This is the latest replacement facial interface for your Oculus/Meta
Quest 2 from Kiwi Design that sees them making some changes to what was already
one of the best accessories for your Quest headset. So
how does it compare to their previous version, or the Quest one that comes out of the box,
and against the fitness version from VR Cover? So all these questions and more will be answered in
this video so that by the end of it you'll know whether you should go out and get it for you.
Welcome to My Tech Gear…
Let's get into it!
Now Kiwi Design did send me this for review but they are not paying or
sponsoring this video so the opinion you get will be honest and my own.
So out of the box you do get the facial interface, and a nose guard, along with two
faux leather face pads, and it comes with a cloth face pad too, and it comes with a glasses spacer.
Installation is dead easy. All you need to do is take the old one off and then take
your face pad of choice, attach it to the facial interface, put it into the middle,
and then work your way around the outside attaching the velcro as you go. It then
simply clicks onto the headset itself. If you do want to use the glasses spacer,
attach that to the facial interface first and then click that onto the headset.
So let's have a look at what you get out of the box. So there are these two leather face pads here
which means they are going to be nice and smooth on your skin. They're not going to irritate your
skin unlike the Oculus one which originally came with it out of the box. It also means it's not
going to soak up sweat because, well, it's not porous. It's a nice thickness as well so it's
not gonna be too padded or too thin. As well as this though it does also come with a cloth
face pad which absolutely does soak up sweat. I'll get to that a bit in a minute.
The facial interface itself is, as always,
same as the previous version. Awesome. It is completely vented top and bottom. So that's
really going to help hot air come out the top of the headset. It's going to encourage cold
air to come in from the bottom which is going to help two things. One, it's going to help you
sweat less in your games. Two, it's going to help stop your lenses from fogging up.
It also comes with a glasses spacer here so if you do wear glasses that's great news for you.
So let's compare the new one against their old version. Now
the old version was already one of the best on the market and they really haven't seen
much of a reason to change the fundamental design of this, but they have made some changes
that addresses some of the issues that I had with the original one.
So if you have a look at them both side by side you will see these same vents at the top and
at the bottom. The nose guard is an area where they've made a change though because the original
one was okay but it wasn't market leading. This one in the new version though does see a bit of
a change. So it is now far wider than it was on the previous version. That really helps to cut
out more light and makes it more compatible with a wider range of face shapes and nose shapes.
So I definitely noticed an improvement using the upgraded version over their previous one.
Another gripe for me with the original one was that it didn't come with a glasses spacer,
and it also wasn't compatible with the glasses spacer that came with the Quest 2 out of the box.
Now this has changed slightly. The new version still isn't compatible
with the glasses space that comes with it out of the box,
but it now comes with its own glasses spacer. So that is really good news if you wear glasses.
Another main difference is that the new version comes with a cloth face pad whereas the original
one didn't. This is going to be really useful, which I'm going to get to in a bit.
So now comparing it against VR Covers fitness facial interface and, well,
I've already compared this against their original version
and, well, it's a close call, with both actually suiting different types of people.
So the VR Cover one does have a better field of view because you can get closer to the screen. You
can use the super thin face pad to get you closer to that screen. But there are some negatives with
that because depending upon the shape of your face and how big your nose is for instance
you can actually find the bridge of your nose can touch the inside of the headset. So it will depend
on the shape of your face as to whether that ultra thin face pad is a good option for you.
So both of them do have air vents top and bottom. However, I will say that the Kiwi Design one,
as with their original one, actually cools you better than the VR Cover one does, but
the VR Cover one does have a better field of view. Part of that is due to the design
and part of it is about how close it can get you to the screen. It is very
slight between the two. It's not a massive difference, but it is a slight difference.
The VR Cover one is more flexible. So the plastic around the outside of the
facial interface is more bendable and more giving. So you might find that the VR Cover
one actually conforms to a wider range of face shapes. However it does actually curve
by default. It's a lot more concave than say the Kiwi Design one here is.
Nose guard wise it’s a lot closer now. Now previously I used to say
that the VR Cover one was better, but Kiwi Design have now redesigned
their nose guards so that it's a lot better. So I'll probably say it's a tie between the two.
Face pads wise there is a difference here as well. So the Kiwi Design one has two face
pads but they are the same thickness. Whereas the VR Cover one has a thick
and a thin one. So there's probably more adaptability to this one but I do find
that the face pad on the Kiwi Design one is that kind of goldilocks. It's
that perfect in the middle. It's not too thick. It's not too thin. It's just right.
Glasses spacer wise, the VR Cover one doesn't have one with it but it doesn't need to
because it is compatible with the default glasses spacer that comes with the Quest 2
out of the box. However the Kiwi Design one isn't compatible with the one that comes out
with the box so they've gone and provided one themselves that comes with this facial
interface. So you do get one, but you now have to pay extra for it.
Comparing it to the stock interface that comes with the Quest 2 out of the box… it really is
night and day between these because the stock interface for me is pretty much a flat “No”.
