Bigscreen Beyond 2

Bigscreen Beyond 2
Basic Info
VR/AR	Virtual Reality
Type	Head-mounted display
Subtype	PC-Powered VR
Platform	SteamVR
Creator	Darshan Shankar
Developer	Bigscreen Inc.
Manufacturer	Bigscreen Inc.
Announcement Date	21 March 2025
Release Date	June 2025 (first shipments)
Price	$959 USD (Beyond 2), $1,159 USD (Beyond 2e) as of August 31, 2026; launch prices $1,019 USD (Beyond 2), $1,219 USD (Beyond 2e)
Website	https://store.bigscreenvr.com/products/bigscreen-beyond-2
Versions	Beyond 2, Beyond 2e (with eye-tracking), Beyond 2e VRChat Edition
Requires	VR-ready PC, SteamVR Base Stations, VR Controllers
Predecessor	Bigscreen Beyond
System
Operating System	Windows 10 or 11 (PC requirement), Headset is a PC peripheral
Storage
SD Card Slot	No
Display
Display	Dual 1-inch Micro-OLED
Subpixel Layout	RGB stripe
Peak Brightness	Improved over Bigscreen Beyond
Resolution	2560 × 2560 per eye (5120 × 2560 total)
Pixel Density	Each pixel 7.2 μm wide
Refresh Rate	75 Hz (native), 90 Hz (upscaled via DSC from 1920 × 1920)
Persistence	Nanoseconds response times
Image
Field of View	116° diagonal
Horizontal FoV	108°
Vertical FoV	96°
Foveated Rendering	Yes (Beyond 2e only, via eye tracking)
Optics
Optics	Custom single-element pancake lenses
Ocularity	Binocular
IPD Range	53mm – 70mm mechanical adjustment (accommodates 48mm – 75mm user IPD)
Passthrough	No
Tracking
Tracking	SteamVR Tracking, (Outside-in via SteamVR 1.0 or 2.0 base stations, 6DoF)
Base Stations	Required (SteamVR 1.0 or 2.0, not included)
Eye Tracking	Yes (Beyond 2e only)
Hand Tracking	Supported via SteamVR compatible controllers
Rotational Tracking	Yes
Positional Tracking	Yes
Tracking Volume	Dependent on SteamVR Base Stations setup
Play Space	Dependent on SteamVR Base Stations setup
Latency	Low-latency eye-tracking (on Beyond 2e)
Audio
Audio	Bigscreen Audio Strap, or user's own headphones
Microphone	Not included (available with optional Audio Strap or user's setup)
3.5mm Audio Jack	No (on headset; Link Box may feature one)
Camera	No (Beyond 2e has tiny infrared cameras for eye-tracking)
Connectivity
Connectivity	5 m fiber-optic tether to Link Box
Ports	Link Box: 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 2x USB 3.0; Headset: USB-C accessory port
Wired Video	DisplayPort
Power	USB powered from PC
Device
Dimensions	143.1 mm (L) x 52.4 mm (W) x 24 mm - 49.2 mm (D) (headset only)
Weight	107 grams (headset only, without straps or face pad)
Material	Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer shell
Headstrap	Soft strap (included), Audio Strap (optional), Halo Mount (optional; first batch shipped June 2026)
Haptics	No
Color	Carbon Black, Crystal Clear, Nuclear Orange, Atomic Purple (VRChat Edition)
Sensors	Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Eye-tracking sensors (on Beyond 2e)
Input	Requires separate VR controllers, Valve Index Controllers
Cable Length	5 meters

The Bigscreen Beyond 2 is a lightweight PC-powered virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) developed and manufactured by Bigscreen Inc.. Announced on March 21, 2025, it is the successor to the custom-molded Bigscreen Beyond (2023). The second-generation headset retains the company's "smallest and lightest" design philosophy while adding adjustable optics, a wider field of view (FOV), improved brightness, and an optional eye-tracking edition called the Beyond 2e. At 107 grams, around one quarter the mass of a Meta Quest 3, it is marketed as one of the lightest commercially announced PC VR headsets. As of September 2026, the Beyond 2 starts at $959 and the Beyond 2e at $1,159, and Bigscreen lists both as in stock and shipping in 1-7 business days.

