• Review

Royole Moon - 3D Virtual Mobile Theater Review: No Thanks

Shacknews tried out a demo of the Royole Moon HMD at CES 2018, and we have had more hand-on time in recent weeks. How does the 3D virtual home theater hold up? Our review.

Greg Burke

February 27, 2018 4:20 PM

3

In a world of portable and wireless VR headsets, we have the option to play games almost anywhere. Whether games and experiences are good or bad (mostly bad) on portable headsets, the devices are still pretty amazing things. One has to wonder why not many companies have created a consumer head-mounted display that’s just a personal screen. The Royole Moon 3D Virtual Mobile Theater headset is the latest attempt at this product category and deserves a closer look.

Not VR!

To get the most confusing thing out of the way, this is not a VR headset. In no way does it work with your PC for any virtual reality games. The Royole Moon is a theater headset that displays a virtual HD screen in front of you. It doesn’t track movement or anything like that. It is a head-mounted display in the purest sense that it is a screen that you wear on your head. Royole Moon is meant to try and give you a movie theater experience without cluttering up your home.

How it works

The headset comes with built-in proprietary software that allows you to select files to watch. These files can be stored on the headset's power unit built in storage. The storage is not expandable and only has a measly 32 GB of space. Luckily, you aren’t limited to the onboard storage. The headset can receive signals from any device with an HDMI out, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or USB. This means users can plug in your Xbox One or PS4 into the Royole Moon and have their own personal man cave gaming theater, so to speak. The headset also supports 3D movies. I didn’t really enjoy watching movies in 3D due to the HMD being a little finicky with its “sweet spot” leading to 3D movies appearing a bit blurry. I stuck to 1080 HD non-3D titles. The headset has its own built in over-ear headphones as well that are also noise-canceling, however they are stereo as opposed to Dolby 5.1 or 7.1 speaker setups you would encounter in real home theaters.

Headset of the Future?

A few key things are instantly noticeable about the Royole Moon 3D mobile headset. The HMD is big and heavy, uncomfortably so. If you have a nose that’s too big or too small the weight alone can make the headset pretty unbearable to wear for the length of a full movie. Third parties have released a separate nose guard which can be purchased at an additional cost. It contains dual AMOLED displays that are 1080p each. The virtual screen seems small and the borders along the screen get blurry in your peripheral vision, dampening the experience while wearing the Royole Moon. One selling point for the headset is that it’s “mobile.” In the basic retail version you’re also given a soft case, which is honestly just a cloth bag. They sell a separate hard case travel bag, which really should be packed in considering the sheer weight and size of the headset will make you want to protect your investment. 

Shut Up and Take my…ah never mind...no thanks

The headset retails for $799.99, and this is where most of our readers will lose interest completely. Royale Moon is clearly not a “consumer” product at this price point, moreso an elitist toy. It’s probably why I’ve never seen a Royole headset anywhere in the wild, and I travel a ton throughout the year. Don’t buy this, invest in a VR headset. Better yet, pick up an iPad, tablet or Nintendo Switch. Honestly anything is better than this. Even Wendy's french fries.

Greg Burke

Head of Video

Greg is the head of Video Production for Shacknews. If you've ever enjoyed a video on Gamerhub.tv, it was most likely edited by him. Follow him on Twitter @GregBurke85.