Welcome to the Oasis, my names Mike and today
I'm going to be putting the Oculus Quest and
Rift S head to head in a little VR showdown.
Because a question that I get asked a lot
just recently is should I spend $399 on an
Oculus Quest or an Oculus Rift S? Both are
the same price and both are likely releasing
at the same time, which in my opinion will
be during Facebook F8 which takes place during
30th April - 1st May, less than a couple of
weeks away.
Now, there's many different factors to consider
when choosing which headset is best for you
so it's difficult to give a broad answer that
will fit everyone's needs. So what I'm going
to do in this video is compare the specs,
graphics and my hands on experience with both
these headsets so you can make an informed
decision yourself.
I can already hear some of you in the comments,
what about the Valve Index? Well I'm super
excited for the Index too but my guess it's
likely going to cost a lot more than these
headsets and probably cost somewhere between
$600-$800.
So this guide is specifically for those who
have $399 to spend and are in the market for
a new VR headset this Spring.
As always, I'll put timestamps to all the
different sections of the video in the description
down below.
I hope you guys and girls find this video
useful so without further ado, let's dive
in...
So lets start with the simplest point to consider
when choosing between the Quest or the Rift
S....do you own a VR capable PC?
As we know, the Oculus Quest is completely
standalone so doesn't need a PC to power the
device, everything is built into the headset
itself and it has a Snapdragon 835 processor
at its core to do all the processing work.
All you'll need with the Oculus Quest is a
smartphone to run the Oculus app for the initial
setup procedure.
With the Oculus Rift S you'll need a PC to
power it with the recommended specs of an
i5 processor, GTX 970 or GTX 1060 and 8gb
of ram. It's also worth noting that the Rift
S uses DisplayPort so ensure you have one
free on your graphics card.
A decent gaming PC if you don't have one already
is likely going to set you back anywhere from
$600 and upwards.
If you have a PC already and unsure if your
PC is up to scratch, check out the official
Oculus system checker tool which I've linked
in the description below.
So I would say, IF you own a powerful enough
PC or have the option to get one the Oculus
Rift S will provide an overall better looking
gaming experience than the Quest and I'll
go into more detail as to why now as we look
at the specs of the two headsets side by side.
Rift S - A single 2560x1440 LCD display which
equates to 1280x1440 pixels per eye running
at 80Hz
Quest - 2x 1600x1440 pixels per eye OLED panels
which run at a 72hz.
On paper when you compare the specs you would
think that the Quest provides a better image
in the headset due to having a higher resolution
than the Rift S.
And this is a common misconception, despite
having a lower resolution than the Quest,
the Rift S is the clear winner here. The graphical
fidelity that a PC can provide this headset
out performs the Quest hands down. Some less
intensive games look identical on both headsets
but with graphically intensive games you definitely
see the sacrifices that had to be made. You
only need to compare Robo Recall on both systems
to really see the difference here.
The Rift S uses a an LCD display with a higher
pixel density than the OLED panels in Quest
making it very sharp and clear however the
Quest will be able to provide better black
levels in dark games like Beat Saber and Dance
Central due to the OLED panels.
However with all that said, graphics aren't
everything. From my hands on experience with
the Quest although downgraded in terms of
visuals it gives you the same sense of immersion
and great gameplay experience that the Rift
can provide.
Both Quest and Rift S provide six degrees
of freedom movement in VR, so your free to
move around in the virtual world as long as
you have the room in your play space.
And this is where the Quest has the edge over
Rift S, you're completely wireless and you
don't have to be tethered to a PC. And I can't
stress this enough that wireless VR is awesome
and feels very liberating. I've been a big
advocate of wireless solutions in the past,
It's like finally cutting the umbilical cord
and being free. It's simply amazing.
And although you have this amazing sense of
freedom with Quest, I just want to warn you
all that it's highly unlikely you'll be able
to take the Quest outside to play in the park
or in a field. The tracking cameras on the
Quest are sensitive to direct sunlight so
when using the headset outside during the
day this will compromise the tracking capability
of both the headset and controllers. Also
it's just not a good idea to take headsets
outside in sunlight as the fresnel lenses
act as magnifying glasses and this could cause
permanent damage to your headsets displays.
I've heard you could play outside with the
Quest during twilight with some ambient lighting
and tracking should be ok but again I wouldn't
really recommend it.
The headset is designed to be used indoors
with normal room lighting. So It's also worth
noting that it will also be an issue in complete
darkness as the cameras need light to track
objects in the room to know it's location
and this is the same deal with the Oculus
Rift S too by the way.
One of the other biggest factors to decide
when choosing which headset is going to be
best for you is the games available.
For the most part there are many games that
are available on both Quest and Rift S and
play exactly the same, Beat Saber, SuperHot,
Dance Central and Shadow Point are just a
few great examples.
However there are some games that just aren't
possible on Quest, so if you like the look
of Stormland, No Mans Sky and Boneworks then
these games are only going to be able to be
played on a PCVR headset like the Rift S so
just bare that in mind.
