The Oculus Rift S is releasing soon and it definitely has some upgrades when compared to the older Rift. The Oculus Rift S is an improvement on the older Oculus Rift model and if you are
The Rift S has many similar features to the Rift as well but if you think that you need to get the new Rift S and ditch your older model then you might want to read this review before doing that.
I do agree that the Rift S is better and easier to use but when you narrow it down to the specs, most of the aspects are the same.
The old Rift users are going to get a software update as well which means the apps and games on their models work the same way as the new Rift S models.
So, what is the real difference between the two, let’s dive into that…
Table of Contents
Differences between the Oculus Rift and the Rift S
The comfort and fit of the headsets
The Rift S has a slightly different design in comparison to the Oculus Rift and if you look at the headband on the headset, you could clearly tell that.
The headband is pretty comfortable to wear in comparison to the older model and has a more even weight distribution of the headset on the face.
This way you can go on some really long gaming session without feeling tired or having that pain in your neck because of the weight of the headset.
The weight of the Rift S is slighlty more than the previous model but even weight distribution makes it feel lighter when you wear the headset.
The headset has internal cameras as well that is used for the inside out tracking making things much simpler.
The number of wires…
Yes, this is something that one has to consider while comparing the two headsets. The number of wires has drastically decreased as the Rift S comes with internal cameras on the headset.
This eliminates the need to set up cameras which then had to be connected to a USB port. Now you just have a display port and a single USB port connection making things a lot less messy.
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Before, you had to connect three cameras which in total made it to 5 wires that would be dragging alongside the rift. Now, it is reduced to two making it better than before.
Few other features that make the Oculus Rift S a little different…
The feature Passthough+ is something that I found interesting since it helps you to see your surroundings through the cameras which means you do not need to remove the headset every time you want to see what is happening in your surroundings.
Some of the other features that are worth mentioning are the upgrade in the lens resolution. Even though the resolution has increased you have to consider that it is an LCD display and not the OLED ones as in the rift.
This makes me feel like maybe the Rift was slightly better when it came to the display but considering the comfort and the reduced screen door effect in the new Rift S, I have to say otherwise.
The audio on the headset is not the over-ear headphones like the ones that came in the Rift, now you have a more Oculus Go kind of approach where you can choose to hear the audio from the integrated speakers or choose to plug in headphones in the 3.5mm audio jack.
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The refresh rate has gone down to 80 HZ from 90 Hz which might be something you should consider especially if you are thinking about an upgrade.
There is no physical way in which you can adjust the IPD on the new Rift S and it is all software based.
This was the talk when Facebook mentioned it and it would be interesting to see if it is really going to work especially for people that really need some major IPD adjustments to enjoy VR.
Content on the Rift S
The games and apps on the Rift S are going to be similar to that of the Oculus Rift. This means that the Rift S comes with hundreds of compatible titles and you can play a lot of amazing games as soon as you get the headset.
You can even go for the Vuveport subscription, basically, you can play all the games that one could play on the Oculus Rift, including the ones from SteamVR.
The only exceptions would be a few titles that were exclusively released for the PlayStation VR but apart from that, you can play most of the VR games including the VR adult games.
Should you trade your Oculus Rift for the Rift S?
Well, as long as you have no problems with your existing Rift, I do not see any strong reason to go for the changes. Although if you want to reduce the number of wires that you use with your Rift now, then you can go for it.
The controllers need AA batteries to run and this can be a problem for a few.
Apart from that, you get a pretty smooth VR experience and if you already have a PC with all the powerful specifications then you might want to consider getting one of these.
Either way, the Rift S does come with its own Pros and cons and the Pros being that you get 6 DoF along with an upgraded resolution, lesser wires to manage and a much more comfortable headset.
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The cons have to be the LCD screen in comparison to the OLED screens on the Rift, no inbuilt headphones and the refresh rate.
So, are you happy with this newer Rift version?
Honestly, I think it is pretty good and you would not be able to figure out the cons until you do some side by side comparisons.
Do enjoy this new Rift version and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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I preordered the Rift S, One of the things that attracted me to it was the amount of wires. My old model Rift had those exterior sensors and they were actually a real P-I-T-A, every time I wanted to use my Oculus I had to reprogram those sensors, I didn’t just have the Front 2 sensors I also had the Rear Sensor and that sensor was a hassle to calibrate, As for the Lens being LCD screen well it really isn’t that bad, The minute I put the Rift S headset on I noticed right off that the clarity of the picture was actually better and clearer then my old Rift set up. As for the eye spacing I did not have any issue with that part, maybe my eyes are the normal spacing and all but you can go into the settings when your inside your VR home and can set the spacing from there, I also liked that the headset did not have those Ear Phones mounted on it, Those things were very uncomfortable to wear and would make your ears hurt after awhile, but the Rift S has the speakers built into the head strap section which is in my opinion Great, The sound quality also sounded better then the Original Rift. The Oculus Rift S is a great buy and I think very much worth it. I almost preordered the new Quest headset also but changed my mind but it was on the hopes that maybe you would be able to run 2 oculus’s off the same computer which would be really cool to be able to do that, but I didn’t get it. One thing I would love to see though in the future is cross headset gameing and programs so you can play some of the games from the Quest on the Rift S, There are a couple of good games that I would love to play but they are not compatible with the Rift S. I am quite happy with my new RIFT S and I think everyone else will like it also.
I can agree with most of what you say in your review apart from the audio remarks, The Rift S built in speakers are a complete joke and a downgrade from the CV1 lacks bass and when the volume is turned up the distortion ruins the audio and sounds tinny overall.
I can agree with most of what you say in your review apart from the audio remarks, The Rift S built in speakers are a complete joke and a downgrade from the CV1 lacks bass and when the volume is turned up the distortion ruins the audio and sounds tinny overall.