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Oculus Quest Changes the Game for Virtual Reality
It was at CONvergence 2017 when I first experienced virtual reality. A woman was gracious enough to bring her headset and set it up for any passerby’s to try out. About three minutes into my first play session I knew, one of these days, I’m getting a VR headset.
Even though I was interested in getting VR, there were a lot of barriers, complicated setups with cameras, the need for a powerful PC rig, a room where I could properly arrange everything and functionally play.
All of that to consider and you still have to factor in price. You need a PC powerful enough to run a VR headset (Likely in the 600-1000 dollar price range), a VR headset (another 400-1500 bucks) or a Playstation 4 and the price of the PSVR headset.
The truth of the matter is, to experience some of the best applications VR has to offer, the prerequisites for getting everything up and running are quite high, especially compared to someone who isn’t accustomed to spending big money on PC gaming.
The Oculus Quest has changed all of that.
Just look at everything you need in order to use it.
What do you need to play Oculus Quest?
- A $400 Oculus Quest headset and controllers
- Any open space to use your headset in
- A USB cable to charge your headset
That’s it. You just need the headset, your controllers, and a place. No cameras to set up. No PC pumping programs through to your headset. No cords.
About a month after learning about the Quest I ordered one. After spending several months playing around with the device, here is my Oculus Quest review from someone who is totally new to having a VR headset.
What is the Oculus Quest?
The Oculus Quest is an all in one, stand alone virtual reality headset. What sets it apart from all other headsets that are like it is that you don’t use a PC, game console, or any device outside of the headset to play games and apps.
There are also no cords you need to attach to the Quest. Everything is taken care of inside the headset and you play it anywhere you like where you have the space to use it.
A huge benefit of the Quest is that it’s extremely portable. I have brought it to the houses of family and friends. You can bring it to a hotel room, out to your garage, or even out to a park (though it’s not recommended to play the Quest outside in the sun for it can be damaged by the light).
The way they pull this off is by using what is essentially an android phone operating system and chip set. The quest is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 system. Something that compared to a PC rig isn’t very powerful at all.
When hearing this I thought the games had to look pretty bad, I mean how could this stack up with headsets running on $800 personal computers or the $400 PlayStation 4 Pro which is built solely to play high end video games?
Surprisingly, the Quest stacks up quite well. Yes the games it runs have slightly less detail than games on a high end machine but the difference is marginal when you compare the difference in power between the two devices.
Despite the fact that the Quest is running on a smaller chip set than most other mainstream VR headsets, it manages to display impressive graphics, great frame rates, and smooth game play.
I have had zero complaints about how games and apps look on the Quest, there are many games that look stunning, and even though the detail of the graphics in games will be lower than their counterparts on more powerful devices, the Quest still manages to look great because of the display resolution.
The Quest screens display images at 1440 x 1600 pixels per eye. That’s some of the highest screen quality in VR and generally Quest games look sharper because of it. So when compared to high end headsets, graphic fidelity in games is lower but sharpness, crispness of picture, is up and that’s a fair trade off.
The screen resolution also really helps with the infamous screen door effect that so many VR headsets suffer from. The Quest still has it to a degree but its far less noticeable and something you will probably just naturally ignore after a while.
Final verdict on the visuals is the Oculus Quest’s graphics are clean. A VR snob may scoff at them but your average person who has little experience with VR will probably be generally happy with what they see.
The Quest Hardware and How Does it Work?
To use the Quest you just need your headset, two controllers with batteries, and a place to play. Many apps you can play standing or sitting in one spot. Some other apps you will need some space to move around in. In General, most games won’t require a lot of space but the bigger area you have to work with the better.
So how does the Quest stop you from smashing into walls or destroying your tv? The Quest has a grid barrier that you set up called the guardian system.
It’s really impressive and easy to calibrate. When you boot the headset up in an area for the first time the cameras on the headset display the room you are in to you. It’s a weird Robocop like vision when you see your area in black and white.
