TEST Oculus Quest 2: HD VR for everyone everywhere, even on PC! - GAMERGEN.COM

The Oculus Quest 2 is available for pre-order on the official Oculus website and from the brand's official partners, which are Fnac, Darty and Amazon, but will only be marketed from October 13 . Successor of the Oculus Quest, this new virtual reality headset has something to crack with its exceptional performance (see its technical sheet here), its substantial standalone catalog (which works without a PC or console) and its compatibility with PC games in VR (Oculus, Steam VR and Viveport) thanks to its Oculus Link cable (optional). We've been testing the beast from every angle for more than three weeks and we invite you to read the following to find out if we liked it, or not! New model obliges, our test is partly based on the comparison with the previous one, of which you can still read what we thought of it here.

The first thing that jumps out at you, before you even touch the product, is the "off-white" color of the Quest 2, which contrasts with the black that was standard with all the brand's models until now. Only the two parts in direct contact with the skin, i.e. the face mask (which always drinks a little too much sweat on the way) and the tray where the buttons and the joystick of the Touch controllers are placed, have remained black. If this choice is rather successful in terms of design, it is clear that over time, unless you carefully wash your hands and hair after each use, dirt may accumulate and darken the straps and wrist straps. , which are less easy to clean than the headset and controllers.

Secondly, it is the size and weight that stand out positively since the Quest 2 is smaller and weighs only 503 g compared to 571 g for its big brother (12% less anyway). Good news for those who are sensitive to this parameter and we are one of them. Although we would have preferred a rigid headband, it must be recognized that the new strap is well thought out in terms of adjustments, because it allows the helmet to be perfectly tightened on the head via two small slides at the back of the skull. Simple and efficient. If you ever prefer to have a hard headband with a tightening knob anyway, Oculus has a simple version and one with an extra battery on its site, but we haven't been able to touch them yet. This slimming treatment has gone through a design with more rounded shapes and overall dimensions that have been reduced.

Less wide, less high, less deep, we found that the Quest 2 is really pleasant to wear and the progress made, on the comfort between the two models, really satisfied us. On the other hand, despite the retractor provided, this helmet may not be the best friend of those wearing glasses that are a little big. To try to overcome this problem, there are three solutions. You have to turn either to the Quest 2 Fit Pack with two facial interfaces, including one with thinner foams for larger faces, or to corrective lenses adaptable to those of the Oculus Quest 2 if you are the only one to use your helmet or offer you real lenses. In all three cases, this requires an additional purchase.

The FOV (Field of View) has not been widened and remains set at 110°. The interpupillary distance (spacing between the eyes or IPD) has lost its free adjustment tab which went from 59 mm to 71 mm to be limited to three predefined spacings: 58, 63 and 68 mm. To adjust to his view, simply physically move the blocks with the lenses to one of the three locations. Here too, it's simple, effective and ultimately not really embarrassing for those whose eye spacing is inadvertently between two adjustment points. Once in place, the Quest 2 offers a bright, sharp image and above all without any grid effect (Screen Door Effect). This is due to the power of its new chip and its new LED screen with a definition of 1832 x 1920 pixels for each eye which far exceeds what HTC (1400 x 1770 or 1440 x 1600) and Valve (1440 x 1600) in their productions to date.

Of course, the blacks are a little less deep than with an OLED screen, but honestly, the gain in resolution and clarity largely makes this point of detail forgotten. Even with current games, not optimized for the Quest 2, the improvement is visible. Everything is fluid, there is much less aliasing and even reading text becomes a pleasure as the image is clear. Note, if the refresh rate is currently 72 Hz, it should quickly increase to 90 Hz in a future update. This will increase fluidity, but it may also drain the battery a bit more. See how this will be handled.

On the audio side, the Quest 2 takes up the basics of its predecessors by being equipped with a microphone and two directional speakers embedded in the headband. This technology, which was already fitted to the Quest, the Oculus Go and the Rift S, sends the sound directly to the ears, without completely cutting the user off from the outside. It's effective, even with a noisy environment, even if it lacks a bit of finesse and bass. On the other side of the coin, playing in your living room while your spouse is doing something else is not possible as the sound is audible from the outside. To overcome this, simply plug in your favorite headphones to enjoy good sound that has been improved by offering 360° spatialization. Frankly, there is nothing to throw on this point in the Quest 2. Finally, just to quibble, a better microphone would have been a good thing.

On the tracking side, the Oculus Quest 2 is self-managed via four ultra-wide-angle cameras driven by Oculus Insight technology, which offers real-time tracking of hands, movements and the body without any external support. Frankly, it's flawlessly reliable and the feeling of freedom given by the absence of wires is pure happiness. Note that there are still two special cases where tracking cannot work properly. In complete darkness and when there is direct sunlight or infrared heating nearby. In the first case, it's because the cameras can't find their way around and in the second, it's because the IR blinds them. In these cases, the headset remains usable with applications supporting the deactivation of tracking such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, multimedia players, the Internet browser... In short, the Oculus Quest 2 knows how to adapt to be used really everywhere.

As a small bonus, it is even possible to play without the Touch controllers, because the cameras manage to follow the real movements of our hands. Thus, all the menu part and some games allowing it, like the excellent The Curious Tale of The Stolen Pets, can be managed in the most natural way possible. Admittedly, it's limited and perfectible, but seeing your “real” hands and interacting with the virtual world in this way is a particularly magical bonus. Otherwise, the recommended minimum space to be able to play while moving is 2x2 m and can go up to not far from an 8 x 8 m, or even more by fiddling around a bit. The guardian tracing system (virtual lines delimiting our playing area) is intuitive and is created in a few seconds in augmented reality via the cameras. Simpler, you die. Once the space has been defined, in order to avoid an accident, the slightest touch or crossing of these limits warns us with a virtual wired grid, or even the game stops with the display of the vision of the cameras in the event of excessive overrun. . This "real" vision can also be activated and deactivated manually by tapping twice on either side of the helmet. Again, the words simplicity and efficiency come to mind.

