A number of unverified photos of an apparently unreleased Quest headset appeared online. The rendered photos show the front portion of an apparent future Quest headset (possibly a ‘Quest 2’) which Oculus is expected to reveal later this year. A second rendered photo, which was released today from the same source, shows an interior look at the face gasket and lenses, appended with a mysterious September 15th date. Now someone has thrown out four physical photos of what appears to be the very same Oculus headset.
Update (July 24th, 11:15 AM ET): New images surfaced on Reddit showing multiple shots of a physical version of the headset, corroborating the existence of the so-called ‘Quest 2’. The images are attributed to ‘Calltheplumber’.
The headset below includes a singularly visible label that states:
“This device has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.”
1 of 4
Image courtesy CallthePlumber
Image courtesy CallthePlumber
Image courtesy CallthePlumber
Image courtesy CallthePlumber
Update (July 24th, 10:40 AM ET): A new image has surfaced today on Twitter, again arriving from leaker ‘WalkingCat’. The new, still unverified image shows the interior of the headset. The image, which appears to be the one sighted two days ago, suggests the VR headset includes dual microphones, fresnel lenses, and what could be a fabric interior surrounding the optics, which appears to flair dramatically, indicating a larger light-blocking nose piece.
Image courtesy WalkingCat
Is a fabric interior piece indicative of an IPD adjuster, which is notably missing in the image previously leaked? Like the authenticity of these images, it’s all still uncertain.
Although we’re no closer to understanding how the strap is tightened, as the image is conveniently cut off, we do see integrated audio, like the current version of Quest. The headset itself, at least from the provided angle, appears to be made of a matte plastic instead of the fabric covering on the current Quest.
Image courtesy WalkingCat
The most mysterious part undoubtedly is the ‘Sept 15″ date mentioned in the tweet. That would line up fairly well with Oculus Connect 7, which is to be held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The original article discussing the first image follows below:
The single photo shows a white Quest-like headset. There’s no additional info beyond what can be inferred from the image alone, but there are some worthwhile details on display.
Implications of a Missing IPD Slider
Beyond minor changes to the placement of the headset’s tracking cameras, which could facilitate a wider field of view (specifically for improved visibility for hand-tracking), it also appears that headset is missing the IPD slider that’s present on the current Quest. This strongly implies that the next Quest may move from dual displays to a single display, like Rift S uses. That would also very likely mean that the headset would move from OLED display technology to LCD (also like Rift S).
Another possible explanation for the lack of IPD slider is simply that it’s been moved to a position on the headset which isn’t visible in this photo. However, all major headsets have historically placed the IPD slider on the bottom of the headset.
Simplified Strap
Image courtesy WalkingCat
The headset’s straps are also another notable change. Gone are the velcro side straps which tighten the headset between the front and back. Exactly what will replace that tightening mechanism isn’t clear. Many headsets use a tightening dial on the back of the strap to adjust the fit, but it isn’t clear from the photo that the strap is large enough to contain the necessary mechanism.
The current Quest side-strap is also ‘springy’ (the side struts can stretch from their resting position) to make it easy to put the headset on or take it off without changing the tightness of the straps. It’s possible that this new strap design relies entirely on a spring mechanism to ‘automatically’ achieve the ideal tightness. This would be a welcomed design change as it’s common with the current Quest design to see people tighten the side straps too much for long-term comfort.
Interestingly, the rear part of the strap does away with the large triangular opening that’s designed to catch the ridge of the occipital bone to give the headset some leverage to stay in place. This is generally a desirable feature—a headset would need to be much lighter than the current Quest to go without it.
Possible Return to Original Touch Controller Ergonomics
Image courtesy WalkingCat
Another apparent change is a subtle redesign of the controllers which appears to be closer to the original Touch controllers that shipped with first Rift CV1 headset. Among longtime VR users, many preferred the shape and feel of the original Touch controllers to the new design which ships with Quest and Rift S.