Reviewed 27 September 2026. Checked the new and changed pricing, shipping, backlog, regional expansion, Halo Mount, cushion, foveated rendering and VRChat Edition statements against Bigscreen blog posts, Bigscreen store pages, Road to VR and UploadVR. About review dates.

Overview

The Bigscreen Beyond 2 is a high-end virtual reality headset designed for enthusiasts and professionals who prioritize visual quality and comfort in extended VR sessions. The headset features dual Micro-OLED displays with a resolution of 2560 × 2560 pixels per eye and weighs only 107 grams without straps or face pad, making it significantly lighter than most consumer VR headsets.

The device comes in two variants: the standard Beyond 2 and the Beyond 2e, which includes eye tracking capabilities. Both models require SteamVR base stations for 6DoF tracking and a VR-ready PC to operate, as they do not include onboard processing capabilities.

History and Development

Bigscreen Inc., founded by Darshan Shankar in 2014, initially focused on developing social VR software before entering the hardware market. The company, which had fewer than 40 employees as of March 2025, released the original Bigscreen Beyond in 2023, which gained attention for being the smallest and lightest VR headset available at the time.

Following the launch of the first Bigscreen Beyond, the company aimed to address community feedback and further push the boundaries of VR immersion. The Beyond 2 was developed with a focus on significantly enhancing visual clarity and FOV through new pancake lenses, while also making the headset more shareable and comfortable.

Key Milestones

Date	Milestone
September 26, 2023	Original Bigscreen Beyond ships worldwide
March 21, 2025	Bigscreen Beyond 2 and eye-tracking Beyond 2e announced
March 2025	Orders open on Bigscreen's website for the US, Canada, Japan, the UK, Europe, New Zealand and Australia
Late June 2025	First production units ship to customers
December 22, 2025	Dynamic foveated rendering released in early access for the Beyond 2e
March 6, 2026	Bigscreen reports the pre-order backlog fulfilled; new orders ship in 1-3 business days
June 2026	First production batch of the Halo Mount ships to customers
August 31, 2026	Starting prices cut to $959 (Beyond 2) and $1,159 (Beyond 2e)

Launch and Delays

Initial shipping was scheduled for April 2025 for the Beyond 2 and May 2025 for the Beyond 2e. However, due to a printed circuit board (PCB) design flaw affecting controller tracking, the first shipments were delayed to June 2025.

Despite the delay, the Beyond 2 experienced exceptional initial sales, with Bigscreen reporting that it sold more units in the first 24 hours than the original Beyond sold in its first six months.

Bigscreen began shipping production units in late June 2025, starting with customers who had bought the original Beyond in the weeks before the Beyond 2 announcement. The company said it had sold more units in the first 11 days than it sold of the Beyond 1 in its entire first year, and it expanded its Los Angeles manufacturing to work through the pre-order backlog. On March 6, 2026, Bigscreen announced that it had fulfilled the backlog and that new Beyond 2 and Beyond 2e orders were shipping within 1-3 business days; it also said Beyond headsets had reached 1.00% of VR users in the February 2026 SteamVR hardware survey. In July 2026 the company reported more than 50,000 orders shipped since it began shipping hardware in 2023, and added China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Macao, South Korea, Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to the Beyond 2's sales regions, for a total of more than 50 countries.

Design and Features

Form Factor and Comfort

The Bigscreen Beyond 2 is notable for its extremely small form factor, with the headset body measuring 143.1 mm (L) x 52.4 mm (W) x 24 mm - 49.2 mm (D). It is CNC-milled from a carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer shell. The headset weighs 107 grams (without straps or face pad), a 16% reduction from the original Beyond.

