I’m mulling over possibility of buying a VR headset.
Basically it is either Rift S or Quest, and due to region where I’m at, the difference is about $40 with the shipping. Thing is I can’t decide which to buy (and whether I should bother - as “investment” is very dubious, and I might end up with a useless gadget).
I’m skeptical about extra weight and mobile CPU on quest (it gets hot apparently?), and that $40 difference is without buying Quest Link cable for $79.
In case of Quest, IPD slider and hand tracking sounds very attractive, but video compression and extra lag due to encoding via PC connection sound like something I wouldn’t want. There’s also matter of lower refresh rate.
So… does anyone has any bits of information to share regarding the difference between those headsets?
I own the original Rift (90Hz) and the Quest (72Hz). There is no apparent difference in refresh rate to me, and i am someone who clearly sees the difference between 60 and 144Hz screens.
The tracking of the Quest is surprisingly good, but i had to buy some cheap IR diode arrays, to be able to play in a dark room but also have the tracking work. Tracking is good, even in games where you shoot arrows and your hand is often behind any of the cameras. This was my biggest concern when buying the Quest and i have to say that it is not a problem if your hand is not behind your head for a long time.
Being able to play any Oculus, VivePort or Steam game WIRELESSLY without any noticeable lag is really a great thing.
Of course, gameplay is a bit smoother on my Rift with 90Hz, slightly better tracking (behind me) and cable connection, but with the Quest i can play without ANY wires. Also it doesn’t get hot, even though you drain the battery rather quickly. Mind you i have A/C where i play.
Oculus does not recomment using an external power source, but everyone does it and it does not get too hot.
This setup will give you about 2.5f hours of completely unrestricted gameplay where you will never have to worry about any cables and the Quest is nicely balanced on your head (it is by default a bit too front-heavy).
I have no experience with the Rift-S, so i can’t say for sure.
Still, playing wirelessly (ALL PC games, via SideQuest and Virtual Desktop) makes all cable solutions worthless to me.
The freedom you gain is just too good to be true…but it is true
The resolution of the Quest is better than the one of Rift or Rift-S, which is especially visible when you are looking at things like a fence (imagine the fences on the side of a racingtrack). Leads to an overall clearer image.
The Rift-S has a LCD display, which is supposed to have not as black blacks. Can’t comment on that, since the original Rift also has OLED.
Tracking of the controllers in IMHO pretty much on par with the original Rift, minus all the hazzle it is to setup the Rift cameras.
And i have to say it again, NOTHING that requires a cable compares to not requiring a cable. Unless you plan to play only seated games. I always found the cable to distract me the most, since you always have to be aware of it to not damage anything or trip over it.
As ridiculous as it sounds, playing wireless is FAR more immersive in any first person game.
The only downside when playing wireless is the image compression. It is visible in very dark scenes, but by far less annoying than a cable attached to your head. If the game is any good, you are immersed enough to not recognize it in any but the most dark scenes.
tldr
I am not using my original Rift anymore, nor will i ever again use it.
I would recommend to pick a device that ends up being a useFULL gadget, even if you don’t use it for actual work, as I consider that the likely outcome.
I have an Oculus Go and the only use it still sees is lying in bed and watching Netflix etc… But for that I value it highly enough that I’d consider replacing it if/when it breaks outside of warranty. I’d probably pick the Quest or wait for the next iteration of their wireless headsets.
It’s worth noting I needed a compatible android device with bluetooth for the initial setup of the Go, I assume that to be the case for the Quest too. You probably have a suitable smartphone, I didn’t. Just thought I should mention it.
@DaDonik :
I tried connecting my Oculus Go with my PC via USB cable once to try and get a game like Everspace running. The image compression, framerate, IPD scale and lag where so bad, that I thought “fuck that, I’m not doing this” right at the main menu. It was much worse than streaming VR videos wirelessly. You make it sound like it’s not that bad with the Quest. What programs were you using and is there a chance they would work as well with my Go?
I have an original Rift and a Quest. I do not have a Rift S, though. I strongly prefer the Quest over the original Rift. I image on my Quest is definitely better than the image on my original Rift. The Quest is easier to set up. The Quest Link feature works really well.
Having said all of that, I have heard that the Rift S is a big improvement over the original Rift, but I don’t have a Rift S to compare to.
Actually that was the goal. I’ve got no space for active movement and there’s matter of occasional joint issues which can make things uncomfortable. I do want to check out Alyx, though.
Hah. Well, this is true enough.
The thing is I’m stuck simply stuck at indecision phase at the moment.
Basically, I sorta wanted to grab a headset, and my PC is sorta VR ready, but I can’t try the devices live, and has to order from amazon blind, pretty much. The only previous headsets I tried were HTC Vive and DK2. For 60 and 30 minutes respectively.
Amusingly enough, right after posting this, I’ve found a “VR club” which has Oculus Quest and even rents them.I guess I’ll pay them a visit in a few days.