The giveaways on the controller redesign is that the index trigger has a more pronounced ridge between its two halves, the grip trigger protrudes more, and the location of the seam along the handle—all of which appear to mirror the original Touch controller. The shape of the ‘face’ of the controllers also appears more round and offset—just like the original Touch controllers—compared to the newer controllers which have a teardrop-shaped ‘face’ that’s perfectly centered with the body of the controller.
A higher refresh rate would be difficult to make much use of with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 chip that’s in the current Quest headset. If Oculus plans to use a 90Hz or 120Hz refresh rate, it will almost certainly need to upgrade the guts of the headset. Newer Snapdragon chips like 855 or XR2 would be a likely choice—Qualcomm did say earlier this year that the first XR2 headsets were expected in the second half of 2020.
– – — – –
While the leaker WalkingCat has a history of authentic leaks, this photo could just as well be a carefully detailed unofficial render that’s an educated guess at what the next Quest might look like. We don’t have independent confirmation of the photo’s authenticity so we’re continuing to treat this as a rumor for the time being.
Finally, someone noticed the dang touch controllers. I’ve been talking about them all day and everyone seemed to miss it! XD
blue5peed
Are you inferno digital on YouTube?
Bob
Good observation Ben on the controllers. Surprised a lot of people didn’t notice that because they weren’t talking about it.
Also if they intend to release this with 90Hz capability then as you mentioned that poorly aging 835 has to go. Rest assured that chip is just a lot of limitations for the Quest and some developers have been stressing over its performance due to prolonging development times of having to work around its limited power.
Kisato
Developers would still have to support the 835 regardless if this Quest device launches with a significantly more powerful SoC, all-in-all this is likely a side grade device meant for ease-of-manufacturing for Facebook so it can keep up with demand; something it’s had issues with Quest from the get-go, even pre-pandemic.
Would expect it to retain the 835, personally, and launch at $299 USD / $399 CAD.
With a Quest Pro launching later down the line (2021–2022) as an interim until Facebook’s eye-tracking / foveated rendering tech is cost efficient enough for the device to launch a proper Quest 2.
CURTROCK
Yup. I agree with everything you stated. The product line will be Quest S, Quest, and Quest Pro. I would add that if there is no IPD slider on the Quest S, then the standard Quest will be the option for those that have an IPD outside the median.
Blaexe
So why should people buy the more expensive Quest it that one provides a higher refresh rate, updated controllers and less weight?
CURTROCK
I’m just speculating. My logic is good/better/best. If the specs/performance of the new Quest are better than the current one, then that changes things. Not having a SKU with an IPD slider in the lineup raises some questions.
Blaexe
Of course it raises question, but which other specs exactly do you think will be worse?
The Bloomberg report – which seems to be accurate – says they will be better.
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I don’t expect eye tracking until they have the face tracking down. Eye tracking adds at least 150 to the price, and that’s optimistic, but when there is face tracking they can launch serious social software, which is the real prize both in terms of pushing people into Facebook VR and something other headsets can’t do.
Kisato
Still betting on this being a Quest S side grade device, powered by the Snapdragon 835 still but having a 90 Hz refresh rate when it’s connected to a PC via Oculus Link. Quest manufacturing has consistently had difficulty keeping up with demand, even pre-pandemic, so this simplification of the overall design (strap redesign is more user-friendly as you pointed out, definitely) will allow it to be more easily manufactured at scale.
The ease-of-manufacturing will also probably allow it to launch starting at $299 USD / $399 CAD.
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$300 would be really aggressive and in my view a straight up anti competition move to kill any competitors from being green lit. But I agree that this is likely a Quest S that costs at least the same or less. A sharper screen and simpler to build. They don’t care if it’s cut down or the IPD range is too narrow.
Jim P
It was remote then controllers. Not buying unless it is a true upgrade.