At launch, a custom-fit cushion, generated from an iPhone face scan, was required for optimal fit, similar to its predecessor. Since August 31, 2026, the standard Beyond 2 has shipped with the Universal-Fit Cushion instead, an ultra-thin silicone lightseal supplied in soft and firm versions that needs no face scan; the Custom-Fit Cushion is an optional upgrade. For improved shareability and users without a compatible phone, Bigscreen initially planned to release an optional universal-fit Halo Mount in Q3 2025. This mount is designed to rest on the forehead, potentially eliminating the need for a custom face scan and allowing for eye relief and tilt adjustments. The Halo Mount was delayed several times. In December 2025 Bigscreen postponed mass production to make design changes based on feedback from testers of early units. The first production batch shipped to customers in June 2026, after which Bigscreen changed a plastic part that could break in some units to injection-molded metal, a change it said pushed the schedule back by about seven weeks. As of August 31, 2026, the company expected to ship the largest volume of Halo Mounts in October and to catch up on Halo Mount pre-orders in November 2026. The headset is available in three colorways: Carbon Black, Crystal Clear, and Nuclear Orange.

Optics and Display

The Beyond 2 features a new custom single-element pancake lens design. Bigscreen states these provide "dramatic improvements over Beyond 1 with total edge-to-edge clarity and a very large sweet spot." The new optics also aim to reduce lens glare and enhance brightness. The headset boasts a 116° diagonal FOV (108° horizontal, 96° vertical).

It utilizes two 1-inch Micro-OLED displays, each with a resolution of 2560x2560 pixels per eye (over 13.1 million pixels total) and an RGB stripe subpixel layout. Each pixel is 7.2 μm wide, and the displays feature nanosecond response times. The headset supports two refresh rate modes:

• 75 Hz mode: Displays native 2560 × 2560 resolution per eye.
• 90 Hz mode: Uses Display Stream Compression (DSC) to compress the signal to 1920 × 1920 per eye, then upscales to 2560 × 2560.

Interpupillary Distance (IPD) Adjustment

Unlike the original Beyond, which was manufactured in 18 different fixed IPD sizes, the Beyond 2 features mechanical IPD adjustment. This is accomplished using a small hex tool (the "IPD Tool") that allows users to independently adjust each lens position. The mechanical adjustment range is 53mm to 70mm, accommodating users with IPDs from 48mm to 75mm due to the large sweet spot of the lenses. This adjustment mechanism is designed to be ultralight.

Tracking

The Bigscreen Beyond 2 uses the SteamVR Tracking standard (Version 1.0 or 2.0) for 6DoF rotational tracking and positional tracking. This requires external SteamVR Base Stations, which are not included. It supports standard SteamVR accessories, such as body trackers and controllers like Valve Index Controllers.

Eye Tracking (Beyond 2e)

The Beyond 2e variant includes integrated eye tracking. This system adds only 1.05 grams to the headset's weight and uses AI-powered computer vision with tiny, grain-of-sand-sized infrared cameras for low-latency, privacy-focused tracking. It is integrated with SteamVR, OpenXR, and platforms like VRChat, enabling features like avatar eye-gaze. A beta program for foveated rendering in collaboration with Valve and Nvidia was planned for Summer 2025. Bigscreen released dynamic foveated rendering (DFR) for the Beyond 2e in early access on December 22, 2025. The titles it had tested at release were DCS World, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, iRacing, Kayak VR: Mirage and Pavlov VR; iRacing's implementation requires an Nvidia GPU, while DCS World and Pavlov VR use the OpenXR Quad Views technique through a separate utility.

Weight Comparison

Headset Weight Comparison (without straps/face pads)

Headset	Weight
Bigscreen Beyond 2	107 grams
Bigscreen Beyond (original)	127 grams
Meta Quest 3	Approx. 397 grams (headset only, estimated from total weight)
Apple Vision Pro	Approx. 478 grams (headset only, estimated from total weight)

Variants

Beyond 2

The standard Beyond 2 model includes all core features except eye tracking. It launched at $1,019 USD, with a discounted price of $849 for owners of the original Beyond. On August 31, 2026, Bigscreen lowered the starting price to $959 by making the Universal-Fit Cushion, rather than the $120 Custom-Fit Cushion, the standard facial interface. As of September 2026, the Beyond 2 Upgrade for Beyond 1 owners, which reuses the original headset's straps, cushions, Link Box and fiber optic cable, is listed at $849 for the Beyond 2 and $1,049 for the Beyond 2e.

