Five years ago I got my first taste of Virtual Reality by way of the HTC Vive while I attended
PAX in Seattle, WA.
Although I really wanted to pick up a virtual reality headset at that time the cost was
just too high and less expensive VR experiences, like the Samsung Gear VR, were reviewed by
some as being sub par experiences.
Fast Forward to October 2020 and the introduction of the Oculus Quest 2 and my oh my how things
have changed!
To be honest I didn't really follow VR technology very closely after trying the Vive back in
2016, because all the top rated headsets were just too expensive.
And not to mention you also had to own a pretty high end gaming PC to connect them to, to
even be able to use them.
The Oculus Quest 2 though I feel is looking to change all of that.
I picked up my Quest 2 a little over a month ago and this thing has done nothing but impress
me with it's capabilities.
Especially when you consider that the 64GB model I have here is only 299 US dollars!
There are two different models of the Oculus Quest 2.
I got the 64GB model but there is also a 256GB model that sells for an additional 100 dollars.
And you can pick up either model at my Amazon store...
Link in the video description.
The Quest 2 has this storage built into it because unlike other headsets; like it's predecessor
the Rift, or the HTC Vive or even Valve's current flagship headset the Index; there
is no gaming PC required to play VR games on the Quest 2.
You can connect the Quest 2 to your Wifi and download games directly to the headset.
Very similar to how you install apps on your smartphone and then launch and play them anywhere.
Although it's not exactly recommended because you need to keep the Quest 2 out of direct
sunlight for the IR tracking to work properly and to prevent potential damage to the display
since the Quest 2 is completely wireless you CAN take the Quest 2 outside and enjoy the
largest VR play space possible.
As an aside, many of the other headsets also use devices called lighthouses or base stations
which you have to put up somewhere in your VR play space and the headset tracks those
lighthouses in order to calculate where you are at in your play space and where you are
looking.
Yah the Quest 2 does NOT need those either.
Everything you need to begin enjoying VR comes in the box with the Quest 2.
There's the Headset, the Right and Left Oculus Touch controllers and a charging adapter and
cable.
Oh... there is also this spacer if you wear glasses and need to create a little more room
so your glasses don't make contact with the headset's lenses.
It even has speakers built into the head strap so you can hear the games you're playing.
There is also a headphone jack if you'd rather use some other headphones; but yah... it's
literally as simple as powering the headset on, putting it on your face and strapping
the controllers to your wrists.
There are a ton of games that run natively on the Quest 2.
Beat Saber is probably the most popular VR game in existence right now and there is a
version of the game that you can play directly on the Quest 2.
The graphics on some of these games are a step down however from what you get in PC
games but that's to be expected seeing as the Quest 2 is essentially running on the
same type of hardware that you would find in a smartphone.
There are of course other games that are not available for the Quest 2 because they require
a bit more computational and graphical horse power to run them.
This doesn't mean you can't enjoy those games however.
If you have a gaming PC capable of running PC VR games you can pair the Quest 2 with
your PC and play those games too.
If you have a high speed USB 3 cable you can connect the Quest 2 to your PC using what
is called Oculus Link which I feel is just fine for stuff like driving games and flight
simulators and stuff but for other games like Half Life Alyx, which is an amazing VR experience
by the way, and other games; being tethered to your computer kind of flies in the face
of what the Quest 2 is all about.
You know that untethered freedom.
Well there is another way to connect your Quest 2 to your gaming PC using what is called
Oculus Air Link.
This allows you to wirelessly stream games from your PC to the Quest 2 using your home
networks 5GHz Wifi.
Freakin' sick!!!
Your PC does need to be connected to your router using an Ethernet cable for this to
work and it's also recommended your play space be near your router.
Even though it's still a beta feature as of the making of this video; Air Link works incredibly
well and being able to play games like Half Life Alyx without a cable dragging around
to get tangled up in is nothing short of awesome.
One thing I found kind of disappointing when I first used the HTC Vive back in 2016 was
what is called the screen door effect.
What's happening in a VR headset is you're looking at a pair of screens through a set
of lenses that magnify the image on those screens.
Of course as you magnify the image the individual pixels become more apparent revealing a visible
grid as if you're looking at things through a screen door.
When I first put the Quest 2 on I was pleasantly surprised to see that this is almost non-existent
on this headset.
