Oculus Rift S vs. Oculus Quest: Which should you buy?

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Oculus Rift S vs. Oculus Quest: Which should you lot buy?

Standalone VR headset

Oculus Quest

PC-powered VR

Oculus Rift South

If you don't have a PC to power a VR headset, the Oculus Quest is undoubtedly the right pick. It's powered by a self-independent Snapdragon 835 processor (CPU) and has a college resolution for its dual OLED displays. The IPD can be adjusted manually, allowing a broader range of users to detect something comfy.

$399 at Amazon

Pros

• No tether back to a PC
• Loftier-res, dual OLED displays
• Physical IPD adjustments
• Updated Touch controllers
• Manus tracking (in preview)
• Oculus Link back up

Cons

• Lower refresh rate
• Ane less Insight sensor

The Oculus Rift S is a successor to the original Rift CV1, requiring a connected PC to power it. Compared to the Oculus Quest, it uses a lower-res LCD. It doesn't have manual interpupillary distance (IPD) adjustment, but it does bring full access to original Rift titles. It has an Insight tracking system with five sensors, and information technology offers a higher refresh charge per unit at fourscore Hz.

$399 at All-time Buy

Pros

• Access to existing Rift CV1 titles
• No jump in recommended PC specs
• Higher refresh rate
• Five Insight sensors
• Updated Touch controllers

Cons

• No manual IPD adjustment
• Lower-res LCD
• PC is required

Price and availability: Why you should skip the Oculus Rift S and Oculus Quest to get an Oculus Quest 2.

Source: Facebook The Oculus Quest ii brings the best of the Rift S and original Quest.

The Oculus Rift Southward and original Oculus Quest are both aging hardware that are on the manner out. The Oculus Rift Due south is being discontinued, and Facebook won't sell it later on 2022. Instead, Facebook is pushing people toward the Oculus Quest 2 and utilizing the Oculus Link characteristic that allows you to play PCVR games by connecting the Oculus Quest 2 to a PC with a cable. The Oculus Quest two also supplants the original Oculus Quest, improving upon its predecessor in merely well-nigh every manner.

In addition to the Oculus Quest 2 existence newer than the Rift South and original Quest, it is more affordable. The Oculus Quest ii starts at $299 for the 64GB version and goes up to $399 for the 256GB version. The Rift S still lists for $399. If yous do discover an original Oculus Quest in stock, it starts at $399 and goes upwards to $499. In that location'south no reason to spend an actress $100 or more dollars to go an older version of the Oculus Quest.

Both the Oculus Rift S and Oculus Quest were skillful headsets when new, just Oculus has clearly shown more of an investment into the Oculus Quest. Since the Quest came out, Facebook added hand tracking support, Oculus Link back up, and regularly added new features and improvements. Meanwhile, the Oculus Rift S didn't receive mitt tracking and seems left out.

The Rift South has some features that make information technology better than the original Oculus Quest. Notwithstanding, ultimately information technology isn't worth grabbing now, specially considering that Facebook is discontinuing the Oculus Rift S in 2022 and won't make PC-only hardware going forwards.

Additionally, the Oculus Quest 2 has several improvements that close the gap betwixt the Quest line and the Rift line. While not a direct sequel to the Rift line, in a way, Facebook has positioned the Quest 2 equally a successor to both the Rift S and the Oculus Quest ii.

If you're dead assault purchasing one of Facebook's older headsets, we have a full head-to-caput below.

Oculus Quest ii 64GB vs. Oculus Quest 2 256GB: Which should you buy?

Oculus Rift Due south vs. Oculus Quest: tech specs

Both VR headsets were released on May 21, 2022. Here'south a breakdown of the tech specs that make upward each system.

