At its Facebook Connect event today, the social media giant launched its latest standalone VR headset – the Oculus Quest 2. The new VR headset is smaller and 10% lighter than its predecessor, and offers what the company calls IPD (interpupillary distance) adjustment mechanism for providing more comfort to users. The Quest 2 is also sharper, offering a resolution of 1832 x 1920 pixels per eye, which is 50% more than its predecessor. It is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Platform paired with 6 gigs of RAM. Plus, the company has also given the Oculus Quest a major boost in the graphics department by offering support for 90Hz content across the Home Environment, Explore and Oculus TV sections.

Facebook ships its new standalone VR headset with new Touch controllers that claim to offer improved ergonomics and more efficient controller tracking to bring down battery consumption. Notably, the new controllers are said to last up to 4 times longer than the Touch controllers which shipped with the first-gen Oculus Quest headset. Plus, the Oculus Quest 2 is also compatible with Oculus Link, the company’s own toolkit that allows users to connect it with a computer via a USB cable and use it as a PC-based VR system. What this means is you can enjoy the entire Quest library on the new standalone headset as well as Rift games made for the PC VR platform. 

Oculus Link is coming out of beta in the fall season and support for 90Hz experience is coming soon as well. Plus, a unified dashboard is also rolling out next year that will put all your compatible PC VR games and Quest titles in a single place. The Oculus Quest is priced at $299 – a good $100 cheaper than its predecessor – and is now up for pre-orders, while shipments are set to begin on October 13. It will be available from the official Oculus website, Best Buy, GameStop, Target, and Walmart in the US; Currys PC World and FNAC Darty in the UK and EU; while Amazon will handle worldwide shipment duties.

Alongside the Oculus Quest 2 headset, Facebook has also launched a new line of accessories that include a carrying case, a new USB Type-C cable for connecting it with a PC, an Elite Strap priced at $49 to offer more comfort while using it, and another strap that comes with its own battery case as well for more playtime. 

Source: Oculus

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