Oculus Quest 2 – Advanced All-in-One Virtual Reality Headset – 128 GB
| Dimensions: | 26 x 18.7 x 12.6 cm; 1.76 Kilograms |
| Model: | 899-00187-02 |
| Batteries Included: | 4 AA batteries required. (included) |
| Origin: | China |
| Dimensions: | 26 x 18.7 x 12.6 cm; 1.76 Kilograms |
| Model: | 899-00187-02 |
| Batteries Included: | 4 AA batteries required. (included) |
| Origin: | China |
Exceeded our expectations the only negative thing I can say is the field of view isn’t great so it’s like looking through binoculars but the immersion you get from this headset for the price is simply amazing.
Sony made a big mistake not shipping out consoles fast enough because Oculus is taking over the future of gaming.
The era of 2D gaming is coming to an end as VR gaming is doing the impossible. It literally feels like I’m in the film ‘Ready Player One’. Why would I play CoD on PS when I can actually be there!
True story: I ran out of bullets and couldn’t reload my gun fast enough so I threw the gun at the enemy. I died but still, s*** was hilarious. Most fun I’ve ever had playing games, hands down.
Sony made a big mistake not shipping out consoles fast enough because Oculus is taking over the future of gaming.
The era of 2D gaming is coming to an end as VR gaming is doing the impossible. It literally feels like I’m in the film ‘Ready Player One’. Why would I play CoD on PS when I can actually be there!
True story: I ran out of bullets and couldn’t reload my gun fast enough so I threw the gun at the enemy. I died but still, s*** was hilarious. Most fun I’ve ever had playing games, hands down.
Sony made a big mistake not shipping out consoles fast enough because Oculus is taking over the future of gaming.
The era of 2D gaming is coming to an end as VR gaming is doing the impossible. It literally feels like I’m in the film ‘Ready Player One’. Why would I play CoD on PS when I can actually be there!
True story: I ran out of bullets and couldn’t reload my gun fast enough so I threw the gun at the enemy. I died but still, s*** was hilarious. Most fun I’ve ever had playing games, hands down.
We bought this as a big treat. We don’t usually buy such expensive gifts for the kids for Christmas but this was a one-off big joint gift, intended for the whole family to use.
I had debated about getting an Oculus for a while since the Rift. What had put me off the Rift was the need for a PC (which we didn’t have) so when the Quest 2 didn’t require a laptop I was quite pleased. Luckily I am not averse to connecting to Facebook because it does require you to have a Facebook account in order to play. I think I saw something about plans to make it so you don’t have to connect through Facebook but I’m not sure if or when that could be.
The safety features are great. They keep you in a safe area to play in and tell you when you’re coming out of it.
There appears to be plenty of free games on the internet to play on and the games to buy range from approximately 5 to 25 which is considerably less than you would pay for games on other systems.
We’ve had lots of fun with it so far.
Okay first off, is it worth the money? YES, Definitely! Buy one now, if you haven’t already!! Bought for my son for Christmas I set it up the evening before so it was ready to go on the Big day! Surprisingly I couldn’t find the USB-C charging port on the headset at the start because a thin piece of shipping paper was covering it, once off charging was a breeze although I thing the cable could be a bit longer, a mere 0.5m! 2.5hrs for a full charge with colour LED on side between stages, red = dead, amber = 50%, to green. Comes with 50% charge or just below, enough to set it up and gaze in wonder at what the heck you are looking at! Believe me this is far more than entertainment for kids, this is a completely different world! Even if you fall off something your body feels it, I think this is because in our brains we know what it feels like in real life so in VR it is the same because visually you are falling!! Scary as hell tbh but the best thing is you don’t break your legs or anything!! And anyway I just shut my eyes!! At one section of a space port I didn’t/dare walk off the edge with a drop of about 40 feet because my brain said I shouldn’t be so stupid! So I didn’t!! This is a very clever bit of tech, and there are about 30 free games to get u going at the start without paying for anything. But you will need a Facebook account and the app on your phone to start. Once that bit’s done you can use it solo, it doesn’t depend on wi-fi or the phone, only when you want to buy a new game or world. Graphics are excellent, better than 3D if that is possible, you can actually bend and turn your head to look under and around things like in real life, duck down if things come flying at you!! The Gaurdian Zone is really very effective at stopping you from launching yourself into stationary objects in the room, very clever safety system. Blue shows the barrier, red that you’re going to hit something. Only height is an issue if you have a typical living room lamp that hangs from ceiling, I’m going to change ours to a flush mount ceiling one as we have impacted the light at least 3 times so far!
Warning instructions very good and spot on to take it easy oldies/parents especially, few mins at a time to get your bearings and avoid falling over by losing your balance. I think kids are better at it as some have VR in schools, I know our lad does, so despite our warnings and adhering to them, he cottoned onto it very well. As the unit depletes battery in about 3hrs and takes 2.5hrs to charge again, it at least allows a natural break for recovery from any eye strain or slight dizzyness. The inside of the headset gets warm and a light film appears on the lenses at times, use a microfibre cloth to clean the surfaces every once in a while keeps the image clear or it may appear fuzzy. The headset is very adaptable to the head, doesn’t move around, a good fit and not uncomfortable. The handsets are also very easy to use once you figure out which is left and right!! I was dubious at first buying such an expensive unit but I can see the whole family enjoying this as although it is wi-fi I believe you can get a cable and even connect it to a PC. Not tried that yet. When my wife first put the headset on in the trial area she screamed in disbelief! It is incredible how a piece of technology can generate such a real life environment! Fabulous product!
Compared to what’s currently on the market, especially given the affordable price, I think this is a great product. I would definitely buy it again if I had to in the nearby future (towards end of 2022 however, I would reassess the options on the market)
The app possibilities are not as limited as I was expecting. This could also be the VR headset that reaches the tipping point towards mass adoption.
Not a fan of meta, and especially of the need to use a FB account, but I do enjoy the headset despite this.
This is a great product, maybe it’s the games that I downloaded but I have to admit I thought the definition would be better?
Takes getting used to orientation so I recommend a small burst 1st time You use it to avoid dizziness etc
Other than that I still feel worth the purchase price. ****
My son (11) and I have been to a VR place in London and loved it. I’d not really contemplated buying a unit of own until my cousin said how much her and his son (12) loved it. We’re 24 hours in with our Oculus 2 and both of us are blown away. The games vary, as all games do, but the experience is extraordinary and I wonder whether a simple screen will ever suffice again. I can see we’re going to spend a pretty penny over time, but very enjoyably!
I didn’t expect much from this quest 2 but I was pleasantly surprised how good the image quality is. Far better then Psvr in all ways which I also own. Thanks don’t feel so much motion sickness compared to the Psvr. You will need some upgrades like a better strap as the elastic I’ve is poor. I went for the elite battery strap with case and don’t regret it at all. So much fun for all the family. Soon Facebook will be able to unlink from oculus so that only bad thing won’t be for too much longer. Buy it as you won’t regret it.
Lovely piece of kit, amazing graphics and such a laugh to watch or play games on. The only thing to note though is that there are no games with it. So put aside 50 (at least) if its a present to buy some games.
Pros: Great resolution and amazing colors, controllers are very responsive, solid battery life and lots of possibilities for connecting with PC, Airlink feature works great on my system.
Cons: Requires Facebook account and most of the stuff apps etc you have to pay… that’s the main reason for 4 stars.
However, great value for money and experience you getting with this.
Let us be honest, it’s a hype that frankly for 299 I was reluctant but being a dad I was proven wrong. Again.
It’s well made and the kids love it, much better than us parents would remember the wii VR thing.
Still I think pricey for what you get though compared to a PS4 or Xbox for what they can do. Games, tv, online media, dvd, blu ray. Would think if Oculus want the market place they’d have an added box that steals the market from Sony and Nintendo.
I’m amazed it works as well as it does. Way better than I expected. No matter the VR you use/watch, it’s very convincing.
With some headsets I’ve used you can quite clearly see the pixels but, the Quest 2 is clear and crisp.
There is absolutely no noticeable lag during use and prevents a lot of the motion sickness issues a lot of people have. The room scale tracking works incredibly well allowing you to walk around in VR in your REAL room without the need for external units.
The headset can be uncomfortable when worn for a long time and the stock head-strap can be a pain to use.
The controllers are responsive and smooth. They must have touch sensors in the buttons because the fake fingers you see in games can track where your fingers are on the controller.
I’m yet to find a game my (short) kids can play properly. The height in many games doesn’t really seem to be adjustable.
5/5 from me. I love it. My 60+ year old mother loves it.
In all my years of using VR, from Vive to Index to Quest 2… I must say that I have not owned a better value VR device than this.
This little thing is fully capable of replacing any tethered PC VR headset, including the Valve Index. It has better displays, better lenses, is fully wireless and standalone. You can stream games from your PC to the Quest 2 over Wi-Fi. It’s SO affordable. This purchase should be a no-brainer.
The only downside is that this is made by Meta (Facebook). They notoriously collect a lot of data, and force you to log in using your Facebook social media account. I would not recommend buying many games on the Quest 2 store, because you may find that you become locked into the Meta (Facebook) eco-system later down the road.
I’ve owned a HTC Vive Pro (circa 1200) and I can honestly say the quest 2 holds up to the vive!! Hell it’s even better in some features. And what’s even better is you don’t even need a pc to play! (Although you can with a data cable, yes that means you can play your steam VR games too saving you having to rebuy)
This quest 2 is the new bench mark for affordable VR. Stop reading and buy i
I don’t usually bother wasting my time writing a review but the Oculus Quest 2 is amazing.
I’ve been a gamer for 30+ years and I’ve never been convinced on VR.. I just thought it was another gimmick that would disappear along with 3D TV’s, Kinect and the Power Glove.
But I’m happy to say that I was wrong and I now use my Oculus Quest 2 for not only gaming but for multimedia. It’s great sitting on my sofa and watching a movie on the cinema screen with the BigScreen app (indulging 3D movies).
Battery life could be better but I just end up plugging it in to an external power bank and that works fine for me.
Although the cheap head strap they provide does the job at the start, I’d personally recommend upgrading it to the BoboVR M2 or something similar asap just for more comfort and stability.
I have played video games since I was 7 or 8 (now mid-forties) but I must admit I am genuinely impressed by the fully immersive experience provided by the Quest 2. This is truly the future of gaming but also many other usage. Considering I only paid 249 (with an extra 50 Amazon discount code), amazing value for money.
I had tried VR before through the Samsung Gear VR headset, which works with my Samsung S10 phone. Works well and excellent value for money. However, there was a lot of screen door effect (visible pixels) and the lens would always get foggy quickly. Also, the Gear VR does only what’s called “rotational tracking” (3DoF), basically tracking head movements.
With the Quest 2, the screen door issue is gone and the lens never seem to get foggy, probably because the device itself is warm while being used (due to CPU etc.).
Of course, the headset is much better too as it can track the user moving within a space or room (called “Positional Tracking”, 6DoF). It’s no longer just about moving your head, it’s also about moving your body within a set space. Basically, the headset has a number of built-in cameras that can track the room and determine the position of the player within that room. No external sensors are being used. Truly impressive technology. It’s possible to “draw” on the floor some limits, which will show as “virtual walls” within games, so that the player doesn’t bump into something or kicks some items or walls. It’s also possible to just have a smaller standing limit (basically just a circle).
The tracking of the controllers is impressive too, extremely precise, in all directions. It’s now also possible to just track hands instead of using controllers, but not all apps or games support this yet.
Some excellent immersive games available, and I do like the fact it’s possible to cancel the purchase and get a refund if a game has been used less than 2 hours (and was bought less than 14 days ago). Basically, a way to try games, without risks.
Lots of free games, 3D animation and 360 videos too, of varying quality.
It’s also a great idea to have included a silicon cover so that the headset foam is protected, as a lot of sweating can happen on some games. The silicon cover can be easily removed and cleaned.
The only drawbacks so far are:
* battery life of the headset is quite short (around 3 hours) but can always carry a battery pack and USB cable while playing
* videos are less convincing than 3d animations, even in very high resolutions
* Many of the games are quite expensive, considering the usually shorter game time compared to more traditional games
* it would have been good to be able to extend storage via a micro SD card
* needs quite a lot of empty space, probably at least 2m x 2m else it’s quite constraining on many games
* casting to my Samsung TV hasn’t worked so far (but there are other options available, like Casting to a Chrome browser or the Oculus app itself)
I have played video games since I was 7 or 8 (now mid-forties) but I must admit I am genuinely impressed by the fully immersive experience provided by the Quest 2. This is truly the future of gaming but also many other usage. Considering I only paid 249 (with an extra 50 Amazon discount code), amazing value for money.
I had tried VR before through the Samsung Gear VR headset, which works with my Samsung S10 phone. Works well and excellent value for money. However, there was a lot of screen door effect (visible pixels) and the lens would always get foggy quickly. Also, the Gear VR does only what’s called “rotational tracking” (3DoF), basically tracking head movements.
With the Quest 2, the screen door issue is gone and the lens never seem to get foggy, probably because the device itself is warm while being used (due to CPU etc.).
Of course, the headset is much better too as it can track the user moving within a space or room (called “Positional Tracking”, 6DoF). It’s no longer just about moving your head, it’s also about moving your body within a set space. Basically, the headset has a number of built-in cameras that can track the room and determine the position of the player within that room. No external sensors are being used. Truly impressive technology. It’s possible to “draw” on the floor some limits, which will show as “virtual walls” within games, so that the player doesn’t bump into something or kicks some items or walls. It’s also possible to just have a smaller standing limit (basically just a circle).
The tracking of the controllers is impressive too, extremely precise, in all directions. It’s now also possible to just track hands instead of using controllers, but not all apps or games support this yet.
Some excellent immersive games available, and I do like the fact it’s possible to cancel the purchase and get a refund if a game has been used less than 2 hours (and was bought less than 14 days ago). Basically, a way to try games, without risks.
Lots of free games, 3D animation and 360 videos too, of varying quality.