Through here the Quest will ask you to draw a line surrounding your play space. You outline the area around you, make sure to stay at least a foot or two away from any walls or objects you may hit. I have a long reach with my arms so I stretch them out in my space just to feel around and be sure.
When you are finished, you have a play area. All games will keep you playing in that area and if you do happen to go to one of the boundaries, you will see your grid pop up in your headset to let you know you need to back off.
If you manage to go beyond the grid and step right up to your boundary, whatever app you were using will disappear and your robocop computer vision will return and you will see where you are at in real time.
If you are playing an app or game that doesn’t require you to move you can select standing guardian and the system will automatically map out an area just around you and the spot you are in.
With the Guardian system I have had no major mishaps. As long as you understand that you need to respect the boundaries you have set (When you see that grid pop up back off!) and don’t go crazy losing control, you should be fine.
That said the bigger the space you are in and the fewer things you could potentially damage the better. You will be absolutely fine though if you simply respect the boundaries and play with some self discipline.
As for the hardware itself, it’s pretty good. The controllers feel nice in the hands though I wish they were a little longer. The buttons and grips all feel really well made and are responsive.
The headset itself is hefty. I have seen a lot of people have problems with the weight of it after some time playing. I myself have had no issues with the headset weighing me down or bothering me but I am a pretty big guy with a short, thick neck so I’m probably working with more support than others.
I find the sound for the Quest speakers impressive. I almost never play with headphones even though you can. Funnily enough I have seen complaints about the sound but to me the headset produces some great quality audio and it’s louder than I thought it would be.The speakers are positioned in a way where sound really carries to you ear well.
Not only is the Quest loud but the sound has a lot of depth to it. I am no audiophile so perhaps my tastes are not the most sophisticated in the sound department but I really like what the Quest does.
In games you can really pinpoint where sounds are coming thanks to the spatial audio design built into the headset. At the end of the day I have no complaints.
That said, if you are big into sound there are a plethora of headsets and devices you can use on the Quest to get the most out of your audio experience.
The Oculus Quest is Amazing for those new to VR
If you have never experienced virtual reality before, you will be blown away when you first try the Quest headset. Play through the default app First Steps and prepare to have a giant grin glued to your face.
First Steps is the app chosen by Oculus to get new players acquainted with the device and I see why, it has become my go to app whenever I introduce someone to the Quest who isn’t already familiar with VR.
The portability of the Quest is another big bonus. Is is extremely easy for people to try out because you you can pack it up and take it anywhere. Getting started only takes seconds as you turn on the device and pick what apps you want to play.
Something I appreciate about VR, is that it’s fairly intuitive. Yes there are games that are more difficult to play but generally, the motions you are doing are motions that you would do in real life.
This makes VR more approachable to non gamers than traditional consoles and PC games because you don’t have to know how to use a controller or Mouse and Keyboard.
Everyone can’t pick up a controller and instantly use the d-pad to sprint to a wall, hit a button to get into cover, hit another button to duck, and then use the control stick to aim and pull the trigger to shoot a gun.
Most everyone can step up to a wall, lower their head, peak around a corner, and use their arm and hands to pull the trigger on a gun to take some shots.
The apps and games are Versatile
There are a nice variety of apps available these days with varying levels of intensity. You can sit back and relax by enjoying hours of poker with the excellent Pokerstars VR.
If you want to get in a great work out, check out some cardio intensive and very fun games like Beat Saber or Thrill Of The Fight (My favorite game on the Quest and one of the best boxing games ever made which we have a review for here).
If playing games isn’t what you are in the mood for there are many other applications you can immerse yourself in as well. Altspace VR is a virtual universe where users create spaces and avatars and hold a bevy of events and social gatherings.
The sheer creativity of people in this app will astound you. You can sit in on lectures, hear live music, listen to podcast, or just start up conversations with people from all over the world in Altspace.
