Meta Quest 2 — Advanced All-In-One Virtual Reality Headset — 128 GB

First, a little background. I'm 73 years old. Above average in the activity department, adept mentally, although I am literally the only person I know who can lose something when standing perfectly still. I have four grandchildren. I hold down a full-time job as a writer, and a once-a-year gig teaching Rio Grande Board Games at the annual World Boardgaming Championships (WBC). It was at the most recent WBC that I was introduced to MetaQuest 2 and in particular, its bundled game called Beat Saber. I'd tried much cheaper VR systems, the ones that hold your phone and you have to download apps to run on them. This was an entirely different ball game. This was, I should note, not a function of the WBC. It just so happened that one of the site administrators had brought the system along with him and one evening, invited me to give it a try. The first issue that one should note is that once you put the headset for this system on, you are pretty much detached from the reality around you. This is fine as long as it's just you and the machine, but you can forget about being outside the machine and trying to instruct someone inside the machine about what's going on. As it happened, the man who introduced me to the system basically set it up for me - put it on his own head, clicked the right buttons - and then transferred the headset to me. With a couple of hand prompts and a word or two, Beat Saber, the program that comes with the MetaQuest 2 when you buy it these days, came on line and there I stood, with two controllers, one in each hand, as my eyes beheld on the screen in front of me, a series of square blocks coming at me, each with an arrow, pointing either up, down, right or left. The controllers operate two light sabers, one in each hand, and the object of this game is to swat the approaching blocks in the direction indicated by the arrow on them. There are also occasional large obstacles coming at you, like skinny walls, which appear like three-dimensional line drawings as they approach. You can't swat these aside and the idea is to avoid them. In most cases, this entails just stepping out of their way, either to the right or the left, but dependent on some choices you make in Beat Saber, some of these objects can be wide and impossible to avoid unless you duck as they approach. No way to jump over them. And there's music. At first, you don't pick up on the idea that your swatting activity with the light sabers can occasionally be rhythmic, linked to the beat of the music. . .Beat Saber. Get it? But you'll pick up on that fairly quickly. If you don't dance and would like to, this is a good program that will force-feed you the concept of moving your body in beat with the rhythm of a song. You don't realize you're dancing because as far as you're concerned, you're swatting colored boxes with virtual reality light sabers. A note of caution. People familiar with the system and how it works will delight in recording video of your attempts to play the game; unbeknowst to you, 'cause you're wrapped up in the headset and can't see anything but what the machine is giving you to see. These people recording you will be LOL-ing themselves breathless, as you contort yourself in a relatively confined space, trying to dodge things and swat at the colored boxes. I made the mistake of failing to heed the warning that if I didn't buy one of these systems soon, its price was going to go up. A lot. And it did. But I bought it anyway and am just beginning to tap into the available free apps and exploring the possibility of buying other ones. There's a free Epic Roller Coaster app, which is fairly enjoyable, although oddly enough, both myself and my wife (now at home with our own MetaQuest 2) found ourselves getting a little queasy during the experience. Not sure what that's about. She NEVER goes on real roller coasters and I do it all the time. Also found a walking-on-a-building-skeleton app that had me God knows how many stories high and though not generally afraid of heights (acrophobia), I wasn't all that keen on walking on the available, skinny steel walkways to approach the edge. I'm in my living room, my mind knowing damn full well that I'm not only not as high as the program makes me think I am, but am, in fact, on solid ground. Yet, in an attempt to approach the edge and have a look OVER the edge, I am literally creeping forward, edging my foot out in front of me, making sure of my balance with each step. My mind absolutely refuses to grasp the concept that I am not in any danger. It should be noted that when you play in virtual reality, the mechanism has you define a space where you are going to be, literally drawing a perimeter line. It's not because the machine is worried you might step off the big building you only think you're on, but when you're playing a game like Beat Saber, you want to make sure that your arm movements don't knock over a lamp your Aunt Ethel gave you for Christmas last year, or in moving your legs around, you don't accidentally kick the screen out of your new Smart TV. I haven't been too excited by any of the first-person shooter kind of apps that are available. That kind of activity never lured me to the various systems that were already on the market. But I did notice and have been on the verge of pulling the trigger on some of the other activities, like table tennis, actual tennis and some other sports activities, like baseball. Am also interested in what is, at present, a small selection of board games, like Tsuro and chess (in a variety of different environments). They offer Catan (originally, Settlers of Catan) and though my interest in board games is strong, I never really liked Catan in real-time, so I'm not going to pick it up in VR. I recommend this system highly. The experience of good VR (and you can buy systems better than the basic one that I purchased) is mind-altering. It's something to which your mind has never been previously exposed; an alternate reality with its own set of rules that takes some getting used to. It's more expensive than pot, but unlike pot, it doesn't just let your head create new connections and free it from everyday anxieties, it creates a reality within your brain that is intriguing to watch, hear and interact with. And as my age indicates, fun for all ages. Oh, and one other cautionary note for those of a certain advanced age. The first time I tried the system, at the WBC, my score at Beat Saber was abysmally low. So I tried again. And again. It wasn't my hand movements with the controllers or the side-stepping away from approaching objects that got to me. It was the ducking at things that I had to let go over my head. I made the crouching moves necessary with reckless abandon. Once, again, and again. My upper thighs complained to me all of the next day. The good news is that it makes for good, healthy exercise.