It’s also a great idea to have included a silicon cover so that the headset foam is protected, as a lot of sweating can happen on some games. The silicon cover can be easily removed and cleaned.
The only drawbacks so far are:
* battery life of the headset is quite short (around 3 hours) but can always carry a battery pack and USB cable while playing
* videos are less convincing than 3d animations, even in very high resolutions
* Many of the games are quite expensive, considering the usually shorter game time compared to more traditional games
* it would have been good to be able to extend storage via a micro SD card
* needs quite a lot of empty space, probably at least 2m x 2m else it’s quite constraining on many games
* casting to my Samsung TV hasn’t worked so far (but there are other options available, like Casting to a Chrome browser or the Oculus app itself)
I thought VR was a gimmick, and for the most part it still is. But it is a very fun and very affordable gimmick with the current Quest 2.
Even if you don’t plan to play games, and almost end up throwing up after spending 30 minutes manically swinging a virtual sword in my living room, the Quest 2 is still worth it.
You can watch Netflix in a home cinema environment, watching it on a huge screen was awesome! Purchasing Virtual Desktop from the Oculus Store allowed me to stream directly from my PC so I could watch Funimation for my anime fix (not Crunchyroll because they like DRM ********!). It also gives you access to the Steam VR library of games too as the Quest 2 doesn’t have a huge catalogue of games.
Obviously you won’t get 4K resolution but it is still quite passable, playing from the Quest itself (since it is a standalone unit that runs and stores it’s own games) does come with a performance and fidelity loss. A lot of the games cater to that though, so at least they run reasonably well.
I am pretty keen to try out some fitness apps, even being able to lift my weights in a virtual environment sounds fun. Although lifting weights while blind might not be a great idea, then again, I’ve managed to drop them on my face even with being able to see.
And well, I’m glad I bought this, I couldn’t find an Xbox Series X or PS5, and after the troubles I have had recently with broken games on the XBOX and Microsoft illegally refusing refunds, and not being able to contact anyone directly regarding it. They can take a long walk off a short cliff.
I thought VR was a gimmick, and for the most part it still is. But it is a very fun and very affordable gimmick with the current Quest 2.
Even if you don’t plan to play games, and almost end up throwing up after spending 30 minutes manically swinging a virtual sword in my living room, the Quest 2 is still worth it.
You can watch Netflix in a home cinema environment, watching it on a huge screen was awesome! Purchasing Virtual Desktop from the Oculus Store allowed me to stream directly from my PC so I could watch Funimation for my anime fix (not Crunchyroll because they like DRM ********!). It also gives you access to the Steam VR library of games too as the Quest 2 doesn’t have a huge catalogue of games.
Obviously you won’t get 4K resolution but it is still quite passable, playing from the Quest itself (since it is a standalone unit that runs and stores it’s own games) does come with a performance and fidelity loss. A lot of the games cater to that though, so at least they run reasonably well.
I am pretty keen to try out some fitness apps, even being able to lift my weights in a virtual environment sounds fun. Although lifting weights while blind might not be a great idea, then again, I’ve managed to drop them on my face even with being able to see.
And well, I’m glad I bought this, I couldn’t find an Xbox Series X or PS5, and after the troubles I have had recently with broken games on the XBOX and Microsoft illegally refusing refunds, and not being able to contact anyone directly regarding it. They can take a long walk off a short cliff.
Just one Fatal Flaw … any one with an android tablet will appreciate this, usb port getting damaged when connecting power cable unplugging/plugging. The exact same thing happens when tethering to your PC a cable to a headset and you start moving around. Will assume lots of headsets will be returned – needs a bit of a re-think. I’m using a picture velcro strip to hold the cable neatly to the headset. Wireless is the way to go if you can. Great fun! And would recommend one.
Bought this as part of the Black Friday promotion. Graphics obviously way better than the samsung VR headset I had before. However the weight distribution is ridiculous.
Since all the weight is concentrated the front, it feels far too heavy and pulls against the back of your head. I can’t imagine wearing this for more than 5 minutes, let alone hours on end.
I was waiting until I received the headset before deciding whether to buy the elite strap as it could be an unneccesary expense. However don’t hesitate, I’m sure if I continue using the headset as it is I will definitely have headaches.
I think the elite strap should have been included as part of the actual headset, as the design is obviously flawed. If enough people had complained originally I’m sure facebook would have bundled the strap with it.
Bought this as part of the Black Friday promotion. Graphics obviously way better than the samsung VR headset I had before. However the weight distribution is ridiculous.
Since all the weight is concentrated the front, it feels far too heavy and pulls against the back of your head. I can’t imagine wearing this for more than 5 minutes, let alone hours on end.
I was waiting until I received the headset before deciding whether to buy the elite strap as it could be an unneccesary expense. However don’t hesitate, I’m sure if I continue using the headset as it is I will definitely have headaches.
I think the elite strap should have been included as part of the actual headset, as the design is obviously flawed. If enough people had complained originally I’m sure facebook would have bundled the strap with it.
Bought this as part of the Black Friday promotion. Graphics obviously way better than the samsung VR headset I had before. However the weight distribution is ridiculous.
Since all the weight is concentrated the front, it feels far too heavy and pulls against the back of your head. I can’t imagine wearing this for more than 5 minutes, let alone hours on end.
I was waiting until I received the headset before deciding whether to buy the elite strap as it could be an unneccesary expense. However don’t hesitate, I’m sure if I continue using the headset as it is I will definitely have headaches.
I think the elite strap should have been included as part of the actual headset, as the design is obviously flawed. If enough people had complained originally I’m sure facebook would have bundled the strap with it.
Bought this as part of the Black Friday promotion. Graphics obviously way better than the samsung VR headset I had before. However the weight distribution is ridiculous.
Since all the weight is concentrated the front, it feels far too heavy and pulls against the back of your head. I can’t imagine wearing this for more than 5 minutes, let alone hours on end.
I was waiting until I received the headset before deciding whether to buy the elite strap as it could be an unneccesary expense. However don’t hesitate, I’m sure if I continue using the headset as it is I will definitely have headaches.
I think the elite strap should have been included as part of the actual headset, as the design is obviously flawed. If enough people had complained originally I’m sure facebook would have bundled the strap with it.
Bought this as part of the Black Friday promotion. Graphics obviously way better than the samsung VR headset I had before. However the weight distribution is ridiculous.
Since all the weight is concentrated the front, it feels far too heavy and pulls against the back of your head. I can’t imagine wearing this for more than 5 minutes, let alone hours on end.
I was waiting until I received the headset before deciding whether to buy the elite strap as it could be an unneccesary expense. However don’t hesitate, I’m sure if I continue using the headset as it is I will definitely have headaches.
I think the elite strap should have been included as part of the actual headset, as the design is obviously flawed. If enough people had complained originally I’m sure facebook would have bundled the strap with it.
I was put off for a long time from buying this by the requirement to join facebook as mandatory. I broke and joined facebook to get one of these and I absolutely dont regret it. You can play all the vr games from the app store, enjoy immersive ad educational 3d travel experiences. You can plug it into a pc (as long as its powerful enough) and play steam games over wifi and data link. I think this could be a game changer for widespread vr adoption.
Text is far easier to read than the OG vive and the inbuilt speakers are not terrible. I have had issues with SteamVR mirroring the Quest 2 via Steam Link on a pi 4, but have since switched to casting instead which works 90% of the time.
What was more of a surprise is that the Quest 2 games (non PC VR games) are actually pretty good. The image quality is not Half Life Alyx good or Lone Echo but most VR games are not big on the visuals anyway.
All in all I’m happy with the purchase and it’s nice to replay some games I already had without the need for Revive.
Other than that it’s a great standalone headset.
Just don’t put kids under like 13 in it, I’ve found kids in social games to be very toxic and destructive to the games. If you are going to at least monitor them while they play.
– It can be used standalone, no PC needed
– have a look at the oculus store for games before you buy if using standalone
– it has a fantastic “guardian”, this means if you are playing in a small space and you set a perimeter, when you go too near the edge you can set it to warn you or even better (my fav setting) you then see the room you are in to stop yourself walking into something.
– the guardian seems to remember which rooms I have setup before, so when I’m in a room I played in a few days ago, the guardian is done
– you can set guardian to stationary mode (yes you become those weird walking players in Phasmaphobia)
– speaking of Phas, that game is the one game that causes me a bit of giddyness – this is not the headset, but the way the game moves you by joysticks
– You Cannot play Phas without a PC
– playing VR on a PC, I have played steam VR to play Phas and pavlov and other games. Steam also has an Oculus VR mode (it asks you)
– you can play wired or wireless to your PC. This is fantastic as I plan to try playing my PC games wirelessly while in the garden! (I have good IT setup for WiFi coverage)
– wireless is in beta mode. A pro gamer would prefer the oculus link, but I haven’t noticed any difference yet. You need to turn it on in beta settings by downloading oculus setup to your PC and finding beta tab.
– you can use your hands as controllers (without the handsets) you pinch to select. Not all games support this but its great for saving the battery of the handsets and can be a feature you enable and jump between hands and handsets without having to tell it.
– remote into your PC. I tried virtual desktop and the oculus link. Both cool for different reasons. If you have lag on one I would try the other. I bought virtual desktop before I realised oculus link was free.
– when you remotely connect to your PC you get a warning about the frequency of your home Internet hub. By standard these are normally broadcasting 2.5ghz but if you can work out how to remote into your hub and turn on the 5ghz then the headset would work faster on that. I setup a separate channel called myinternetname-5Ghz. Not all devices support this channel (yet). You will want you PC wired to your hub.
– my favourite games so far! Beat saber, play alone, play online but whatever you do makes sure you light saber the blocks away in beat to the music! Pistol Whip (and select the double gun setup – one in each hand). This game is amazing – you feel like John Wick and you have a great workout (when my husband tried this he made the headset padding very wet from sweat!)
Sorry I have written so much, I just feel this information was hard to find. I thought I’d have to return it when it couldn’t do what I wanted but now we are considering one each so we can play multilayer games online.
Enjoy yours!
(oh and all the negative comments are about FB, you need a FB account because that’s who owns Oculus. Don’t get your account locked out and you will be fine)
First off, before you consider buying one of these, if you own a desktop computer, you owe it to yourself to buy a USB 3.0 type A to type C cable (now called USB 3.2 Gen 1, just to be confusing), or a decent Wi-Fi 6 router if you intend to go the air-link route, in order to use desktop VR.
Otherwise, this headset is an absolutely fantastic standalone unit capable of playing some decent titles independently of a desktop, with some of the best tracking I’ve yet tried in a headset.
The one downside you’ll face is that your oculus account is tied to Facebook, and Facebook has a tendency to be a bit trigger-happy with account deletions and permanent bans, which to a degree seems to be teething pains from entering the gaming space.
OK so I’ve had these for a little while now about 5/6 months and the first thing I’d like to note you have to have a Facebook account and connect it through use of your phone or laptop/pc and also you have to install and or buy everything so make sure you expect to spend money and download the app as that’s how you buy and download now.
The graphics and game play obviously depends on the games but practically a 3d version of 4k. And the sound quality is OK but I prefer speakers.
And the battery life isn’t great but atleast you can get 2-4 hours before the battery dies (depending on the game) and the strap around the head can be awkward with I guys is why they brought out a pack for extra battery and headstrap.
All in all good product and arrived on time, great for all ages (again depending on what games you buy) as long as atleast 1 person has their Facebook connected then anyone can play on it.
Oculus have made a huge jump here.
With the price being so low you’d think that it wasn’t very good… But it is quite the opposite
Using the headset on standalone, it is able to run games extremely well. And there have been a few updates to increase the refresh rate of each eye panel to 90Hz which makes the experience much more smooth and immersive.
I bought a 15 cable to plug it into my PC which allows me to play Steam VR games at better quality, so its great that Oculus give you that option.
Nevertheless, for the price, this ticks all of the boxes and more for an entry level VR headset.
Fantastic vr set and amazing value for money my brother has just ordered one aswell lol. Highly recommended set I bought elite strap and a case for this aswell highly recommended an elite strap pack as the elite strap is very comfortable. Battery is decent 3hours with a full charge or less depending if gaming or watching movies. Very happy with product. Make sure you have a Facebook account for this headset to log in to set it up. UPDATE… APPARENTLY NO FACEBOOK ACCOUNT IS NEEDED ANYMORE whoppie lol also don’t forget to get some amazing games from Applab on sidequest to help along your way for vr may i reccomend spark ball pool FREE ON APPLAB and PAVLOV also AIM XR all free through applab. The vr set is very very sturdy crystal clear screen and games look fantastic. Meta quest 2 is a must have for any vr gamer and with great games lined up on the way like Gta san andreas I CANT WAIT on vr and resident evil aswell as sniper elite all on vr what you waiting for. Still the cheapest standalone vr headset no wires needed at all to play strap your controllers in and play away.
Some general advice:
Clarity is amazing on the device providing your eye position is on the sweet spot; blurriness and astigmatism does happen if the headset drifts. Elite strap helps with the stability and weight balancing (would wait until they fix their current issues though).
There are 2 types of lenses used in manufacture. Make sure the lenses have a crystal like shine to them and the lines within are not just white when a torch is shined in. Look for blemishes and scratches.
Don’t play with the hinged sides too much as a friend says it caused the speaker to start buzzing when loose.
Don’t constantly pull out the cushion interface frame as it has been known to fitigue and come off easily woth overuse.
Quality control is not great I’ve heard but if this is your first headset, its still an amazing experience regardless; chances of getting a dud is low looking at the reviews.
Very pleased with the headset otherwise; I put the warnings first as I feel people will assume the product to be hardy but extra care is required for longevity. Games on the Quest are expensive, so would wait for sales events. Browsing the internet and watching movies feels like being in a cinema, uses are very diverse especially with the ability to play PCVR games with air link providing your PC is VR ready.
Some general advice:
Clarity is amazing on the device providing your eye position is on the sweet spot; blurriness and astigmatism does happen if the headset drifts. Elite strap helps with the stability and weight balancing (would wait until they fix their current issues though).
