Facebook Announces Oculus Quest 2 VR Headset

Social media tech giant Facebook today launched its Oculus Quest 2, a standalone VR headset that starts at $299.

The “all-in-one VR” headset is a huge upgrade to the original Oculus Quest and priced $100 less than the launch price of the first generation. Confirming the previous leaks, Oculus Quest 2 comes with a Snapdragon XR2 chip and 6 GB RAM. The latest Quest model boasts a single LCD screen offering 1,832 × 1,920 resolution for each eye.

The new Oculus Quest 2 offers 50% more pixels than the first-gen that only offered a resolution of 1,400 x 1,600. Moreover, the original Oculus Quest came with the obsolete Snapdragon 835 and 4GB RAM. In other words, performance won’t be an issue in the latest VR headset from Facebook-owned Oculus.

The best part, though, is the 90Hz refresh rate supported by the LCD. However, Oculus said the refresh rate will be set at 72Hz for now and it will “open up 90Hz to all developers soon after launch.”

There are improvements to the form factor as well. Oculus said the new Quest model is over 10% lighter than the previous one and it’s much slimmer. Apart from that, the headset comes with a new soft head strap and offers built-in IPD (interpupillary distance) adjustment with three different settings.

The new touch controllers can last four times longer than the previous one, thanks to improvements in hand tracking and ergonomics. There is add-on such as $129 Elite Strap with Battery Pack which can help in pulling longer VR sessions.

Besides revealing the Quest 2, Facebook has also said it will focus entirely on building stand-alone VR headsets. The company will stop selling Rift S starting in 2021.

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“That said, the Rift Platform isn’t going anywhere. We’ve seen significant growth in PC VR via Oculus Link, and the Rift Platform will continue to grow while offering high-end PC VR experiences,” Facebook wrote in the announcement post.

The Quest 2 64 GB storage model is priced at $299, while the 256 GB storage model will cost $399. VR enthusiasts can pre-order the headset right now, while the device will go on sale on October 13 in over 23 countries.

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