A smaller, lighter Oculus Quest with a better display is reportedly in the works

[Cal Jeffrey]

Forward-looking: Facebook's Oculus division is reportedly working on a new version of the Quest headset. It was initially slated to come out later this year, but problems with Oculus' supply chain caused by the pandemic have pushed a launch into 2021.

A standalone VR device is something that many were looking forward to, and the Quest delivered that, for the most part. The chief complaints were that it was somewhat heavy and bulky, making it uncomfortable to wear for extended periods and that it was underpowered.

Being underpowered when compared to the Oculus Rift is understandable. As a self-contained unit, there is not much you can do to make it function as well as a tethered VR headset without weight becoming a serious issue. For this reason, Oculus seems to be focusing more on solving the size and weight problem with the second-generation Quest rather than trying to make it more powerful.

Bloomberg reports that although Facebook has not finalized a design, it is looking to reduce the size and weight by 10-15 percent. Prototypes in testing weigh about a pound. That's about 4 ounces lighter than the first-generation Oculus Quest.

The new headset may end up with some hardware improvements in the end, especially since it is being delayed. However, the only performance upgrade currently being considered is the display, but even that is still up in the air. Sources say that Oculus is testing panels with 90Hz or 120Hz refresh rates. The improved screen should provide a smoother visual experience over the current model's display, which runs at 60Hz for movies and 72Hz for VR.

Lacking any other hardware upgrades, the new Oculus Quest will be more like a mid-life refresh than a next-generational upgrade, but seriously, what can one expect?

The Quest only released just under a year ago. It feels strange calling it "mid-life," let alone considering its successor was supposed to arrive this holiday season. Although improving the comfort alone might warrant pushing out a second-generation headset so fast. It might not attract those who already have a Quest, but it might lure those who were on the fence and decided the weight problem was a no-sale.

That said, keep in mind that Bloomberg's sources were speaking anonymously. Oculus has not announced anything official, so anything can happen and anything said at this point should be treated as a rumor.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/85112-smaller-lighter-oculus-quest-better-display-reportedly-works.html

 

[Evernessince]

Oculus is making it's own Rift S look like a bad value. Might as well get the new quest instead of the S, after all you can use it standalone or with your PC.

 

[Lounds]

Oculus is making it's own Rift S look like a bad value. Might as well get the new quest instead of the S, after all you can use it standalone or with your PC.

Loads of latency problems with the quest when playing HL-Alyx apparently. I'm looking at getting a used OG Rift from 2016 they're about £200-250.

 

[Evernessince]

Loads of latency problems with the quest when playing HL-Alyx apparently. I'm looking at getting a used OG Rift from 2016 they're about £200-250.

I used to have a CV1 (OG Rift). It was a PITA. Each sensor requires a USB connection to your computer. You need 3 for roomscale so wires everywhere essentially. Chances that you'll need a USB card are high. Not because you don't have enough ports but because they require a ton of bandwidth and will frequently disconnect. The tracking was good when it worked, not as good as the Vive though. Both in quality and size of play space.

If you can find a way to hide the cords and avoid the USB issues it's a pretty good headset as far as Gen1 headsets are concerned.

The Vive is more expensive but has better tracking and FOV. The strap sucks though, you pretty much need the deluxe audio strap. The other upside is you can upgrade to the index down the line by just buying the headset (and not the whole kit).

 

[texasrattler]

Oculus is making it's own Rift S look like a bad value. Might as well get the new quest instead of the S, after all you can use it standalone or with your PC.

Umm how so? Because it's not. The Rift S is way more powerful. The Quest only good feature is that it's portable. The new Quest, if one does actually come, in its current state is nothing more than a weight loss with no actual improvements. If it does comes with some much needed upgraded performance than you can talk about maybe looking bad but at that point the Rift S will be close to 2 years old and itself may get a upgrade.

 

[Jeff Schmidt]

These articles are so pointless. We all know that companies work on updating a product all the time. Is GM/Ford/Toyota working on a 2021 version of a 2020 product. Yes, yes they are.