There are 2 types of lenses used in manufacture. Make sure the lenses have a crystal like shine to them and the lines within are not just white when a torch is shined in. Look for blemishes and scratches.
Don’t play with the hinged sides too much as a friend says it caused the speaker to start buzzing when loose.
Don’t constantly pull out the cushion interface frame as it has been known to fitigue and come off easily woth overuse.
Quality control is not great I’ve heard but if this is your first headset, its still an amazing experience regardless; chances of getting a dud is low looking at the reviews.
Very pleased with the headset otherwise; I put the warnings first as I feel people will assume the product to be hardy but extra care is required for longevity. Games on the Quest are expensive, so would wait for sales events. Browsing the internet and watching movies feels like being in a cinema, uses are very diverse especially with the ability to play PCVR games with air link providing your PC is VR ready.
Some general advice:
Clarity is amazing on the device providing your eye position is on the sweet spot; blurriness and astigmatism does happen if the headset drifts. Elite strap helps with the stability and weight balancing (would wait until they fix their current issues though).
There are 2 types of lenses used in manufacture. Make sure the lenses have a crystal like shine to them and the lines within are not just white when a torch is shined in. Look for blemishes and scratches.
Don’t play with the hinged sides too much as a friend says it caused the speaker to start buzzing when loose.
Don’t constantly pull out the cushion interface frame as it has been known to fitigue and come off easily woth overuse.
Quality control is not great I’ve heard but if this is your first headset, its still an amazing experience regardless; chances of getting a dud is low looking at the reviews.
Very pleased with the headset otherwise; I put the warnings first as I feel people will assume the product to be hardy but extra care is required for longevity. Games on the Quest are expensive, so would wait for sales events. Browsing the internet and watching movies feels like being in a cinema, uses are very diverse especially with the ability to play PCVR games with air link providing your PC is VR ready.
Some general advice:
Clarity is amazing on the device providing your eye position is on the sweet spot; blurriness and astigmatism does happen if the headset drifts. Elite strap helps with the stability and weight balancing (would wait until they fix their current issues though).
There are 2 types of lenses used in manufacture. Make sure the lenses have a crystal like shine to them and the lines within are not just white when a torch is shined in. Look for blemishes and scratches.
Don’t play with the hinged sides too much as a friend says it caused the speaker to start buzzing when loose.
Don’t constantly pull out the cushion interface frame as it has been known to fitigue and come off easily woth overuse.
Quality control is not great I’ve heard but if this is your first headset, its still an amazing experience regardless; chances of getting a dud is low looking at the reviews.
Very pleased with the headset otherwise; I put the warnings first as I feel people will assume the product to be hardy but extra care is required for longevity. Games on the Quest are expensive, so would wait for sales events. Browsing the internet and watching movies feels like being in a cinema, uses are very diverse especially with the ability to play PCVR games with air link providing your PC is VR ready.
My experience with this Oculus it’s for the most part regarding comfort. The device is excellent, easy to set up, easy and intuitive to use. My opinion is that it’s actually too heavy for the elastic adjustable default strap. It definitely needs more support. Every now and so often (too often to my liking) I need to adjust the position of the Oculus on my face as the vision gets blurred. It’s something that happens every five minutes, if I’m playing a very chilled game such as fishing, but if I start playing something in which I have to move more, such as beat saber, these adjustments are happening more often. Obviously investing in such a device it’s going to be worth it also investing in a better support. Any another experience that I’ve had so far with this device is to be considered absolutely positive.
I absolutely love this thing. There’s nothing that hasn’t been said already. I use this in conjunction with the app “Virtual Desktop” to wirelessly stream my PC to the headset. My PC is VR Ready so I can play SteamVR games with ease and use my computer wirelessly with no drop in quality!
The official support for this wireless gameplay has released as “Airlink” as of this review, but I have no experience with it. The post release support of this HMD makes it a must-have device. You might not get the fidelity and tracking of a Valve Index, but it’s only 400!
Having the ability to wirelessly play without a PC is liberating too, Gorilla Tag is a personal favourite of mine and Beat Saber is always good fun to play with others.
I bought this as a like for like replacement for the Rift S. Right off the bat the default strap is bad, like shockingly bad. You either need some sort of padding for the back (which you can purchase), the elite strap or one of the aftermarket straps to make this thing sit comfortably on your head, the default strap basically makes it feel like your head is participating in some strange bondage fetish with the headset itseful doubling as someone sitting on your face. Coming from the rift s halo strap this is a definite area.
The other major complaint I have is that the battery life is fairly anemic (two hours +/-, your usage might vary). Due to the nature of Li-Ion batteries I expect this to further degrade over time. You’ll almost certainly have to run this tethered to the pc or to a battery bank.
To the rest though, visual quality is definitely better, responsiveness is good, unit is smaller than the rift 2 and more importantly the price point is very very good. I’d say if you are looking to do what I did and replace the Rift S then the 64GB version is fine, the 256GB one is a lot of overkill.
What made me pull the trigger finally on this one is the fact that you no longer need to sideload the VR Desktop software, with this you can literally seemlessly stream VR over your wifi from your pc. In the next few months Oculus will replace this with Air link so it will just get better. To be able to play any VR game without any wires is just a game changer for me.
Lastly I was also pleasantly surprised at some of the quality of life improvements to the headset, namely the ability to double tab the side of the headset to activate pass-through, it’s amazing to be able to quickly switch this on and off when needed.
Summary: Now the only reason I gave this 4/5: low battery and the crap-tastic og strap, seriously what were they thinking with that pos.
I bought this as a like for like replacement for the Rift S. Right off the bat the default strap is bad, like shockingly bad. You either need some sort of padding for the back (which you can purchase), the elite strap or one of the aftermarket straps to make this thing sit comfortably on your head, the default strap basically makes it feel like your head is participating in some strange bondage fetish with the headset itseful doubling as someone sitting on your face. Coming from the rift s halo strap this is a definite area.
The other major complaint I have is that the battery life is fairly anemic (two hours +/-, your usage might vary). Due to the nature of Li-Ion batteries I expect this to further degrade over time. You’ll almost certainly have to run this tethered to the pc or to a battery bank.
To the rest though, visual quality is definitely better, responsiveness is good, unit is smaller than the rift 2 and more importantly the price point is very very good. I’d say if you are looking to do what I did and replace the Rift S then the 64GB version is fine, the 256GB one is a lot of overkill.
What made me pull the trigger finally on this one is the fact that you no longer need to sideload the VR Desktop software, with this you can literally seemlessly stream VR over your wifi from your pc. In the next few months Oculus will replace this with Air link so it will just get better. To be able to play any VR game without any wires is just a game changer for me.
Lastly I was also pleasantly surprised at some of the quality of life improvements to the headset, namely the ability to double tab the side of the headset to activate pass-through, it’s amazing to be able to quickly switch this on and off when needed.
Summary: Now the only reason I gave this 4/5: low battery and the crap-tastic og strap, seriously what were they thinking with that pos.
I bought this as a like for like replacement for the Rift S. Right off the bat the default strap is bad, like shockingly bad. You either need some sort of padding for the back (which you can purchase), the elite strap or one of the aftermarket straps to make this thing sit comfortably on your head, the default strap basically makes it feel like your head is participating in some strange bondage fetish with the headset itseful doubling as someone sitting on your face. Coming from the rift s halo strap this is a definite area.
The other major complaint I have is that the battery life is fairly anemic (two hours +/-, your usage might vary). Due to the nature of Li-Ion batteries I expect this to further degrade over time. You’ll almost certainly have to run this tethered to the pc or to a battery bank.
To the rest though, visual quality is definitely better, responsiveness is good, unit is smaller than the rift 2 and more importantly the price point is very very good. I’d say if you are looking to do what I did and replace the Rift S then the 64GB version is fine, the 256GB one is a lot of overkill.
What made me pull the trigger finally on this one is the fact that you no longer need to sideload the VR Desktop software, with this you can literally seemlessly stream VR over your wifi from your pc. In the next few months Oculus will replace this with Air link so it will just get better. To be able to play any VR game without any wires is just a game changer for me.
Lastly I was also pleasantly surprised at some of the quality of life improvements to the headset, namely the ability to double tab the side of the headset to activate pass-through, it’s amazing to be able to quickly switch this on and off when needed.
Summary: Now the only reason I gave this 4/5: low battery and the crap-tastic og strap, seriously what were they thinking with that pos.
I bought this as a like for like replacement for the Rift S. Right off the bat the default strap is bad, like shockingly bad. You either need some sort of padding for the back (which you can purchase), the elite strap or one of the aftermarket straps to make this thing sit comfortably on your head, the default strap basically makes it feel like your head is participating in some strange bondage fetish with the headset itseful doubling as someone sitting on your face. Coming from the rift s halo strap this is a definite area.
The other major complaint I have is that the battery life is fairly anemic (two hours +/-, your usage might vary). Due to the nature of Li-Ion batteries I expect this to further degrade over time. You’ll almost certainly have to run this tethered to the pc or to a battery bank.
To the rest though, visual quality is definitely better, responsiveness is good, unit is smaller than the rift 2 and more importantly the price point is very very good. I’d say if you are looking to do what I did and replace the Rift S then the 64GB version is fine, the 256GB one is a lot of overkill.
What made me pull the trigger finally on this one is the fact that you no longer need to sideload the VR Desktop software, with this you can literally seemlessly stream VR over your wifi from your pc. In the next few months Oculus will replace this with Air link so it will just get better. To be able to play any VR game without any wires is just a game changer for me.
Lastly I was also pleasantly surprised at some of the quality of life improvements to the headset, namely the ability to double tab the side of the headset to activate pass-through, it’s amazing to be able to quickly switch this on and off when needed.
Summary: Now the only reason I gave this 4/5: low battery and the crap-tastic og strap, seriously what were they thinking with that pos.
This was my first experience of a VR headset…. and it is amazing. The fact that you can do this using a standalone headset is fantastic. The headset is comfortable even using the stock head band supplied…. but I am sure that can be improved by those offered by other 3rd parties. I wear prescription glasses but the VR effect was still great, but did reduce the wearing time. I will be ordering prescription lenses that can fit over the Quest 2 lenses to avoid me having to wear my specs. The battery time is OK but I will be reviewing options to improve this. I will be also investigating how to use it for PC VR games etc. by link-cable/wireless connectivity in due course … once I make my PC VR ready! but there is a decent amount of free and relatively inexpensive material on SideQuest and other sources. Highly recommend it.
First impressions were pretty good, I had no issue setting up the device or connecting to the PC via the link cable. The few PCVR games I tried ran well. I also used SideQuest to load some dedicated third party games to the headset via link cable, as well as few native titles from the Oculus store. All was fine and ran as I expected. Since then I have moved to Virtual Desktop/AirLink and play PCVR wirelessly. This is much better and made me realise how cumbersome the cable hanging out the side of the headset is when you’re playing! Wireless VR is definitely the way forward in this respect. Battery life is pretty good considering, some 2-2.5 hours playtime and around 2 hours to charge. This is an obvious restriction to wireless play, as you are governed by the battery, but at the same time forces you to take a break whilst it charges.
Unfortunately, one week into ownership, the device suddenly failed! Every time I booted it, it would report overheating and immediately shutdown. Nothing would work, factory reset made no difference, so I contacted Amazon and they immediately dispatched a new device and collected the faulty one. This was a very impressive turnaround. At this point I was quite concerned about the build quality, but over a month later with the replacement and so far it has no hardware issues. This brings me onto the lenses. Having now had two separate Quest 2’s I can say that the quality of the lenses isn’t as good as I would expect. I noticed blurring/smearing and god rays on both if you’re looking anywhere but dead centre as the sweet spot is so small, you must have the perfect IPD to get absolute clarity, which can be difficult with only 3 settings. It appears lens quality is an issue, with countless people reporting this and again this is down to build quality and keeping prices low, as some people have had up to five replacements to get “perfect” lenses!
With the relatively low price of the device, I have also had to make a few quality of life purchases. Firstly I got prescription lenses as wearing glasses in the headset was a hassle and not too comfortable. I then got a replacement faceplate with luxury cushioning. This really helped, as it was quite painful on my forehead after 45-60 minutes on the standard one. The replacement has all but eradicated this problem, as being comfortable when wearing the headset is paramount. I would probably consider getting an elite head strap or similar next, but the standard elastic has not really been that uncomfortable for me, so it’s not a priority at the moment, especially as build quality is reportedly quite flimsy/breakable.
Another issue is firmware updates, Meta/Oculus seem to push them quite regularly and they are mandatory, so if something breaks via firmware (such as Guardian/Tracking in v27), you’re basically stuck until the next release. They are adding a lot of new features such as 120Hz refresh and AirLink (which is basically Oculus’s native Virtual Desktop), but I think they need to spend a bit more time beta testing for stability rather than rushing these features out. You obviously need a Facebook account to use the Quest 2, but as I’ve had an account for years, I’m not too bothered, although I know that does irk some.
Overall it’s a good entry for either standalone or PCVR, but the shortcomings of cost cutting do mean some negatives. This ultimately means spending more money to improve the experience and of course, there’s still the questionable build quality. I would therefore rate the Oculus 2 four stars.
UPDATE: After almost a year I’m still happy with the product, it’s come a long way in terms of its software (now on v37 at time of this). It’s not without its issues though, tracking, guardian and bugs with firmware seem commonplace with every release. Also, the fact they discontinued the 64Gb version a few months after I bought it and replaced with 128Gb for the same money would’ve irritated a lot of customers. The support is also poor, they only ever seem to refer to a “factory reset” with any problems without really having any technical knowledge of any particular situation.
I had not exercised in 2 years and now I workout 3 times a week before work, in VR. One of my best mates got one and now we hang out all the time even though he lives 500 miles away. Being able to do sociable activities during the Covid pandemic has been amazing. This is the future of entertainment AND long distance interaction.
