VR - Is it really going to be a success? Or, thanks Time for starting a discussion!

[TurinTur]

@Mellified

I just grabbed a second 128GB Quest 1. Multiplayer here we come!

I hope it was cheap!

[Tim_N]

@TurinTur

-‘for most people Q2 loses a little bit of FOV’.

Hey if you wrote that summary thanks alot, I read through the whole thing and found it interesting.

It’s a shame about FOV. I wonder if anyone has good FOV numbers for the Q1 and the decline for Q2? The Acer WMR I have been using has a 95 degrees FOV, I am hoping the Q2 isn’t as bad as that (95 is noticeable and not good enough).

[Mellified]

@TurinTur

I hope it was cheap!

Nope - full price.

[Profanicus]

Quest 2 preorders are up (Oculus site and Amazon is as far as I checked). Here in Au it says estimated delivery October 20.

The 64GB is a good chunk cheaper than V1 was here at launch - $480 vs $650 of the good old AUDs. Adding the proper strap brings it up to $560, still a good deal less.

And I see there is another strap, which adds a built-in battery for balance and extra playtime, just like those mods people were making! I can’t see how much extra time it adds though.

[TurinTur]

@Profanicus

Quest 2 preorders are up (Oculus site and Amazon is as far as I checked).

They are up since Wednesday .P

The battery supposedly gives another two hours of game uses, so it doubles it up.

[Profanicus]

Well no-one said! :D

Anyway, I got one. Strap w/ battery + carry case doesn’t ship until the month after.

Much easier to get than RTX 3080s and PS5s…

[Alistair]

This Walking Dead thing did look like fun on Quest 2… More so than the Rift’s Arizona Sunshine when I played it way back.

Oculus Quest 2 The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners Gameplay

Not sure how it compares the the Q1 version, just something I just saw.

[Profanicus]

There is no Quest 1 version yet, only the PC version. This version is for both Quests, and has been coming for a while. It’s why I held off on buying it so far, to see if it’s cross-buy or whatever. :)

Will be interesting to see what the difference between running it on both Quest versions is, not sure this video touches on it.

The object handling looks dated already after HL: Alyx though. More games need to adopt the feeling of ‘heft’ that game had, rather than the super jittery movement you get when the object is just directly atteched to your hand.

[TurinTur]

You can check the difference here

The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners Oculus Quest 2 vs Quest 1 Graphics Comparison

[TurinTur]

An interesting AMA with RoadtoVR founder
https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/ivf2ek/quest_2_ama_with_ben_lang_from_roadtovrcom/

From most comfortable to least comfortable, I’d rank this way:
1 Rift CV1 = Quest 2 Elite Strap
2 Quest 1
3 Quest 2 soft strap
Quest 2 with Elite Strap is a lot like Quest 1 strap but with better balance and a bit better fit. Only thing I miss from the Quest 1 strap is that it’s ‘springy’ which makes it easy to put on and take off without re-adjusting the tightness.

No at this point I’d say Quest 1 users should wait. One Day 1, Quest 2 is going to feel a lot like Quest 1 except for the resolution.
It’s going to take Oculus and developers to roll out patches (90Hz default, improved Link, higher textures in games, etc) which will get Quest 2 to really feel like Quest 2. Right now you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a Quest S.

The front seems to get a bit warmer, but inside the headset (ie: between the lenses and your face) actually seems to stay a bit cooler, which is nice.
The audio between Quest 1 and 2 feel pretty much on par to me in terms of volume and quality. Both are passable but I still wish they had a better audio solution because it adds so much to immersion.

(about black levels) Pretty much the same as other LCD displays. So if you’ve ever seen black in any modern LCD VR headset (Rift S, Index, etc) that’s essentially what you can expect from Quest 2.

To preface this, I play Beat Saber at Expert+, but I’ve never reached the point of doing the ‘claw grip’ or anything like that.
I like the Quest 2 controllers more generally, and for Beat Saber. The ‘face’ is larger, leaving a large space to best your thumb without pressing any of the buttons. It’s makes it easier to feel like you’re going a full ‘grab’ than when your thumb has to be hovering over a face button.
The wrist straps on Quest 2 are circular, woven bands rather than the fabric strips like on Quest.
If you’ve ever used an original Touch controller (from Rift CV1), the Quest 2 controllers are nearly identical.
The only downside I see to the Quest 2 controllers is that they feel like they’re made for slightly larger hands. So people with small hands coming from Quest 1 controllers might think they feel a bit big for their taste.

(SDE, resolution) Ok so… screen door effect is the unlit space between pixels. It’s effectively invisible on Quest 2 and G2. But that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to see evidence that the view in front of you is made up of pixels. ‘No screen door’ and ‘retina resolution’ are different things entirely.

(talking about Elite strap) The only thing I miss from the Quest 1 strap is the ‘springy’ action that makes it super easy to put on / take off without needing to re-adjust the tightness.

Menu clarity/text legibility on Quest 2 is higher than Index.
Games like First Steps will definitely look sharper than original Quest because the SDE on Quest 2 is basically gone

(fov) In my experience the middle IPD setting on Quest 2 is pretty much the same as Quest 1. I don’t see any clipping on the narrowest setting, but I do see a tiny bit of clipping on the widest setting.
The amount of clipping that you will see is to some extent dependent on the individual; how recessed your eyes are and how tightlight you fit the strap will influence it.
People call it ‘clipping’ because you’re seeing the end of the display, which is somehow more jarring than just seeing the edge of the lens, probably because it’s in focus.

