Can't decide between Oculus Rift S and Oculus Quest

[King Mustard]

As you can see by the image above, each has its own good points!

Linus seemed to prefer the Rift S in January:

Which would be best to play the PC version of Beat Saber? (i.e. a game that needs a high response time)

 

[varkanoid]

Thats a bit of a stupid question when the Quest has its own version of Beat Saber. The obvious answer is the Rift S and the sensible answer is to play Beat Saber the Quest version as its said and read to be the better version.

Good luck getting a Quest for £400 at the moment.

 

[ST_Craig]

As a owner of a Rift S, I would say get the Rift S (if you can find one) for PC games, or the Quest if you want un-tethered mobile-type games.
The problem the Quest has for PC games is that it uses compression, so a little bit more overhead for your PC, and a wee-bit of latency. On my mate's son's Quest, I could see compression artifacts in dark areas, as well as complex scenes involving smoke or fog effects - the compression seemed to have a few problems dealing with smoke and fog. Also, tethered via USB on a Quest it's limited to 6Gb a second bandwidth, on a Rift S it's as fast as your display port can handle - so 36Gb approx.
Quest is also heavier due to the added batteries in the headset, as well as having to charge it every 3-4 hours.
So.
Quest Pros - Un-tethered for native games, can play PC games with USB link cable, great controllers. Cons:- Tethered uses compression, some latency, and a heavier headset.
Rift S Pros - Best for PC VR games, great specs, superb screen - very little screen door effect, if any, great controllers (same as Quest), more comfy to wear due to lighter headset. Cons:- Tethered to PC, fairly low FOV and refresh rate 80Hz - although this hasn't bothered me.
Major cons for both IF you don't do social media :- Oculus is owned by Facebook, and Facebook are starting to get their fingers into the software for these headsets. For example, to now use "Home" features of both headsets REQUIRES a Facebook account. This bothers some, including myself as I don't use social media. So if you don't mind having a sort of Facebook spying device in your home then both headsets are great.

 

[King Mustard]

As a owner of a Rift S, I would say get the Rift S (if you can find one) for PC games, or the Quest if you want un-tethered mobile-type games.
The problem the Quest has for PC games is that it uses compression, so a little bit more overhead for your PC, and a wee-bit of latency. On my mate's son's Quest, I could see compression artifacts in dark areas, as well as complex scenes involving smoke or fog effects - the compression seemed to have a few problems dealing with smoke and fog. Also, tethered via USB on a Quest it's limited to 6Gb a second bandwidth, on a Rift S it's as fast as your display port can handle - so 36Gb approx.
Quest is also heavier due to the added batteries in the headset, as well as having to charge it every 3-4 hours.
So.
Quest Pros - Un-tethered for native games, can play PC games with USB link cable, great controllers. Cons:- Tethered uses compression, some latency, and a heavier headset.
Rift S Pros - Best for PC VR games, great specs, superb screen - very little screen door effect, if any, great controllers (same as Quest), more comfy to wear due to lighter headset. Cons:- Tethered to PC, fairly low FOV and refresh rate 80Hz - although this hasn't bothered me.
Major cons for both IF you don't do social media :- Oculus is owned by Facebook, and Facebook are starting to get their fingers into the software for these headsets. For example, to now use "Home" features of both headsets REQUIRES a Facebook account. This bothers some, including myself as I don't use social media. So if you don't mind having a sort of Facebook spying device in your home then both headsets are great.

Sounds like the Rift S is the way to go. Plus, I wouldn't have to buy the £80 fibre cable for the Quest

Thank you!

 

[silvagti]

Sounds like the Rift S is the way to go. Plus, I wouldn't have to buy the £80 fibre cable for the Quest

Thank you!

You don't need official oculus cable to connect your Quest to a PC though it is lighter and thinner. A regular ~£10 3m USB-C one will work fine. Also, if you want to connect the Quest to a PC and have a decent Wi-Fi router/signal you can also get apps which can do this wirelessly which may be convenient if you have your PC upstairs in a small room but have a larger play space downstairs for example.