I can’t wait to see where this technology will go next.
I had not exercised in 2 years and now I workout 3 times a week before work, in VR. One of my best mates got one and now we hang out all the time even though he lives 500 miles away. Being able to do sociable activities during the Covid pandemic has been amazing. This is the future of entertainment AND long distance interaction.
I can’t wait to see where this technology will go next.
I have been into VR for over 4 years. My first headset was the Rift, and I loved it but time had come to ‘upgrade’ and so I decided to get the Quest 2 256gb, and I wasn’t disappointed. It arrived quickly and well packaged, I love the sleek design and it fits pretty well. The resolution is fantastic, a huge step up from my Rift. The apps are okay, but very limited, however, once I connected my headset to my PC I was able to run all my games which I played through the Rift, and so no problem. Overall, very pleased indeed, and the price is excellent. My only issue is the standard head strap which comes with the Quest is not very good and the head set keeps sliding down my face and sitting on my nose. I knew this could be an issue and so I had already bought an Elite head strap and fitted that.
Some great games, Beatsaber, Topgolf, Darth Vader, Fishing, Superhot, Saint and Sinners and I’ve not even tried Half Life yet.
Google Earth, go anywhere in the mapped world!
3d Movies, absolutely superb, I hate 3d in Cinemas…this is excellent.
Streaming my PC to the Oculus wirelessly, perfect.
And more to come I am sure
The sound without headphones is really impressive around the ears, what they do with directional sound in amazing. Not very bassy but if you want to play and hear your friends or the front door bell, it’s perfect.
I almost regretted buying the 256GB version but now I rip 3d movies to it, it soon fills up.
The fact they used Android to base this thing on was the best thing Facebook could have done. There are so many mods to do, it becomes really multiuse.
The fact I can throw it in a case and take round my friends to play, awesome and the main reason I bought one.
Fantastic. One slight drawback, battery power. Buy a pack or a long charging cable or VR games parties round your friends don’t last long!
I had previously owned a Rift so when they announced Rift and Rift S were not going to be supported I bought a Quest 2.
Its lighter than the Rift and the headset had built in tracking which is a godsend as the bane of my life was cables for the rift and then tracking stations which never worked properly.
With this its easy to set up and use and you can put games directly onto it or run them through a wireless desktop link if you need a more powerful machine which is cool and still no wires.
My mine issues are the battery life is not great, secondly the eye spacers dont work fully and it means you have a bit of visual distortment, almost ruins the experience as I want to feel immersed.
Then there are a few games but not enough in a modern resolution for my liking.
I love the warhammer game, but the Graphics feel like they should be back in early 2000. We need more content and better immersive graphics.
Hopefully in time it will come
I pre ordered and received on release day, after having it for a few months I feel I can write a decent review.
I bought this for gaming and had played around a bit on the first Quest but not long enough to really get to grips with it.
Very impressed, you have a huge amount of social and communication options, not only is it great for gaming but also most social activities and in lockdown, it really does come into it’s own. You can watch films together in the Big Screen app (virtually sit in a cinema with friends or family), you can do activities, play games in Rec Room or other similar apps, have a meeting, go fishing, fitness, the list is really endless and great fun to actually see the person you know, move and react in this environment.
It can also be utilised for work as well which would make it mega fun and a great way to communicate in a meeting. Definitely some great options to assist all types of people struggling to communicate better in lockdown.
From a gaming perspective, there’s a good choice of games which is growing almost daily. The User Interface is easy to use and fairly similar to the Xbox, pretty easy to get around.
Oculus have recently made it easier for independent game developers to publish third party games onto their store which is great, it means that games are only going to get better in the long term.
The graphics are decent enough for the money, I would liken it to the Nintendo Switch quality, easily good enough and when you experience it so close up and you’re immersed into what you are doing, it’s very convincing.
Multiplayer options like Echo VR, Blaston, Arizona Sunshine are fantastic playing side by side with your friends in multiplayer, it’s such an awesome experience.
Battery life is decent but you can easily connect a portable battery to the unit with a third party strap and case to the back of the head or belt line, which I have now done and gives you hours and hours of extra playing time. Probably more than you need!
Battery life on the controllers is excellent, for what you get from one double AA battery in each controller is pretty impressive ! Probably about 50 hours gaming time.
The head strap itself is okay for short periods but a little more could have been spent on this to make it more comfortable. The Elite strap is well worth getting, otherwise your head feels like it’s being pressured around the back after a while of using.
You also get a glasses attachment that sits in just before the lens, this is really useful as just provides enough space for you to have your glasses on.
The whole ‘sickness’ thing doesn’t affect me too much but it can with some people who suffer with travel sickness or vertigo type problems. The Rollercoaster app/game does set me off after a while but nothing else really other than that.
Also love that you can cast what you are seeing through the Oculus, on to the TV, tablet or phone. You can do this via the Oculus app on a phone or tablet, or you can cast it to a Chromecast or similar streaming device to a TV, which is great as then it becomes even more social for people that are with you.
Overall I would say totally worth the 399 for the 256gb, if you’re spending that kind of money then the 100 to upgrade from the 64gb version seems like a no brainer.
I pre ordered and received on release day, after having it for a few months I feel I can write a decent review.
I bought this for gaming and had played around a bit on the first Quest but not long enough to really get to grips with it.
Very impressed, you have a huge amount of social and communication options, not only is it great for gaming but also most social activities and in lockdown, it really does come into it’s own. You can watch films together in the Big Screen app (virtually sit in a cinema with friends or family), you can do activities, play games in Rec Room or other similar apps, have a meeting, go fishing, fitness, the list is really endless and great fun to actually see the person you know, move and react in this environment.
It can also be utilised for work as well which would make it mega fun and a great way to communicate in a meeting. Definitely some great options to assist all types of people struggling to communicate better in lockdown.
From a gaming perspective, there’s a good choice of games which is growing almost daily. The User Interface is easy to use and fairly similar to the Xbox, pretty easy to get around.
Oculus have recently made it easier for independent game developers to publish third party games onto their store which is great, it means that games are only going to get better in the long term.
The graphics are decent enough for the money, I would liken it to the Nintendo Switch quality, easily good enough and when you experience it so close up and you’re immersed into what you are doing, it’s very convincing.
Multiplayer options like Echo VR, Blaston, Arizona Sunshine are fantastic playing side by side with your friends in multiplayer, it’s such an awesome experience.
Battery life is decent but you can easily connect a portable battery to the unit with a third party strap and case to the back of the head or belt line, which I have now done and gives you hours and hours of extra playing time. Probably more than you need!
Battery life on the controllers is excellent, for what you get from one double AA battery in each controller is pretty impressive ! Probably about 50 hours gaming time.
The head strap itself is okay for short periods but a little more could have been spent on this to make it more comfortable. The Elite strap is well worth getting, otherwise your head feels like it’s being pressured around the back after a while of using.
You also get a glasses attachment that sits in just before the lens, this is really useful as just provides enough space for you to have your glasses on.
The whole ‘sickness’ thing doesn’t affect me too much but it can with some people who suffer with travel sickness or vertigo type problems. The Rollercoaster app/game does set me off after a while but nothing else really other than that.
Also love that you can cast what you are seeing through the Oculus, on to the TV, tablet or phone. You can do this via the Oculus app on a phone or tablet, or you can cast it to a Chromecast or similar streaming device to a TV, which is great as then it becomes even more social for people that are with you.
Overall I would say totally worth the 399 for the 256gb, if you’re spending that kind of money then the 100 to upgrade from the 64gb version seems like a no brainer.
I pre ordered and received on release day, after having it for a few months I feel I can write a decent review.
I bought this for gaming and had played around a bit on the first Quest but not long enough to really get to grips with it.
Very impressed, you have a huge amount of social and communication options, not only is it great for gaming but also most social activities and in lockdown, it really does come into it’s own. You can watch films together in the Big Screen app (virtually sit in a cinema with friends or family), you can do activities, play games in Rec Room or other similar apps, have a meeting, go fishing, fitness, the list is really endless and great fun to actually see the person you know, move and react in this environment.
It can also be utilised for work as well which would make it mega fun and a great way to communicate in a meeting. Definitely some great options to assist all types of people struggling to communicate better in lockdown.
From a gaming perspective, there’s a good choice of games which is growing almost daily. The User Interface is easy to use and fairly similar to the Xbox, pretty easy to get around.
Oculus have recently made it easier for independent game developers to publish third party games onto their store which is great, it means that games are only going to get better in the long term.
The graphics are decent enough for the money, I would liken it to the Nintendo Switch quality, easily good enough and when you experience it so close up and you’re immersed into what you are doing, it’s very convincing.
Multiplayer options like Echo VR, Blaston, Arizona Sunshine are fantastic playing side by side with your friends in multiplayer, it’s such an awesome experience.
Battery life is decent but you can easily connect a portable battery to the unit with a third party strap and case to the back of the head or belt line, which I have now done and gives you hours and hours of extra playing time. Probably more than you need!
Battery life on the controllers is excellent, for what you get from one double AA battery in each controller is pretty impressive ! Probably about 50 hours gaming time.
The head strap itself is okay for short periods but a little more could have been spent on this to make it more comfortable. The Elite strap is well worth getting, otherwise your head feels like it’s being pressured around the back after a while of using.
You also get a glasses attachment that sits in just before the lens, this is really useful as just provides enough space for you to have your glasses on.
The whole ‘sickness’ thing doesn’t affect me too much but it can with some people who suffer with travel sickness or vertigo type problems. The Rollercoaster app/game does set me off after a while but nothing else really other than that.
Also love that you can cast what you are seeing through the Oculus, on to the TV, tablet or phone. You can do this via the Oculus app on a phone or tablet, or you can cast it to a Chromecast or similar streaming device to a TV, which is great as then it becomes even more social for people that are with you.
Overall I would say totally worth the 399 for the 256gb, if you’re spending that kind of money then the 100 to upgrade from the 64gb version seems like a no brainer.
I pre ordered and received on release day, after having it for a few months I feel I can write a decent review.
I bought this for gaming and had played around a bit on the first Quest but not long enough to really get to grips with it.
Very impressed, you have a huge amount of social and communication options, not only is it great for gaming but also most social activities and in lockdown, it really does come into it’s own. You can watch films together in the Big Screen app (virtually sit in a cinema with friends or family), you can do activities, play games in Rec Room or other similar apps, have a meeting, go fishing, fitness, the list is really endless and great fun to actually see the person you know, move and react in this environment.
It can also be utilised for work as well which would make it mega fun and a great way to communicate in a meeting. Definitely some great options to assist all types of people struggling to communicate better in lockdown.
From a gaming perspective, there’s a good choice of games which is growing almost daily. The User Interface is easy to use and fairly similar to the Xbox, pretty easy to get around.
Oculus have recently made it easier for independent game developers to publish third party games onto their store which is great, it means that games are only going to get better in the long term.
The graphics are decent enough for the money, I would liken it to the Nintendo Switch quality, easily good enough and when you experience it so close up and you’re immersed into what you are doing, it’s very convincing.
Multiplayer options like Echo VR, Blaston, Arizona Sunshine are fantastic playing side by side with your friends in multiplayer, it’s such an awesome experience.
Battery life is decent but you can easily connect a portable battery to the unit with a third party strap and case to the back of the head or belt line, which I have now done and gives you hours and hours of extra playing time. Probably more than you need!
Battery life on the controllers is excellent, for what you get from one double AA battery in each controller is pretty impressive ! Probably about 50 hours gaming time.
The head strap itself is okay for short periods but a little more could have been spent on this to make it more comfortable. The Elite strap is well worth getting, otherwise your head feels like it’s being pressured around the back after a while of using.
You also get a glasses attachment that sits in just before the lens, this is really useful as just provides enough space for you to have your glasses on.
The whole ‘sickness’ thing doesn’t affect me too much but it can with some people who suffer with travel sickness or vertigo type problems. The Rollercoaster app/game does set me off after a while but nothing else really other than that.
Also love that you can cast what you are seeing through the Oculus, on to the TV, tablet or phone. You can do this via the Oculus app on a phone or tablet, or you can cast it to a Chromecast or similar streaming device to a TV, which is great as then it becomes even more social for people that are with you.
Overall I would say totally worth the 399 for the 256gb, if you’re spending that kind of money then the 100 to upgrade from the 64gb version seems like a no brainer.
1) You may want to buy a longer charging cable so you don’t need to stop playing to charge to headset (factor that in to the cost, they’re not cheap, over 30 at the time of writing).
2) If you are going to be downloading a lot of content (games, packs, etc) and you can afford the more expensive higher capacity memory one, buy it. If not the cheaper one is perfectly fine.
3) Don’t be put off by the Facebook negative reviews (I nearly was). I have linked this to my account (which I’ve had for quite a few years) and it works just fine. Perhaps if you don’t have a Facebook account or it’s been dormant for a while that might be something to consider.
4) This gets any ‘armchair’ gamer up and moving, rather like the Wii or Switch (and others) but it’s waaaay cooler for young gamers to not be embarrassed about – trying to convince a teenage gamer to play this instead of Overwatch is not an issue, unlike Wii Tennis!
I hope that’s useful, rather than the usual reviews which I find often tell me what I already know (even if it’s just from the other reviews).
1) You may want to buy a longer charging cable so you don’t need to stop playing to charge to headset (factor that in to the cost, they’re not cheap, over 30 at the time of writing).
2) If you are going to be downloading a lot of content (games, packs, etc) and you can afford the more expensive higher capacity memory one, buy it. If not the cheaper one is perfectly fine.
3) Don’t be put off by the Facebook negative reviews (I nearly was). I have linked this to my account (which I’ve had for quite a few years) and it works just fine. Perhaps if you don’t have a Facebook account or it’s been dormant for a while that might be something to consider.
4) This gets any ‘armchair’ gamer up and moving, rather like the Wii or Switch (and others) but it’s waaaay cooler for young gamers to not be embarrassed about – trying to convince a teenage gamer to play this instead of Overwatch is not an issue, unlike Wii Tennis!
