Oculus Quest 2 now shipping to customers with big upgrades to processing power for better VR gaming

Fans of VR gaming have been eagerly awaiting the availability of the Oculus Quest 2 since it first leaked a couple of months back. The good news is the Quest 2 has now started shipping to customers with prices starting at US$299 for the entry-level 64 GB model rising to US$399 for the 256 GB model. Both represent a US$100 price reduction over the first-generation model despite gaining upgrades across most key areas.

Like the original, the Oculus Quest 2 is a standalone headset that uses an optimized smartphone SoC from Qualcomm to power VR gaming and other immersive experiences without the need to be connected to a PC. Also like the original Quest, the Quest 2 can also work with PC gaming rigs over a USB-C cord for a full-blown VR experience. The biggest upgrade is to the processor which goes from a Snapdragon 835-based chip to a Qualcomm XR2 chip that is based on the Snapdragon 855. Also getting a boost is RAM, which is now 6 GB.

In something of a minor downgrade, Oculus has switched out the OLED panels in the OG model for a single LCD panel in the new model. In return, however, resolution is bumped up to nearly 2K per eye for a nearly 4K fidelity. Oculus has also tweaked other areas of the design to improve fit and comfort, while revising the location of cameras to more easily track a user’s hands. Probably the biggest drawback of the new Oculus Quest 2 is that the Facebook-owned company is now requiring users to log in to their Facebook account to use the headset. Otherwise, it has been warmly received in early reviews.