Revisiting the Original Oculus Quest

While visiting my in-laws for Christmas in 2018, my brother-in-law introduced me to VR by way of his Playstation VR. Whatever preconceptions I'd had of VR were inaccurate, and I was blown away, quickly picking up my own within a few days. A year later, I ordered an Oculus Quest, eager to have a tetherless VR experience. Even though the Quest had a processor that even at the time of release was outdated, I really enjoyed it, though I was already hoping for the next iteration and what could be done with more advanced hardware. I didn't have to wait long, as Oculus Quest 2 was announced in the Fall of 2020, and released that October.

Upon receiving the Quest 2 on release day, I was, honestly, disappointed. The major selling points were a better processor, higher resolution, improved battery life for the controllers, and a lower price point. But everything else just felt like cost cutting.

First, while the Quest 2 is a little lighter, it's also smaller, and I found that it was difficult for me to put on and remove while wearing my glasses (even though I'd had no issues with the original Quest, and that my frames were within the specified size limit). The field of view was noticeably smaller, and the headset itself was less comfortable. The decision to move away from a sliding scale of IP distance to a "3 pre-set" sizes approach meant that I couldn't set the Quest 2 to my "sweet spot", though fortunately, it's not too bad for me -- but people with IP distances that are too far from the 3 pre-set values could have trouble.

Gone was the cloth lining around the headset -- Quest 2 is just plastic. The facial interface on the original Quest also feels much nicer, and is definitely more comfortable, than Quest 2's scratchy foam (more on that in a bit).

I will say that I found the new controllers an improvement, battery life-wise, though I've heard they're less accurate for games requiring a high amount of precision like Beat Saber.

The default strap for Quest 2 is cloth, with no firm support, prompting the purchase of a separate "Elite Strap", which isn't bad, but lacks the spring mechanisms in the original Quest's strap which allow you to easily remove the headset by pulling the visor forward and off your head. Worse still, the Elite Strap would go on to have issues, with many customers reporting cracks not long after release.

Don't get me started on the required Facebook account. I stopped using Facebook back in 2017 and didn't want to go back. For the Quest 2, I created a new account that I use only for Quest 2. I haven't connected with anyone on it.

But the thing that let me down the most was the move to an LCD screen instead of (individual) OLED screens. One of my favorite Quest apps is Skybox VR, which allows you to stream movies into a virtual  movie theater. In the original Quest, this looks great, and is really immersive. But in the Quest 2, the blacks are not as dark, and what should look like a darkened movie theater instead looks like...fog.

Fast forward to now, present day. My Elite Strap had begun failing (not with the widely reported cracking issue, but rather a problem involving the dial that loosens and tightens the strap no longer retaining the setting -- I'd tighten it, and it would immediately loosen), so I contacted Oculus who were kind of enough to issue me an RMA return label and informed me they'd send me a new strap after receiving my old one. Their support staff was very responsive, even following up with me after a few days of not hearing back from me after they'd responded. But now, without that strap, and feeling no desire to endure the default cloth strap, I decided I'd revisit my original Quest.

I turned it on and was happy to see it still had a battery life of 77% even after having not used it for about 9 months. Ironically, just a few weeks prior I had removed the controller batteries to avoid corrosion, figuring I wouldn't use this headset anytime soon. I was behind in the OS version, and for whatever reason the headset also decided it would update all of my apps (normally this is something you have to opt in for). So it was a few hours before everything was back to a state in which I could use it. But immediately, I was amazed at how much better I thought things looked with those OLED screens. There was the slightest screen door effect, but other than that, it just looked better overall with those deeper blacks, and the headset felt so much more comfortable than Quest 2 (side note: Oculus is providing users with a free plastic cover for the facial interface after reports of skin irritation. I can't wait to get mine). The field of view was better, the headset itself just feels better, less cheap. I was home...er, virtually!

I started up Skybox VR. It was a joy to be back in that theater again! It looked real, and not like I'd wandered into a Cheech and Chong movie where everyone had decided to light up! No fog!

Moving forward, I think I'll do the following (once I get my replacement Elite Strap):

• For games, I'll still use Quest 2, for the better processor (though it seems like most games haven't taken advantage of it). It's a little lighter, and for things like Knockout League it still probably the better choice.
• For Skybox VR, and maybe some other experiences as well, I'll stick with Quest 1. Do I really want to switch between two headsets? No. But the OLED screens are so much better than Quest 2's LCDs, that for anything where I want better colors, the original Quest is my choice.