Virtual Reality Headset Comparison (mid-2022)
I have owned a Rift CV1 for several years now and really enjoyed the sense of emersion it was able to provide even with its limited resolution. Unfortunately I found myself using it less and less over the years due to a combination of lack of titles (especially multiplayer ones with friends to play them with) and associated setup friction. The craze was certainly still with me though with break through experiences like Half Life: Alyx rewakening my enthusiasm. So when I began getting into simulation racing I saw this as an opportunity to re-evaluate the state of VR 5 years since I bought the CV1. I found the information available for the search “Is it worth upgrading a Rift CV1 to a Quest 2” pretty lacking, with most comparisons being more incremental or current generation comparisons. (Tested’s Projection youtube series is amazingly indepth and Norm has reviewed pretty much everything available for years) So I am going to start here:
Is it worth upgrading from a CV1 in 2022?
Yes. I was lucky enough to have a friend who recently bought a Quest 2 loan it to me while they where on holiday and from my brief time with it I already knew VR had made leaps and bounds since the CV2. The increased resolution and different sub-pixel layout make the screen door effect imperceivable relative to the CV1. This not only helps with visual fidelity and immersion, but for me VR sickness from long sessions is no longer a problem. Oculus has also done an incredible job with their inside out hand tracking - I can’t say for sure its better than base stations but its certainly very good for how convenient it is not having to adjust them and have them occupying desk space. With all this said I didn’t end up buying a Quest 2, but I was thoroughly convinced an upgrade was on the horizon. Given all this you are probably thinking:
Why not the Quest 2?
For me I am interested in a tethered VR headset. Oculus supports this for the Quest 2 via a optical fibre usb-c link with a pretty interesting render, encode and decode pipeline. This likely biases my review as I only used it in this mode and I believe from the user experience Oculus primarily see the Quest 2 as standalone with tethering as a nice option. To elaborate on that, when you first turn on the Quest 2, even when the link cable is connected, it boots into standalone mode. You then have to navigate to a menu to enable linking then accept the link on your computer. Not too intrusive really, but there are some other catches. The link cable isn’t always able to keep up with the power requirements of the headset. This means when connected to a computer playing an intensive game the headset is able to run out of battery and you cannot continue playing without recharging it. I also had an issue where every time I removed the headset it would get me to re-link and re-setup my floor height and guardian barriers. Apparently this doesn’t happen to two other people I know who use the Quest 2 in tethered mode so it might have something to do with my environment, either IRL and virtual. With this said the Quest 2 has one really big thing going for it, its cheap. Honestly, compared to all other options its significantly lower in price and it is very competitive tech. If you don’t know whether you like VR or want the flexibility of using it without being tethered the Quest 2 is the option for you. I guess all this begs the question:
What did you end up buying?
HP Reverb G2. I know what your thinking, HP make VR headsets? The answer is yes and in my opinion a pretty damn good one. Norm from Tested does a much better job going through all the nitty gritty and how it stacks us against the other flagship headsets. For me the main points where: Not significantly more expensive than the Quest 2, tether only, inside out tracking and huge resolution. When I opened the virtual desktop for the first time inside this headset I had a pdf open and was stunned that I could read it. That might sound a little strange for people who haven’t used VR before but I never felt like I could use the virtual desktop in the CV1; the clarity just wasn’t there. The main criticisms of the HP Reverb G2 are directed at the controllers, they just aren’t as nice as the Rift/Quest controllers I am used to and seem to use battery pretty fast. This is compounded a bit by the fact the near field tracking can be a little dicey. But look, they are serviceable and if you are using the headset for simulation racing your hands will be on your wheel, so the controllers become a desk ornament.