Woojer Vest 3 Review

The Woojer Vest 3 is unlike any other accessory I’ve used before. It’s a body-armor-like vest that allows users to feel their games, music, and movies. It’s an additional layer of immersion that can really enhance the experience, especially when it comes to VR gaming. However, it’s not a perfect product. Here is my review.

Good vibrations

So how exactly does the Woojer Vest 3 allow users to “feel” sound? Well, with the “six Osci TRX2 transducers,” this vest hits the upper body with vibration feedback. The intensity of that feedback can be fine-tuned, allowing users to decide just how strong of a punch of rumble they experience.

There’s a lot of pressure on the Woojer Vest 3 to deliver a solid first impression. Going into it, I was a little skeptical. I’d used rumble chairs before, which advertised a similar effect, and was pretty underwhelmed by them. The Woojer Vest 3, however, took me by surprise.

Enhancing game sounds

My first hour with the Woojer Vest 3 was spent trying out different games and steadily increasing the haptic intensity. 90% of the time, the experience worked as you’d imagine, with titles like Call of Duty delivering explosion feedback in places where you’d expect. The other 10% of the time, I’d expect feedback in some games and very little would happen. With that said, 90% success rate is pretty damn good!

Moving from the PS5 to a VR headset was where things got turned up a notch. It’s clear that VR is where the Woojer Vest 3 shines brightest. With players already immersed in the world with a VR headset and, ideally, headphones, the vest adds additional feedback that enhances the virtual reality experience beautifully. My favourite VR game, Half-Life: Alyx, became an even greater experience with the added rumbles.

After four hours of gameplay, during which I didn’t experience any discomfort, I was sold on the experience, particularly for VR.

Movies and music also work well with the Woojer Vest 3, though I’d definitely say gaming is what it’s made for.

The downsides

Though my experience has been very fun, there are a couple of downsides to note. The first is the occasional lag, where the vest takes an extra moment to trigger after something explosive happens in-game.

The second is how the vest is triggered by the audio output rather than an in-game integration, so it’s not that smart. While this works most of the time, there are some jarring instances where the vest is expected to do something but it just doesn’t.

Disclosure: Review sample provided by Woojer.