Name: Meta Quest 2 Is Better and Cheaper… With One Facebook Catch
Uploaded: 2020-09-16T17:30:00.000Z
Duration: 8 min 56 s
Description: The new best VR headset also requires you to sign into Facebook (for now, at least). But it's also a really good headset.

I didn't expect that there was going to be an Oculus quest to this year and I'm sure if you already bought one you might feel really frustrated. It's better. It's less expensive and I've been using it for the last week. The Oculus quest two is fantastic. They have to use Facebook Let's talk about it. [MUSIC] The good news is that the Quest 2 really feels like a spec bumped version of the Quest before, and it is $100 less expensive. So yeah, that's frustrating. But for people who haven't bought it before, it's fantastic news, because you don't usually ever get Something that combines something that's better with something that's more affordable in one device in one year. It's really unusual, but it's not unusual if you consider that Facebook wants more people using VR and that's where the quest to factors in The Question is lighter. It also has a new bumped up processor, a Qualcomm xR two that several generations faster than the one that was on the original quest. It also has a higher resolution display. The controllers are sturdier and have better battery life. And if you bump up to $100 more you get extra storage 256 gigabytes versus 128 before the base 64 gig model. It's a little low for storing games, which are about several gigs a pop. [SOUND] So what's it like to use the Oculus quest to? Basically it's like using the Oculus quest, all the controls, all those that basic interfaces are all here. This is a standalone VR headset that runs a curated set of apps. That Facebook has on its Oculus store. It's kind of like a game console and $300, it is going right up against not just the Nintendo Switch, but the Xbox One, the PlayStation four and the upcoming consoles that are coming this fall. Is it a game console though Scott. I think it is. In fact, my nephew just bought one and I've been playing with him. And that's the best thing it has going from anything like Beat Sabre to fitness games. I keep coming back to it over the past year to play games, to play sports type things to get a little bit exercise in and have fun. Now that's not just the only thing that Oculus is about. There are a lot of aspirations from Facebook for social VR for work for some bigger future, that could factor in here too. So I do try using some monitor apps where I pair to my computer and use this as a bigger screen and I've tried watching movies on it. The resolution improvement, which is 50% more pixels, and an LCD display does feel better and there is a 90 hertz refresh rate that's bumped up from the original class that will start becoming available for apps and games. And you can read things better. I still feel like I would rather watch movies on a big screen TV. It's not quite there, yet. The controls are still the same very video game like controllers, buttons and analogue stick ways that dual triggers can make it feel like you're moving your hands. And then there's an experimental hand tracking feature. [MUSIC] [SOUND] It uses the external cameras to like reach out and grab virtual objects. That's really cool, although still not fully off and out. But that was on the original quest, the quest to could improve things further. There are some differences in the way that the Oculus quest two feels. One thing is that the eye adjustment which is called IPD. To get distance between your eyes is a little different here. There used to be a slider. Now you push to one of three different settings. seems okay, I may prefer the other one more, and the fit for my glasses is a little bit tight, although Oculus will be selling different face fit masks separately. The strap here is more floppy and maybe not as super comfortable firm on my head. But again, there's going to be a more pro strap sold separately and a battery pack, which is good because the battery life on this is just two to three hours and the recharge time is slow. So if you use this and you want to be able to quickly pop up. Get back into the game again. Not so fast I found I had to let this charge for like a couple of hours before I got back into VR. That's a bummer. [MUSIC] The controllers on the other hand, these have much better battery life. They're double A batteries inside and so far I haven't tapped them out. Previously I felt like I had to swap batteries pretty frequently. The new controllers have the same button layout, but almost feel more at the original Oculus Rift controllers, the touch and there's a place where you can rest your thumb now on the side, they definitely feel bulkier and they probably feel firmer. I did like the feel of the smaller quest controllers before. And I feel like now this is a little tougher to play beat Sabre with But it made us have to get used to it. [MUSIC] If you bought the previous Oculus quest, I can tell you that right now the quest two does feel better, but I feel like you're not missing out on a lot. That could change though, because the Oculus quest two is equipped to handle much better graphics and possibly more advanced features down the road. And that could turn into something over the next few years. That Facebook leans into especially when it comes to AR and mixed reality. Now if you're a PC user, you there is the Oculus Rift and you can patch into this to connect and use it as a PC headset to With a USBC cable via technology called Oculus link that Facebook is taking out of beta, but that also comes hand in hand with the Oculus Rift going away next year. That's right, Facebook is making the Oculus quest two, the only VR headset in its lineup. That probably really frustrates you if you're a PC person, but there are a lot of better PC VR headsets right now, including the valve index. So maybe it's that Facebook is stepping out of that territory and going totally into mobile. [MUSIC] Let's talk about Facebook and Facebook making logins mandatory. On the quest, we have to talk about that. That was something that was announced recently, and new users and even existing Oculus owners are going to have to merge and use a Facebook account to keep using the Oculus quest to that is concerning if you don't want to live on Facebook. There are a lot of questions about data, about privacy, about where Facebook's going, and the future of social media. Clearly Facebook sees the quest as the future of social media. And that will start feeling like one ecosystem I'm sure over time. That could really factor in to whether you decide to get a quest to. For me, I still have like the quest to is so fantastic as a gaming platform as an experience that nothing else comes close to that I'm okay with that for now just because I already have a Facebook account. But I am keeping an eye on it because I'm not wild about it. And really I would prefer and I hope that at some point, Facebook allows other people to set up accounts on this, that are not just Facebook accounts. Now, let's talk about the future. The Oculus quest to as it stands now, is not the final spot for where Facebook wants to go with this technology. Eventually there will be making AR glasses and things that are a lot more compact that are going to be on your face and be able to be worn for longer periods of time for some sort of futuristic social interaction and gestures in the real world. Right now, it's a little hard to wear the quest to for longer than like maybe half an hour to an hour and one setting. And I feel like that still needs to be conquered. There's also the social question. How much will this evolve into a social experience? I still feel like that's a little bit tough here. Although Facebook does have a whole new platform called Facebook, Verizon. Feels kind of like fortnight meets the Oasis where people will be able to create games and live together, but again in the Facebook bubble. And I also wonder when you're going to start having the ability to work and get productive stuff done. These don't connect with phone apps like iOS and Android apps. Yet, this is still a Facebook bubble and Facebook ecosystem of curated software. Maybe at some point, you'll be able to get that Apple App or that Google app that you always wanted and play it back on a headset. But that's the future at the moment that $300 I think the Oculus quest two is clearly the best VR product for that price. And one of the most exciting things that I've ever seen, what will Facebook do with that and what will it become, I do not know. I'm super curious to find out. And I'm sure we'll find out a lot more over the next few years. [MUSIC]