I hope that’s useful, rather than the usual reviews which I find often tell me what I already know (even if it’s just from the other reviews).
Update.
The Bluetooth issue seems to have resolved itself (or Oculus have updated the device software to correct it). The Oculus 2 now works fine with no issues so far apart from 360 VR videos on Youtube not having very good quality but I suspect that maybe due to Yutube’s slow data transfer. Otherwise graphics are as good as can be expected from a VR headset at this price point. Remember to factor in having to open a Facebook account in order to use the device. Facebook now own Oculus and I suspect this may put some buyers off considering Facebook’s record on data gathering. I opened an account and haven’t been on Facebook since so you don’t actually have to be a Facebook regular user.
Never been a gamer and only really bough this for the kids to play with. I’m sorry, they don’t get a look in! I’m being drawn to the immersive gameplay like I never thought I would be. I get why gamers like what they do, for the first time ever (I’m 50!). I can’t cope with some games and get seriously travel sick and need to lie down in a dark room for a while. But I’ve learned to play only games that allow ‘teleporting’ and that has solved the problem. I know this isn’t as good a quality headset as some others, but they cost several times the price. I know it’s from Facebook and there are questions over privacy, but just don’t tell them much. Love it – get one!
I purchased this initially for sim racing after using my large oled TV which has amazing graphics and that made me a bit queezy on certain sim games too. The VR headset is a level above a single large screen.
The headset graphics aren’t brilliant. I installed Side Quest on my desktop. That allows remote setup not available through the on board software. The graphics are quite blurry at times. at best I would rate it at 720p on occasion.
I have refused point blank in the past to use Facebook. This device is FB sponsored. You can only use it with a FB account. I’m using my new account on FB with all the settings to private.
I got the.256gb version. I thought it was worth the extra 100. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to download an FOC 111gb game. its rated 18 as its a bit blood and guts it going to be deleted when I need the space. There is another available FOC too that is 89 gb. There is extra virtual desktop software available. Its good if you need to connect to the pc desktop and use a controller as a mouse. It is 14.99 extra. Although I was given an introductory discount code. Cost me just over 10.
The official oculus accessories are expensive for what they are. The C to C fibre optic cable is an expensive disappointment. Its either poor quality or faulty. Keeps disconnecting from the desktop, which is quite annoying. I purchased a 3 mtr CtoC high speed after market cable at a third of the price and it works really well. The original faulty/poor quality cable is being returned.
The original elastic headband is poor. Comes loose often even when tight it doesn’t offer much support or stability for the headset. After the experience with the 90 cable I steered away from the oculus elite headband at almost 50 . A replacement headband strap is a must. I got an aftermarket/ copy of the elite and its miles better than the supplied elastic one.
One very important thing to mention is ‘IPD’ (inter pupillary distance). This has 3 manual settings for narrow medium and wide. My measurement is 73mm which is quite wide and just on the edge of the larger setting of the unit. its worth getting a phone app to measure it.
Overall. Would i recommend it. Yes its amazing. Be prepared for extra expense though. Its a lot if fun to use.
I have been following the VR space since the original Oculus Rift was announced and I was always planning on getting a headset but the restrictive price kept me from taking the plunge. I finally gave in and got the Oculus Quest 2 just after Christmas.
In the box, you get the headset, controllers, two batteries, charging adapter and the glasses spacer, which is what you need to get started. The inclusion of a microfibre cloth or lens guard would have been appreciated, but at this point, everyone has these lying around the house.
The headset does not come with a link cable (sold separately) to connect your headset to your PC. Whilst this might be a downside for people wishing to play games from their Steam or Rift libraries, it will not stop you from enjoying VR. You can download games* from the Oculus store and install them on the headset itself. These tend to take up a lot of space, so I would recommend getting the 256GB variant.
Unlike the previous Quest, there has been some “downsizing” when it comes to some quality of life features, such as the removal of the external lens distance slider in favour of a simpler system whereby the user simply pushes the lenses closer or further apart. In my case, this hasn’t been such a big issue, as I only had to set it up at the beginning and haven’t touched them since.
There are integrated speakers in the headset which for my situation are more than enough. There is a 3.5mm headphone jack on the headset for using headphones. I have found that the integrated speakers are better for me as it allows me to hear my environment and helps with my orientation.
The included strap is decent, I haven’t had issues with it falling off, but I am considering upgrading to the elite strap simply for the added support and the battery upgrade. Currently, it lasts for just under 2 hrs on a charge.
In terms of quality, there is a slight blur around the edge of the display, but this is only noticeable when viewing stationary menus. I have not noticed it in-game at all.
There are no external sensors as the tracking is done by the headset, but you will need to be in a well-lit environment for the best results. Keep in mind that for some games, you will need more space (up to 6ft x 6ft) to move around.
Overall, whilst the games offered cover a wide range of experiences, I found these to be a bit expensive for what they are. All games in the Oculus library have a Comfort Rating which ranges from Comfortable to Intense. If you’re new to VR, then start with the pre-installed tutorials and then the Comfortable. Some games have given me motion sickness.
I thoroughly enjoy my Quest 2 and all things considered, I believe it is a very good headset to get started in VR. The screens are good, the tracking is spot on and the immersion is unlike anything I’ve tried so far.
Drawbacks are, that it’s not suitable for wearers of spectacles, and I found it uncomfortable to wear for more than a few minutes. Battery life is only about a bit over 1.5 hours.
Controllers not very intuitive, and I found myself getting lost or stuck in the menu structure.
Cost of software looks high, and the free stuff is not brilliant.
I did watch an episode of The Grand Tour through Amazon Prime on it, and found it good – very immersive.
Also good for watching films on Netflix, although do you really want something stuck on your face for 2 hours?
Overall, it’s probably not for me, I might sell it on eBay. More for younger people I think. Would be good to watch a new release film on direct to streaming though, as I hate all the noise of people coughing & rustling sweet wrappers at the cinema.
Then the Oculus Quest 2 came along and gave me the opportunity to get on board and not at the ‘entry’ level you may expect from a lower priced headset.
You can play the Oculus Quest without a PC with mobile gaming quality games directly from the headset but where I find the OQ2 shines is it’s ability to connect to a PC via a link cable and this opens up access to Steam VR and that’s where the best games await. Obviously you need a decent rig, a powerful gaming PC that can handle VR but if you are fortunate enough to have one, let the fun begin!
You’ll need your link cable and a USB 3.1 or faster (if you use the official Oculus link cable a USB type C port) Then download the Oculus Rift app to gain access to the internet via your PC.
Download Steam VR and you are done!
Just pick up your favourite VR games from steam and enter the truly awesome world of VR gaming.
I have been playing a game called The Forest with my son and son in law. Its a survival horror title, you can play the game in a traditional format and its scary, play in VR and its so immersive you’ll not want to play alone!!
I would recommend the OQ2 to anyone who wants to try out VR but doesn’t want to shell out a fortune for the experience.
The only cons I’ve came across are the restrictions placed by Facebook who have bought the company. They are quite strict when it come to your Facebook account that you must use to connect to the OQ2. You must use a legitimate account and if it isn’t expect to be perma banned and loose access to your games you have bought from the Oculus store. Play by their strict rules and you will be fine!
The Quest 2 is an amazing bit of kit and is a massive step up from my previous VR experience (Gear VR) the immersion is off the chart and the controllers and hand tracking make it a joy to play games and interact with your surroundings, picking up a table tennis bat and ball and whacking it across the VR room for the first time is something special. Set up takes about 5 mins and is a breeze, I’m not going to talk about the Facebook account issue as everyone is probably aware of that. Once set up you’ll have about 40 mins usage out of the box before it will need charging, so if you have the will power to charge first, it would be better as I found that as soon as I started to get involved in a game I had to stop to charge it. On a full charge you’ll get between 2-3 hours depending on what your playing and if you’ve got any Bluetooth devices connected (headphones) or if you’re casting to a TV/phone & charging takes about 2 hours. I love my new toy as does my 7yr old daughter, and for the money there is nothing else like it out there, believe me you will not be dissapointed, it is worth every penny……………………..but, there are a few things you need to know before you press that buy now button
* Clarity of image – There are only 3 settings to choose from to try and get the best image 58mm, 63mm & 68mm, my IPD is 63.5 but I find that the corners are always blurred for me whatever setting I put it on (including moving it inbetween the set ones) the sweet spot is quite large and to be honest I really don’t notice it when playing the games, but it is very noticable when trying to watch films/youtube etc and when on the home screen. I have watched hundreds of reviews of the product and for some reason no one mentions it, but if you Google it, it seems to be a pretty big problem for a lot of people. So don’t expect a 4k perfect picture like the reviewers claim, for me, its not so bad that I’m sending it back like a lot of people have, but just be aware that there is a strong possibility you will get some blurred areas (as a disclaimer, I do wear glasses, but so do half the reviewers I’ve seen so don’t think that is the reason)
* Additional cost – be aware that the 299/399 your paying for the Quest 2 is only the start of your VR investment. If your whole budget is the cost of the device, then you may want to wait and save a bit more cash before you commit to buying. Out of the box & with whats included, the Quest 2 is perfectly usable, but, to fully enjoy the experience and keep your device safe and in good condition, you’ll have to get your wallet out. Firstly the strap, it is fine to start you off, but it is difficult to get it comfortable and in the right place to hold it tight and flat to your face, so that will have to be changed. The Oculus elite strap is the best (if you can get one) but this will set you back 50, Amazon are selling 3rd party ones for between 20-50. Games – there are a few free games & demos available, but if you want something thats gonna hold your attention for more than 5 mins, you’ll have to pay for it. Most of the good games will set you back between 19-30 each, so this can quickly add up. Battery life – 2 hours is not long when your caught up in a game, so expect to be charging it quite a lot. The alternatives are either the Oculus elite strap with battery at an eye watering 120!!!! or a powerbank which costs around 15-25 for one big enough to keep your device running for an extra few hours. Then there’s a case (15-20) foam lens protectors to stop them scratching (about 10) and if you wear glasses you’ll need rubber lens protectors to stop the lenses getting scratched when your playing it (17.99!!!!!! on Amazon) so if you include all of that you’r probably looking at around 450 to have a few good games and the equipment needed to fully enjoy your experience.
As I said, I love the Quest 2 and think that it is value for money, even after all the add-ons needed. Yes its not perfect and there are a few niggles with it, but for what you’d have to pay for the alternative it is well worth the investment, I personally cannot afford a 1000 gaming PC and a 1000 VR device, so the next best thing is the Quest 2. Just make sure you’ve got the budget to fully enjoy it, yes it’s a cheaper than what has come before, but 299/399 is still a chunk of money for most people.
Experience beyond what I thought it would be. Shame in order for it to be comfortable you have to invest in a better head strap. It is famously front heavy and tightening the straps to compensate gives you headaches feom the constant pressure. And to protect it a carry case and other essentials like knuckle grips erc. So your looking to spend about an extra 100 quid in accessories but then it feels like it’s worth thousands. Oh and the fact you have to pay for the majority of games in the library is also a little stingy but hey that’s the world we live in. For the experience of the virtual reality though 10 out of 10 oh ps you probably need a longer 5 metre or so charging cable so you can play and charge at the same time but not essential if you only plan to use for a couple of hours at a time. And no I don’t get a cut of any accessories sold with this device I just think they’re needed to get the most from your experience. Hope this helps.
Forget all the negative stuff about Facebook, yes it would be preferable if it wasn’t mandatory, but people don’t moan about having to use apple or Google for their phones.
Wireless vr is a real game changer, I have used vr for the past 4 years and this is by far the best headset I have owned.
The resolution is great and almost eliminates the screen door effect (the space you can see inbetween the pixels ) meaning a really crisp image. The headstrap is a bit naff but cheap enough to buy a replacement.
At this price it’s a great way to get into vr as there are tonnes of amazing titles to play now and it’s also a great way to watch movies.
The only slight downside to the headset are the straps for me. I can’t get them to keep the headset in place during rapid movement without making them overly tight. I was going to buy the Elite Strap to see if this improves things, but so far it has been sold out. I’ll update here once I get it to let you know if it improved things.
Regarding the Facebook account requirement you’ll have to decide if it’s worth it to you or not, but yes, it did indeed require a Facebook account to activate.
The only slight downside to the headset are the straps for me. I can’t get them to keep the headset in place during rapid movement without making them overly tight. I was going to buy the Elite Strap to see if this improves things, but so far it has been sold out. I’ll update here once I get it to let you know if it improved things.
Regarding the Facebook account requirement you’ll have to decide if it’s worth it to you or not, but yes, it did indeed require a Facebook account to activate.
Oculus PC VR and Steam VR both work
fine through sideloaded VR desktop app which means I can enjoy my PC VR game library that I built up for Oculus Rift I already own. Otherwise I would need to buy all the games and apps again for Quest 2 platform separately. You do need to have a modern gaming PC connected via a network cable to a modern wireless router (5GHz ac or ax).
Compared to Rift (non-S version) picture improvement is very noticeable. No cable is also liberating. Controller tracking has an occasional momentary glitch but if that’s the cost of getting rid of cables and sensors I am okay with that.
The only downside is head strap. I find it uncomfortable. But for the price it is acceptable and can be upgraded.
Very happy overall.
Not only good for VR gamers, using the bigscreen free app you can join imax size cinemas to watch tv and movies.
I have my firestick 4k plugged into a usb capture card on PC and using the cheap but fantastic virtual desktop vr software i can have my PC and control it on VR headset on IMAX size cinema screen so prime video iptv and all other apps on huge screen.
Battery life is okay but a 16ft pc link / charging cable is recommended for usage over 3 hours.
Well worth the 399
The Quest 2 is the device that finally has what it takes to gain broad appeal. Firstly, the price is just insane. Then is the ability to not only act as a competent tethered device (not significantly inferior to the vastly more expensive Valve Index or HP devices), but to offer truly untethered, wireless, wonder. The inside out tracking makes setup a breeze (no installing multiple ‘base station’ detectors anywhere, just stick it on your head and get going.
