I’ve always liked Meta’s Quest 2 headset. It was a big step up from the original Quest headset. The Quest 2 was released for $300 and, at the time, there really wasn’t much competition for it. Recently, the Quest 2 price has increased by a $100, making the two versions $400 and $500 at retail. It definitely is an odd move by Meta and it isn’t a good look either. Even with the price increase, I still believe it’s hard to beat the Quest 2, but maybe try to buy it used.

The headset has been out for years and it feels like we are on the cusp of a wave of new headsets about to be launched. Meta has teased it’s new Cambria headset for a while and there are many exciting standalone headsets becoming available. Standalone headsets are the type of hardware that seems to excite me the most. The problem with them are, they tend to be very expensive. The Simula starts at $2700 and Meta’s Cambria headset is rumored to start at a price point close to a $1000. The Quest 2 is still a very dependable piece of hardware that can do a lot. I still believe $400 for it is a good price, though there may be better alternatives.

The Quest 2 is great, but even with all its pros, it doesn’t come close to my PCVR experience. If you have a capable gaming PC, I recommend you purchase a PCVR headset. I have many headsets and I always choose PCVR over my Quest 2. Most PCVR headsets start at around $1000, such as the HTC Vive Pro or the Valve Index, but you can get an older headset for cheap. The old HTC Vive is a dependable headset and you can buy one used for cheaper than the Quest 2. If PCVR is an option for you, I recommend it over buying a Quest.