The Quest 2 has a screen resolution of 1832 X 1920 pixels per eye.
Which is a higher resolution screen than most any other headset on the market as of the
making of this video.
For comparison, the Valve Index which currently costs 1000 US dollars only has a resolution
of 1440 X 1600 pixels per eye.
Another feature of the Quest 2 that took me by surprise when I learned about it is Hand
Tracking!
On the outside of the headset are four 3D cameras.
These are used to track where you are in your play space and the direction you're looking
at any given time.
These cameras can also be used to track your hands meaning some games don't even require
controllers!
Just the headset and your hands!
So far I've only played one game that takes advantage of this feature called Elixir.
It's really just a tech demo showing off the hand tracking capability of the Quest 2 but
I feel this is giving us a glimpse into the future of VR and potentially gaming as a whole.
Speaking of the cameras on the Quest 2... a cool feature Oculus has implemented is you
can simply double tap the headband where it connects to the headset on either the right
or left side and it will switch over to pass through mode; meaning you can use the cameras
to see the real world around you.
It's a kind of weird looking 3D black and white view you get, sorta similar to what
you'd see in a night vision image from a security camera or something but it does allow you
to see what's going on around you without having to take the headset off, which is pretty
cool.
Want other people in the room with you to be able to see what you see?
No problem!
Using the Oculus App on your smartphone or tablet you can cast what the person wearing
the headset is seeing to your tablet or phone.
And if you have a Chromecast you can even cast it to your TV so everyone in the room
can see why you're flailing your arms around as if you're being swarmed by bees.
As of right now you're only able to cast the video stream from the Quest 2 to a Chromecast
device.
Whether or not Oculus will add support for other devices like Roku, FireTV and Apple
TV is unknown at this point.
Well... at least unknown by me.
As much as I've gushed about the Quest 2 so far in this video, it isn't exactly a perfect
device.
The field of view is good but it could be better.
There's a little bit of cropping at the top and bottom but it really isn't that bad at
all.
Your peripheral vision on the other hand is noticeably limited.
This is only a minor gripe though because once you get into a game you get so focused
on what you're doing that the limited peripheral vision is completely forgotten as the vast
majority of the your field of view is filled with the game world.
Earlier in the video I praised the Quest 2 for it's high resolution display.
My 2nd gripe though... actually has to do with the display.
Because Oculus chose to use an LCD screen things that are supposed to be black are more
dark gray rather than actually actually looking black.
This often times makes dark areas in games look more like you're walking through thick
smoke or something rather than it looking like it's dark.
While it's not a deal breaker for me I would have liked to see them use an OLED or some
other panel technology that would allow for better blacks.
But at the same time at it's price point I really can't complain too much as the LCD
panel is capable of a 120 hertz refresh rate which helps game play feel smooth and can
also help prevent motion sickness.
Depending on your point of view my next point could be either a good thing or a bad thing.
The battery life of the Quest 2 is around two hours.
For hardcore gamers that like long play sessions this could be a deal breaker for you.
However if you're a parent and you want to limit how much time your kids are spending
in VR this 2 hour limit is a nice way to regulate their time.
Or if you're like me and can easily get sucked into a game and lose track of how much time
has passed this 2 hour limit helps keep me from getting sucked in for too long.
'Cause once the battery has run down there's nothing else to do but stop.
As for charging time, it also takes about 2 hours to fully charge the battery once it's
been run all the way down.
My final gripe is probably my biggest one and that is you must have a Facebook account
in order to use the Oculus Quest 2.
Since Oculus is owned by Facebook they decided to force all of us that want to own a Quest
2 to also have a Facebook account.
This wasn't a big deal for me since I've had a Facebook account for a long time now; but
yah... you know...
Facebook...
All of you young kids watching this who think Facebook is for old people...
Well, unless your parents let you use their accounts you're going to have to set up a
Facebook account in order to play.
So is the Oculus Quest 2 worth it's asking price?
That's up to you to decide.
VR has really come a long way in just 5 short years and I feel like the Quest 2 is just
the beginning of a very exciting future.
Where do you think VR is going to go from here?
Are you ready to jump in now or do you want to wait a little longer and see what the next
generation of headsets have to offer?
Hit me up in the comments and let me know what you think and do the YouTube things they
help a lot.
Thanks!