Much loved game system for kids. Expensive gift for MIL that loves skiing but can’t do it anymore. I Thought she would love this as a replacement to the real thing. She doesn’t use it. Says its too cartoony and makes her dizzy. Great product for kids. Adults not so much i guess

I’m 55 years old, and suffered NO motion sickness. This is because you can adjust the speed of movement and choose SITTING MODE. In many games you can “jump” to a spot. You will charge your headset and then set up a Metaquest account. After that with your headset on, you will be taken to an interface inside the VR world where you can adjust and tweak your personal settings to suit you. You will also see APPS which teach you how to use everything. Be aware that if you want to buy Metaquest games only, they WILL download directly onto the headset. From other sites like STEAM you need to have a computer capable of LINKING the headset to the game. Google the requirements. ( This info provided by my 20 something computer savvy son.) I have had my headset one week and I can truly say it is initially a LIFE CHANGING experience. -I am not on there to play combat games- If you want to TRAVEL, to PLACES IN NATURE you will not be disappointed!. National Parks around the world on BRINKS TRAVELER, NATURE TREK takes me to mountains, trees, water features and wildlife!!! TRIPP is …mind blowingly calming, imaginative, artistic, beautiful…outstanding. I still have to try 2 or 3 others I bought, but couldn’t wait to write this review. Yes it’s TRUE you CAN tell it’s not real, but it’s the next best thing to actually being there. What helps is that when you lean forward in your seat and look around, it’s in 3D all around you! You are totally immersed. So if anyone my age or older is hesitating for all the reasons that I was…don’t, go for it. I bought my games half price off in a sale, so I’m sure the sales will return. To summarize: In the beginning, the first week, I went on VR every evening and enjoyed discovering the wonderful, amazing and beautiful VR world. However it is a just form of entertainment and after the novelty wears off, like all things in life, after a short while, it will just become a part of entertainment / relaxation tools and won’t replace all your other interests. You will still want to read, watch movies, play match -3 🤣🤣🤣, cook, enjoy REAL hiking and REAL people. And then when the mood suits you you’ll be back on VR. Just so it’s known, my first experience of VR was a year ago, in an exhibition, “The Van Gogh Immersive Experience.” The VR there allowed you to travel THROUGH paintings! I traveled through the beloved “Cafe de Nuit”. I was in. AWE. I would LOVE IT if developers could develop more experiences like that, traveling into: paintings, museums, monuments, landmarks, documentaries, history…EVERYTHING PLEASE! And THANK YOU 🙏 I bought the comfort headset, extra attachment, and it’s worth it to get a good fit. Also if one of your eyes is sharper than the other like mine you can buy lens relacements on Amazon (I believe, I still have to look into it more). You need to know you eyeglasses prescription strength. That’s the funny thing, if in real life you need to move closer to a sign to read it, you will in VR too !!! 🤣 🤣 🤣

