Image credit: Oculus
From men’s health
Welcome to The MH wish listwhere the editors of Men’s Health highlight the coolest gear they’ve tested this year that makes the perfect gift for this holiday season. If you’re looking for the latest and greatest tech, home, and fitness items, you’ve come across them all on your list. This week, Fitness Director Ebenezer explains to Samuel why the Oculus Quest 2 is worth your hard earned money.
-
What makes this a great gift: The award-winning Oculus Quest 2 solves VR’s biggest problem and removes all cables from your virtual reality experience.
It’s 10:30 am on a Saturday morning and it’s been a long week to be honest. And I’m not in the mood to stare at the TV or in the mood to exercise (barely!). So I need something else, another world to escape to.
Instead of picking up a controller, I put on a huge white headset, the Oculus Quest 2. Then I grab the two hand controllers, wrap their straps around my wrists, and I’m there right away. I explore the world of Star Wars: First, Tales from the Edge of the Galaxy, and then later I wander the world of people that looks like a just cause: One. The truth is, I don’t get very far in either game, because just being able to wander around and turn my head without thinking is joyful fun. It’s as easy as playing on the PlayStation or Xbox, and it starts just as quickly.
And the truth is, everything is fun because the Oculus Quest 2 headset is liquid, an amazingly affordable device for just $ 299. Here’s the thing with VR: it used to be clunky. I’ve used everything from Samsung’s headsets to Google’s headsets to PlayStation’s pimped up PSVR (the only virtual reality device you fly around like Iron Man with) and they all had their good points. But until Quest 2, VR always felt a bit clunky.
At various stages in the rise of virtual reality, I had to put on a headset and then put headphones over the headset. Or I would have a headset on and be careful with my movements because I was dealing with a cable attached to the headset and the slightest wrong movement could very well drag my PC or laptop into the ground. Older VR devices also had visual defects, pixelated images landed in front of my eyes that made me downright dizzy. I’ll never forget to go to E3, the old Electronics Entertainment Expo, play through a Resident Evil demo on an older model headset, and never quit the game because a stabbing headache left me in a heap.
The story goes on
None of this is a problem with Quest 2. Star Wars is beautiful. Older games like Job Simulator also shine with crystal clear clarity. And all without headphones or another sound solution, thanks to the sound integrated directly in the Quest 2 headset. The controllers also react very quickly. And the headset itself works just about anywhere: put it on, work through a few prompts so it finds a playable area around you, and you’re good to go.
It is a magical, efficient escape from reality, the escape you long for, and which makes it easy for you to access worlds from your imagination. And it can be more. Tired of sharing your Netflix screen with people who have seen every episode of Daredevil? Experience Quest 2 in private without anyone interrupting your experience or delving into every battle scene. And if you want to go deeper and play more (like a run through The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim or Fallout VR), Quest 2 is more than up to the task. Just take an Oculus Link cable and wire it to a compatible PC. Your PC can handle all the heavy lifting while you relax and play.
You can enter any world you want. And in a year everyone could use an escape, that’s something worth enjoying.
The Oculus Quest 2 is available now at oculus.com, amazon.com and gamestop.com.
You might like it too
Comments are closed.