Well, almost a flat “No”.
There is fixed foam here. It's going to soak up sweat if you don't have a cover on the top.
You can't remove it. You can't easily wash it. It is literally irritating, and I do
mean literally irritating. So when it originally came out it caused so many skin irritation issues
that Oculus now provide a silicon cover with the Quest 2 out of the box, which certainly helps.
So if you're not playing lots of fitness games or fast action
games and you play more sedentary games like ‘Cubism’ for instance
then actually this isn't a bad option now, and you probably are going to be fine with it.
But for everybody else. Doing anything else. This has to be a ‘No’.
Get something else. Get anything else.
Here I think the Kiwi Design one, well it just wins hands down so easily compared to this.
Get something different. Your face will thank you for it.
So what is it like to use? Well it is really comfortable. I didn't really have a doubt about
that because the original one was comfortable and this keeps the same fundamental design.
So it's as comfortable as I expected it to be. It really is one of the best facial interfaces
on the market. It fits the headset well. It clicks nicely into place. You don't get any
light coming in from the side like you do with some of the others. That improved nose
guard underneath as well also helps reduce light coming in from underneath. It fits snugly on your
face as well. It doesn't irritate your face. It's a really comfy facial interface to use!
The field of view on this is good. Not as good as the VR Cover one as I've mentioned before,
but it's certainly better than the one that comes with the Quest 2 out of the box.
Now we get to what I think was the oddest thing about this version, which is the cloth
face pad. A face pad that is deliberately designed to soak up sweat! And I say that
because if you look at any of my other reviews of facial interfaces, I've always knocked foam face
pads because they allow you to soak up sweat. You can't easily wash them. It's just a little
bit gross. So including this in the Kiwi Design version I thought was the oddest thing to do…
and then I used it…
and now I think it is the greatest idea
that anybody could do and I don't know why more manufacturers don't do it!
And let me explain why.
You play VR games. You play fitness games. Play action games. And you get hot and you sweat,
and sometimes you sweat a lot. Now these leather face pads here are great at making sure that the
face pad and the headset stay on your face despite all that sweat, and it doesn't irritate your skin
as well. However, it doesn't get rid of the sweat. It just kind of sits on it. So you
do find yourself having to towel down quite a bit. With the cloth pad though that all changes
because this actually soaks up all the sweat so you find yourself having to towel down not as
much as you do with the leather one. Also, because this one is more breathable it actually helps keep
you cooler as well. So for fitness games, and high intensity action games, that is such a great idea.
Plus, when you finish your session, because this will be gross by the time you finish,
it'll be really wet and soggy and horrible, but because it's detachable
you can just take it off of your facial interface, shove it in the washing machine.
It can then go and get washed and then it's fresh and new and ready for your next session.
So I take it all back. Foam face pads are a great idea… if it's done properly!
One downer I would say is that there is only one cloth face pad in the box, however there are two
leather face pads. Now, given that the cloth face pad you're far more likely to be taking
off and putting in a washing machine and getting washed, it would have seemed more obvious to have
it the other way around. Two cloth pads and one leather one. You also can't seem to buy extra
cloth pads at the moment. So, Kiwi Design, if you're watching this, please take note.
I honestly didn't think that facial interfaces could get any better. I'd
actually recently done a four-way comparison video between a number that were in the market
and honestly I thought with that I was done. Apparently it appears not!
I really do think it's a two-horse race though between VR Cover and
Kiwi Design. Both companies make some cracking accessories for the Quest 2. The fitness version
from Kiwi Design though really does make a significant game-changing experience
for a certain type of player. If you are heavily into fitness games, or you sweat a lot in games,
then that cloth face pad really does make a massive difference. And for that type of
person I would definitely recommend this Kiwi Design upgraded fitness facial interface.
For everyone else though it's a little bit harder, and mainly that's down to price.
Before we get to price, my previous comparisons between the VR Cover and the Kiwi Design
largely hold true. If you have a more curved face and you want a better field of view than the VR
Cover one is a better choice. If however you have a flatter face or want better cooling then
the Kiwi Design one is a better option. Now when I'm talking about fit here I really am splitting
hairs because I have used both of these and both of these fitting me have been absolutely fine.
Now the price however for some people might sway it because the Kiwi Design upgraded version is
going to cost you $46 with the cloth face pad. If you don't want the cloth face pad you can
knock $10 off it and you can get this for $36. Compare that to the VR Cover one. This one only
costs $29. So that difference is largely to the fact that Kiwi Design comes with a glasses spacer
and it also comes with the additional cloth face pad if you get the $46 version.
So price might complicate it a little bit for you but we are
only talking about few dollars here or there. So I would say
get the best one that's right for you, rather than “just get the cheapest”.
I hope this has helped you decide which facial interface is best for you. I will place purchase
links to all of them in the description down below for you so you can check them out for yourself.
If you'd like to customize your Quest 2 even more
then be sure to check out some of my accessory reviews for the Quest 2 up here.
Thanks for watching.
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And as always…
See you in the next one!