight 8K, before we delve into the real meat of the practice. A few years ago, at CES, a steampunk-esque little headphones from Panasonic attracted the attention of the entire VR press. That prototype evolved into a headset developed by a Panasonic subsidiary called Shiftall (a company for which it is very important to remember that the “f” comes before the “t” and not the other way around). The headset was called Shiftall MeganeX: It didn’t have the previous steampunk look, but it was still a very compact headset.

MeganeX never shipped outside Japan and the company then announced a new headset, MeganeX Superlight, which combined high-resolution screens (2K x 2K) with a very compact design. Now this headset has also been demolished, and Shiftall has been acquired by another Japanese company called Creek & River Co., while still maintaining the partnership with its mothership Panasonic.

Shiftall has now announced another headset, MeganeX Superlight 8K, with an even higher resolution and a very high price. This is what I was able to try at the Panasonic stand at AWE Europe.

Specifications

These are some of the key specs of the MeganeX Superlight 8K, taken from the website:

• Display: 1.35 inch Micro-OLED / 10-bit
  • Solution: 3552 x 3840 per eye
  • Refresh rate: 90Hz
  • HDR: Supported
• Lenses: Pancake
• Interpupillary distance (IPD): 58-72 mm (electrically adjustable)
• Focus adjustment: 0D to -7D
• Audio:
  • Integrated speakers: No
  • Microphone: Built-in dual microphones with beam shaping
• Connectivity
  • PC: DisplayPort + USB 2.0
  • Headphone side: USB Type-C
• Weight: Less than 185 g

MeganeX Superlight 8K hands-on

I was able to try out two demos of this device, for a total time of about 10 minutes. Whatever consideration I write here just my first impressions about it. To write a reliable review I would need the device for a few days. So take what I write with a grain of salt.

Comfort

The MeganeX Superlight 8K is not called “Superlight” for an arbitrary reason: it is actually small and light. I was impressed with how this headset works can be so small and light yet so powerful in terms of resolution. I would like to make a comparison with the Bigscreen Beyond, but I haven’t had the opportunity to test a Beyond in person yet, so I can’t do that, sorry.

MeganeX claims that on its website the headset has a special design that guarantees no pressure on the face because there is a halo headband that you put around your head and ensures that the headset stays still on your head. Then the headset is simply rotated with a flip-up design so that it lies gently in front of your face. This statement is truebut it brings its own problems. The demo unit had clearly been overused so the folding point was a bit loose and so the headset was not stable in front of my eyes. I had to hold it still with one of my hands, which was not only uncomfortable but also resulted in the occlusion of the SteamVR sensors, often causing my screen to go gray. So the idea on paper is good to deliver a headset that isn’t uncomfortable on your face and all that you can flip up if you need to take a break from VR, but in reality, it only works as well as the hinge does its job well, and if it loosens over time, you have a problem.

The headphone functions two small knobs at the bottom, one on the left and the other in the right corner so you can Adjust the focus for both eyes. I performed this operation quite quickly, closing first one eye and then the other. Then I had the entire scene in focus.

Visual

Given the high resolution of the screen, I concentrated most of my attention on the images during the hands-on. Let’s start with the positive side of it: the resolution is literally incredible and so are the colors. I could observe no screen door effect (SDE is already almost gone on Quest 3, and this headset has 3x as many pixels as the Quest) and everything looked very fresh. Thanks to the OLED displays the colors were very bright and the black pixels looked really black and not grayish like on LCD headsets. I was impressed by this, the images were amazing. For comparison: the BigScreen Beyond has 2560 x 2560 pixels per eye, so in this category of compact headsets: the MeganeX SuperLight 8K really shines with its 3552 x 3840 pixels per eye.

But I couldn’t avoid noticing some problems: first of all there was a constant barrel distortion that I noticed in the footage. The first device I tried was presenting a 360° video and this effect was very noticeable (maybe there was something wrong with the device or with the video playback). The second unit I tried was a 3D environment that I could navigate the effect was much less obvious, but if I looked carefully at some straight lines I could observe it. Then the lenses gave a good image in the center, but its periphery showed clear signs of abnormalities, mostly sphericalbut also a bit on the chromatic side. As long as I was looking straight I was fine, but if my eyes wandered too much the effect was obvious. The eye box didn’t look too small. As for the FOV, I honestly haven’t paid much attention to it, but it looked a little less than the one on the Quest 3 headset I usually use. I suspect FOV is seen as a sore point for this headset as it is the only spec not listed on the website.

Audio

None of the experiences I was offered had audio. The headset does not have integrated audio and the website invites users to plug headphones into the USB-C port.

To follow

MeganeX Superlight 8K works with SteamVR tracking, which we all know is fantastic. The problem with such a small device is that because it is small, it provides few reference points for tracking as long as something blocks the headset, the tracking starts to have problems. This is what happened when I grabbed it with my right hand to hold it still: the headset started having massive tracking problems (probably also due to the poor positioning of the base stations in the cabin). This didn’t happen with my Vive, as it was large enough that a grabbing hand only occluded a small portion of it. Normally this shouldn’t be a problem, but I just wanted to mention it.

To assemble

The headset can be worn on the head using the headband, or it can also be installed on a “theatre handle” for casual, quick use. This is very good for public installations people should just try a quick passive viewing experience like a 360 video. You don’t want all the people wearing the headset because women ruin their makeup too. So you can just let people grab the handle and Gently place the headset close to the face for extra hygiene and comfort. This is a smart solution.

PC requirements

The minimum PC requirements listed on the MeganeX 8K website state a NVIDIA RTX3070 graphics card. I was told that during my testing the headset was connected to a laptop with a 4080 graphics card. I was experiencing some stuttering and the frame rate wasn’t great. The people at the booth told me that this is because laptops may have problems with this headset and it is better to use a desktop PC. Considering the very high resolution and the impossibility of using foveated rendering due to the lack of eye tracking, This headset requires a lot of computing power to work properly.

Price and availability

MeganeX Superlight 8K costs $1,899. It can already be ordered and shipping is expected in February-March 2025. The website claims that any order cannot be canceled and refunded. Before you buy it, you might want to make sure that MeganeX is actually releasing this device and not canceling it like the first two.

Of course, the price does not include other accessoriessuch as SteamVR base stations, controllers or audio headphones.

Final thoughts

MeganeX Superlight 8K is a device with some clear design choices that Shiftall decided to make. The company focused a lot on resolution and clarity and delivered incredibly well in this area. Also, size seems to be one of their main goals, and the headset is small and lightweight as advertised.

But these choices led to compromises on many other sides: the headset is incredibly expensive and also requires a very powerful and expensive desktop PC. There’s also no integrated audioso for now you have to pair it with external headphones, with all the practical disadvantages that entails.

If Shiftall manages to fix the visual issues I found (and this is a major “if”), especially the lens distortions, this could be a headset for people and companies that simply want a device with great resolution and a compact form factor and are willing to spend whatever amount of money it takes. Maybe some companies that need some prototyping work might be interested in this. But this is literally a niche in PCVR’s already niche market.

Let me know what you think of the MeganeX Superlight 8K in the comments below or on my social media channels! And subscribe to my newsletter so as not to lose the upcoming articles about the great hands-on sessions I had at AWE Europe!

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