Also don't bank on the Quest working with
PCVR experiences or SteamVR using third party
solutions. If you want to play PC games, get
a PCVR headset like the Rift S. Because you'll
need a VR capable PC to stream games to the
headset anyway. Having messed around with
streaming PCVR content to the Go headset many
times in the past using ALVR, RiftCat and
Nolo. It's never a great experience, setup
is always a bit of a hassle and it won't provide
as good an experience than with a proper PCVR
setup.
As we know once in a VR game, the concept
of time can fade away and before you know
it you've spent hours in a virtual world.
Of course with Rift S you're connected to
a PC so you can play as long as you want however
with Quest you're limited to the internal
battery.
Battery life, I'm estimating will be around
2-3 hours of playtime. Although I'm sure using
a battery pack to play and charge at the same
time will be possible. I'll be testing this
out as soon as I get my hands on the device
so make sure you stay tuned.
For those that wear glasses. Rift S has a
useful adjustment button on the bottom of
the headset which can move the lenses away
from your eyes to accommodate glasses. Whereas
the Quest doesn't have this function. So If
you wear glasses and want to use Quest, I'd
recommend looking into some prescription lens
adapters which I covered previously for the
Oculus Go. This will prevent you from scratching
the lenses of both your glasses and the headset.
In terms of IPD adjustment, the Quest has
a clear advantage over the Rift S. IPD is
the setting you need to calibrate to specify
the distance between your eyes to ensure everything
looks clear in the headset. The Quest uses
two panels and has a mechanical IPD adjustment
slider which I prefer over the Rift S which
has a single panel and uses software to adjust
the IPD setting.
This will make swapping the Quest to different
users and adjusting the IPD on the fly much
much easier.
Lets move onto Tracking.
Both headsets will use the new Oculus insight
tracking system which uses cameras on the
headset to provide inside out tracking so
you don't need any external sensors. Just
put both of these headsets on, setup your
guardian boundary and you're good to go.
Overall tracking is better on Rift S, this
is due to the camera placement and having
a 5th camera placed on top of the headset.
I did some tracking tests with both headsets
at PAX if you want to see my testing in those
videos.
Both headsets have dead spots in their tracking,
both will loose tracking with controllers
close to the cameras practically touching
the headset, and when your hands are behind
your back although both of these movements
happen very rarely in VR games.
The main advantage here is that the Rift S
instantly reintroduces the controllers when
tracking is lost where Quest there is a slight
delay, maybe just a second before its reintroduced
after being lost.
Both headsets will have passthrough camera
modes if you want to quickly see what’s
going on in the real world around you.
In terms of Audio Both Quest and Rift S use
the same audio design whe re they have channels
in the headstrap to pump audio from the headset
to outlets near your ears and both feature
built in microphones.
Both have headphone 3.5mm headphone jacks
to use your own headphones which is definitely
recommended for the best experience.
Using headphones on the Quest with its flexible
headstrap is much easier that Rift S as the
Rift S new chunky rigid Halo strap makes it
difficult to get headphones over them.
Also the Quest is rumoured to have it's own
official headphone accessory which uses both
3.5mm headphone jacks which are located on
both sides of the headset.
With the controllers, both Quest and Rift
S use the same new Oculus touch controller.
Both provide haptic feedback and the same
capacitive touch sensors we have on the original
touch controllers.
For those who've just the original touch controllers,
you'll find these familiar as they feel pretty
much the same when in VR all be it slightly
slimmer and lighter.
The new controllers will be backwards compatible
with the original Rift but the original touch
controllers won't work with Quest or Rift
S as they need the inverted tracking ring
of the new controllers for the insight system
to track the controllers movements.
And finally, lets get onto comfort.
Although I'm not a huge fan of Halo straps,
the Rift S is very balanced and very comfortable
to wear and you'll be able to play games for
hours without any issues.
With the Oculus Quest, it's very front heavy.
Having used the Quest on three separate occasions
now, something I noticed is that when playing
active games like Beat Saber or Sports Scramble
the headset can start shift down moving my
view out of the sweet spot.
This could be that I don't have any hair so
its easier for the headset to slide around
on my head so maybe I'll just have to wear
it tighter than usual in the future or find
a little VR hat to wear.
It's just something to consider.
Ok so there we have it guys and girls that’s
the Oculus Quest Vs Oculus Rift S. Both have
their own advantages and disadvantages.
I think regardless of which of these two headsets
you choose, you'll be have a great VR experience
either way. I'll be getting both headsets
to cover in detail on the channel so make
sure you're subscribed so you don't miss any
of my future guides and accessory videos for
these headsets.
So out of the two headsets, which one am I
most excited about? Well, I'm much more excited
for the Oculus Quest, I love that it's so
accessible, easy to use and will be a product
which has the potential to bring VR to the
masses.
If I missed something out that you want to
know then put your question in the comments
below and I'll try and answer as many as I
can.
Also let me know which headset do you think
is the best fit for you? Is it the Oculus
Quest? Oculus Rift S? Or maybe even something
else like the Valve Index? I'd love to know.
Leave a like if you liked the video, make
sure you're subscribed for all my future VR
content and as always, I'll see you on the
next one. Cheers!