PJ
The original touch controllers felt much better In my hands so that’s a welcome change, the lack of any external speakers is disappointing though
I bet on LCD display and 845 snapdragon to keep the price low.
I can’t understand well the fitting mechanism to be honest… and I expected a battery on the back to make it more balanced.
blue5peed
Pico Neo 2 has a similar looking strap with a adjustment knob and rear mounted battery.
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A rear battery would be subtly visible and the strap would be thicker because of the power cable inside it.
The Neo2 just isnt great. Ive torn it apart and the user experience, tracking and accomodation is challenging in direct comparison to quest. Tony’s review is great, i just strongly disagree. FB is leading in this space with very little competition. Yet.
Great to hear some more feedback, it’s hard to get a handle on these Headsets because they tend to be found in enterprise or commercial settings, so its rare to get your own eyeballs inside one.
Adrian Meredith
845 would be disappointing but even then its still 50% faster than the 835 so it is at least a decent step up…
I was thinking this was a hoax, just because Facebook has no interest in chasing the high-end VR market. They made that clear with the Rift S, after the Rift 2 was canceled.
But now that I look at it, this is just like Sony and their line of PS3’s. Each PS3 was thinner, cheaper, and most importantly, lacking features of the previous version. The last “Slim” version of the PS3 was a shadow of the beast the original PS3 was. And that’s what this is, a dumbing down of the Quest product line to save money.
This meshes well with Facebook’s outlook on Virtual Reality. They want as much money as possible with the least effort. They have ZERO interest in enthusiasts. The screen will be LCD instead of OLED, there won’t be a physical inter-pupil adjustment anymore, even the straps will rely on stretchy plastic over dependable Velcro. All of this just to save a few bucks.
That lovely white plastic is a distraction for the pursuit of the lowest common denominator. And since they can save even more money by focusing on a single product line, there will never be a refresh of the Rift line. This is it.
Don’t think I’m happy about this thought. It’s very depressing. But this is Facebook, and this is EXTREMELY LIKELY. If you wish to refute me, by all means, prove to me that Oculus isn’t spiraling around the drain towards it’s eventually destruction. I do NOT want to be right about this. Lucky Palmer and John Carmack don’t deserve to have their legacy turned to crap like this.
Blaexe
They want as much money as possible with the least effort.
Uhh…so why are they selling the Quest so cheap – likely subsidizing it and why are they putting billions of dollars each year into VR/AR R&D?
That’s certainly not the way to make as much money as possible with the least effort.
Lucky Palmer and John Carmack
Do you realize that Palmers goal always has been affordable VR for the masses and that Carmacks only interest has been mobile / standalone VR?
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Palmer Lucky said that VR headsets could be free and it wouldn’t be enough, the underlying use cases need to be much better, along with comfort. Facebook is just making them cheaper, which is the absolute wrong way to go. But it’s their strategy, cheap prices, cut down hardware, and nostalgia bait experiences.
Blaexe
Correct, but that’s not what he said back when he founded Oculus and before Facebook.
Quest still doesn’t have any meaningful competition – more than one year after release. Seems like Facebook is doing something right here.
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Yup, charging way too little for it and vertically integrating. Regulators are asleep so no surprise.
Blaexe
There are not even viable alternatives at any price point. Even the most recent Pico Neo 2 has significantly lower tracking quality.
facebook is absolutely leading technology wise in the standalone sector.
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No, what I’m saying is that Microsoft, Sony, or Samsung could make competing headsets, but at this price point there is no chance of it succeeding. Why would they bother making one and selling it for 500-600? Pico is making it for enterprise so it’s about selling services and allowing use outside ideal conditions, which is why they have the magnetic tracking system.
Blaexe
What exactly gives you the impression “they can”? And what gives you the impression they couldn’t at that price? Quest is a console. Bring in a working ecosystem and you can subsidize the hardware. That’s nothing new.
But way to go to paint Facebook evil by subsidizing the Quest. They truly can’t do it right.
