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Preorders for the Oculus Quest are open!

The Oculus Quest is a standalone headset that opens up new possibilities for untethered VR.

The Oculus Quest comes from the makers of the Oculus Rift, one of the world's most popular VR headsets. It shares many design cues with its PC-tethered sibling and supports many of the same titles. The Oculus Quest also takes some notes from the Oculus Go, Facebook's more portable VR headset. The result is a portable VR headset capable of playing games and media without requiring a PC.

Immerse yourself

Oculus Quest

$399 at Amazon

Place your order for an Oculus Quest, the latest VR headset from Oculus. It's the most powerful standalone headset Oculus has made and has an impressive library of games already.

What is Oculus Quest?

Revealed at Oculus Connect 5 in San Jose, the Oculus Quest is an untethered VR headset that doesn't require a PC or any external hardware to run. It features six degrees of freedom (6DoF) meaning it can track your movements up, down, left, right, forward, and backward. It doesn't require any external sensors like the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. Instead, it has sensors built into the headset. It also supports two updated Touch controllers, meaning it can be used to play popular gaming titles that require two hands such as Beat Saber.

The Oculus Quest is available for preorder now and will be released on May 21, 2019. There are 64GB and 128GB variants of the headset. The 128GB version of the Oculus Quest is listed at $499.99. The 64GB version of the Oculus Quest is listed at $399.99.

Spatial tracking from within the headset means you can move around an enormous room-scale setup — Oculus Connect 5 had an arena-sized play area — just like you can now in Rift, Vive, or Windows Mixed Reality. A camera in each corner of the headset (total of four) track space and motion controllers from the inside out. The Quest uses the same optics as the Go for a display resolution of 1,600 x 1,400 for each eye, but here you'll be able to make lens-spacing adjustments on the fly. Also, like the Go, Quest has a built-in audio system that delivers 3D sound without the need for bulky headphones. A headset jack is included if you'd like to use separate hardware, and charging is handled with a USB-C port.

All the necessary hardware — including the processor, RAM, storage, and rechargeable battery — is worn on your head. As for an operating system, Quest runs on the Oculus OS, a variation of Android.

What does Oculus Quest look like?

The Oculus Quest looks a lot like the Rift. It's black, has a similar head strap (albeit with audio now built into the headband), and has a more rounded front with what looks like a bit more space for the internal hardware. A camera in each of the four corners of the front of the HMD makes up Oculus Insight, the new inside-out tracking system that removes the need for external sensors.

How does Oculus Quest tracking work?

Oculus Insight, the new tracking technology from Oculus, is capable of scanning all items in your VR space, including floors, ceilings, walls, rugs, art, windows, and curtains, for a true representation of your place in the real world. It looks for edges and corners and other distinct features, then builds a 3D map of the playspace and combines that data with data from the gyroscope and accelerometer to give the headset's position once every millisecond.

The Guardian system is still here to keep you from bumping into walls and furniture, and you'll now be able to save multiple rooms for quick setup. For example, you'll be able to save your standard VR play space, and you'll also be able to save your friend's living room for when you visit with the Quest and want a quick setup.

Since there are no external sensors, the play space for Quest is potentially enormous, though features such as Arena-Scale tracking will come in future updates.

How do Oculus Quest controllers work?

Along with a new headset, Quest is bringing new Touch motion controllers that are also tracked by sensors in the headset. Much like current Touch controllers, the new Quest controllers have a ring covered in IR lights that are tracked. Here, instead of facing down like on current Touch, the rings face up, making them more visible to the cameras in the headset.

There's less curve to these controllers, making them a bit easier to hold onto, and buttons have been repositioned. The same input and hand presence apply here, and new Touch controllers will be compatible with the older Oculus Rift.

What type of experience does Oculus Quest offer?

Even though the Oculus Quest is not connected to a PC, it can still run many games that developers can port over from the Oculus Rift. Oculus Quest ports of Rift games can be both impressive and immersive, though discerning eyes will be able to tell the difference between the same game being played on the Oculus Rift and Oculus Quest.

When will Oculus Quest release?

The Oculus Quest became open to preorders on April 30, 2019, and will be released on May 21, 2019.

How much will Oculus Quest cost?

The Oculus Quest comes in two storage variants. The 64GB version of the Oculus Quest costs $399.99 and the 128GB version costs $499.99

Immerse yourself

Oculus Quest

$399 at Amazon

Place your order for an Oculus Quest, the latest VR headset from Oculus. It's the most powerful standalone headset Oculus has made and has an impressive library of games already.

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Updated April 30, 2019: This article has been updated with the Oculus Quest's preorder and pricing information, along with other released information.


by Sean Endicott