Okay, thinking of pulling the trigger on an Oculus Quest 2 (now the Meta Quest 2)
Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2023 2:29 pm
I have been doing a lot of research and picking the brains of a friend on Bluesnews forums who has one. He's suggested waiting for the Oculus 3 (O3) sometime at the end of the year, but my feeling is the Oculus 2 (O2), with the right accessories, will do the job.
Price was just dropped from $500 to $430 for the 256GB version. There is a less expensive 128GB version for $350, but as with all these things more is better, however the onboard storage is mainly for Oculus store games and not used much for PC based games, so if you know you're mainly linking to a PC, you can save some money. You can store 20 to 30 games on the 128GB version, double that for the 256GB. You can also store media in that storage, like for watching movies if that's your thing.
O3 specs are still unknown, but are assumed to improve on the O2. I figure like all new hardware the O3 will need to go through a teething period, and 3rd party accessories may take a while. I'm good with getting an O2 now, and if I upgrade to an O3 in a year (assuming VR doesn't just turn out to be a passing fad for me) I can gift the O2 to my niece.
Some techie things that took me a while to figure out, and may answer some questions others may have:
- Vertigo is a real thing for some people. My friend recommends taking it slow and not over doing it to start, and your brain usually adapts. If you stop using it for a long time, your brain will need to readapt.
- Yes, disabled people, or people who just don't want to stand, can use the O2 in a chair. Many games work sitting. I go into more detail below.
- Yes you need a Meta/Facebook account for the O2. I will just setup a separate gaming account and not use my existing Facebook account, and give them no personal info. I don't care if Meta knows what games I play.
- The O2 has a built in snap dragon processor (phone/tablet horsepower) that will allow you to play Oculus store games without a PC, although they won't look as good as PC based games due to,lack of processing power.
- PC based games (like Steam VR games) require you to use Oculus Link (USB C 3.2 cable tethered to a gaming PC. Meta sells onw that is 16ft long, very flexible and light, and guaranteed to work) or Air Link via Wifi (802.11AC or AX, minimum 600mbps Wifi, and it's strongly recommended the access point is in the same room). If Wifi is setup properly, it works as smooth as the USB tether. You can also use the O2 in a different room than the PC is located, if using Wifi. There is an Oculus app you have to install on the PC that gives you access to the desktop (Steam big picture recommended). The PC does the heavy processing taking the load off the O2 CPU. Minimum specs are Core i5 4590 and GTX1080. I know of someone playing with GTX1080 laptop. More horsepower is better of course. As I understand it, the PC is not sending HDMI or DP Video. It's sending a data stream to the O2, but it does render the game on your monitor, then it essentially acts like a game streaming server for the O2. Anything you're gaming on now, should support the O2. The big requirement is a full bandwidth USB 3.0 or 3.1 ports (some USB 3 ports on budget or older PCs may not support full bandwidth) or full gigabit LAN bandwidth on your LAN card, and Access Point, and your AP needs to be gigabit 5Ghz Wifi (802.11ac or ax). You only need to have megabit networking between the PC and the O2, so if your house is only wired for 100mbit, you could just setup a dedicated AP with a megabit switch between it and your PC.
- Built in battery is limited to 2-3 hours, although you can use their or a 3rd party battery bank, or just a UBC C cable tethered to a USB power supply.
- If you're far sighted, you will likely not need to wear glasses. This was a big deal for me. I'm far sighted and just ASSUMED I would need to wear reading glasses. The rule is that if you can see okay at a distance of five feet, without glasses, you can use a VR headset without glasses. For those nearsighted, you can wear contacts, or there is a spacer for the facial interface, that lets you wear glasses, but your glasses need to be small frames, and might still bump and scratch the O2 lenses. There is also a 3rd party that sells prescription lenses that are held inside the O2 with magnets, so they can easily be removed for someone else to use the O2.
- Eye separation distance or IPD adjustment is three mechanical positions on the O2, but my friend tells me if your ideal position is between them: 'Push one lens in the desired direction softly, slowly, and never reach the next setting and it stays part way happily."
- You will almost certainly want to replace the stock head band with the $50 upgraded head mount, or a 3rd party one.
- The 'facial interface' is foam on the O2, and soaks sweat like a sponge. You can ask Meta support to replace it with a leatherette version that works much better, and can just be wiped off, and there are many 3rd party ones for sale.
- It has built in speakers which are meh. You'll likely want some high end gaming headphones or ear buds. The Steelseries Arctis, and Logitech Pro Gaming headphones (which I own) will fit over them. Most of the big around the ear headphones will work. You can google that.
- Many Steam VR games can be played while sitting, which will likely be my preferred method, sitting at my gaming desk. I have room in my garage gym if I want to try some standing games. I did not know this, but if a Steam game requires standing, it will say so under system specs. For instance Superhot VR says "VR Support: SteamVR. Standing Only" under the system specs: https://store.steampowered.com/app/617830/SUPERHOT_VR/
Half Life Alyx does not say standing only and my friend confirms he plays it sitting, although you can stand if you want to. It just lets you look behind you easier. All racing and flying games, of course, can be played sitting.
- There are no external sensors to mount in your room, like with the Steam Index, so you can use the O2 anywhere. When standing, you have to define the area you want to limit movement to, to fit the space you have available. You watch a passthru image and designate the four corners of the box you want to stay in.