As a first-time user, you are immediately acquainted with the guardian feature, where you set your room boundaries. This may be a safety feature but it immediately sets the tone of what is to come. It demonstrates the comforting “pass-through” feature that gives you an otherworldly black and white view of your surroundings that is surprisingly effective and well-aligned. Moreover, it confirms the accuracy of the tracking going on, inspiring confidence.
After setting up your guardian boundaries you are taken to a relaxing 3D home (customisable) and walked through a comprehensive and enjoyable setup. I highly recommend going through the First Time users app and dancing with the robot!
The home immediately transforms you with the immersive 3D soundscape that is magical for a device that doesn’t even place speakers over your ears. Clever engineering reflects the sound into them with such precision that you can hardly tell you are wearing a headset. Despite that, it is more than sufficient to drown out background noise without leaving you feeling disconnected.
There are still ways to go with the optics, untethered graphics and resolution, and there are better headsets out there, but your casual user will not notice such things. None of them allow you to just stick the device on your head and get going, and that freedom makes this the benchmark for all future devices. If better textures matter you can always get the Oculus link and tether it to a hi-end gaming PC. What really matters though, is the promise that this device holds.
With that promise, I have no doubt that the 2020s will be the decade of VR.
A lot of kit for your money
Everything you need included
Easy to setup
Fully standalone no PC required only wifi
Good quality displays
Good Audio and Mic
Lightweight
Cons
Short charging cable
Only 2 hours of battery life
Requires extra cable to link to PC/Steam
The strap isn’t the best
Tricky to get a sharp picture
I’ve wanted to get into VR, but I waited until the tech has improved and now it has.
This is an excellent device for the money even with the cons. The battery life is my only real issue and you can connect a 3rd party battery bank to extend that.
The Audio without headphones is great, I would only recommend some if you share a room. The mic was impressive.
I find as with most VR headsets currently its tricky to get the sweet spot so that it’s in focus but once you know where it is that is easy to find each time.
Setup is easy with full instruction, I had no issues here. You can purchase games/app in the Oculus app which is available in the headset, PC and on a mobile. Great options.
You do need a Oculus Link USB C cable if you want to use this with steam on the PC and it takes a little more setup. There are loads of videos on this on YT if you need to. You can use a standard USB C cable but not all have enough bandwidth.
I do suffer from motion sickness when in cars etc and when using this I do feel sick in some games where I’m walking around. You can use Snap turning though in games which helps. Games where I’m flying a plane, driving or standing still I’m fine with.
Overall though this is a great VR headset that I would recommend if you looking to take your first steps into VR without a massive money commitment.
This is the first time I have owned a VR headset and so I cannot compare this to other models. For the price I feel it is a great ‘entry level’ into the VR world. So far I am delighted with it! Yes, you have to link it to a Facebook account. For me, I just don’t care about this. You can choose your privacy options and I just selected I didn’t want to publish what I was doing on my Facebook account. In regards to ‘data mining’, again I just do not care. I have had my 256Gb Quest 2 for three weeks now and I have had many hours of fun playing it. My girlfriend has also enjoyed watching me (using a Google Chromecast casting to our TV), especially the excellent game Five Nights at Freddie’s which is terrifying to play. I do have issues with the casting, as there is a (roughly) 0.5s delay between actual audio/visual gameplay and what is transmitted to the TV, but I understand this will be an issue when wirelessly casting data like this.
The games I have downloaded are great fun. These include Beat Saber, Pistol Whip, Robo Recall and Five Nights at Freddie’s. You really get lost in the VR environments and it reminds me of the kind of arcade games I grew up with in the 90s (except ramped up 1000x). I do wish there were more Horror games though, as I feel that these are particularly fun to play. After much deliberation I chose the 256Gb version over the 64Gb. My reasoning being I would rather have too much space than too little. The games tend to be between 800MB – 5/6GB, however I expect newer releases to be closer to the latter.
I have found the battery life is probably around 2 hours with intense play, although I’ve never timed it. This hasn’t been an issue for me as after about 30mins to an hour I’m mentally and physically exhausted.
I think the worst features of the headset are the foam facial interface and the strap that come as standard with the product. The facial interface isn’t particularly soft/spongy and after 20-30mins it starts to ache around the forehead. I think this is in part due to the material but also because of the cheap (cost-saving) strap. The strap works, but it doesn’t provide a comfortable fit and, as with other reviews, it does tend to put pressure on the tops of the ears after a short while. Today I received the Elite Strap with battery pack and the difference is incredible. I would definitely recommend purchasing this as an add-on. I will be reviewing this separately. I will also be buying a different facial interface, probably from VRcover.com, when one is available.
Overall I think this is an excellent entry-level VR headset (although specs-wise, this isn’t entry level), based upon my limited VR experience. Hardcore VR users may disagree. For the extra 120 I think the Elite Strap with battery pack (and case) is worth the money. The strap, at least, is essential to improve comfort. In terms of the 64Gb vs 256Gb, this will depend on your preference and whether you think 100 extra for quadruple the storage is worthwhile. Obviously when you add up these ‘extras’ the headset suddenly isn’t quite as cheap as you would hope.
This is the first time I have owned a VR headset and so I cannot compare this to other models. For the price I feel it is a great ‘entry level’ into the VR world. So far I am delighted with it! Yes, you have to link it to a Facebook account. For me, I just don’t care about this. You can choose your privacy options and I just selected I didn’t want to publish what I was doing on my Facebook account. In regards to ‘data mining’, again I just do not care. I have had my 256Gb Quest 2 for three weeks now and I have had many hours of fun playing it. My girlfriend has also enjoyed watching me (using a Google Chromecast casting to our TV), especially the excellent game Five Nights at Freddie’s which is terrifying to play. I do have issues with the casting, as there is a (roughly) 0.5s delay between actual audio/visual gameplay and what is transmitted to the TV, but I understand this will be an issue when wirelessly casting data like this.
The games I have downloaded are great fun. These include Beat Saber, Pistol Whip, Robo Recall and Five Nights at Freddie’s. You really get lost in the VR environments and it reminds me of the kind of arcade games I grew up with in the 90s (except ramped up 1000x). I do wish there were more Horror games though, as I feel that these are particularly fun to play. After much deliberation I chose the 256Gb version over the 64Gb. My reasoning being I would rather have too much space than too little. The games tend to be between 800MB – 5/6GB, however I expect newer releases to be closer to the latter.
I have found the battery life is probably around 2 hours with intense play, although I’ve never timed it. This hasn’t been an issue for me as after about 30mins to an hour I’m mentally and physically exhausted.
I think the worst features of the headset are the foam facial interface and the strap that come as standard with the product. The facial interface isn’t particularly soft/spongy and after 20-30mins it starts to ache around the forehead. I think this is in part due to the material but also because of the cheap (cost-saving) strap. The strap works, but it doesn’t provide a comfortable fit and, as with other reviews, it does tend to put pressure on the tops of the ears after a short while. Today I received the Elite Strap with battery pack and the difference is incredible. I would definitely recommend purchasing this as an add-on. I will be reviewing this separately. I will also be buying a different facial interface, probably from VRcover.com, when one is available.
Overall I think this is an excellent entry-level VR headset (although specs-wise, this isn’t entry level), based upon my limited VR experience. Hardcore VR users may disagree. For the extra 120 I think the Elite Strap with battery pack (and case) is worth the money. The strap, at least, is essential to improve comfort. In terms of the 64Gb vs 256Gb, this will depend on your preference and whether you think 100 extra for quadruple the storage is worthwhile. Obviously when you add up these ‘extras’ the headset suddenly isn’t quite as cheap as you would hope.
However, there are some issues that need to be addressed by Facebook; The problem with Facebook logins isn’t just privacy concerns, but also Facebook’s aggressive policy on permanent bans which is concerning.
Theres also the quality of the accessories such as the pro strap being very fragile and breaking easily after light use. Because of this, I am tepid to recommend it to my friends until these issues are addressed.
After taking the Quest 2 out of the box, turning it on and fiddling about with the lenses to get best picture (which didn’t take long) I could see I was in for a treat for my eyes.
After a while now I could feel the pressure on my forehead and was really feeling uncomfortable and however much I tried to get the best fit from pulling and loosening the straps it didn’t feel right. I did however manage to buy myself an Elite Strap for it and it is so much better and comparable to the Rift level of comfort and takes the strain off my head so I would say that the Elite Strap is essential to buy for the Quest 2.
I tried it with a cable connected to my PC and although it looks good and plays well the Link mode for Quest 2 will hopefully be updated soon to 90hz mode with more graphical capabilities although I did manage to change a few things using ‘hacks’ I found online to change the resolution etc which did make it look better it is on par with my Rift Cv1 so for me it has worthied its purchase.
I also used it with Virtual Desktop so I could play wirelessly to my PC the games from Steam and although it looked good my Internet 5g isn’t that great having being shared with the rest of the house but anyone with a faster connection will be able to have higher level graphics than I did, I still thought it was great being able to play Star Wars Squadron in VR without any wires and it didn’t slow down at all although it did stagger a bit more than once.
It is so much easier to just put it on my head and draw a line around a space to set up guardian which is like an invisible cage so you can stay within the cage and not hit any furniture or walls than it is with my Rift which you had to place the sensors then move the sensors then adjust the sensors then…..
For me the Quest 2 is an amazing piece of hardware for what it can do and a great start where VR will go on the future.
I will update this review once the Link will come out of beta to see if there are any improvements with the picture and graphics connected to my PC but for anyone having doubts coming from a Rift CV1 don’t be because for me it’s a worthwhile purchase.
Thought I would update this after the 90hz link update, so after the update the resolutuon is much better and easily replaces my CV1 as a much better VR headset and I’m even more pleased with my purchase.
If you’ve never tried VR before or you’ve only ever experienced the likes of PSVR then this is will blow you away. The full range of motion, being able to walk around and not being held back by a wire is so exciting. Just remember to set your guardian boundaries correctly otherwise you will walk into a wall.
Compared to the PSVR the screen door effect is almost non-existent. I’ll happily sit and watch Netflix or Prime Video on my Quest 2 and won’t notice the SDE. It’s still there, but barely.
Things I haven’t tried so can’t yet comment on but I know are possible: Playing Steam VR Games through Quest 2 on a Gaming PC and side loading applications. I’m excited to try both of these out.
So all in all I really love the Quest 2, but are there anything’s I dislike about it? Yes: Facebook. If you don’t like or trust Facebook then the Quest isn’t for you as it insists on you having a Facebook account. I don’t necessarily like or trust Facebook, but I had an old account from years ago that I dusted off and the way I see it is, Zuckerberg knows everything about me anyway, he may as well know how awesome I am at Beat Saber.
Tip: Don’t do want I did and immediately lump for the 256Gb version thinking it’s for the Hardcore VR Gamer. The game files aren’t that big so you may wish to save 100 and settle for the 64Gb as I’ve downloaded around 20 games + DLC and still haven’t come close to 3Gb yet.
Tip 2: Buy yourself a new Quest Interface (the sponge bit that sits on your face) as it is horrible to wear when sweaty. And you will get sweaty.
Get one, you won’t regret i
What can I say. Oculus 2. So impressed. I also have Oculus 1. Each of them fantastic. Oculus 2 is obviously lighter and graphics much clearer. Expanding elasticated headstraps a bonus a Oculus 1 had hard plastic straps. Elasticated straps easier and lighter. I find the new layout on the game paddles better. Unlike PS 4 which I also have I’m not restricted in movement. Can even play in the back garden. Gameplay is smooth. Selection of games good and expanding rapidly. One thing a little on the negative. I note the games are getting pricier. Hope this isn’t going to be a common trend as Sony games on PS4. Well over priced. One of the reasons I bought it was the price of games. I’ll keep an eye out. A watch out for glass wearers. Oculus 2 seems a little tighter across the head set. Tends to pull glasses off on removal. Oculus 1 was fine. The other Oculus 1 cost me 600 whereas Oculus 2 cost 300. This did annoy me somewhat especially when you get more features with Oculus 2 at half the price. We live and learn. Overall though O2 is brilliant for gaming. Chilling in your virtual room in front of a massive screen and huge fire or watch Netflx. Whatever you do. You’ll love it. I just hope the games dont spiral out of cost range. Keep it reasonable Oculus.
Its really good for the price. What you see through lenses is very good. Graphics of the headset is good. Battery life is like… 3-4 hours I think? The normal strap is good (I hear the expensive pro straps have been breaking, but normal strap is fine). I think its quite light and compact compared to first gen oculus rift. Really free not having a cable to worry about. Very easy to set up.
The not so good:
The tracking is very good at slow speeds, but if you like playing beatsaber at expert+ with the faster-speed option (1.2x speed) the tracking can’t keep up with your movements. It seems to poll the position of the handsets not-enough-times-per-second, and if you do a fast handshake of the controller through 45 down and 45 up (a ‘<' shape), what you see through the VR is it going 90 both ways (extrapolating too far), and sometimes the laser pointer shoots out to the side. When moving very quick, the virtual controller leapt forward a meter in front of me and started flailing wildly. But if you play less fast games its completely fine. The only way I reckon you can get better tracking is to build a powerful tower PC and get a lighthouse style external sensors set up (valve index or something), which costs around 8x more - so its still good for the price. Also I've heard about them being bricked if facebook decides you're Pinocchio (not real), its been fine for me, but I've been somewhat active on FB for 8 years, and they know my real birthday, full name etc, so I'm probably safe from that. If you have to create an account to get one you could have problems. Also, on some days it will decide its going to forget the "guardian boundary" every couple mins and make you set it up again (confirming floor level, drawing around the room) but that's probably a software issue they'll fix. Overall its awesome for getting into VR. You probably don't need the 256GB one, 64GB is enough, there aren't loads of games for it and the games aren't large in filesize. Recommend 'cubism' and 'until you fall'
First off, I have the 64gb model.
Worried it was going to be enough, but I also have a gaming/freelance computer not far, so i use alot of mainstream games through this.