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Because Samsung is the smartphone leader and has made VR headsets before? If Pico can then obviously they can. If any of those companies did, they would likely have it as an android type device and that’s an open platform so you can’t subsidize it like that. Selling a product below cost to drive out competition is literally illegal in some contexts, so it’s weird to paint me as saying they can do no right. I’ve never criticized them for overcharging for anything.
Blaexe
Lmao, Facebook is doing with Quest exactly the same as Sony is doing with Playstation and Microsoft doing with Xbox. Subsidizing hardware for a closed ecosystem. That’s far from being illegal. Although the Quest is more open than either.
All of these companies could choose to do the same, but they don’t. You should complain about them, not about Facebook.
If Facebook would charge $600 for the Quest, others would complain that they’re not doing enough for VR adoption. As I said, they can’t do it right.
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Games consoles are PCs in a box and compete with them, if they weren’t then it is possible regulators could interfere like they’ve considered doing with smartphones (and have). Either way yes, the cheap cost does discourage competition quite a bit so that is the reason there is no quest competitor, not that other companies somehow cannot make one.
Blaexe
The Quest is a gaming console. Several companies have the funds to compete – but they don’t want to. It’s not Facebook fault that no one else wants to take a risk and believes in VR.
But it’s easy to blame Facebook, I get that. They receive the hate every time anyway.
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I need to find someone who loves me as much as you love one of the powerful companies on earth. No it isn’t a games console and yes this is anti competitive action.
It’s hard to have competition when they leapfrogged everyone else in technology. Carmack is a LEGEND!
But that doesn’t mean everyone else has been sitting idle. Qualcomm has been pushing hard, for many years now, to catch up to Oculus with their own mobile chipset based headset. Every generation they get closer. When they do match Oculus’s tech, it’ll be with a spec they’ll licence to hundreds of Chinese manufacturers. Oculus will go from little competition to BURIED ALIVE, in a matter of months.
MeowMix
But that doesn’t mean everyone else has been sitting idle. Qualcomm has
been pushing hard, for many years now, to catch up to Oculus with their
own mobile chipset based headset
Oculus currently has a tight working relationship with Qualcomm; they’re not working against each other.
silvaring
This man knows what’s up. But don’t discount the American companies and their ability to compete. I think co-operation is going to be the most likely outcome for a market like this, until the product is good enough to go mass market.
sfmike
American companies only care about the bottom line and the possibility of making billions. Startups routinely emerge with the sole goal of creating a successful innovative product they can eventually sell to a huge corporate monopoly like Facebook and then retire on their billion or rinse and repeat to create another startup to work on that second billion. How many great products and ideas have been bought and buried by the likes of Facebook and Apple so as not to compete with an existing inferior existing product. I actually trust Asian tech more at this point regardless sometimes of some quality issues. What was the last great camera that was created and manufactured in the states? Plus almost everything made has been shifted to production in Asia by greedy American corporations to save a buck by not paying American workers decent wages and benefits. I think the next innovations will come from the Chinese manufactures as America sinks into third world status to support our corporate masters in the lifestyle they have grown accustomed.
silvaring
I hear you, I was speaking mainly about VR as tech companies aren’t always just about exploitation. But yes the tech industry does seem to have a startup exploitation problem where inventions and evolution are secondary to short term profits and protectionism of the giants like Twitter and Amazon etc. How would you view something like magic leap then, just a creative money making scheme or a genuine attempt to make a future product that was sidelined through inability to make the required tech break throughs?