Beyond 2e

The Beyond 2e variant includes all features of the standard model plus integrated eye tracking. It launched at $1,219 USD, or $1,049 for Beyond 1 owners. Its starting price fell to $1,159 on August 31, 2026.

Beyond 2e VRChat Edition

In July 2025 Bigscreen announced a VRChat Edition of the Beyond 2e, priced at $1,269 and scheduled for release in September 2025. It has the same hardware as the standard Beyond 2e, with a translucent Atomic Purple shell, hand-drawn packaging artwork and exclusive VRChat digital items. In September 2026 the Bigscreen store still listed the VRChat Edition, with its Atomic Purple shell, as a headset option.

Accessories

Audio Solutions

The Beyond 2 does not include built-in audio. Users can choose from:

• Bigscreen Audio Strap: An optional strap with integrated on-ear speakers.
• Third-party headphones or earbuds (can be connected to the PC or potentially a 3.5mm jack on the Link Box).

Mounting Options

• Soft Strap: Included with the headset.
• Halo Mount: An optional accessory originally planned for Q3 2025, inspired by night vision goggles, featuring fine-tuned controls for tilt and eye relief. As of September 2026 it is sold with the Universal-Fit Cushion for $180. Bigscreen states that the mount also has a flip-up mechanism.

Other Accessories

• Custom-fit cushions (require iPhone face scan)
• Prescription lens inserts
• 5-meter fiber optic cable (included)
• Link box (included)
• IPD Adjustment Tool (included)
• Cleaning Cloth (included)

What's in the Box

The standard Bigscreen Beyond 2 package includes:

• Bigscreen Beyond 2 Headset
• Soft Strap
• IPD Adjustment Tool
• Fiber Optic Cable (5 meters)
• Link Box
• Cleaning Cloth

Compatibility

The Beyond 2 maintains full compatibility with accessories from the original Beyond, including:

• Straps
• Cushions
• Cables
• Prescription lenses (Prescription lens inserts manufactured before 2025 are compatible with the Beyond 2 but not the Beyond 2e, while inserts manufactured in 2025 and later are compatible with all models).

System Requirements

• VR-ready PC
  • OS: Windows 10 or 11
  • CPU: Quad Core Intel or AMD (minimum)
  • RAM: 16GB (minimum)
  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 or AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (or newer, must support DisplayPort 1.4 and DSC)
  • Ports: 1 x DisplayPort 1.4, 2 x USB 3.0
• SteamVR Base Stations (1.0 or 2.0, required, not included)
• Compatible VR controllers (such as Valve Index Controllers, not included)

Target Audience

The Bigscreen Beyond 2 is designed for VR enthusiasts and professionals who prioritize high-quality visuals, a wide field of view, and an exceptionally lightweight form factor for extended comfort. It is particularly suited for applications such as flight simulation, sim racing, gaming, and virtual collaboration where visual fidelity and low weight are paramount. The reliance on external SteamVR Tracking and the need for users to provide their own controllers and audio solution make it ideal for those with existing SteamVR setups or those seeking a highly customizable, high-performance PC VR experience.

Reception

Early hands-on impressions praised the Beyond 2's improved optics, wider field of view, and reduced weight. UploadVR's Ian Hamilton noted the lenses were "clear to the edges with fewer distracting internal reflections" and called them "the world’s best pancake optics" with a "very large sweet spot." Road to VR highlighted the reduced glare compared to the original Beyond.

The headset's sales performance exceeded expectations, with the company reporting record-breaking pre-orders that led to initial batches selling out within hours. Some users and reviewers have noted the ongoing reliance on external base stations and controllers (which add to the overall cost if not already owned) and the 90 Hz mode's use of upscaling as potential drawbacks for some users, especially when compared to standalone headsets with inside-out tracking.

Images

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  Bigscreen Beyond 2 worn with its strap.

See Also

• Bigscreen Beyond
• Micro-OLED
• SteamVR
• PC VR
• Pancake lens
• Valve Index
• Meta Quest 3
• Apple Vision Pro
• Bigscreen Beyond 2 vs Bigscreen Beyond 2e