The Oculus Quest 2 is the best VR headset for most people when you factor in the comparatively low cost (it starts at $299) and robust capabilities, but is it about to be replaced by a newer model? The short answer is no, it's not.
As for the longer answer, Andrew Bosworth, vice president of Facebook Reality Labs, offered some clarity during a recent question and answer session on Twitter, which has been transcribed by UploadVR.
"People are also asking about the Quest 3, which doesn’t exist yet, and everyone who is listening to us who is a reporter there isn’t a Quest 3, there’s only a Quest 2," Bosworth said.
It would be easy to get fixated on the keyword "yet," as it suggests a Quest 3 is on Facebook's roadmap. However, Bosworth is not being cagey about the situation. While a Quest 3 may eventually materialize, a Quest Pro will come first, but "that's a little ways off still." A little more specifically, it's "not gonna happen this year."
"For those who are curious, Quest 2 is going to be in the market for a while—for a long while, and it’s gonna be, you know, I think the best bet for the most accessible way to get into VR and have a great experience," Bosworth added.
Put another way, if you just purchased a Quest 2, you can rest easy knowing it will not be replaced by something newer and shinier in the near the future. Even if a Quest Pro were to land on January 1, 2022, the earliest date it could arrive without rendering Bosworth's statement untrue, that's still over seven months away from now.
Best VR headset: which kit should you choose?
Best graphics card: you need serious GPU power for VR
Best gaming laptop: don't get tied to your desktop in VR
Outside of the cost of entry, the other big appeal of the Quest 2 is that it's a standalone headset with inside-out tracking, meaning it doesn't have to be tethered to a PC or require setting up base stations. It's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 processor and 6GB of RAM built into the headset, with 64GB ($299) and 256GB ($399) storage options available.
It's been improving over time, too. A software update bumped the initial refresh rate up from 72Hz to 90Hz, and there are plans of enabling 120Hz sometime later. Additionally, since launching the Oculus team added the ability to play PC VR games on the Quest 2, either through a USB cable or, with yet another upcoming software update, through Air Link, which enables streaming over Wi-Fi.
The one knock against the Quest 2 (and it's a big one for some people) is that it requires linking it to a Facebook account. If you can get past that, though, the Quest 2 is a fantastic VR headset that gets better with each update. It's also comfortable (the Elite Strap is a total game changer). And now we know it won't be replaced by newer hardware anytime soon.