StaticNebula26
Inventing an innovative product and selling for profit, whether you sell the business or the product, is a pretty textbook definition of the American dream. It’s not like Facebook stomped Oculus out either, Facebook didn’t have an inferior headset and bought up the competition to sell more, they bought Oculus because they saw the potential and profits in VR tech and they worked to improve the technology. Case in point, I think many people would agree that the dk1 made by the original startup is nothing to the cv1 or heck, the Quest. Corporate monopolies suck but at least for right now, they have the money to further these technologies. And about your “AmeRiCan GrEedY bUSineSs BAd!” rant, The highest Chinese average monthly wage was from Shanghai coming in at ~$1130 USD, (source https://internshipschina.com/average-salary-in-china/ ) compare that with the federal minimum wage being $7.25 with the fairly typical 40 hour work week, the monthly minimum wage is about $1256.67 depending on the month, now if we’re doing apples to apples the highest average US city income is San Jose CA at ~$6431.67 a month. $1130 highest average wage vs $6431.67 highest average wage vs $1256.67 federal minimum wage. If you want to talk about businesses and governments exploiting their people THAT’S what you should be talking about. In fact why DON’T I talk about that? You said yourself that the reason why almost everything is made overseas is because companies don’t want to pay a living wage, (it’s also because the US government has a stranglehold on businesses and it’s only getting worse) so how do the overseas workers suddenly get a living wage? That’s because their cost of living is much lower. If you want Americans to have a living wage, instead of asking for a higher wage, (as most groups have attempted) make the cost of living lower like China did.
MeowMix
Part of Palmer’s statement probably had to do with software, as in compelling content. It’s not always about hardware
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Thats what i meant, comfort sets a min bound but it takes software, not cheap headsets, to push vr forward.
What makes you think the Quest is “so cheap”? Is it the “Enterprise” VR headsets, with their insane markups? Those are designed to keep a million dollar company afloat with a few hundred sales. They are overpriced by nature. It’s not what those headsets would cost if they were made for a consumer market and priced based on what they actually cost to make.
And YOU do realize that none of those people run Oculus anymore? Palmer was canned and Carmack has taken a backseat. As for the R&D, it’s all for the patents now. That’s what Facebook is all about, intellectual property. They don’t want to push new products, just make money off the ideas.
What Oculus is now is inertia, the drive is mostly gone. It’s a car with a dead engine, slowly rolling to a stop. This watered down Quest is proof of that.
Blaexe
Well, it’s basically a midrange smartphone with two additional controllers, two special OLED screens, high quality lenses and it’s manufactured in low volumes (compared to smartphones). $399 is a steal.
Zuckerberg wants to dominate VR. This won’t happen without great hardware. We can talk again in 5 years.
CURTROCK
They have over 1000 employees, an almost 1 million sq ft facility, and have spent Billions related to VR/AR, and are single handedly driving mass adoption of VR. The “DRIVE” is to get a billion people into VR. They have been quite up front about it. You equate this as ” a dead engine rolling to a stop” ?
Anfronie
Who cares what palmer said he’s a douche.
jimmy
Oculus want 1 billion people in vr that how you do it
ComfyWolf
Facebook has done a lot of good for VR, pushing for cheaper more accessible headsets harder than anyone else was, they’re a big reason so many people are getting into VR so quickly. If Facebook really wants as much money with the least effort possible they would have already given up on VR like some other companies have done, it’s not exactly the most profitable thing to invest in yet and won’t be for quite a while. It’s a long-term investment for them, it wouldn’t make sense to commit suicide now while VR is still growing quickly.
You’re also making assumptions that this is just a straight downgrade, instead of the more likely possibility that it’s both a downgrade in some areas and an upgrade in others.
impurekind
Whatever you want to believe, I think this is probably quite a smart move for all concerned in the grand scheme of things.
People like you moaned about the original Quest too when that came out–’nuff said.
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It’s obviously not using an XR2, that would require a serious redesign to account for the heat and the cost would be a lot higher.
RIP everyone who said the Quest wasn’t about to go obsolete right after you bought it.
