THE Meta Quest 2 is the headset that democratized standalone VR (no need for a PC to work), it has sold more than 20 million units worldwide. His successor, the Meta Quest 3 was released barely a month ago, putting the Quest 2 at its original price (€350). As if that wasn’t enough, Meta takes advantage of the end-of-year holidays to (temporarily) lower its price further. One question remains: THE Meta Quest 2 Is it obsolete or does it still have something under the hood?
It’s a price drop of €50 that awaits the Meta Quest 2bringing it down to 299.99 euros, until December 31, 2023. At the arrival of a Meta Quest Lite (A Quest 3 clamped) planned for next year and which would be sold for around €250, the firm of Zuckerberg is trying to sell off its stock, but is it really reasonable to wait until Meta Quest Lite to enter VR at a lower cost?
Meta Quest 2: genesis of a predicted success
THE Meta Quest 2 is an excellent headset, it is the one that allowed us to show the general public that we could finally immerse ourselves in VR without this grid effect which constituted the norm at the time (Oculus Quest, HTC Vive Focus, PSVR, Valve Index…). The clarity of its LCD screen and the sharpness of the image have no reason to be ashamed of the OLED of its big brother.Oculus Quest. In terms of power, the beast can process many more polygons than its predecessor, This gap has also pushed many developers to swear only by the latter.
Mass was said,Oculus Questits big brother, was primarily designed to test the market. Metaseeing the potential of the autonomous, quickly rushed to release a new iteration, from there was born the Meta Quest 2. Sold at €350 in its 64 GB version, the headset sold so well that it hurt the PCVR world.
Remember, At the very beginning of the democratization of virtual reality, you had to pay more than 1000 euros for a headset and a little less than double to afford a PC powerful enough to play comfortably. Except PSVR first of the name, there was no alternative and above all, autonomy did not exist!!! Thanks to the’Oculus Quest and at Meta Quest 2 What followed, developers saw the golden goose that was the standalone market and naturally gravitated toward projects that were more lucrative and obviously less resource-intensive than a PCVR game.
The simplicity of the console world and the entry of VR at lower cost have allowed many players, more or less casual, to get a real idea of immersive technologies.
And if some were annoyed to observe such a big graphical difference between a standalone game and its PCVR equivalent, they could only blame their walletsthe helmets of Meta can also be connected to a PC to benefit from its catalog.
At first glance, the Quest 3for owners of Quest 2won’t make them jump to the ceiling, contrary to what could happenOculus Quest At Meta Quest 2. And for good reason, although the Q2 has lenses of Fresnelwith his sweet spot (point of sharpness) relatively limited, although we still have the “pirate eye” effect due to a FOV (field of vision) relatively small, the rendering of Quest 2 is simply enough to properly enjoy VR, even in 2023 (and will be for a few more years). Another small detail, the use of Fresnel makes the grid effect imperceptible, something that we nevertheless find (although invisible for the majority) on the Meta Quest 3.
Still on a visual level, and allowing us a little analogy, we are, regarding the Meta Quest 3much more on the cross-gen than on a pure generational change (at least initially). If upon its release many players expected a proper slap in the face, many were disappointed by relaunching their favorite titles, considered still too vague. The reason is simple: the vast majority of titles have not been optimized for the latest headset as of Metathe firm having just automatically increased the overall definition of all titles by 30% related to Quest 2. Except that this gain in definition is simply not enough compared to the increase in the number of pixels of the Meta Quest 3. To put it more simply, it’s as if we went from 360p to 576p, it’s not that yet. And that’s where QGO comes in!
Meta Quest 3 + QGO: the devastating combo
Quest Games Optimizer is an application, developed in-house, which allows you to fine-tune the graphics settings of standalone games (definition, number of images per second, power level, clarity level, etc.). The total resolution of Meta Quest 3 is 4128×4416 pixels, but all games actually run at 1689×1760 pixels: the image is therefore stretched to take up the entire surface, which can cause blur. To make this clear, it’s like trying to play a DVD (576p) on your 4K OLED TV (2160p) or display a video Youtube 360p on a 4K panel.
And this is where comes in QGO ! By increasing the power of Quest 3 and its definition, and by testing different games, we manage to remove the blur of the image as soon as we reach 2300/2500p, which already allows us to feel a real visual difference between the Quest 2 and the Quest 3 (already equipped with QGO). Knowing that Quest Games Optimizer will be more and more efficient over the course of (free) updates, you can easily exceed the 2300p mark in the majority of gameswhich will guarantee you breathtaking visuals.
Without QGO, the Meta Quest 3 offers blurrier visuals than the Meta Quest 2 with QGO but the Quest 3 with QGO goes further than a Quest 2 with QGO.
You would have understood it, at the time of writing these lines, without QGO, your Meta Quest 3 is actually only a version 1.5 of the Quest 2. If you really want to observe the gap between the two, then you will have to checkout. Like Virtual Desktopit will definitely be the best investment you will make in your life as a VR gamer.
Here are most of the use cases that will lead you to adopt a Quest 2 :
- Your budget is limited;
- This is your first entry into VR and you would like to test it at a lower cost;
- Want to share your experience with your loved ones at a lower cost;
- You get the idea (as the late Johnny would say) that QGO will allow a better rendering than a Quest 3 without QGO ;
- You think that THE Quest 3 simply does better than what the Quest 2 already offers.
Here is now what will push you to treat yourself to the Quest 3 :
- Your budget allows you;
- You always want to have the latest model;
- You want to watch your own 3D movies ripped in the best possible way;
- You would like to obtain a “passthrough” colorthat little extra in your mixed reality experience;
- You agree to purchase QGO to truly benefit from it;
- Are you tired of having a twin effect? important on Quest 2;
- You want to move your eyes rather than your head to see clearly in games.
Don’t hesitate to tell us in comments what you plan to do and why, it would be interesting to discuss your feedback. You can find the Meta Quest 2 at €299.99 on Amazonot Or on the site of Methas. As for the brand new Meta Quest 3, you will find its 128 GB version with Asgard Wrath 2 offered at €549.99 on Amazon Or there Fnac.