A little over a month ago I swapped out the stock head strap on my Quest
2 for two of the highest rated aftermarket head straps online to see which one I preferred.
When it came to comfort my favorite was the Quest 2 Elite strap from Oculus,
but because of it's history of breaking I couldn't in good conscience recommend it
especially when the BoboVR M2 Halo strap, which is the other head strap I tried out, also felt good.
If you'd like to learn more about those head straps you can find
that video in the cards and linked in the video description below.
Since making that video I've been using the Quest 2 Elite strap and so far things have been just
fine with it. But at the same time the breakage issue has been ever present in the back of my
mind. So when I saw that Kiwi Design had a brand new head strap with a very similar design to the
Quest 2 Elite strap and showed this in their demo video I felt it was worth checking out.
Just FYI, if you like what you see in this video there's a link to my Amazon store
in the video description where you can check out all the different head straps I've tried.
When the Kiwi design Upgraded Elite Strap arrived the first difference I
noticed between it and the Quest 2 Elite strap was the packaging.
I mean look at this.
Kiwi is obviously spending less money on their packaging; BUT... if they're passing that savings
on to us, I don't have a problem with that. Upon opening the box we see the User manual
and then this bag containing the head strap. The head strap comes in two pieces,
the first being this piece here which is the padded brace that goes on the back of your head
and then the main body of the head strap.
Kiwi has also included this cleaning cloth you can use
for cleaning your headsets lenses. A pretty nice little bonus I think.
Putting the head strap together is very simple and straight forward.
You just snap the padded brace into the slots on the head band and that's it.
There is of course a correct way to put on the brace, if you put it on upside down
it will not snap into place no matter how hard you try
but when it's in correctly it'll click together and you're good to go.
The padding on the brace and on the top strap
are super soft and help give this head strap a premium look and feel in my opinion.
As for installing this Kiwi head strap, or any other head strap for that matter,
you first have to remove the facial interface on your Quest 2...
undo the top strap...
then unclip each side from the headsets speaker arms.
You can then thread the top strap through it's loop...
clip each side of the head band onto the speaker arms
and finally replace the facial interface.
Adjusting the strap is just like it is with the Quest 2 Elite strap.
You simply turn the dial here at the back clockwise to tighten it
and counterclockwise to loosen it.
You adjust the top strap to where you want it and that's it.
One major difference between this Kiwi head strap and the Elite strap
are these hinges. While it's not something I ever felt was missing from the Elite strap
it does make it possible for you to take the headset on and off without having to loosen it
at all. But the thing I think is even more useful is it allows you to easily lift the
headset out of the way whenever you need to return to the real world for some reason.
As for the build quality compared to the Quest 2 Elite strap...
The Quest 2 Elite strap has a much cleaner fit and finish in my opinion
and does have a more premium feel to it overall than the Kiwi head strap.
BUT...
as I stated at the beginning; the Quest 2 Elite strap has a history of
breaking so that more premium feel really doesn't mean much if the product breaks easily.
Now as I mentioned in my other video;
Oculus has supposedly looked into the breakage issue and has addressed it.
And... my Elite strap is still in perfect working order; so yah...
but with it's history of breakage I certainly wouldn't try doing this with it.
Turns out Kiwi's demo video is legit. You can bend the headband quite a bit without any issue.
At first glace this Kiwi design Upgraded Elite Strap has a lot going for it and is looking
pretty good. However the most important question, I think, is just how comfortable is it to wear?
To make a good judgment on that I needed to spend a few hours in VR using it. After doing just that,
I feel I have to say I like this thing. It's very comfortable to wear. The padding on it is super,
super soft and getting it dialed in to fit your head is about as easy at it gets.
The hinge is a great addition and the head band seems to be
very flexible so I have no concern about it breaking under normal usage conditions.
Yah, it's asking price of $42 isn't exactly cheap, but when you compare that to the $50 you
pay for the Quest 2 Elite strap from Oculus this guy looks like a pretty decent deal.
Thanks so much for watching, I hope you enjoyed the video. If you did,
please smash that Like button before you go, leave a comment aaaannnnnddd....
there...
we just got rid of about half the people that had been watching.
Very few people stick around until the end
of a video; but the thing is... good things come to those who wait.
So for those of you still here if you'd like a chance to win
one of these Kiwi design Upgraded Elite head straps there's a link in the video description
that will take you to a Gleam page where you can check out the details on how to enter.
Good Luck! And, uh... thanks for sticking around until the end.