Oculus Rift S vs Oculus Quest is going to be an interesting comparison post as both the headsets are new releases and they have been released on the same day.
When the Quest came out, I was wondering if it is any different from the Rift S and if it even makes sense now to get hte Rift S!
This post is going to help people who have a similar question and if you are wondering how different are these two headsets from each then keep on reading.
Well, there are several features that make the two releases different from each other but what really makes one of them stand out is the fact that the Oculus Quest is a standalone headset and the Rift S is a PC VR headset.
So, which one is better than the other let’s dive right into the review…
Table of Contents
Design and Display
The design of the Rift S and the Oculus Quest have a pretty similar design with few differences so let go through all of them one by one.
The Rift S has a different headband in comparison to the previous Rift. The new Rift S comes with a Halo style headband that distributes the weight of the headset evenly while you are wearing it.
The Oculus Quest, on the other hand, has a three-way head strap which is similar to the older Rift although the straps are more premium to look and feel giving an even weight distribution.
The Rift S and Oculus Quest both weigh more than the Rift which was about 470 grams.
But even though the headsets weigh more, the weight distribution of the headsets is pretty good as you do not feel strained or stressed out with long hours of gaming.
Moving on to hte resolution on these headsets, the Oculus Quest has a resolution of 1,280 by 1,440 per eye and the Oculus Rift S has a resolution of 1,440 by 1,600 pixels per eye.
The Oculus Quest is actually better in this aspect in comparison to the Rift. The headsets also come with focal adjusters so that you can adjust the distance between the two lenses and get a clear image in VR.
The light leakage is really less in the Oculus Quest and I found it a bit better than the Rift S as well which was a major advantage.
I think I have a soft spot for the Oculus Quest because being a standalone headset it outperforms PC VR headsets in many aspects.
You have the Passthrough+ feature on both the headsets which means that you can look into the real world through the cameras on the headset and you do not need to remove the headset all the time for this.
Tracking and controllers
The Oculus Quest and Rift S both have external sensors on the headset that enable inside out tracking unlike the case with the Rift or the Vive where you had to mount sensors externally in order to get a room scale gameplay.
Both the headsets have similar touch controllers that are really comfortable to use and fit in your hand like gloves. The controllers make the VR gameplay so immersive.
The controllers run on AA batteries making them wireless as well. So you need no wire to connect the controllers to the headset giving you a lot of movement and freedom.
The headsets have 6 DoF which means you can tilt your head, rotate, move around in the room and everything would be tracked by the headset and replicated in the VR game.
Both the headsets have amazing tracking in comparison to their predecessors which were Oculus Go and the Oculus Rift respectively.
Refresh Rate
The refresh rate on the Oculus Rift was 90 Hz, however, with the new Rift S the refresh rate has been dropped to 72 Hz which is lower but they wanted to keep a similar platform for VR games on both the headsets.
This makes them pretty similar as you are going to find very similar games on the headsets. The refresh rate should not be an issue for anyone as you really cannot tell the difference since it has been lowered from the Original Rift.
Portability of the headsets and Battery Life
Now, here comes the major difference between the two headsets. The Rift S is a tethered headset which pretty much makes it not that portable.
You need to have a PC or laptop with a minimum of GTX 1060 graphics card in order to run a headset like the Rift S. Also make sure that your laptop has a display port and a USB port and you are good to go.
Just check the PC requirements before making this investment as having the right PC with the minimum specs is crucial for the working of the Oculus Rift S.
On the other hand, the Oculus Quest is a standalone headset meaning you do not require to connect with a PC or anything. It has a microprocessor and inbuilt memory so you can access or browse VR games within the headset.
The battery life on this headset is going to last you about 2-3 hours which is pretty decent considering how new they are. There might be some improvements in the next 5-10 years when it comes to battery life but I think for now this is good as well.
You cannot use a headset for more than an hour straight. Considering this, the battery life of 2-3 hours on the headset is in your favor when you look at it from a health aspect.
Games on the headsets
The gaming library on the Oculus Quest is pretty similar to that on the Oculus Rift S and most of the games that you found on the rift would be playable on the Quest as well.
There can be a few selective games that might not be playable on the Quest because they might need a powerful PC but otherwise, Oculus is going to keep the platform open for the headsets.
The old Oculus Rift users would get a software update, soon after you would be able to play the new Rift S games on your Oculus Rift as well.
So there is no compulsion to upgrade to the Rift S for Oculus Rift users and considering the gaming library of the two headsets, it is pretty much the same.
Conclusion
So both the headsets are pretty good, the features on the Oculus Go and the Oculus Quest are way improved that the headsets that we already had in the market.
When I have to choose one, I would always go with the Oculus Quest. The reason being it is a standalone headset with amazing resolution, great specs, and a comfortable fit.
You get almost everything with the Oculus Quest that you usually would with the Oculus Rift S with the exception that you do not need to invest in a PC or laptop with beefy specifications.
However, it is upto you if you want to invest in the Rift S. If you have a PC that meets the requirements and you want to have a really immersive experience for a few extra games and features then you might go with the RiftS.
You do not have the battery issue or the limited storage issue with the Rift S and that is something you might want to consider.
So do let us know which one do you like in the comments below!
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