Touching Holograms With Hololens 2 Is Amazing, But Phone AR Is Way More Fun

Sorry, but I’d rather play with Pikachu than a hologram hummingbird.

- Michael Simon

Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 (go.pcworld.com/mhl2) is a technically amazing device. In a matter of minutes, the device was comfortably strapped to my head, my eyes were scanned, and a small hummingbird was fluttering in front of my face and “landing” on my outstretched hand.

Then I looked to the right, and the hummingbird disappeared. Microsoft made a big deal of HoloLens’s two-fold increase in field of vision (FOV) over the original version’s (go.pcworld.com/mhlr), but it’s still small enough where I was very aware of the edges of the frame. It might look and feel like a VR headset, but it doesn’t behave like one at all.

It’s not really anything like the augmented reality (AR) apps on your phone, either. But it’s definitely a bridge to something better in the not-so-distant future.

That potential is what made my time with HoloLens so frustrating. While I can recognize that HoloLens 2 is obviously more technologically advanced than the Ikea Place AR shopping app on my phone, it doesn’t necessarily deliver a better experience than dropping virtual chairs in my living room.

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