Then there are apps like Oculus Venues where you can sit with an audience and watch live events. I have seen several NBA games in virtual reality through the Venues app and it’s a really fun time.
Venues also hosts events like stand up comedy shows, concerts, and some conferences like The Video Game Awards. All of these are presented in virtual reality and can be seen with other VR users who you can interact with. If you prefer to enjoy these events by yourself, you have that option too.
The best thing about all of these is that these events are free, you just have to show up. The only downside for me is that the video quality of the events could be better.
It’s fine and the events are still fun to watch but I am so used to watching any programing in HD and often times 4K, that seeing the somewhat grainy visuals of these events takes away from my enjoyment ever so slightly.
There are also several apps and avenues where you can use your quest to learn. There are museum guides, interactive historical narratives, and much more. One of the highest acclaimed is Apollo 11, a cool VR experience that let’s you sit in on the mission.
The Quest also features many of your favorite apps such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Videos, and Web Browsers. You can watch movies and tv show on a big screen that simulates the feeling of being in a movie theater.
Watching media content on the Quest is an underrated feature that I like to use a lot. The video quality from Amazon Prime videos in particular seems to be a cut above most apps and watching programs on there is highly enjoyable. Try it out!
The Apps Keep Growing
The Oculus Quest is a huge hit as far as virtual reality headsets are concerned. When it first launched back in May 2019, it quickly flew off of store shelves and the stock rooms of online retailers.
When I bought my headset back in July, I had to search multiple storefronts just to find the quickest place to backorder my Oculus Quest. During the 2019 holiday season, the Quest is again largely sold out and hard to find.
I say this not brag about how awesome the Quest is but to say, that this thing is damn popular. That popularity and the year long display of very high sales growth means that the Oculus Quest is probably the most wide spread VR headset out there in consumers hands.
That in turn means that VR developers want to get their apps out on the Quest because it’s a big and growing market. The Quest launched with a couple dozen games and apps but that number has swelled and continues to grow every month.
Much like the Nintendo Switch console, many developers are seeing a huge engaged audience on the Oculus Quest and they are trying to port their games over to the new device or build all new games from the ground up for it.
According to Google Trends, the Oculus Quest far outpaces some of it’s most popular virtual reality headset competitors. From the Quest’s first day on the market in May all throughout the year of 2019 interest in the product has only gown.
Combine this information with the increases in sales of virtual reality products and the Oculus Quest’s ability to move units in particular, and you can see why developers are scrambling to put their software out on the Quest headset.
Industry tracker Nielsen’s SuperData Research says the Quest’s sales are helping bolster the VR industry’s overall hardware spending by 31% this year, jumping to $2.1 billion from $1.6 billion last year. SuperData said that aside from consumers buying Quest headsets, companies are generally spending more on VR too.
cnet.com on the VR industry hardware spending increase.
Where the Oculus Quest Could be Better
There are few areas where the Quest comes up short in comparison to other headsets but it’s important to know them before buying.
One of the biggest complaints I have seen is the weight of the headset, many people have complained that the Quest pulls too much weight down on their heads and they get neck strain after an hour or so of using it.
For young children this may be an even bigger problem. There are modifications you can make to better distribute the weight. I suggest heading over to the Oculus Quest Reddit page and searching for some solutions are asking around if you think this may be a problem for you.
Another issue with the Quest is that when fully charged, the battery only lasts about 2 hours. You can play the Quest while it’s charging by plugging the USB charger cord into the headset. I generally don’t play it more than 2 hours at a time anyway so I’m not bothered by the time limit but for some, that may be a let down.
The last issue is that the Quest is fairly underpowered. If you want the biggest and baddest graphics that virtual reality can offer, you won’t find them here. It just can not stack up to more powerful devices that are running on much more powerful hardware.,
That said, the games still look crisp and immersion is still great. There has hardly been a time where I played it and was dismayed at how things looked. You will probably be most bothered by the graphics if you are used to playing high end VR games.
