It’s the end of an era.
The past few weeks have been bursting with major XR announcements. Pimax unveiled a headset that can swap between an OLED and QLED display, Meta teased its first-ever AR glasses and announced its Horizon OS is coming to third-party headsets – establishing it as the potential Windows of the spatial computing era.
But none of those will hit as hard as today’s declaration. The Oculus Quest 2’s reign is over. If you’re thinking of buying one, don’t. Get a Meta Quest 3 instead.
The first Quest 3-exclusives are here
Admittedly, I felt it was time to stop buying an Oculus Quest 2 as soon as the Meta Quest 3 launched – the newer model is through and through the better headset with an improved chipset and full-color mixed reality. But, I can see the continued appeal of the aging Quest 2.
Chiefly, the older headset is much less expensive. It saw a permanent price drop to $249.99 / £249.99 / AU$439.99 back in January, and it fell again very recently to just $199.99 / £199.99 / AU$359.99. That’s a heck of a lot less than the Meta Quest 3 at $499.99 / £479.99 / AU$799.99, even if the higher price is justified.
But my declaration today comes following two major game announcements – Alien: Rogue Incursion, and Batman: Arkham Shadow; two upcoming VR games that will only support the Meta Quest 3 and no other Quest VR headset.
The Quest 2 is still around for now. At least until Meta kills it off, either unceremoniously or with a Meta Quest 3 Lite reveal. You can still use it to enjoy your favorite best Oculus Quest 2 games from days gone, but if you’re interested in playing the latest and greatest VR hits, that’s no longer possible on the Oculus Quest 2.
If you're a frequent VR user who's still clinging to your ol' reliable standalone headset it's time to let it go, and if you're a VR newcomer tempted by the budget price I'd recommend thinking twice.
It's time to abandon the Quest 2 and embrace the Meta Quest 3 once and for all.
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