JesuSaveSouls
Need minimum 130 fov and 2k per eye res.
mfx
That’s a quest-s with snapdragon 845/855 and it runs the same-ish mono lcd screen as rift-s. Designed to be cheaper to make, bit better than original quest for perf and comfort (no rear mounted battery for balance is stupid though), enough to make people buy it/patient for the real quest 2 that will come in 1.5 years with real tech leap. This is my humble prediction.
silvaring
If they believe the main use case for the headset will be relaxed VR (lying on your pillow) then a battery on the back is not practical.
Gami
You were wrong about every single thing
Adrian Meredith
The #1 thing they had to do was improve the comfort but this looks significantly worse. Hope this isnt true, I’m expecting an 845 at least even though thats still pretty disappointing (but i wont sniff at a 50% perf improvement).
silvaring
What’s the benefit of the newer snapdragon if you are in VR while tethered to your PC via a USB cable?
Blaexe
SD835 limits the Oculus Link bandwith to 150mbps. A newer processor would lead to potentially better compression / picture quality and lower latency.
Andrew Jakobs
Yuk, please don’t let it only be in white.. That’s one thing I hate about the PSVR.. And the headstrap looks awful and cheap.. Maybe this will be a Quest Go or something like that.. I had hopes for a better version than the current Quest (not a Quest 2 ofcourse), but this looks more like a dumbed down version..
Hopefully they have, if the leak turns out to be real that’s a huge deal!
Rosemary
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Wow, I forgot spam bots existed on disqus. Color me rosemary XD
silvaring
Can this device give VR its ‘Playstation’ moment? Maybe, maybe not. Whatever the case, the first company to made a comfortable standalone (you can wear lying down on your pillow) with embedded hand tracking, that has a USB-C tether for PC connections, battery fast charging (20-30 mins), and a $350 RRP will gain huge leverage in the VR race. If it’s not one company, and instead is a shared OEM tech (like the Qualcomm-Goertek partnerships) with those features then it will be ideal though. Should this happen VR will grow very quickly with an incredible race towards getting software out by lots of companies all around the world (instead of a walled garden where its a hassle just to release a VR app with some skin or guts). Should this ‘Playstation moment’ coincide with cloud streaming, and it actually works (like Huawei’s streaming VR experiments have shown), then the market will grow even quicker, and who knows what kind of future that would look like.
James Cobalt
Availability seems to be the bigger adoption hurdle than price, so they’d probably retain the price… especially heading into the holiday season. But switching to LCD saves them money while touting higher subpixel resolution (probably using the Rift S display – so higher resolution overall). Removing speakers, IPD adjustment, and the current strap would save quite a bit – but I suspect they’ve moved those costs to a better SOC (for 90hz + resolution bump), better decoder, and probably wireless streaming for desktop instead of requiring the Link Cable; something Carmack was toying with before he left.
That gives marketing a lot to play with, and wireless makes it a legitimate upgrade despite all the other cuts. They can always sell a nice audio headstrap as an upgrade to keep the base price attractive. They can then discontinue the Rift S, allowing them to optimize manufacturing, marketing, RnD, and other resources.
Wouldn’t work for me (IPD) but would be a smart move business wise.
silvaring
I’ve heard that a bigger sweet spot on the lenses can alleviate the need for an IPD slider.
Blaexe
To a degree, but not completely.
David Matheja
They should put a USB 10gbit in there, it would bump up quality a lot, and for 90Hz and even higher res it would be needed. Most PCs these days have 10Gig USB anyways (my old MSI B450 Tomahawk(2nd-3rd Gen Ryzen) has 10gig USB)
Rudl Za Vedno
Manual IPD adjustment is A MUST for any prolonged VR use. I got a headaches & eye strain when watching movies with Oculus GO after an hour of watching. I didn’t experience this problem on Odyssey. My IPD is 61.5 mm, so still inside Oculus Go’s “ideal” range. I really hope FB doesn’t cheap on IPD adj.
Anfronie
They need the fix the ergonomics first and foremost. This looks like a step in the wrong direction. NEXT!
Sven Viking
With the cheaper looking strap and Go-like colour scheme I’m guessing this is a cheaper version of Quest to fill the role of the recently discontinued Oculus Go.
