Oculus Quest
Expensive, but the Oculus Quest is the best wireless VR headset by a mile and has the content to take advantage
PRICE 128GB, £416 (£499 inc VAT) from pcpro.link/298quest
While the Oculus Go ( see issue 286, p64) was a great introduction to wireless VR, its limited power and single controller meant it was never going to be as immersive as traditional VR headsets. With the Oculus Quest, Facebook promises the same wireless, put-on-and-play experience as the Go, but with beefed-up power to help make virtual reality experiences even more entertaining.
The Quest is a handsome machine: the all-black finish and textured fabric exterior contribute to the feeling that you’re wearing the tech equivalent of a new car. There’s something particularly striking about the front panel, which is a matte black affair with four external cameras inlaid into each corner. The two motion controllers that come with the Quest are equally stylish, their only downside being that they’re each powered by a single AA battery, so make sure you keep plenty of spares.
In contrast with the swish aesthetics, the rubber headband feels cumbersome; the Velcro adjustment mechanism at the top of the headset requires two hands and plenty of patience. That said, the Quest weighs a hefty 571g and the headband does an excellent job of keeping the headset strapped to your face.
Lined by foam, the eyepiece is comfortable, although tight straps invariably result in the muchmaligned “ski goggle” effect. The nose arch is weirdly angular, so unless you’re blessed with a sizeable snout you’re likely to notice light seeping through the gap. Otherwise, the combination of the complex adjustable headband and foam-lined eyepiece keep the real world at bay.
A volume rocker and slider sit on the lower edge of the headset. The
slider adjusts the distance between each lens, a function introduced by the original Rift and still just as welcome. No one wants to wiggle a headset about to find a decent viewing position.
Thanks to the four tracking cameras, the Oculus Quest has a nifty “see-through” feature that allows you to see your surroundings in real(ish) time without removing the headset. It’s never going to be a pristine image – the Quest displays your surroundings in grainy black and white – but it’s helpful when you’re trying to map out your play area or take a brief pause.
Your VR experience is brought to you by a pair of 1,440 x 1,600 (per eye) OLED lenses with a smooth 75Hz refresh rate. By comparison, the Oculus Go has a refresh rate of 72Hz, and makes do with an LCD screen at a resolution of 1,280 x 1,440. That’s not bad, but the gorgeous OLED panel produces deep, inky black and rich, vibrant colours that put the Go’s LCD to shame. The higher resolution also reduces the screen door effect (where individual pixels produce a visible grid); these are the best VR visuals around.
Oculus is also starting to deliver on its promise of a library of cracking VR games via the Oculus Store. There are around 50 games on sale, with plenty more – including Star Wars’ ’ impressivelooking Vader Immortal – on the way. But Steam still wins for quantity.
The difference is that you’ll need a powerful PC to run those games. The Oculus Quest shines because it’s totally self-contained and totally wireless, packing a Snapdragon 835 processor that can run more advanced VR titles. This is where the Quest shines: titles that involve plenty of movement, such as Superhot VR, work best without the cables. And, of course, there’s nothing like knowing you can twirl and spin and make a fool of yourself without fear of ending up coiled in a mass of wires.
And you really can twirl and spin (and duck and dodge). The Oculus Quest supports six degrees of freedom (DoF), which means the headset is capable of tracking your movement in a three-dimensional area – moving side to side, forwards/backwards and up/down. In a space of your own choosing, and without cables to limit your movement, VR becomes a wonderfully energetic experience.
The downside is that price: £499 for the 128GB version, £399 for 64GB. But it should be clear by now that the Oculus Quest has one key selling point. Yes, the display is a cut above the competition, the software both intuitive and plentiful, and the build quality is as high as you could hope for – but none of these things are revolutionary on their own. It’s the lack of hindrance – be that cables, sensors or gaming PCs – that marks the Quest as unique.
SPECIFICATIONS
2 x 1,440 x 1,600 OLED screens Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor 4GB RAM 128GB storage six DoF tracking Bluetooth Wi-Fi 2 x handheld controllers 120 x 110 x 90mm (WDH) 571g 1yr warranty