VR’s popularity increased with the release of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. These headsets had to be plugged into a computer, leaving potential buyers wondering if the Oculus Quest 2 needs a PC to play games too. The answer to this question is actually more complicated than expected.
Does the Oculus Quest 2 need to be connected to a computer?
The Oculus Quest 2 is a stand-alone device. In contrast to the headsets in the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive series, no PC is required. The only other device users need is a smartphone, but it’s only really needed when users turn it on for the first time.
The Quest 2 has an internal Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 system on a chip with 6GB of RAM and an Adreno 650 GPU, enough to run an impressive range of games. Players can download games and apps specifically designed for Oculus Quest 2 from the Oculus Store or sideloader. These are carried out entirely through the headset.
While the Oculus Quest 2 doesn’t need to be connected to a PC to run games and apps, that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to. The Quest 2 can be used as a full-featured PC VR headset via the Oculus Link function. Users can connect the headset to a computer using a USB-C cable (or USB-A to USB-C) or WiFi and play games from Steam and the PC version of the Oculus Store. Games played through Oculus Link on a high-end PC are often superior to the native Quest 2 versions, and all features, including inside-out tracking, work just fine.
The Oculus Rift 2 is one of the most versatile VR headsets today. Regardless of whether gamers want to use it alone or attached to a PC, it’s our currently recommended HMD.
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