Oculus Quest review: VR freedom comes at a cost
if the oculus Go was an appetizer for truly wireless VR which is entirely self-contained and doesn't rely on PC the quest is closer to main course it's not as immersive as desktop virtual reality but it's currently the easiest way to show off the potential for this new medium you don't have to setup any sensors just throw on the headset pick up the motion controllers and you can jump into a complex virtual world anywhere you can think of the 399 oculus quest is a massively upgrade version of the go it's powered by 4 gigabytes of RAM and the snapdragon 835 a two-year-old processor that's far beefier than the meager 821 the NGO used it's OLED lenses each have a 1440 by 1600 resolution sharper than the ghost fast switching LCD most importantly it supports oculus insight system which relies on 4 sensors on the headset to keep track of the room and controllers that's even better than the oculus rift which requires setting up external sensors for room scale tracking unlike the go you're not stuck with a single remote the quest comes with oculus is revamped motion controllers which have triggers grip buttons analog sticks and two face buttons they'll let you play the same sorts of games that desktop VR headsets like the rift can in fact the new rift s comes with the same controllers they're a bit smaller than the original versions which I genuinely loved and they have tracking rings above your fingers instead of below oculus tells us this helps a quest keep a better eye on the controller's the headset resembles the rift except there aren't any distracting wires hanging around there are four tracking sensors up front along the USBC charging port and power button along the sides a redesigned adjustable head strap dominates the rear it's more flexible than the rifts but more rigid than the ghost stretchy straps while the quest has built-in speakers you can plug in headphones either 3.5 millimeter port along the sides of the headset and if you're wondering why it has two that's because oculus has custom ear buds that lorelei on both ports so you won't have to worry about maneuvering cables around your head the quest easily fit over my glasses and they only took around 5 seconds to get the head strap in the right spot it felt secure but I noticed very quickly that the headset is a bit front-loaded at 1.2 pounds its own point two pounds heavier than the go in the rift but I easily felt that added weight along my face especially around my eyes and nose it's not a deal breaker but I definitely had to rest more often than I did with other oculus headsets when I put the quest on I saw a ref black-and-white view of my surroundings from there I had to set up the Guardian system to avoid bumping into anything obviously you'll want to use the headset in a clutter-free area I marked the floor level by placing a controller down then I use it to map a boundary around my play space if you're just sitting or standing one spot you can skip that step afterwards I saw blue walls as I edged closer to the boundaries that's similar to the rift but the quest goes a step further when I peek through the boundary I got a monochrome view of the real world again with other headsets I've had to remove them entirely to safely navigate my office well the Guardian system works well overall I often had to remap my play space whenever I put the headset down for a few minutes which got to be pretty annoying hopefully oculus will figure out a way to better remember those boundaries based on its specs alone I expected the quest to deliver far more satisfying VR experiences in the go and it didn't disappoint superhot looked sharper than I did on the rift thanks to those additional pixels and it played just as smoothly it wasn't long before I was grabbing pistols in midair dodging bullets and knocking out bad guys with the motion controllers and speaking of which the new controllers feel great even though I prefer the slightly larger grips of the earlier models another plus they only need a single double-a battery instead of two thumper which was a huge hit in the PlayStation VR a few years ago is spectacularly immersive it's a fast-paced rhythm action game that has you've racing down psychedelic roadways fighting giant creatures and simply a blast on the quest the graphical fidelity is a noticeable step down from what the PlayStation 4 and my PC put out there are fewer particle effects and visual flourishes but it's still impressive for souped-up mobile VR most importantly thumper always felt as fast as it did on those platforms beat Sabre another VR mainstay works flawlessly in the quest it's also a great way to test motion tracking since the game is all about hitting directional blocks quickly the headset had no trouble keeping up with my wild swings even when I tried to trick it by turning my head away I only wish the game had a bigger selection of songs to play but if you're looking for a good VR demo for newcomers this is it I was surprised that the quest built-in speakers delivered clear and thumping sound with all these rhythm games I never felt the need to plug in headphones just be aware the speakers are open so other people will definitely hear you're embarrassing beat saber tracks for some slightly slower paced gameplay I try that journey of the gods a new Zelda style adventure game I enjoy swinging the sword around and taking down monsters with the crossbow but I was more hooked on the sense of immersion I've yet to find the perfect VR RPG but this comes close I enjoyed simply wandering around the serene world and exploring every nook and cranny watching 360 degree content on the oculus video app worked well but that's relatively simple stuff that even the go can do without a struggle the quest sharper resolution helped somewhat but that weight issue made it uncomfortable for longer viewing sessions other apps like Netflix weren't available to test unfortunately to help think we are more of a communal experience oculus also added chromecast streaming to the quest for the chromecast Ultra third generation devices in the Nvidia shield it works surprisingly well in my testing though the video quality can be hit or miss still it's nice to have a way to share your virtual adventures on the big screen oculus claims the quest gets around two to three hours of battery life and that fits with my experience after some heavy gaming for an hour it typically got down to around 50% it'll also charge over USB see in around 2 hours if you really want to spend the chunk of time in VR you can also use it well to being charged but that sort of defeats the purpose of having a truly wireless headset the quest starts at 399 with 64 gigabytes of storage and you can also bump up to 128 gigabytes for 499 games typically clock in under 500 Meg's though a few massive titles like face your fears too can surpass 2 gigabytes at this point though I think you'll have a hard time filling up 128 gigabyte headset the quests biggest competition at the moment are oculus as other headsets the $200 goes still a great option if you want a more inexpensive taste of mobile VR and the 399 rift s will get you better quality VR if you have a powerful computer and unlike a few years ago there are plenty of your already laptops around today Lenovo's mirage daydream which is $400 is technically a competitor since it's an all-in-one headset but we didn't like it too much in our review as for the PlayStation VR which you can find for around $230 now it's a solid platform for ps4 owners with tons of games but it's cumbersome setup might be a turn-off the oculus quest is so close to being my ideal Wireless VR headset it's more powerful in the go has some great motion controllers and there aren't any sensors to set up I just wish it were more comfortable and at 400 dollars it's not something average consumers will jump on immediately especially when the 200 go is still around but if you're looking for a great way to play some trendy VR games easily without the hassles of PC or console it's your best bet that's pretty much it for the oculus quest but if you're looking for more VR headset reviews subscribe to us on YouTube and check out our website and gadget
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