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Even if we saw above that it is possible to play with your hands, it is with the third generation of Touch controllers, delivered with it, that we interact with experiences and games in virtual reality. They are a mix between the good things of the controllers of the two previous models, the Oculus CV1 and the Oculus Quest. A bit heavier and bigger than those of the latter (so much the better), their handle is a little more curved for a better grip, the plate accommodating the buttons and the joystick has become round again, as on the CV1, but it is bigger. The two system buttons have been shifted so that they no longer fall directly under the thumb and the battery cover is no longer magnetic so that it no longer opens in the middle of the game as often happened. On the other hand, no grip this time, and the controller is made of very smooth pure plastic. It's nice, but it can slip easily during brisk action. So, a word of advice, remember to put on the safety straps. Otherwise, in terms of ergonomics, whether for small or large hands, all the buttons are in the right place and these Touch are almost perfect.

The power button is located on the right side of the helmet, just below the strap mount. This is great news, because in this place it cannot be mistakenly touched by our large fingers when adjusting the headset on the eyes, which was often the case with the Oculus Go or the Oculus Quest. The USB Type C port is on the other side and, unlike previous models, it is installed horizontally. This small detail changes everything with regard to the use of the Oculus Link cable which allows you to play with your PC games. Indeed, by positioning it in this way, the thread goes directly and naturally along the leg of the tightening strap instead of going with a loop. Thus, it can be attached (velcro, serflex...) without generating the slightest discomfort or any pressure on the port. Well seen from Oculus there too.

The Quest 2 is equipped with an internal non-removable battery that allows it to last between 2h30 and 3h. In our tests, this was confirmed with just over three hours watching Netflix (video playback + Wi-Fi streaming) and around two and a half hours with games. This is also the time it takes to be fully recharged. That said, if that seems a bit short, there are several solutions to increase your playing time. The first is to buy a 3 m USB Type-C/USB Type-C cable to be able to play in being connected to the charger (the one delivered with measures only one small meter). You can also, if you bought it, use the Oculus Link, it works great for charging too. If you don't like the wire trick, you'll have to go through an external battery. Facebook offers a pack including the Elite Strap for Quest 2 with a battery and carrying case for €139, but does not sell it separately.

That said, all you have to do is order one (we recommend those from Anker which, in addition to giving us satisfaction on our animations for three years, are now covered by a 24-month warranty), slide it in his pocket and connect it to the headphones with a USB/USB Type-C cable. From there, depending on the ability chosen, you can play for hours and hours non-stop. Another trick, it is possible to attach the battery to the strap via Velcro strips (or 3D printed clips if you are equipped and handyman) and connect it via a short cable to the helmet. It's even the ideal solution, because the thread hanging down to the pocket is a bit embarrassing.

The absolute good news is that the Oculus Quest 2 is compatible with the entire native catalog of its big brother. To date, there are more than 200 applications (games, experiments, utilities, etc.) that can be played independently and are available on the Oculus Store, and no less than twenty new features have been announced between the launch of the headset and the end of the year. The bad news, in a way, is that there aren't any that are designed to harness the full power of the beast. Admittedly, the current games are naturally prettier thanks to the new screen (and the processor that manages it) and even seem more fluid for some, which is already a very good point, but we would still have liked to be able to touch a title exploiting the power of the XR2. That said, only time will tell if the Oculus Quest 2 will inherit exclusives or, at least, patches to optimize existing or future titles.

To this must be added PCVR compatibility, via the Oculus Link, which allows him to access the applications available on the Oculus Store PC, SteamVR and even HTC's Viveport subscription. In short, this gives access to several hundred titles and other pleasures in virtual reality, including some essential games like Half Life: Alyx or Asgard's Wrath. In fact, thanks to this bivalence, the Oculus Quest 2 cannot stay in a closet, as there are so many applications to discover. By the way, all that we have just described is not new, since the first Quest already offered all these possibilities. What changes here is that the Quest 2 does it better, for less. Speaking of prices, to buy applications on the Oculus Store Quest, nothing could be simpler, just do it directly from the headset or via the application installed on your mobile. For regulars of the various console, telephone or Steam stores, it's a pleasant deja vu. Note that the Oculus Quest 2 is no longer backward compatible with Gear VR and Oculus Go applications like its predecessor.

The Oculus Quest 2 is, for us to date, the best and most affordable solution to enjoy virtual reality. Usable independently or with a well-equipped PC for those who have one, it covers all needs and does so qualitatively on all points. Equipped with a very good pixel-rich LED screen (more than any existing HTC, Valve and Oculus headset to date), it delivers a crisp, bright image without any visible grid effects. The accompanying third-generation Touch controllers have been successfully redesigned and their (sometimes slippery) grip is truly excellent.

Thanks to its new Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chip and the extra power it brings, tracking via cameras has been improved and interaction with virtual reality has never been so precise without external sensors. Even if the power cable with its poor meter length (compared to three with the original Quest) no longer allows you to play plugged into the power outlet, people wearing big glasses will probably have to go through the purchase box to play at ease, that the XR2 chip is clearly underused, and that some refuse to have a Facebook account and will stupidly boycott it because of this, it will be, we believe, THE VR headset that will democratize virtual reality to the general public.