When the Oculus Link update came out for the Oculus Quest VR headset, PartyLink was one
of the first companies to release a cable that is directly designed for the Quest.
The 3-meter cable came first, 3-meter is about 10 feet.
PartyLink recently released a 5-meter cable (which is about 16 feet), and that is the
same length as the official Oculus cable.
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So we wanted to review the PartyLink cables since they are more than half the price of
the Oculus cable, plus the Oculus cable seems to be sold out everywhere at the time of making
this video.
So today, I'll let you know the differences between the cables so you can decide for yourself
what you want to buy.
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If you don't know what Oculus Link is, I explained it in my Oculus Link cable review; I'll put
a link in the description.
So there are two PartyLink cables.
They both are USB-C to USB-C cables and of USB version 3.1 gen 2.
They are also backward compatible with USB 3.0.
There's a 3-meter version (which is about 10 feet) that you can get for 20 US dollars
and a 5-meter version (which is about 16 feet) that you can get for 30 dollars.
At launch, the 5-meter version was 38 US dollars, but it seems like they dropped the price,
at least at the time of making this video.
The official Oculus Link cable is 80 dollars.
So compared to that price, the PartyLink cables are much more affordable.
But does it work as well?
Let's talk about the differences.
The Oculus Link cable is made of optical fiber, while the PartyLink cables are made of active
copper.
Optical fiber has benefits over copper; first, it allows for a more flexible cable.
You can feel that the Oculus cable is a lot more flexible, while the PartyLink cables
are more rigid.
Optical fiber is also able to give higher speeds and better performance over long distances
without sacrificing compatibility.
So yes, the Oculus cable has newer technology, and that is also why it is so much more expensive.
However, there is one important detail.
The Oculus Quest headset has one major limitation at the moment.
The Quest's decoder has a maximum speed of 150 megabits per second at the moment, which
means that it doesn't matter that the Oculus cable has newer technology, because it won't
use the full bandwidth of the cable anyway.
So even if you use the Oculus cable, it won't get you better image quality than a copper
cable.
But there is a possibility that Oculus will add a new mode that takes full advantage of
the bandwidth.
John Carmack, the former CTO of Oculus, confirmed that this is possible, but it is unclear when
this will happen.
It could be the case that it will never happen; we just don't know.
So yes, the Oculus Link cable is the most future proof, but you could also be waiting
a long time before you get the real benefits.
So I do think that more affordable cables like the PartyLink ones are still an option.
So I wanted to check them out.
Before we move on, while you are watching this video, don't forget to leave a like if
you found it helpful so far.
The PartyLink cables both come in a simple plastic package.
Both have a 90-degree angle end that you plug in the Oculus Quest, so it doesn't stick out.
Both also come with Velcro so you can bind the cable at the side of the headset.
Now, it seems like the PartyLink cables don't always work.
The Amazon page of PartyLink warns about that.
They say that the USB-C ports of motherboards should have a success rate of 90% while the
Virtual Link graphics card USB-C slot should have a success rate of 100%.
PartyLink does not recommend using PCI-Express cards or USB-C to USB-A adapters.
I've tested both cables on my PC; the full specifications of my PC are below in the description.
But the most important thing to know right now is that I tested the cables on the USB-C
port of my MSI Z390 Gaming Pro motherboard.
And I tested them on the Virtual Link USB-C port of my Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti graphics card.
Let me start with the results of the 3-meter PartyLink cable.
The cable works on the Virtual Link port, but when plugged into the motherboard, I did
get disconnects at first.
A restart of my PC helped out here.
The 3-meter cable also comes with a USB-C to USB-A adapter, which works too.
Make sure you do plug it in a 3.0 port, sometimes ports in the front of the PC will not work.
I haven't had any issues with the 5-meter cable; it works fine and stable in both my
motherboard and graphics card.
This cable does not come with a USB-C to USB-A adapter, plus PartyLink doesn’t recommend
using an adapter with this cable at all.
Charges the headset while playing?
Both cables charge the Oculus Quest headset while playing in both USB-C slots.
But as mentioned before, the image quality while gaming is the same as the official Oculus
cable because of the Oculus Quest decoder limitation.
So the only benefits right now that you get for the Oculus cable is that the cable is
more flexible and durable.
However, I don't feel the difference in flexibility when I'm actually playing VR games with both
cables.
So what cable you should get really depends on your situation.
If you want to be completely future-proof, then the Oculus Link cable is definitely worth
it.
However, no one knows when they are adding the new mode, it might never happen.
The Oculus cable is out of stock everywhere though.
At least at the time of recording this video.
So if you cannot wait, then the PartyLink cables are an option.
You get the same image quality anyway.
But again, for now.
I do recommend finding out if you have compatible hardware first if you get PartyLink cables,
like a graphics card with a Virtual Link slot for more compatibility or check if your motherboard
has support for high speed USB 3.0.
If anything, you can also prepare to return the cable if it doesn't work for you.
If you have compatible hardware, then I recommend the 5-meter cable as it seems to be the most
stable.
A 5-meter cable is long enough for my play space, which is about 2 by 2 meters.
The 3-meter cable is really not long enough to play roomscale games with but maybe for
seated games.
Don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t work for you, because Oculus Link is still a beta
release, which means that they are still testing the software and with newer updates, Oculus
Link will get more support and it might start working for you.
So this was a short video, I hope you enjoyed it, let me know what cable you are getting
in the comments below and see you all in the next video.
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