I purchased this during the Black Friday sale, so it was $200 after credits, which was a fantastic deal, so that factors into my review. As someone who has never used a VR headset before, but has been curious about it for a few years, this has been a fun experience so far. It can work as a standalone platform, or you can use it to connect to a PC and play VR games that way. I've seen other people complain that the straps on the headset are uncomfortable, but I haven't had any issues with them. Really, my only issues with the Quest 2 are as follows: (1) Some games seem to make me feel nauseated (Rec Room is the worst offender so far), which isn't helped by the headset getting a bit warm after awhile. I was expected a bit of disorientation, but as I generally don't get motion sick, this was somewhat surprising to me. There are some settings that can be tweaked (especially sitting vs. standing), so I plan to try that out on certain games to see if it helps. (2) Meta's history of privacy issues. (3) The AR cameras are black-and-white and kind of meh quality, so this isn't really viable for any sort of AR applications, which is admittedly a very minor complaint. (4) The battery life seems a bit on the short side. Overall, for $200 (or even $250), this is a fantastic device for someone looking to get into VR. It's versatile, can be used for a wide variety of games and applications, and has been a ton of fun to use so far.

Ok, I have to say, this is what I was waiting for. VR that wouldn't break the budget. On some sales, it can be had as cheaply as $200, which is amazing for a true VR system. Well, it'll be $250, and you get $50 back that you can spend on other stuff, like games, which you're going to need to buy for it anyway. I also like that you don't need to set up sensors.. you can take it with you! That's so cool and conveniant! I had heard bad things about the onboard speakers, but I found them to be quite good for what they are, and perfectly usable, with excellent 3D head tracking! If you don't like them, you can always just plug in some earbuds of your choosing. The meta store has a nice selection of games and software that often go on sale, and have a fantastic "sponsored" system, where if you take someone's recommendation, you get 25% off and they get a $5 credit, and once you purchase and recommend, you get $5 to spend on some other purchase. I got quite a few cool games for $100, half of which was covered by my initial $50 credit. I'm more than happy in this area. Only complaint? The Meta "library" where you browse titles is kinda clunky, but I don't have hundreds of games, so it's ok for now. The games do have less depth and replayability than regular games, that seems to be the nature of VR. Now, for the downsides. - right off the bat, if you've tried other systems that are more expensive like Playstation VR or PC VR, you'll notice the graphics look.. um.. very primitive in games. The 3D processing power seems to be somewhere between a Nintendo 64 and a Gamecube, sorry to be blunt about it. However, developers are doing creative things to get around it as best they can. It is what it is, when you use "budget" tech. - I'm not sure if it's due to the lack of external sensors, or if it's the weak processors choking, but semi-regularly the head tracking "stutters" which is really off putting, and takes you out of the game and immersion, and makes motion sickness worse. You'll be looking around, and even if it's for a few frames here and there, it's just not always smooth. It's not a total game breaker, but again, there are real sacrifices to using cheaper, simpler hardware. - You will have to buy some accessories to get the most of this system. The headstrap that comes with it is functional to an extent with casual games and short playtimes, and VERY travel friendly, being just an elastic strap, and the battery life is very short for the syste, but the good news is, there's lots of choices out there for better headsets that have built in extended batteries, and they're not super expensive. I picked up a black friday headset with a built in battery for $25. That's great! I also recommend a carrying case to keep the system all together and safe. I haven't tried linking the system to my PC, but I've heard that can bring out even more possibilities to what games you play. So that's about it so far. I have heard a complaint that Facebook can take your whole system offline if you get reported on your facebook account, so that's horrifying. maybe don't use your real facebook account when you setup the system just to be safe. Summary: the best system on a budget, with some drawbacks. I think if money is tight but you want your kids to experience VR, this is perfect. That's where I'm at, so I'm happy with it. Pictured with third party headstrap and case, two accessories I feel are necessities for the system.