Andrew Jakobs
Oh dear, this really seems like a step back in regard to comfort etc from the current Quest, and that one needed a step forward with a much better headband like the other more comfortable headsets.. I really like the fastening part of my Vive Pro, the headset can be easily mounted due to the 90 degree split of the headset/headband and then nicely tighten it with the screw on the back.. Why can’t manufacturers just use the best way which has been proven by other headsets.. It really seems they don’t learn from their own mistakes.. Especially Oculus.. Their own headstrap designs have been crap on all their inhouse devices, only the Rift S has a better headstrap, but that one was designed by Lenovo not Oculus themselves..
Bob
This should be the successor to the Oculus Go as that has discontinued hence the cheap materials, the velcro headstrap (which is the same method used by Go), lack of an IPD slider etc.
So I believe that this headset, which should release at the same time as Oculus Connect, is designed specifically for those that want to have a similar experience to the Quest but aren’t willing or cannot shed $400 to get a “taste” of what VR is all about. In other words it’s the budget option.
The other theory is that this is the so called hardware refresh of the Quest as the Rift S was to the Rift. If this theory is true then this would mean the original Quest will be discontinued like the Go, and the only hardware that Facebook will be manufacturing en-masse would be this Quest S or whatever it will be called.
The second theory is a bit more difficult to swallow due to the obvious compromises exhibited by these leaked images of the hardware.
Selling a refreshed Quest at the same price of $399 without an IPD slider, cheaper plastic materials, velcro headband, one LCD panel, and exactly the same lenses and internals (SoC 835) as the Quest is incredibly unrealistic.
Blaexe
The more we see, the more it looks like a Quest 2. And apparently, that’s also what facebook calls it currently.
Bob
“Upgraded in almost every way.”
This statement should be in the hall of fame.
:)
Blaexe
Better controllers, new panel, higher refresh rate and therefore probably more powerful SoC, smaller, lighter, new lenses, better mic.
There’s not much left that could be worse. IPD setting and headstrap. Sound seems improved aswell.
Bob
“Better controllers, new panel, higher refresh rate and therefore probably more powerful SoC, smaller, lighter, new lenses, better mic.”
It’s all speculation.
Even so these changes clearly aren’t enough to justify of giving it the name Quest 2. The number two would imply something along the lines of “next generation” and according to Facebook making a few changes here and there does not constitute a next generation product (refer to the previous Oculus Connect). The magnitude of these changes are nowhere near their level of standards to reach next generation.
More appropriately it looks more like Quest 1.5 to some people which wouldn’t be marketed as such because it sounds ridiculous to the general consumer. So a Quest S or a Quest Pro it is.
But I’ll be honest I’m firmly in the group of this being a budget Quest which would imply a slight downgrade in some areas and a sidegrade in others.
Blaexe
It’s more than speculation, I’m not just pulling this out of my bum. The reports we’ve seen (Bloomberg, Jedi controller) go in line with the leaks. It’s not certain – of course – but likely.
I was not arguing about the name at all though. I don’t care what the name is – I’m just saying everything points towards an upgraded Quest, whatever they will call it.
MosBen
I get a very Oculus Go 2 vibe from this as well. And it would make sense: 1) release a new budget option that has 6DOF, but cuts back on the fit and finish to target a lower cost; 2) a year later release the Quest 2 which is either your mid tier or top tier device, depending on what they do with the Rift line going forward. Releasing a Go 2 probably gets you some Quest owners that want some smallish upgrades and have the money, but also people that want to dip a tow into VR but at a $200-$300 price point. That also buys you a year to continue developing Quest 2, which probably involves some harder choices.
AJ_74
It’s obvious they’re going with the Oculus Go strap, which IS more comfortable than the Quest’s strap and obviously quite a bit cheaper to manufacture. The Rift S is the most comfortable PC headset I’ve used, by far, only beaten in comfort by the PSVR (which is down to its flawlessly designed facial interface).