The CPU in the Quest is better than the one in the Go i assume. I also have a Go for watching netflix in bed. Cheaper than a TV on the ceiling and just awsome. Never tried to play anything on it, so i can not say what the PC gaming experience on it is, if that is even a thing with the Go.
I am using SideQuest and Virtual Desktop. After the setup you just start up the Virtual Desktop app inside the quest, start the VD app on Steam and off you go. Full access to your desktop with no lag and especially no stuttering. I am sure there is a small lag, compared to a wired connection, but i am an avid gamer and i don’t mind…so for most ppl it will be just fine. You can now play Oculus games, Steam games and Viveport games…
I have to say that i have bought a Unify AP AC PRO, just to be safe, because my router is in another room and the wifi
connectivity wasn’t great where i play with the Quest. A perfect wifi connection is certainly required.
The image quality on the Go and the Quest is the same i would say, just if anyone is wondering.
If you are playing seated, then you can just use a cable on the Quest, which get’s rid of any image compression and is basically the same as a Rift-S with better resolution. You will still have to charge the Quest, but the battery will last a lot longer, since there is no need for wifi and decompression.
Tough call, i guess the RiftS is lighter and never needs to be charged…pick your poison
It’s very hard to notice any kind of quality decrease with Oculus Link in general with good settings. You don’t really need the official $79 cable as you can even start with the included short cable (since they have since added usb2 support) or get a $9 one from amazon if you don’t have a large play area.
I use also use Virtual Desktop for almost everything as during gaming no cable is far better than random compression artifacts. However you do need a decent local network setup to it work perfectly.
Quest is far better choice from a developer perspective as you can develop and test on both platforms and do standalone demos anywhere. I also have a CV1 and going from its 90hz to the Quest 72hz is not an issue for me at all . I have also used Rift S a lot and while I like it’s display and comfort and display a bit more I would still pick Quest.
So I bought a hour of Oculus Quest time at that club (wasted more money than I’d like on taxi fare though). Games played:
Elexir, Alyx, Pistol Whip, Gun Club VR.
Impressions:
Overall impression is very positive. I played HTC Vive before at the same club, and the Vive was nowhere close to Oculus Quest. I did not feel any “screen effectr”, and it mostly felt very convincing.Image resolution is good enough for me.
The finger tracking gimmick turned out to be incredibly amazing. Elixir game replaces your hand model, and moving your fingers and seeing the hand move in the exact same way convinces the brain that the hand you’re seeing is YOURS. It becomes very interesting when the game replaces your hand with robot hand (that has only three fingers) and tentacle hands, as you sorta start feeling it. Like tentacles dangling from your fingers. Never experienced anything like that anywhere else. I think VR developers should look into adding the rest of the body, as it greatly increases immersion. I also think someone should add ankle/waist trackers.
The funny thing is that after seeing full finger tracking in action, half life: alyx hands feel “wrong” and unconvincing.
I’m did not feel any input lag due to streaming. The elixir game ran on oculus, but alyx was streamed through VR desktop, and I didn’t notice any problems there. I talked to the club employee/owner (it is a small shop ran by one or two people), and she told me that they were worried about input lag too, but then tested the headset in person and were convinced that it is not an issue (they had to visit another town to get hands on Oculus Quest, she said). They also sold their Vive and the “Hamster Pad” they used to have and only have Quest now. That says something.
The strap turned out to be more comfortable than I expected. Putting on Vive was much more hassle the last time comapred to Quest.
I experienced some heavy lens fogging in the beginning, because I was wearing the headset on top of covid mask. The issue solved itself in about 10 minutes, when I guess temperatures equalized.
The audio isn’t that great, in sense that noisy environment can drown out sound from headphones at maximum volume. The shop was placed next to a children play area in a sport complex, meaning I couldn’t hear much of what the game was trying to tell me.
I sorta understand why in some cases people might want high resolution textures. Alyx had a dinner box lying around, my first instinctive action was to grab it and read ingredients. So, basically, if there’s text, my mind sorta expects it to be fully readable when I can grab the book.
Also, in case of Alyx there were some disappointing moments regarding environment interactivity. For example, in the beginning you can see people on the street from the balcony you’re on. But. There’s bunch of stuff next to you you can grab… and if you throw it off the balcony and hit the npcs with it, they do not react. In my case I think I had something like a brick bounce off NPC head. Disappointing. Likewise scripted story sequence where you’re captured felt off, because it looks like the scene is interactive, but it isn’t. For example, first impulse is to close lift doors when you see the soldiers, but pressing buttons does nothing (looks hilarious, probably). Trying to walk forward doesn’t work, and you can’t grab soldiers gun, even though it feels like you should be able to.
Apparently being in environment where player is moving makes me start losing balance. That’s the situation in case of Pistol Whip. The moment level starts, I feel like I’m falling backward and the feeling doesn’t fully disappear.
Thanks for the review, the Quest sounds promising.
I doubt many other devs have put as much work and care into things like that as valve has, so I’d assume many VR games will be disappointing to you in that regard. Even high profile ones like Fallout 4 or Skyrim VR.
In how far is the physical IPD adjustment different from software IPD adjustment?