But this article is acting like price is no object. When the first Quest came out there was stuff that wasn't the best in it. The SOC was 2 generations behind when it came out. The prototype version of the quest had the battery on the back of the head strap. The head strap was also a stronger and more rigid material more like the original Rift. If a new version of the Quest would be announced it wouldn't be much of a jump besides maybe 2 years in Snapdragon SOC's (not a huge jump) and maybe a better refresh rate. So barely a jump up.

I've owned the original Rift and the Quest. The sensors were a pain to setup but when it was done it was done. Tracking was great, the Vive has better tracking but each sensor needs to be powered and the Vive's screen door effect seem to be a little worse. The sweet spot on both the original Vive and Rift was also very small. I think about all the current headsets have a decent size sweet spot.

Back to the Rift S and Quest. Both came out about a year ago and are still hard to find. Even before covid. So I seriously doubt a new Quest will be announced this fall. It's just too soon. (a year and a half later is too soon and hardware hasn't increased much/at all since then). I could see a higher end Rift come out. But that doesn't seem like Facebooks model. They want these in everyone's hands. I could maybe see a price drop to 350. But why bother when there out of stock.

 

[Evernessince]

Umm how so? Because it's not. The Rift S is way more powerful. The Quest only good feature is that it's portable. The new Quest, if one does actually come, in its current state is nothing more than a weight loss with no actual improvements. If it does comes with some much needed upgraded performance than you can talk about maybe looking bad but at that point the Rift S will be close to 2 years old and itself may get a upgrade.

/faceplam

Either you don't realize that the Rift S isn't standalone (thus having 0 power of it's own) or you didn't pick up on the fact that the Oculus Quest can be used standalone or with a PC. In either case, you are incorrect. The major difference between the two are the following:

- The oculus quest can be used either standalone or with your PC. The Rift S can only be used with your PC. The Oculus Quest is far more versatile in this regard.
- The Oculus quest has two 72hz OLED panels where as the Rift S has a single pentile LCD display at 80 Hz.
- The Oculus quest supports IPD adjustment, the Rift S does not. The further you are out from the 62mm sweetspot of the Rift S, the most distortion you are going to see. Given that only about 50% of the population are inside the Rift S's sweet spot, that's a lot of people who should not buy it simply because they didn't include a basic feature.

 

[Lounds]

/faceplam

Either you don't realize that the Rift S isn't standalone (thus having 0 power of it's own) or you didn't pick up on the fact that the Oculus Quest can be used standalone or with a PC. In either case, you are incorrect. The major difference between the two are the following:

- The oculus quest can be used either standalone or with your PC. The Rift S can only be used with your PC. The Oculus Quest is far more versatile in this regard.
- The Oculus quest has two 72hz OLED panels where as the Rift S has a single pentile LCD display at 80 Hz.
- The Oculus quest supports IPD adjustment, the Rift S does not. The further you are out from the 62mm sweetspot of the Rift S, the most distortion you are going to see. Given that only about 50% of the population are inside the Rift S's sweet spot, that's a lot of people who should not buy it simply because they didn't include a basic feature.

I guess that is one good thing about PSVR headset, it's designed to be used anyone kids, adults, with or without glasses and still have a good experience. I don't know what the PSVR games are like on a standard PS4 but on the Pro it's reasonably good the only thing I would say is the resolution is a tad low but it still doesn't stop you don't get immersed. So from sounds of it if I want to play Half-life Alyx I need to get a Vive and buy the index controllers.

 

[polord]

10-15%, not a reason for me too to replace my quest, must be 40-50% less weight at least...

 

[Evernessince]

I guess that is one good thing about PSVR headset, it's designed to be used anyone kids, adults, with or without glasses and still have a good experience. I don't know what the PSVR games are like on a standard PS4 but on the Pro it's reasonably good the only thing I would say is the resolution is a tad low but it still doesn't stop you don't get immersed. So from sounds of it if I want to play Half-life Alyx I need to get a Vive and buy the index controllers.

Yep. The PSVR was well designed for usability. It will be very interesting to see what their 2nd gen headset will look like.