Video – The best, affordable Virtual Reality Viewer, with or without a PC
Oculus Quest 2 improves on the first generation Quest headset, even at a lower price. With a new 1832 x 1920 LCD and an integrated Snapdragon XR2 chip, the Quest 2 offers exceptional clarity for an entry-level VR headset, through which you can enjoy a variety of games both made specifically for the standalone viewer, and streamed from the PC via Oculus Link and a compatible USB Type-C cable.
LCD vs OLED
This new VR headset features an LCD panel, not an OLED like the first Oculus Quest. The immediate result is 50% more pixels than the original Quest panel, which helps improve clarity, and reduce that annoying feeling of visible pixels on the screen. The image is sharp and clear; the OLED of the previous model certainly offered more contrast, but an improved resolution and clarity, against perhaps slightly worse black levels, is a choice to make without even thinking twice.
The benefits of the new Oculus Quest 2
The improvements between the two versions go beyond the panel and resolution. The new model is equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 System-on-Chip (SoC), which is a marked improvement over the Snapdragon 835 SoC from earlier. The headset comes with 6GB of RAM, a good step up from the original model’s 4GB.
The storage capacity of the larger of the two available models has also been increased to 256GB, from the previous generation’s maximum capacity of 128GB, while the cheaper model remains at 64GB. Even with the smallest unit, you’ll have no problem keeping a good catalog of VR games, experiences, and apps installed. System files take up approximately 11GB.
Oculus Link
Thanks to Oculus Link, Quest 2 becomes more than just a VR headset. Oculus Quest 2 will be able to run VR games on all titles compatible with SteamVR and Oculus Rift. This virtual reality headset is in fact able to reach a refresh rate of 90Hz, thanks to a recent update, and there is also an upcoming update that will offer support for 120Hz in some games, which is truly remarkable.
Oculus Touch
One of the features carried over from Quest is hand tracking. The Quest 2 tracks the two Oculus Touch controllers included, a great iteration of the controllers once sold with the original Rift. Setup is quick and easy, and the Oculus Quest 2 tracking is surprisingly accurate.
The configuration
Oculus Quest 2 is also one of the fastest headsets to set up ever. With built-in Inside-Out Tracking and Hand Tracking, you can go from unboxing to virtual reality in a couple of minutes. Literally.
The games
There is already a wide range of games available for Quest, some optimized for Quest 2 and some not, or at least not yet: updates for numerous titles are in fact on the way. In the standalone experience (you can also play without a PC) the Quest 2 not only deals with graphics processing, but also tries to conserve battery power as well as possible. That’s around two hours of battery life for fast-paced games, and a little more for less intense applications, like YouTube VR or Netflix. Controllers last for an exceptionally long time before discharging.
Oculus Link requires a single USB cable Type-C from the headset to the PC, and allows you to stream your favorite games, including those from the Oculus app and SteamVR compatible games. Oculus controllers are basically perfectly mapped for most games.
Final thoughts
Oculus Quest 2 requires a Facebook account, and this is perhaps the only thing that has been heavily criticized. Oculus has a long and prestigious history with virtual reality, and – given the features and price of this new model – it can be said without fear of denial that Oculus Quest 2 is the best entry-level VR headset.