The Quest has a very Bright Future
Nearly a year after it’s initial release the Oculus Quest is still the hottest VR headset on the market. Interest in the device is growing and developers are making more and more apps for the product every week.
Oculus themselves are also constantly updating the Quest headset and making some vast improvements to it’s capabilities. In just the 6 months of me having my Quest I have seen significant enhancements.
3DOF Mode
This update was huge for me. The Quest would not function in low light or in the dark.This really hurt my enjoyment of the device because I would play the boxing game Thrill of the Fight in my garage (It’s best if you have a big open space to play this game).
When it got even slightly dark outside, my Quest would no longer work while I was in the garage. There is a light in the garage but the light it producers is very dim. So I always had a limited window of time when it came to playing with my headset in a large space.
After the update I can play the game with very minimal light. I hadn’t even noticed this until I had a longer than usual session one evening. I took the headset off and it was dark, I was shocked.
Many games and apps still wont work when it’s very dark or pitch black around you but a slew of them still do. Best of all you can watch most of your media apps in the dark no problems now.
For a great in depth look at these improvements check out Skarredghost.com and their look at the 3DOF update.
Improved Touch Tracking and Hand Tracking
Recently the Quest added hand tracking to the device that works on limited apps. Hand tracking let’s users use their actual hands, including fingers, as controllers. The current version of it on Quest is still early but if it improves like most other features of the device already have, the implications are massive.
In the summer of 2019 the Quest updated it’s touch tracking which means the tracking through the controllers was much improved. Before the update there would be times in some games, for me most noticeably in Creed: Rise to Glory, where my headset may lose track on my hands briefly.
In Creed this was most common when I raised my hands high above my head or a little too far back behind my body. Since the update I very rarely lose tracking anywhere. It wasn’t a huge problem before but it’s much better now.
Oculus Link changes the very nature of the Oculus Quest
The biggest update of them all i the Oculus Link. Through the Oculus link update you can connect certain USB headsets to your Quest and PC and basically turn your quest into a high end VR device.
Oculus link allows users to stream virtual reality games off of their PC’s and play them through the Quest. It’s a very close experience to owning a high end VR device that you use on your PC.
This means that if you do happen to have a powerful computer that can run some VR games that you can’t run on the Quest, you now can play those games anyway.
This has had a big impact on the VR market already. Compatible USB cords have been selling well, when the new Half Life VR game got announced, people started buying more Quests because they know they can play the game through the Oculus link.
Oculus link opens up everything for the Quest headset and makes it all around them most versatile VR headset currently on the market. To learn more about how Oculus Quest works and to see what current USB cords work well with it, check out this helpful video from Virtual Reality Oasis.
Let’s Wrap this Oculus Quest Review up
There is a lot going for the Oculus Quest. It’s cheap when compared to other VR headsets. It offers a ton of apps and games to play and that selection is just getting bigger. It’s extremely versatile, can be used by itself or connected to a powerful PC to play games beyond its power capabilities.
The Quest is portable, something that can be taken to a friends house and easily played. There are no wires when using the device naturally. There is lots to do, from playing games, to watching media, to interacting with other people.
If you are in the market for a Virtual Reality headset I think you would be hard pressed to find a better option. I especially recomend the Oculus Quest to people who are new to virtual reality like I was. It’s so user friendly and approachable, it is a great entry point for consumers to VR.
If you are a VR veteran or you prefer a really high end experience, then look into some of the premium headset options.
The first year of the Oculus Quest’s lifetime has been quite a prolific one. It’s going to be really exciting to see where the headset goes from here and what more features and apps are added. If you get an Oculus Quest in 2020, rest assured that you have a product that will be healthily supported going forward.
Got comments or questions regarding the Oculus Quest? Post away below and we can discuss it. If you have any tips or information feel free to share that as well!
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