Standalone, this is stunning! I am finding more games evcey day on quest 2 to try out. Not many as of yet that make me fall in love with it, but I’m sure that’ll change. The tracking is just fantastic! The size of the games are not massive ( as of yet.. there are a couple games which are 10-12gb, but to be honest, I dont have many games on the quest at 1 time anyway ), if you find out you’ve ran out of memory, you can always go the route of sidequest to take off those games as you uninstall them, to keep the game files, To load them back up later.
Link to the pc using steam VR is a little buggy at the moment still. It’s in beta still sadly, but this is rumored to be coming out of beta soon.
All in all, 64gb with 1-2 major current games, a lot of little games with a mix of steam vr onto the headset, for 299, is a bit of a steal 😀
Just remember one thing, there are accessors which alot of people say to get. Its up to you, but one that I am definitely looking into, is the face covers. The one the quest comes with, over time can get annoying as hell.
The Oculus Quest came out of the box – ready to go, just needs an app on your phone – no wires or peripherals – it has definitely surpassed expectations.
The virtual world is so convincing, and interacting with it has become much more intuitive and simple – you can even set it up to use your actual hands rather than the sensors for some things.
It’s not entirely clear to me whether I’ll be able to play games I bought on the Oculus Rift without a wire to my computer – but now it’s just one cable for games that don’t live on the visor. It’s looking like a game changer, at the price point feels good for what we’ve gotten so far. I can’t wait to explore further ways of using it – I can imagine it being amazing for virtual stargazing, exploring and so many things beyond games. It’s going to be used a lot for driving and flying sims.
It’s pretty amazing – early gen holo-deck! Get one! Any questions?
The fan vibrates that badly the vibration travels across the rigid elite strap and into my headphones. So all i can hear is a constant fan hum unless i turn sound all the way up.
I wish they used just a little bit of copper in the heatsink or a vapor chamber to help draw heat away faster so the fan didn’t have to work so hard. I understand they did this because copper weighs more than aluminium.
I don’t get why they don’t put the weight on top of your forehead like the Rift-S/PSVR headsets. I get it will make the headset bigger but comfort should be more important than portability. It’s not like the Rift-S is not portable you just need to put it inside a bigger case. Problem solved but the comfort issue is harder to solve.
Would i still recommend the headset for new VR users YES! But if you can get the Quest1 with better build quality for cheaper get the Quest1.
I asked FB to delete my account years ago i setup a new one just for VR today. I will never be logging into Facebook to post or interact with anyone outside of VR. So FB can try to profile me as much as they want they will get zero info from merging the two accounts other than my VR usage.
Also to address a current myth you don’t have to play most VR games standing. I play all of my games sat down and just move my hands about.
It’s really great! A real bargain in terms of hardware too!
To get a phone with these specs would cost you over 3x the price.
Extremely lush VR experience, silky smooth images, consistent frame rate in all areas.
Easy to use, and user friendly. Tutorials are fun, and anyone who tried in my family, all generations, was having a blast!
As an Android device, it’s extremely versatile and can be opened up to all android apps via “sideloading”, look it up, follow a YouTube tutorial, takes 5-10 minutes.
Plays emulators great, Wii games, old lightgun games,pc ports, endless list. There’s some brilliant 3rd party apps out there!
Loads of free stuff to explore via sidequest.
As a standalone device it’s still amazing, no need to get geeky; it just does everything you want out of the box. 99% of people won’t need to touch a computer at all.
There’s something to like for everyone here, not much to complain about.
It will require WiFi/internet to set up and get the most out of it. But there’s everything else you need in the box.
As the product is completely invisible, it is quite hard to plug in. The experience of putting it on is remarkable. The world seems so real and 3D. My entire office shows up just as it is in real life. Games seem to be limited to the normal activities that I perform in my office but with the satisfaction that this is all virtual.
I can’t see any vignetting or other visual artifacts from the lenses. There does not seem to be any kind of menu system or shop. I can only hope that I am holding the controllers correctly as they are also invisible and too light to feel.
Everybody tells me how great I look when I’m wearing it, apart from one annoying kid who says I’m not wearing a headset, he’s obviously jealous of my magnificence.
The screen resolution is noticeability improved over the rift (and apparently so over the Quest and rift s as well). I’ll be using my Quest2 mainly for sim racing. I sold my rift as the experience was there but not the resolution, could barely make out apex’s! Was always undecided over triples or VR, this has now finally sold me VR as a default.
To use with PC games (Quest link) you’ll need a USB 3.0 cable (and comparable PC!) Unlike HDMI the problem with USB cable is the signal detereates very quickly over distance. You can probably get away with using a copper wire based cable upto 3M but any more than that and your throughput (speed) will be dropping to below 1.5Gbs. although the Oculus one is very expensive, there is a reason, it’t fibre optic with digital converters on the end. As a result there is no loss over its 5M
A note on the Facebook account requirement. I had an Oculus account and thought I’d be able to continue using that until 2023. However Oculus/Facebook require Quest 2 users is login with FB account. As a resul I had to merge my two accounts. Don’t bother trying to create a second or fake account, if you get found out your likely to get one or both accounts disabled. At the end of the day this is a subsidised product due to data collection. In reality this isn’t that much of an issue. It’s anonymous and only really analysed by algorithms to keep you attracted to your news feed and product placement. If that’s an issue for you then simply don’t scroll through your news feed.
Generally quite impressed with product. For me the onboard detached gaming was a secondary to requirements but finding games like angry birds be quite fun!
As the product is completely invisible, it is quite hard to plug in. The experience of putting it on is remarkable. The world seems so real and 3D. My entire office shows up just as it is in real life. Games seem to be limited to the normal activities that I perform in my office but with the satisfaction that this is all virtual.
I can’t see any vignetting or other visual artifacts from the lenses. There does not seem to be any kind of menu system or shop. I can only hope that I am holding the controllers correctly as they are also invisible and too light to feel.
Everybody tells me how great I look when I’m wearing it, apart from one annoying kid who says I’m not wearing a headset, he’s obviously jealous of my magnificence.
Not very important for the functionality, but the unboxing experience is actually pretty cool. The box is much smaller than I thought and is very smooth and satisfying to open. Inside the box you get the headset, two controllers, a usb c to usb c cable, a wall charger, some documentation and a glasses spacer.
The actual product is also much smaller than I thought, makes the other two headsets I’ve owned feel massibe by comparrison. The resolution bump is a nice thing to have, and makes pixels pretty hard to spot unless you’re looking for them. The lense spacing can be adjusted and the strap can be adjusted to your desired fit. It just feels amazing to use, especially if you enable finger tracking.
The bad stuff is obviously, the required facebook account. But also, the headset is just quite uncomfortable. Despite the small size, it’s heavy enough to cause discomfort. I don’t have the elite strap, but I am strongly considering getting it. I found that if I removed the glasses spacer and stopped using my glasses, it was much more comfortable, but after 30 minutes or so, my head still started to hurt. (and obviously, removing your glasses isn’t an option for everyone). If anyone is wondering, the higher storage model isn’t required, most games aren’t more than 5gb, so you can fit quite a few on the basic model.
Basically
Pros
– So cool, and looks slick
– Resolution bump is great
– 90hz screen
– Beat saber is fantastic
– Comes with a glasses spacer
– In built audio is actually rather impressive
Cons
– Games are expensive, seeing as none of them are very long
– Uncomfortable to use on the basic, poor mans strap
– Even more uncomfortable with glasses (even including the glasses spacer, which is a nice touch)
Overall I think a better strap is pretty much required. However, that’s still 50 cheaper than the 1st gen. At 299 I think this is a pretty good deal and am happy I bought it and would recommend it.
The Oculus Quest 2… it’s astonishing. I don’t know what else to say really. The clarity, performance, tracking & quality is fantastic.
I especially love that it’s good to go straight out of the box (even comes with batteries) & doesn’t need a console or PC.
I haven’t been this impressed in a very long time. Go get it!
Slightly annoying that I had to re-buy a couple of Oculus Apps for Quest that I’d already purchased on Rift/Go. and the Facebook account could be a privacy worry for some folks. Not really anything like this on the market right now that can touch it at this price.
The good:
* Powerful 1600p per eye resolution, and future upgrade to 90Hz will happen sometime in the future (currently locked to72hz)
* Option to link to PC via cable (and there is a Wireless link option if you use “Sidequest” method from Quest 1).
* Simple to use and setup and get going with some free experiences in the Oculus Store.
* Limited Hand Tracking works out of the box (just need to enable the option) to allow you to use your hands for some Experiences instead of the controller.
* 2 Hour battery life and you can extend it with a USB-C cable and a battery bank (no need for Elite Strap unless you want it for comfort).
* 256GB model costs the same as the entry level Quest 1 Model with 32GB with more powerful processor.
* Easy setup via Mobile Phone App (needed for intial setup, then everything can be done inside headset)
The Bad
* Need to re-buy some apps you may already own.
* Oculus Store prices are a bit high for what the app does, use Oculus Link to play games and experiences from Steam, or from the web.
* Facebook App requirement could be privacy concern or Deal-breaker for some. (though you can link an existing Oculus account to a Facebook account)
* Official Oculus Link cable is expensive, finding a cheaper alternative could require some research.
* IPD (Eye Spacing) adjustment is limited to 3 positions to save on costs – most people will be fine, but there will be a few that will not find a good, clear setting that is perfectly clear for them.
* Head Strap is white cloth and may look a little dirty after a few months of heavy use. (maybe upgrade to an elite strap or 3rd party solution later on when more accessories become available for Quest 2)
before this upgrade, i tried oculus go, which was not a satisfying upgrade so i sticked back to gear vr until release of oculus quest 2
i’m one of those lucky users that received the oculus quest 2 early morning at the official launch date (13 oct), i played oculus quest 2 for a whole day, really enjoyed all the enhancements brought by this massive upgrade, it’s finally the time for my gear vr to retire, as i’m very satisfied with oculus quest 2, and it will be my favourite vr handset from now on
my usage is mainly vr movie, and sometimes vr game, the ratio is around 7:3 (movie:game), here i summarized some pros and cons of the oculus quest 2 with my experience on using it
pros:
1. much higher resolution (1832×1920/eye vs 1280×1440/eye for gear vr and oculus go)
2. much clear and sharp image
3. stand-alone, no mobile phone required
4. controller-free option (hand tracking, great for vr movie control)
5. very attractive price (3/4 price of oculus quest 1 only)
cons:
1. cannot connect to bluetooth earphone
2. nose gap too big (light leaking)
3. light colour, prone to get dirty easier
4. included usb c cable too short for playing while charging
in the oculus setup, i could set the boundary of my play area at room, so whenever i’m about to step out of the play area, the display would alert me the boundary, so i will be safe from hitting something by accident while i moved too far with my eyes covered
the nose gap of the oculus is too big, light was leaking in from there and affect the video viewing, nevertheless, it still have some benefit, i could peek and find the controller, watch for obstacles, even control my mobile phone
all in all, i’m satisfied with this product, and would recommend it
hope you find these information useful
Ill start with the Cons:
-The Headset Has a manual IPD adjustment system which is easy to use, but people who have an ipd which is in between those numbers ( I think its around 54-56 lvl 1, 63-64 lvl 2, and 66-68 on level 3 ) might have issues with clarity although not major, it may still be something you should be aware of.
– The Headset Strap is uncomfortable, ( to a certain extent ) the straps touch my ears making them burn (irritated) after long sessions, I also often get neck pain usually after long sessions. But what i LIKE about the strap is how easy it is to put the headset on and take it off.
-The cable is too short for you to actually be able to do anything with it, i reccomend buying the official oculus link cable, or purchasing a third party cable ( Which is what i did )
I understand why these cons are present mainly due to selling them at such a low price, but in my opinion i do believe the Pros weigh out the Cons.
Pros:
-Headset is much more lighter ( about 65g lighter ) making it more easier for me to play longer sessions.
-The XR2 chip makes a huge difference in visual clarity and performance, little to no foviated rendering on the Quest 2 and i also noticed it does not get as hot as the original quest did, which i like.
-The Resolution is higher than most headsets on the market ( 1832 x 1920 ) which makes text and visuals look so much more apealing.
– I love the color, this is just personal opinion. But the color is perfect ( for me anyway ) it suits my room and setup nicely. The problem is, is that it easily gets dirty and scuffed. Which is why i take extra care when it comes to keeping the headset clean.
-Controllers are much more comfortable in my hands, the battery life lasts much more longer compared to the previous versions of the controllers. The haptics are incredibly satisfying aswell.
– The PRICE, you cant complain when a headset of this standard is priced so low. I am genuinely impressed at what oculus/facebook has accomplished in such a short period of time for the quest.
– i find the foam to be much more comfortable too, sits nicely on my face. But it collects sweat similar to the Quest 1’s facial interface.
In conclusion, BUY THIS HEADSET. Every penny is well spent when it comes to the oculus quest 2. Ill recommend it to my friends and i believe you should too.
I think thats about it, ill slap myself later if i missed anything.
I thought this headset was going to be good, it’s my first VR experience. I wasn’t prepared to be picking my jaw up off of the floor at how immersive and realistic it would feel. The graphics are incredible and pictures on boxes and online do it zero justice until seen for yourself.
The guardian setting is unbelievable and silky smooth, cameras let you see your real surroundings if you go through the safety barrier. This can be set for standing or sitting, both settings work very well. It requires 6.5ft x 6.5ft to get the best play are but we play around 5ft x 5ft and its not been a problem once. Just make sure to clear the area and make sure pets won’t be walking around you.
Controllers are incredible, took me a while to get used to them as I’m used to xbox One controllers but they fit my hands very well.
I would recommend playing for just 10-20 minutes on your first try just to let your brain get used to it, it’s quite the roller coaster of visuals….not that you’re going to listen to me though, you’re going to play it until the battery dies aren’t you…just take it easy.
