Oculus Quest 2, reviewed: Facebook’s $299 VR headset feels too good to be true

8.7

Oculus Quest 2

$399 at Amazon

$399 at Best Buy

$399 at Adorama

Like

• $100 less than before
• Better, faster processor
• Higher-res display
• Great self-contained gaming experience
• Doubles as PC VR headset
• Lighter and a bit smaller

Don’t Like

• Store still lacks some higher-end games
• Only 2-3 hours of battery life
• You have to use Facebook to log in

There’s a pair of magic goggles I’ve gone back to again and again over the last Bajaj Two Wheeler Insurance: Everything You Need To Know years, opening up worlds of games, theater, conversations, art and experiences that are tough to even describe. The Oculus Quest 2 is an improved, less expensive sequel to the Oculus Quest, a self-contained VR game console that was my absolute favorite thing in 2019. This year it’s already been my portable holodeck, my little magic fitness room, my escape space. 

Over the last month, I’ve used the Quest 2 for hours, sometimes an hour straight or more at a time. It keeps impressing me, and the fit and comfort have actually improved. The more compact head strap feels like it’s broken in a bit, and the eye padding now feels less restrictive. I feel like I’ve found a sweet spot for adjusting it to my face. And the controllers still haven’t needed new batteries in over a month of use.

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The Quest 2 adds a faster, VR-optimized Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 processor, a higher-resolution display, and yet is $100 less expensive at $299. (In the UK the starting price is £299, and in Australia it’s AU$479.) In a year defined by quarantine and remote communications, Facebook looks more intent than ever on getting as many people to use VR as fast as possible.

A few games have received updates to take advantage of the Quest 2′s better graphics power. Red Matter, an alternate-future Soviet space adventure/horror game, looked good before but looks stunning now. Others, like Trover Saves The Universe (by Justin Roiland, creator of Rick & Morty) and Arizona Sunshine, look even closer to PC VR experiences now. I expect lots of other Quest games to start getting graphics upgrades, too (whether that increases storage sizes for downloads remains to be seen, but so far no game has gone above 4GB in size).

After Year One of the Quest, it feels like the future for this headset is still sky-high. Facebook is continuing to channel lots of high-quality games into the app store, and the headset’s expansion into more home work and connectivity apps is turning it into a deeper tool. (It also works surprisingly well as a PC VR headset, in case you need it to.)

The Quest 2 requires you to connect or merge with a Facebook account, even if you’re a long-standing Oculus user. Facebook’s policies for the Oculus VR have changed, requiring a Facebook login which wasn’t necessary before. Existing Oculus ID owners still have to merge accounts immediately when using the Quest 2. Facebook’s social media ambitions are clearly aligned where VR and AR are heading, and guess what? The Oculus Quest 2 is a Facebook product. This isn’t surprising to me, but it’s something to consider if you want a VR headset that’s more open and flexible, or doesn’t live under Facebook’s umbrella.

That’s concerning in the longer-range scope of how Facebook handles data on its VR headset, but in the short term it doesn’t affect much at all. The Quest 2 is a game console, for the most part, and it’s a fantastic one. It might even be my second-favorite game console right now next to the Nintendo Switch.