A lot of the standalone games/apps on the Quest work remarkably well and being able to play literally anywhere is a serious plus point IMO. I also feel that the mobile Quest is where Facebook/Oculus are putting most of their development resources into at the moment whereas I do feel that the Rift S isn't been given quite as much attention.

if your priority is games like beat saber I'd say buy the Quest as the version of it has some 360 degree levels you don't get on PC and is the superior version of the game IMO. Personally, I prefer the Quest because of the flexibility if offers being able to connect it to a PC or use it standalone.

Both are good products though and I'd buy a Quest/Rift over any other PC headset on the market right now given what they offer in terms of price/performance.

 

[ST_Craig]

Thing is, if you have a gaming PC there is little reason to get a Quest, since to play PC games on a Quest you have to tether it - so why not just get the better (for PC) Rift S ?
Quest is great IF you prefer un-tethered VR, but while Beat Sabre maybe the Quest's goto game, Half-Life Alyx is going to be the Rift S' goto game.

 

[Bearjamin]

Thing is, if you have a gaming PC there is little reason to get a Quest, since to play PC games on a Quest you have to tether it - so why not just get the better (for PC) Rift S ?
Quest is great IF you prefer un-tethered VR, but while Beat Sabre maybe the Quest's goto game, Half-Life Alyx is going to be the Rift S' goto game.

I have a decent gaming pc and I would say it's been more reason to get a quest because it can handle steaming wirelessly to the quest with ease. My pc is in the living room wired to 5GHz WiFi router and using virtual desktop I get about 25-30ms of latency which I don't even notice even playing fast paced action like Robo Recall. Being able to move in roomscale around the room and not tangle up in wires cannot be underestimated! I've tried playing with the official link cable and wireless virtual desktop, and I don't see myself going back to wired.

I can't say I've seen the compression artifacts you mentioned and the OLED screens on the quest give fantastic deep colour accuracy. There are several aftermarket comfort options too like padding and counterweights.

The most amazing thing about the quest to me is I can fit it in a case that only takes up half the space of my backpack, and I can take it anywhere. I took it to work and blew people's minds on lunch break playing Richie's Plank Experience or First Contact etc.

For me there's no point in getting a Rift S when the Quest can do it all! Can't wait to play HL:Alyx with no tether.

 

[2004typer]

I can't say I've seen the compression artifacts you mentioned and the OLED screens on the quest give fantastic deep colour accuracy. There are several aftermarket comfort options too like padding and counterweights.

As above - the OLED screen in the Quest is much better for black levels as well - I had an S and returned it to exchange for a Quest because of this - I like space games and the S totally ruined the immersion. Thus I'd advise considering the type of games you play should be taken into account as part of the decision.

Plus - Oculus Link works really well too, I have a 5m active extender with a 3m Amazon cable plugged into this - so probably about 20 quids worth.

 

[ST_Craig]

I regularly play Elite Dangerous on my Rift S, and I see zero problem with black levels. The Rift S has been designed from the ground up for PC VR gaming, the Quest hasn't.
The OP asked "Which would be best to play the PC version of Beat Sabre", and the answer is the Rift S. Or, if you have the money, Valve Index - which is THE best VR headset out there, bar none.

 

[varkanoid]

The above is true which is why I thought the original OP question lacked logic as the obvious answer was in the question.
Remove "PC" and the playing field is more balanced to individual preference.

 

[jimjamuk]

Picked up a Quest - ordered on the 28th Feb and it came 5 days later - this was direct from Oculus. So far all the games have been great and to be honest if I had got the Rift then my PC is upstairs and I can already tell that if I had the Rift I wouldnt have used it as mush as I would need to be connected. My kids just pick it up and play where ever they are. Just need to get a cover for the faceplate now as it does get "sweaty" when in constant use. So far best purchse I've made for a few years and cant see us putting it down in te near future