Meta Quest Pro: Flagship VR headset arrives for US$1,499 with Quest Pro controller support for Quest 2
Meta has unveiled the Quest Pro, its first VR headset since buying Oculus. As expected, the Quest Pro is a new product category for Meta, rather than a successor to the Quest 2. Instead, the Quest 3 is expected to arrive at some point in 2023. In the meantime, Meta will continue to sell the two-year-old Quest 2, as well as the Quest Pro.
Contrary to rumours, the Quest Pro does not deliver 2,160 x 2,160 pixels per eye. For some reason, Meta went with 1,800 x 1,920 pixels, scarcely more than the Quest 2 and fewer pixels than the new Pico 4 managers. Additionally, the Quest Pro peaks at 90 Hz; the Quest 2 has been capable of operating at 120 Hz for a while now.
According to Meta, the Quest Pro relies on QD-LCD panels with mini-LED backlighting and pancake lenses. Theoretically, the Quest Pro should deliver 25% better centre sharpness than the Quest 2, which rises to 50% at the edges of an image. Also, Meta's new headset has a wider FoV than the Quest 2 at 106°. However, the device's FoV is not taller than the Quest 2's. Similarly, the Quest Pro offers 55 mm-75 mm lens separation. As expected, the Quest Pro features the other following hardware too:
- Snapdragon XR2 Plus Gen 1
- 12 GB of RAM
- 256 GB of storage
- Bluetooth 5.2/Wi-Fi 6E
Other standout features are eye tracking, face tracking, full-colour passthrough and self-tracking controllers. Arguably, there are a few downsides compared to the Quest 2. On the one hand, the Quest Pro will only provide up to 2 hours of battery life. On the other hand, the headset weighs 722 g, roughly 1.5x the weight of the Quest 2. Worse still, the Quest Pro retails for US$1,499 with its Quest Pro controllers, 3x the cost of the Quest 2 with 256 GB of storage. Alternatively, the company will offer the Quest Pro controllers themselves for US$300, which are compatible with the Quest 2. The Quest Pro will go on sale on October 25.