But we do agree on one thing: VR hardware vendors need to stop throwing darts at a board and adopt tried and true formulas. Fun fact: Lenovo licensed the design of PSVR to manufacture the Rift S. That means they could have used the PSVR’s facial interface too. Fail.
Lucidfeuer
I see nothing but disappointments: still the disgustingly unergonomic head fillet (fuck why are they still not licensing the headband design which should be standard), a silicon face pad which is the worst idea for a headset on your skin, a lesser screen with no IPD and still no 120° FOV standard, a visibly less sturdy and robust build (unless it’s just the white color that give out all the lines, gasp and cheap plastic).
300€ for that is an okay price, but it brings nothing to the table in an already very archaic and stalling segment in terms of specs…
Rosko
White..yuck. No speakers. Still not interested in Oculus efforts but i guess they are way past being interested in my custom.
Adrian Meredith
One we do know it’s the cameras are higher resolution and seen to allow for some kinda of basic colour (ai inferred?). Remember nthat augmented reality video we saw a while back? Pretty sure it was confirmed to be a mystery future device and it was running quest os..
Blaexe
No, we don’t know about that and the video back than was only a concept video – not a capture from a real device.
I doubt this will have colour cameras. b/w is better when it comes to tracking. For great passthrough, they’d probably need 2 additional cameras facing forward.
FrankB
Was hoping for something a bit more radical design in the weight distribution and comfort department. That’s the one thing that’s putting me off version1.
AJ_74
As a 2-time Quest owner (1 returned, 1 sold), Oculus would only need to fix the 4 glaring issues with Quest in order for me to jump back on board, and they’re not even that difficult implement, nor expensive.
1) Bring down the weight and revamp the headstrap and facial interface. The Quest is brutally uncomfortable out of the box thanks to poor design choices in each of these areas. I don’t care if it all looks or “feels” cheap, as long as it “feels” comfortable.
2) Give it native PC support via a dedicated video input. We’re walking a $2 component here and neglible space and weight considerations.
3) Switch to a 90Hz LCD panel. Hell, even the Rift S panel at 80Hz would better than the Quest’s OLED. I don’t care how inky black your stupid blacks are, the Quest display’s pentile pixel arrangent makes video, text, and distant object detail look awful.
4) Dear God, Oculus, how do you release a $400 wireless VR headset that has a Bluetooth radio but doesn’t support Bluetooth headphones? Fix it.
It’s not going to have anything weaker than the SD 855 and I’m fine with that. The only games I’d play off-PC aren’t the graphically intense kind anyway.
duck
Hack & post
sweet revenge
Andrew Jakobs
Well, actually the current Quest DOES have a panel that’s capable of 90Hz, but they cannot release an official update to change it from 72hz to 90hz due to the device having a certifcation at 72hz, and without a new certification they cannot change it.. (Stupid but it’s a FCC rule)..
dk
yes that’s the excuse …..but the sd835 from 2017 has to drive that 90hz even if the additional 21% more frames r something like reprojection it will still be quite a lot of additional work for that platform
Sven Viking
iirc Carmack was talking about the possibility of 90Hz for Oculus Link only.
AJ_74
I never said it didn’t. I simply said that I’d prefer it even at 80Hz.
duck
I thought it was thin & light like spectacles with holographic lens etc.
and price
in developing countries it is selling for 1000$ (ver1)
Andrew Jakobs
pfff. that’s something we won’t be seeing for quite a while in production..
dk
yeah that’s nowhere near to being ready…5-10 years …and the only way it could be that big is if it’s wired to a phone/pc
but the next quest might be this big https://youtu.be/w3aEHGQoa80 with a processing unit in the back like hololens2
duck
was supposed to be released before June. Now expect Xmas
FortifiedDestiny
all of these innocent people arguing… while im playing on my quest 2