Lots of info here: https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest2/
And an interesting head to head comparison between the Oculus 2 and the PS5 VR2 (which sadly requires a PS5, and I don't do consoles, but if I did, this looks like an awesome VR headset):
Price was just dropped from $500 to $430 for the 256GB version. There is a less expensive 128GB version for $350, but as with all these things more is better, however the onboard storage is mainly for Oculus store games and not used much for PC based games, so if you know you're mainly linking to a PC, you can save some money. You can store 20 to 30 games on the 128GB version, double that for the 256GB. You can also store media in that storage, like for watching movies if that's your thing.
O3 specs are still unknown, but are assumed to improve on the O2. I figure like all new hardware the O3 will need to go through a teething period, and 3rd party accessories may take a while. I'm good with getting an O2 now, and if I upgrade to an O3 in a year (assuming VR doesn't just turn out to be a passing fad for me) I can gift the O2 to my niece.
Some techie things that took me a while to figure out, and may answer some questions others may have:
- Vertigo is a real thing for some people. My friend recommends taking it slow and not over doing it to start, and your brain usually adapts. If you stop using it for a long time, your brain will need to readapt.
- Yes, disabled people, or people who just don't want to stand, can use the O2 in a chair. Many games work sitting. I go into more detail below.
- Yes you need a Meta/Facebook account for the O2. I will just setup a separate gaming account and not use my existing Facebook account, and give them no personal info. I don't care if Meta knows what games I play.
- The O2 has a built in snap dragon processor (phone/tablet horsepower) that will allow you to play Oculus store games without a PC, although they won't look as good as PC based games due to,lack of processing power.
- PC based games (like Steam VR games) require you to use Oculus Link (USB C 3.2 cable tethered to a gaming PC. Meta sells onw that is 16ft long, very flexible and light, and guaranteed to work) or Air Link via Wifi (802.11AC or AX, minimum 600mbps Wifi, and it's strongly recommended the access point is in the same room). If Wifi is setup properly, it works as smooth as the USB tether. You can also use the O2 in a different room than the PC is located, if using Wifi. There is an Oculus app you have to install on the PC that gives you access to the desktop (Steam big picture recommended). The PC does the heavy processing taking the load off the O2 CPU. Minimum specs are Core i5 4590 and GTX1080. I know of someone playing with GTX1080 laptop. More horsepower is better of course. As I understand it, the PC is not sending HDMI or DP Video. It's sending a data stream to the O2, but it does render the game on your monitor, then it essentially acts like a game streaming server for the O2. Anything you're gaming on now, should support the O2. The big requirement is a full bandwidth USB 3.0 or 3.1 ports (some USB 3 ports on budget or older PCs may not support full bandwidth) or full gigabit LAN bandwidth on your LAN card, and Access Point, and your AP needs to be gigabit 5Ghz Wifi (802.11ac or ax). You only need to have megabit networking between the PC and the O2, so if your house is only wired for 100mbit, you could just setup a dedicated AP with a megabit switch between it and your PC.
- Built in battery is limited to 2-3 hours, although you can use their or a 3rd party battery bank, or just a UBC C cable tethered to a USB power supply.
- If you're far sighted, you will likely not need to wear glasses. This was a big deal for me. I'm far sighted and just ASSUMED I would need to wear reading glasses. The rule is that if you can see okay at a distance of five feet, without glasses, you can use a VR headset without glasses. For those nearsighted, you can wear contacts, or there is a spacer for the facial interface, that lets you wear glasses, but your glasses need to be small frames, and might still bump and scratch the O2 lenses. There is also a 3rd party that sells prescription lenses that are held inside the O2 with magnets, so they can easily be removed for someone else to use the O2.
- Eye separation distance or IPD adjustment is three mechanical positions on the O2, but my friend tells me if your ideal position is between them: 'Push one lens in the desired direction softly, slowly, and never reach the next setting and it stays part way happily."
- You will almost certainly want to replace the stock head band with the $50 upgraded head mount, or a 3rd party one.
- The 'facial interface' is foam on the O2, and soaks sweat like a sponge. You can ask Meta support to replace it with a leatherette version that works much better, and can just be wiped off, and there are many 3rd party ones for sale.
- It has built in speakers which are meh. You'll likely want some high end gaming headphones or ear buds. The Steelseries Arctis, and Logitech Pro Gaming headphones (which I own) will fit over them. Most of the big around the ear headphones will work. You can google that.
- Many Steam VR games can be played while sitting, which will likely be my preferred method, sitting at my gaming desk. I have room in my garage gym if I want to try some standing games. I did not know this, but if a Steam game requires standing, it will say so under system specs. For instance Superhot VR says "VR Support: SteamVR. Standing Only" under the system specs: https://store.steampowered.com/app/617830/SUPERHOT_VR/
Half Life Alyx does not say standing only and my friend confirms he plays it sitting, although you can stand if you want to. It just lets you look behind you easier. All racing and flying games, of course, can be played sitting.
- There are no external sensors to mount in your room, like with the Steam Index, so you can use the O2 anywhere. When standing, you have to define the area you want to limit movement to, to fit the space you have available. You watch a passthru image and designate the four corners of the box you want to stay in.
Lots of info here: https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest2/
And an interesting head to head comparison between the Oculus 2 and the PS5 VR2 (which sadly requires a PS5, and I don't do consoles, but if I did, this looks like an awesome VR headset):