My kids love it, the strap although fiddly fits the whole family. The battery can go fairly quick on high end games, there are extras for longer battery life but that’s an added expense you might not want to pay for. You can charge and play at the same time whilst seated but its a short cable, they do sell a 5m cable but it’s very expensive.
I recommend the following games based on my own experience;
Richie’s Plank Experience (terrifying for all)
Real Fishing Vr (one of my all time faves)
Space Pirate Trainer
Beat Saber
Echo Vr (free)
Creed
Thrill of the Fight (the best boxing sim imo)
YouTube Vr (free)
Big screen cinema (free but charge for films)
Oculus TV (free)
First steps (free introduction to vr)
Before you go off buying cases to store it all in know this, the packaging is very good, when you take the outer sleeve off there is a very nice albeit cardboard box with a hinge style lid. This can be used to store your Headset and controllers at home, I wouldn’t recommend it for taking to your mates house in a bag but for home storage it’s perfect and saves you buying a case which is yet another addition you might not want to fork out for unless you plan on taking it out with you.
Update: My Oculus wouldn’t find my LG smart TV so I couldn’t cast gameplay to it. If you have the same issue you can do one of the following, either connect via a chromecast or using an Amazon Fire stick download the Airscreen app and the Oculus will pick that up (which is the option I used).
I cannot recommend this product enough, we’re all loving it so far.
My Oculus Quest 2 256gb arrived a few hours ago. I swore to myself I do my work, though I found myself opening it within half an hour or so and there I was again experiencing the virtual world ironically within a world which is currently in chaos.
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UNBOXING / HEADSET
The box (pictured) comprises of a cellophane wrapped outer sleeve covering a nice looking natural coloured box (pictured) with a liftable lid. It feel like quality of reminiscent of Mac products.
Inside the box, in their own neatly arranged compartments are the headset, the controllers, quick start guide and USB 3 cable and power supply in a small box and a spacer to place on the unit for those who wear glasses.
Picking up the headset, I could feel that it was quiet compact – notably smaller to the previous Quest, but this was largely due to the fact that the rigid, rubber head strap has been replaced by a fabric one. In light of this fact, I actually feel like the Quest 2 resembles that of the Quest Go since this also had a fabric strap. With that point in mind, the Quest 2 headset (being a smaller unit too) feel like a Go / Quest hybrid.
Not only does the headset feel light, but smaller and a lot more easier to handle. The fabric strap might be seen as a cheaper solution, but I think it’s a much more effective one, especially when factoring in comfort, since it is, without question, a lot more comfortable than the previous Quest. This is perhaps largely due to the fact that the unit isn’t as heavy. A heavy headset would demand something more than a fabric strap, so this is something Oculus have managed to escape.
There’s an ‘Elite Strap’ available for the Oculus 2 at 49 and I was going to purchase it for delivery with the Quest 2, but having felt how light and comfortable the unit is, I don’t feel any need for this at all. Perhaps those people who play high paced games might find use for it however. There’s a version at 119 which offer a battery mounted version to extend battery life (plus a carry case), so I do imagine this to be useful, particularly for those people who play on the move and / or wish to avoid being wired in.
EDIT: Having used for hours now, the side bands sometimes saw into the tops of my ears which is a slight irritant, but excusable.
The nose bridge of the Quest 2 is considerably tighter and can be felt more, but this comes with the advantage that it block out more light, thus adding to the immersiveness.
The colour of the headset (and controllers) isn’t white as I initially assumed – rather a very light grey. The surround looks white when remove from the box, but this is in fact a paper covering which is removed.
Overall the headset, besides feeling compact, has a better feel due to more pleasing curves. The front is like a rounded bean shape, featuring no level surface area. The unit is fully plastic ridding of the previous material sides of the previous Quest which gathered grime and sweat. Similar padding is present however though there is less of the foam in comparison to the original Quest. The Quest 2 substitutes half of that previous foam with a plastic adjoining the headset and foam. It’s an improvement to minimise foam, but I feel rubber is best utilised for both its durability and waterproof quality. I do think that soaking sweat might actually be part of the idea, much like a headband however
The headset features the power button at the right hand side (whilst wearing), the a USB 3 (charging and PC data) at the left hand side together with a 3.5mm jack for headphones. A volume rocker button features at the bottom right of the unit.
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TOUCH CONTROLLERS
Holding the first controller in my hand, I could tell that it too was larger. Even as a person with large hands, I did question if this size was necessary, especially considering that many suers will have smaller hands than myself. Nonetheless, it may just be a matter of time in order to get used to them, being accustomed to the smaller Quest controllers.
Buttons are further apart and the top face, previously a teardrop shape is now circular and features a place where the user can rest their thumb.
As before, we have a ‘Y’ and ‘X’ buttons and thumb controller on each, including an Oculus button to recalibrate and return to the home screen. There’s also a ‘thumb pad’ in which to rest your thumb on which seems somewhat unnecessary in my eyes – or at least not a good reason to extend the top face.
The grip is different in reflection of the size difference and reportedly the triggers are ‘easier to use’ though they feel the same as the Quest to me – good quality and they do the job.
The controllers thankfully still take an AA battery in each one and they come installed with one. Simply slide out the plastic tabs and the batteries make their connection and the controllers are ready to use. Apparently greater attention was given to ensure that the battery compartment slider doesn’t slide off during frantic gameplay as it supposedly did with the Quest, though this never did happen to me.
Most notably in the specs, ‘Haptic Feedback’ is stated as a feature in which the rumble function in the controllers is meant to be more dynamic differentiating between a figurative finger tap in contrast to a clash of swords. I’m yet to experience a difference here, but reminding myself, I will be more aware of report back.
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STARTING UP ***SPOILERS***
Switching on the headset I was greeted with the introduction which shows graphics / animations pertaining to button use and Oculus Guardian setup. For those unfamiliar with VR, Guardian setup is a virtual line which is draw around the room (with the controller) with the threshold set at point where you might bump into things.
At this point, I feel it was at least half of the ‘moment of truth’. Immediately I was judging the graphics at this point (explained below), but wasn’t overly impressed.
After setup I found myself in the default Environment and the first thing I noticed is that the dashboard and everything else is much smaller. Controls and navigation has changed too and not for the better in my opinion. I’m sure I will get used to this, but I was just appreciating how good the huge console was on the previous Oculus.
The controls are mere symbols now without text, so as a new user you’d have to go by trial and error rather than knowing what you are pressing. I’d hope there is a setting to make this otherwise.
The previous Quest segued into a great little game which demo’ed the systems capabilities after the setup. It’s a shame that the Quest 2 didn’t do similar, though they may do that in the future.
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IMAGE QUALITY
There are going to be two distinct people with regards to how image will be judged. First there are those who will compare against the Quest and those who will just be amazed as a first time VR user.
Some might say that Quest users have already been ‘spoiled’ but it’s still ultimately a matter of how the Quest technology has improved. So, the burning question is; Did the quality of the image blow me away as a previous Quest user? ..to which the answer is a definite ‘no’.
Firstly, the setup screen (mostly white and pastels colours) wasn’t giving me enough imagery to judge, though my opinion still remains the same having ventured in.
Next, I observed blur – mostly at the sides and then cam the revelation that the lenses could be adjusted after reading the cardboard tabs I’d removed containing the instruction to do so. There’s a 3 point adjuster in which you grab one (or both) of the tense which move together through a range of 3 positions.
The good news is, the lens adjustment did help to relieve a 50% of the blur, but on the other hand, the position of the lenses to which my eyes witnessed this (at the far extremes – right and left) causes black ‘walls’ at either side. Pulling the lenses inwards makes it look like you are looking out of a porthole (as many are used to).
So, the ultimatum I have is to have 50% less blur viewing the ‘walls’, or put up with the blur whilst looking through the ‘porthole’. For now, I’ve chosen the latter. This may just be a consequence of offering adjustment options (it may be a blessing for some).
At the extreme lens settings there was also a notable central glare across all colour backdrops.
With that issue aside, to allow fair judgement, I put on my previous Oculus and observed the difference. The Quest 2 in COMPARISON is notably better, even with the blur issue present.
So, I feel that is the conclusion. Previous Quest users will notice the difference probably not initially but when they do a comparison. I’m glad I didn’t sell my Quest too too to allow me to do this and appreciate the difference. Granted, some may notice the difference right off the bat.
The Oculus 2, much like the one before it, features 4 cameras on the front of the headset used to track the controllers. There is also an option to view your real surrounding whilst the virtual graphics are placed on top i.e Augmented Reality. I was very surprised to discover that despite the potential of AR, they still hadn’t brought these cameras up to an acceptable resolutions – only the same poor resolution needed for controller tracking alone.
Colours are as vivid as the Quest – rich and pleasing.
The Oculus 2 is 1832 x 1920 pixels per eye (50% increase in resolution over the original Quest).
EDIT: Having played for a good few hours now, I can say with confidence that this is a significant improvement in the graphics department….viewing object CLOSE UP. This here is the clincher for all VR clarity. The very limit of the graphics are show when you look at things right next to the eyes, sync as holding up a weapon in a game. I noticed this in a big way when I bought and played Walkabout Mini Golf and viewing the course and it’s detail from a birds eyes view. Absolutely intriguing. Crisp as 4K!
There’s no question about it, we’ve reached a level of normal displays where we can beat our our retinas (hence Apples ‘Retina’ monitor) however we still need that ongoing advancement in technology to make things in the middle / background crisp too!
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SOUND
Crisp, clear and quality. I did feel that it was better than the Quest sound quality, though it was up full volume whereas I usually listen at half that volume.
Still, there seems to be a slight improvement. Highs, low and midrange are on point, making experiences aurally immersive.
I will be experimenting with my Sennheiser 650 headphones soon too.
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APPS & GAMES / PERFORMANCE
Being a new system, the cupboard was bare with regards to downloaded titles, but there was plenty on offer to download besides my older catalogues of games which I was pleased to see.
When the Quest launched, there was only around 8 games, so those entering into the Quest 2 scene will do so at a good time since there’s plenty on the store now and there’s a lot of free content to enjoy too.
Even in the virtual space, the head tracking is noticeably better. Even though i noticed no latency with the Quest, there is just a level of quality to the movement which is difficult to describe. Basically it’s just a greater sense of reality. I expect this feel to perhaps increase, at least in high speed apps and games when the refresh rate is increased. Facebook have revealed that it’s currently set at 72Hz yet will be increased up to 90Hz.
Before I bought a Quest 2, I asked around YouTube to ask whether my apps and games purchased for the Quest would be carried over to the Quest 2. This was confirmed on the condition that I linked / merged my Facebook account to my Oculus account, which I did. As mentioned, all my games was there and I download a good few of them at lightening speed but was gutted to discover that save games are NOT carried over. I had hopes of continuing my vast progress on Mini Moto Racing X, but this is seemingly not to be.
Nonetheless, open opening Mini Moto Racing X and the graphics are notably most crisp and the experience was improved overall. I found myself glancing around the environment actually delaying the race just to appreciate it (after viewing on the Quest 20 mins previous). Next I tried out Pistol Whip and put not only the graphics to the text, but also the head tracking which improved the game considerably. The improvement in the graphics could be seen even from the menu screen and bettered itself as the game continued.
One prominent feature of the Quest 2 is its ability to be hooked to a PC. My only intention is to play independently though I would have tested for the sake of my review, though I’m strictly a Mac user at present due to work.
The refresh rate of the Oculus Quest is up to 90Hz
The launch refresh rate is 72Hz
EDIT: Besides my previous games, I’ve bought and played Walkabout Mini Golf and it’s the most realistic thing (besides table tennis) that I’ve witnessed to date. It feels like a proper game of mini golf. The physics are absolutely spot on. I’ve also experience RezInfinite and was blown away, literally saying ‘wow’ – completely unlike me.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
As a previous Quest owner, I’m pleased with my upgrade. Due to the fact that saved games are not carried over however, I will still be keeping the Quest for now, since I’ll have to play my games on that system.
As a conditioned VR user, in light of these ‘walls’ and ‘porthole’ that I mention, I do hope that more focus is placed upon trying to increase the field of view. I don’t know anything about the technicalities and problems relating to making this happen, but I feel ridding of those ‘sides’ is going to bring immersiveness well into the next level. What’s more, the front cameras could easily be a much better resolution to open upon potential and future proof augmented reality. As far as I’m aware, those aren’t special cameras and cameras in this day an age are not expensive, so to have a VR headset boast AR capabilities too shouldn’t be too much to expect.
For those entering into VR for the first time, or even from something like the Oculus Go which only tracks a hand movement, there’s probably no better way than to enter in than via the Oculus 2. You’re getting the full VR experience in which you can roam around a room, you’re getting great visuals and what’s more, you have access to a load of titles, whether it be experiences (apps) or games that you are interested in.
If you’re on the move, or like to have many apps and games available to you quickly and easily, you may wish to consider the 256GB version for the extra 100. Most importantly, if we consider that fact that apps will become larger and larger in file size, it’s a future proof option. If you are just dipping in your toe as a first time user however the 128GB might serve you fine.
As mentioned, I think it’s a ‘quest’ for technology to eventually yield graphics that are as crisp in the middle and background as they are ‘up close’ and I really look forward to that.
Virtual Reality is going to become astronomical. It’s great to be part of its advancement.
The Quest 2 is up there with the best hardware in which to currently experience it!
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Advantages
* Objects ‘up close’ are near 4K crisp
* Room-scale freedom (as in the original Quest)
* PC Connectivity though no PC required
* Haptic Feedback (yet to witness)
* Vast range of titles on launch
* Greater feeling of being in a ‘reality’.
* Sharper image with much greater feel of depth
* More responsive head tracking
* Much more comfortable & easy to fit
* Good battery life
* Charges quickly enough (approx 2.5 hours)
Disadvantages
* Front cameras still a poor resolution marring Augmented Reality potential
* Lens adjustment results in ‘walls’ at extremes
* Lens adjustment results in central glare at inners
* Side straps saw into ears
* Physical games cause the padding to soak in sweat
* Facebook account is required