	Oculus Rift S	Oculus Quest
Display resolution	2560x1440 LCD	2880x1600 OLED
Refresh rate	80Hz	72Hz
IPD	Software	Manual
Audio	Integrated 3.5mm jack	Integrated 3.5mm jack
Tracking	Oculus Insight five sensors	Oculus Insight 4 sensors
Hand tracking	No	In preview
Degrees of freedom (DoF)	half dozen DoF	6 DoF
Controllers	Updated Bear on	Updated Touch
PC requirements	Aforementioned as Rift CV1	None (except when using Oculus Link for PCVR)
Cable	five meters DisplayPort ane.2 USB-A 3.0	None
Price	$399	From $399

Oculus Rift S vs. Oculus Quest: Display

Source: Windows Central

The Rift S has a significant display update over the Rift CV1, ditching the deep blacks and lite whites of dual OLED for a single LCD brandish. It has a combined resolution of 2560x1440 (1280x1440 for each center) that is lower than the Quest's 2880x1600 resolution (1440x1600 for each centre).

Comparing the displays gets complicated considering you tin can't only expect at raw numbers in some cases. The Oculus Rift S uses an RGB stripe design compared to the Oculus Quest's diamond pentile blueprint. In non-technical terms, the Oculus Rift S's screen appears clearer even though it has fewer pixels because of how it places pixels on its console.

Additionally, the Oculus Rift S has an LCD panel while the Oculus Quest has an OLED brandish. The OLED panel of the Oculus Quest offers deep blacks and high dissimilarity, but the LCD panel of the Oculus Rift Southward has a faster refresh charge per unit (80Hz vs. 72Hz).

Both the Rift Due south and the Quest evangelize a picture that has less screen-door effect (SDE) than older models, meaning you won't see as much of a grid over the presented movie when you lot focus firmly on the display. Nonetheless, you'll probable still see more god rays with the Quest than the Rift S.

Possibly the biggest complaint many users volition have about the Rift Due south is that IPD adjustments are handled past software. IPD is the distance between your pupils, and being able to manually set it with a slider — like on the Rift CV1 and Quest — opens the headset up to a lot more users. There is some sway with the Rift Southward cheers to software, only if your eyes aren't in the common distance spacing, yous volition have a much tougher time getting a perfect view. The Quest, on the other hand, lets you adjust IPD with a slider, giving you a much improve chance of getting a perfect view even if your eyes have uncommon spacing.

While the Oculus Quest has a fine brandish, the Rift S is considered the better of the two when looking at all the elements that make up displays.

Oculus Rift Due south vs. Oculus Quest: Design

Source: Windows Central

The Oculus Quest more than closely resembles the Rift CV1 than the Rift Southward, no incertitude due to the Rift S beingness designed with help from Lenovo, which has its ain line of Windows Mixed Reality (WMR) headsets. The Rift S brings a halo headband with a dial on the back to get the right tightness, and the headset kind of hangs down over your face. In that location's however a ring that runs forth the tiptop of your head to keep information technology from slipping down.

The Quest sticks with a headband like the Rift CV1 had, with dual Velcro adjustments on either side and a summit strap to keep the headset from slipping down. The design means the brandish is stuck directly onto your face up instead of hanging down, and comfort-wise information technology doesn't quite compare to the Rift S. The Quest has four sensors — one in each corner of the front plate — with no bottom ledge like on the Rift South, giving it an authentic Oculus look.

Both headsets accept gone the route of integrated audio. There are no longer headphones or earbuds hanging down off of the headband, equally we saw on the Rift CV1. Instead, audio feels like it comes out of nowhere. Speakers are embedded in the headband and don't touch your ears, so if yous want improve immersion and to cut out external audio completely, you tin plug in third-party headphones to the devices' three.5mm audio jacks.

Oculus Rift S vs. Oculus Quest: Operation hardware

Source: Windows Fundamental

The Rift S is a PC-powered experience, meaning you'll still have a tether back to your calculator. The tether is five meters long, compared to iv on the Rift CV1, so y'all go a bit of extra leeway, but it does rely on DisplayPort instead of HDMI. Luckily, because the Rift S uses the same core software as the Rift CV1, organisation requirements haven't really inverse other than the required video port. If y'all have a PC with an NVIDIA GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon R9 480 graphics menu (GPU), you're already hitting the recommended specs, though better hardware will give you lot the best experience possible. If you're interested in extending your Rift S cables, you lot tin do so successfully for about $fifteen.