Quest 2’s face pad is actually fine foam directly against your skin, whereas Quest 1 is foam covered with fabric. So there is a difference, but unfortunately I can’t say if it will be positive or negative for you!

Battery life so far has been the same for me between Quest 1 and 2.

I think the Quest 2 is coming hot. It’s 72hz default because Guardian was still not updated, Link will be updated later, etc I have the feeling the software side of the equation will need 2-3 months of updates to have a real Quest 2.

FB has uploaded the Connect sessions to Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/user/oculusvr/videos

[TurinTur]

More reviews for the Quest 2

https://www.wired.com/review/oculus-quest-2-review/
https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/oculus-quest-2
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/16/technology/personaltech/facebook-oculus-quest-2-review-vr-headset-games.html
https://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-quest-2-review-better-in-almost-every-way/
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/sep/17/oculus-quest-2-vr-headset-review-the-virtual-escape-from-covid-19-we-need

[Matt_W]

I take it the Elite strap doesn’t include headphones the way my FrankenQuest does. There’s zero reason for me to upgrade at preset.

[Mellified]

@Matt_W

I take it the Elite strap doesn’t include headphones the way my FrankenQuest does. There’s zero reason for me to upgrade at preset.

Correct. They went to a single headphone jack, which means you have a wire going over to the other ear too from what I read.

@TurinTur

More reviews for the Quest 2

I read through a bunch of these. I’m standing by my purchase of the Quest 1 this week. I’m tempted by the better resolution, but losing OLED, variable IPD adjustment, and accuracy on the controller is just not enough.

[Profanicus]

@Mellified

tempted by the better resolution

…and much higher refresh (eventually…). 72 is just not enough, especially in games with smaller fast moving objects (table tennis for example). It’ll be great to be back to 90, and even 120 (if they end up unlocking that).

@Mellified

but losing OLED

Yeah I’m the opposite here… I favour my Rift S over Quest for seated games because the image is a lot clearer and sharper, even though it’s more ‘washed out’ due to lower blacks, and technically lower resolution. It’s why everything has moved to LCD, with its superior subpixel count/arrangement.

@Mellified

variable IPD adjustment

But it has variable IPD adjustment, just less granular and via a different mechanism. I think that since they lost the fixed foveated rendering and improved the lens sweet spot it shouldn’t matter as much, unless you’re past the extremes the device supports.

Personally I have had my Quest slider moved to various settings and haven’t even noticed lol… mind you I am smack in the middle with 64.

@Mellified

accuracy on the controller

I read through all the reviews too and the only one that mentioned this was that highly negative Ars review. I’m dubious. Every other review says they’re better in general, and the tracking is fine. And if there are some issues I’m sure they will be patched, since support on the tracking has been exemplary thus far.

And in my experience, if they’re nearly identical to the old Rift controllers they will be better. Fit the hands better, longer battery, better haptics, and the battery door won’t slide off during Beat Saber.

@TurinTur

I have the feeling the software side of the equation will need 2-3 months of updates to have a real Quest 2.

Yeah hardware is rushed out for Xmas. :)

Quest 1 took a few updates to get where it is too though. Remember the tracking issues it had early on.

[Mellified]

@Profanicus

But it has variable IPD adjustment, just less granular and via a different mechanism.

Semantics. The Quest 1 is variable. The Quest 2 has three fixed IPD settings.

We got our second Quest 1 today - plus a third one! Someone at Walmart online shipping apparently didn’t realize the Oculus overpack box contained two headsets. They don’t want it back either since it is discontinued.

So we now have three Quest 1s in the family. Of course I spent another $500 on games and accessories between the two additional accounts and headsets. But my two oldest boys and I played some multiplayer lined up together in the family room. Loads of fun!!

“Obstruction detected in the play area” indeed!

[Profanicus]

Bargain!

Which games did you pick up? Do any work locally or is it all online?

[Profanicus]

Nice. How are you playing those Steam VR games? Do you also have three PCs set up? ;)

[vyshka]

Tilt Brush has a game in it? I thought it was just a tool for making art like Quill.

[vyshka]

I’d love to try it and quill on a quest. It would be nice to not be tethered while using those programs.

[TurinTur]

Quest 2 summary

Screen

• 50% more resolution
• +50% more subpixels on top of that (RGB vs pentile)
• 90hz refresh rate

SoC

• More performance: 33% more gpu, 45% more cpu, 50% more ram
• wifi6
• 8k video decoding (important for better Link experience?)

Other Hardware

• Strap easily moddable, official elite strap
• 10% lighter

Controller

• Slightly bigger (better for bigger hands, worse for small hands?)
• thumb rest position with sensor
• 3-4x battery duration
• more secure battery cover

Cons:

• Slightly less saturated colors and slightly worse black levels as it isn’t OLED screen
• IPD system with three presets (58mm, 63mm, 68mm), instead of the bigger, continiuos range of Quest 1 (58-72mm).
• Cheaper strap, mixed impressions on comfort (in how bad it is, but everyone agrees it isn’t’ good), without the springy system.
• Possibly a lil’ worse battery? There are reports it’s around 10 minutes less than the Quest 1.