I spent a few weeks deciding on if I wanted to get the quest 2 and a finally decided to pull the trigger years ago I had the occulas gear for my galaxy s8 and that was when VR was still working out it's kinks something that I always had a problem with when it came to old VR headsets was motion sickness and I didn't have any at all with the quest 2 I love how the quest 2 rests on your face with the cousin, I rarely get face strain when I use it for long periods of time. I love how Facebook has integrated with occulas to make using the operating system a breeze. I have heard complaints from other users shaming Facebook for requiring a Facebook account to use the quest but I've never seen the big deal in that. Facebook bought occulas and they have the right to require an account to use there product. People use the excuse that Facebook is trying to steal data but if you use the internet at all your going to have your data exploited no matter what 🤷‍♂️ that's just the way it is. If you don't have anything to hide then what's the problem? If you do decide to bite the bullet and get the quest some games I would recommed are beat saber, hand physics lab, and horizon worlds. Some things I'd like to point out for new users is 1 the head strap that comes in the box. It's a good headstrap but it does cause some problems every now and then. Due to the lightweight nature of the headstrap it makes the occulas a little front heavy and forces you to tighten the headstrap so the unit stays on your head and after time can start to give you a headache. If your looking to get a different hadstrap I'd warn you not to get the elite strap from occulas there prone to breaking due to some weak points and it's not worth the 150 bucks in my opinion. Instead I'd recommend looking around at 3rd party headstraps and selecting one based on what you think would work best for you. Personally I use a 3rd party headstrap from kiwi that has some weight on the back of it to counterbalance the weight from the front of the unit I've found it miles more comfortable then the stock headstrap. One other think that I would recommend is investing in a pair of wireless earbuds. The quest has Bluetooth functionality and is able to pair with anything Bluetooth including earbuds. I love to workout with my quest and I love good audio it gets my in the zone and really gives me the immersion I'm looking for. So with that being said I would recommend a pair of skullcandy earbuds they have a good balance of highs and lows and there not that pricey either (around 30 bucks) overall the quest 2 does have some kinks but nothing that some creativity can't fix. If you read this all the way through thanks! I hope you found it helpfull!

Great value for money here, worked very well for about a year, then I broke one of the handles, and I couldn't get it fixed anywhere, so be very careful about them, they're very breakable. I really enjoyed the games, the battery life was a little short, about an hour for games like Darth Vader, but I usually don't play for more than an hour...

The Meta Quest 2 is a groundbreaking VR headset that brings an immersive virtual reality experience to a wider audience. It combines cutting-edge technology, comfort, and a user-friendly interface, making it one of the best standalone VR systems on the market today. What works: The standout feature of the Quest 2 is the fact that it’s fully standalone—no need for a high-powered PC or external sensors. The setup is incredibly simple, and you’re up and running in no time. Just power it on, pair it with the app, and you’re ready to dive into your favorite VR worlds. The visual quality is fantastic for the price. The 1832 x 1920 resolution per eye is sharp enough to make everything from gaming to video watching look clear and vibrant. The refresh rate of up to 120Hz makes for smoother visuals and a more fluid experience overall. The wide variety of games and apps available is impressive, and the Oculus store continues to expand, offering everything from fitness apps to immersive game titles. The wireless freedom is a huge plus. No cables to trip over, no worrying about your PC’s specs, and you can play wherever you want—whether it’s in your living room or your backyard. The controllers are intuitive and comfortable, with responsive tracking that makes movements feel natural. You don't need to be tethered to a computer with cords unless you want to upload something from a game platform like Steam. Comfort is also solid, especially with the included adjustable head strap, though I upgraded with the Meta Quest 2 Comfort Pack to make it even better for long sessions. The weight is distributed well, and the foam padding is soft...but I found really long sessions can still be hard on the back of the neck/head. I found the battery life is decent but could be better. I get about 2-3 hours of playtime from a full charge. This is probably for the better since, as I stated before, a longer session can be hard on the neck/head. There are external battery packs available to extend playtime, but I've stayed with the battery included and haven't gotten an external. One downside is the mandatory Facebook/Meta account requirement to use the headset, which some users have found to be invasive or frustrating. Although Meta has made strides to offer better privacy controls, it’s still something to keep in mind. Pros: Fully standalone—no PC or external sensors required! Excellent visual quality for the price Wireless freedom with intuitive controllers Easy setup and wide range of games/apps Cons: Screen-door effect can be noticeable during fast movements/motion sickness can be an issue Battery life could be longer Requires a Meta (formerly Facebook) account to use Limited onboard storage options I've managed to need two new left controllers in the time I've had this headset. This will be a problem if Meta stops supporting the Quest 2 in favor of the Quest 3s and 3 Neutral: Battery life. 2-3 hours is plenty for me...others may prefer more time.