Different the Rift Southward, the Oculus Quest is a self-independent VR headset. There'due south no cable back to a PC, and all performance hardware is housed with the display and lenses. This makes the Quest a lot more than portable and gives you a lot more liberty, though the Snapdragon 835 processor (CPU) understandably won't deliver the aforementioned operation every bit a full gaming PC. This ways that the electric current Oculus Rift library won't be available on the Quest, though it'southward safe to assume that a lot of popular titles will be available on the standalone headset.

A meaning gene when comparing these two headsets is the Oculus Link, which allows you lot to play PCVR games on your Oculus Quest by connecting it to your PC. The characteristic works best with an expensive cable, and greatly expands the versatility of your Oculus Quest.

If yous have a PC capable of powering VR games, you'll exist able to play them on your Oculus Quest. This means that the Oculus Quest tin exist a portable VR headset that you can easily take around with y'all or a wired PCVR headset. It won't provide as proficient of a PCVR feel as the Rift South due in function to its display appearing worse, but it'south tremendously more versatile.

Oculus Rift S vs. Oculus Quest: Tracking and touch

Source: Windows Central

Both headsets feature the new Oculus Insight tracking organization, which works with built-in cameras and sensors on the headset itself. Insight scans your surroundings and identifies physical objects in space, and combines it with data from the headset'due south accelerometer and gyroscope, giving your verbal positional data once per millisecond. You lot won't need any external sensors with either headset.

Oculus Quest uses iv sensors, one in each corner of the headset, for tracking, while the Rift Southward relies on five, with two on the front, 2 on the side, and 1 on the top of the headset. Some of the tracking issues we experienced when testing the Quest weren't credible with the Rift S thanks to the unlike positioning, so if you plan on playing a lot of games where perfect tracking matters, the Rift S might give you a slight edge.

Yous'll get the updated Oculus Touch controllers with either headset, which have been refined for better tracking and more intuitive button placement. Both VR systems bring half dozen degrees of freedom (6DoF) to the table, pregnant you can move naturally in three-dimensional space and have it all translate into whatever experience yous're enjoying.

Everything you tin practice with Oculus Quest mitt tracking

Software updates give the border to the Oculus Quest

If you want the absolute best PCVR experience on the Oculus platform, your best bet is the Oculus Rift Due south. Nonetheless, software updates and upcoming features brand the Oculus Rift S harder to recommend over the Oculus Quest. With Oculus Link, the Oculus Quest delivers PCVR when tethered and mobile VR when y'all're on the go.

Additionally, the Oculus Quest has paw tracking and a growing library of defended Oculus Quest games. Despite being out for a while, the Oculus Quest is getting significantly improve over time. While the Oculus Rift Southward is a lovely headset for PCVR, the Oculus Quest gets our recommendation thanks to its mobility, versatility, and upcoming features.

Standalone VR headset

Oculus Quest

The Oculus Quest delivers an untethered VR feel with 6 degrees of freedom and two Touch on Controllers. Information technology's an piece of cake style to jump into VR because it doesn't require a PC. If y'all do have a gaming PC, Oculus Link is currently in beta and allows you to play PCVR games through your Oculus Quest when continued to a PC.

PC-powered VR

Oculus Rift S

The adjacent evolution of the Rift brings improved lenses, a display with a higher pixel count than the original, and a redesigned head strap and tracking organisation, but you're nevertheless tethered to a PC. If you want the accented best PCVR feel on the Oculus platform, this is your all-time option.

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Cale Hunt

Cale Hunt is a staff writer at Windows Central. He focuses mainly on PC, laptop, and accessory coverage, as well as the emerging earth of VR. He is an avid PC gamer and multi-platform user, and spends most of his time either tinkering with or writing about tech.

Sean Endicott

Sean Endicott is the news writer for Windows Central. If information technology runs Windows, is made by Microsoft, or has anything to do with either, he's on information technology. Sean's been with Windows Key since 2022 and is as well our resident app skilful. If you have a news tip or an app to review, striking him upwardly at sean.endicott@futurenet.com.

Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/oculus-rift-s-vs-oculus-quest

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