The Oculus Quest 2 is my first and long overdue foray into the world of virtual reality. Those of you familiar with this realm will giggle and giggle as you remember my absolute lack of gaming skills, only matched by my persistent determination and enthusiasm. Go ahead and laugh. I had a lot of fun immersing myself in the VR world.
The brilliant people at Oculus were kind enough to provide detailed instructions and a list of some of the VR games and experiences available. I joined their mailing list and was intrigued by the ever growing list of games available.
I learned how to furnish and define a personalized living space. They recommend a room that is 2m by 2m, so my beloved wife sees this as the perfect impetus for me to clean up my clutter in the study. I saw it as an opportunity to spend more time with her in the living room.
OCULUS rightly assumed that I was new to VR because they sent me a detailed product description. One of their bullet points relates to the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 platform, which they refer to as the “lightning fast processor”. Qualcomm Snapdragon is the driving force behind the latest Android phone offerings, so I can’t question their pedigree.
Those of you familiar with the Quest will be interested to hear that Quest 2 has 50% more pixels than the original Quest. I can’t compare as this is my first VR headset. Suffice it to say, it sets quite a benchmark for future valuations.
The other feature that caught my eye is the Premium All-In-One Gaming Library, which promises access to “Hundreds of Oculus Quest games and experiences that are now better than Quest 2’s advanced display and state-of-the-art processor ever look. And there’s an exciting list of other games on the way. ”Unfortunately, I’m running out of excuses to keep this review article for much longer.
Meanwhile I fell in love with the touch controller. I am amazed at their accuracy and ease of use. I got used to them after a few minutes and only put them away when I realized I needed a real knife and fork to eat.
I was wondering if I would feel claustrophobic or uncomfortable wearing the headset, but found it extremely comfortable to wear. Adjusting for my eyesight turned out to be very easy; The slider is easy to use and even my eyes found the images and texts sharp.
One of the interesting features is the immersive entertainment and social experiences. Oculus instructs you: “Grab the best place in the house from almost anywhere. With Oculus Quest 2, you can experience live concerts, breakthrough films and exclusive events from around the world first-hand.
An ever-increasing range of social experiences enables you to connect with friends in VR, no matter where you are. ”Unfortunately, without friends, I can’t really comment on the social environment of VR.
I look forward to curling up and seeing a good movie. Live concert lovers will be amazed by the sound quality. Simply connect your favorite headphones or earphones to the built-in 3.5mm headphone jack. I found the built-in sound amazing and more than adequate for my needs.
Players will love the amazing positional sound, which means anyone sneaking behind you should be better off being a Shaolin monk or a ninja. Good luck grasshopper!
The battery life gives you around two hours of play time and nearly three hours when you watch media. The Oculus app keeps you up to date on the battery life and it takes about 2.5 hours to charge.
The screen refresh is an acceptable 72 Hz, but Quest promises an upcoming update to 90 Hz. To date, I haven’t seen any glitches, but then again, I don’t play at the pace or for long periods of time. A recent back injury has made me more sedentary than it is good for me. I have zealously avoided all therapies that require high energy activities while trying to opt for Bowen Therapy or acupuncture.
I spent a few minutes drooling over some of the accessories available to make your experience even better. From player performance to hygiene, you will find many ways to customize your personal VR experiences.
PriceSpy sets the Quest 2 range at $ 699 for the 64GB model and $ 839 for the 256GB option. You will be surprised by the variety of experiences on offer, and if your emails are anything, Oculus is determined to expand the repertoire of games and realities on offer.
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