Oculus Quest 2 v HP Reverb G2?

One thing about the G2 that is not as good as the Quest 2 is the controllers.

The G2's controllers eat batteries, and there's no capacitive touch. That means a lot of social gestures don't work - you can't do a proper thumbs up, fist bump, point or do other hand gestures like you can on the Touch controllers. This isn't an issue for sims, but it matters for social VR.

Also the Quest 2 touch controllers are a cross between the original CV1 controllers (my favourite VR controllers) and the Quest touch controllers. They look more robust, have insane battery life with a single AA (four times longer than the Quest), better haptics, and an extra capacitive thumb rest sensor (like the original CV1 controllers).
 
Ravenger said:
One thing about the G2 that is not as good as the Quest 2 is the controllers.

The G2's controllers eat batteries, and there's no capacitive touch. That means a lot of social gestures don't work - you can't do a proper thumbs up, fist bump, point or do other hand gestures like you can on the Touch controllers. This isn't an issue for sims, but it matters for social VR.

Also the Quest 2 touch controllers are a cross between the original CV1 controllers (my favourite VR controllers) and the Quest touch controllers. They look more robust, have insane battery life with a single AA (four times longer than the Quest), better haptics, and an extra capacitive thumb rest sensor (like the original CV1 controllers).
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G2 if you have £££ can be upgraded to Index controllers.

Keep an eye out for some cheap second hand base station 1.0s on ebay.. could be a sick move.
 
I was tempted, but after reading how poor quality the link cable is on PC with the quest 1 I would want to see in depth reviews of using the Quest2 via Link on PC before actually buying and have a G2 on order as well anyway. Link is supposed to be getting upgraded for the Q2 but testers are saying as of now its exactly the same - only 72hz and poor quality.
 
I have an Oculus Quest 1 now and I've just ordered OQ2.
I use it every day for fitness in the morning and for gaming in the evening.
I could never come back to a tethered headset even if with a better resolution.
I play on pc with Virtual Desktop.
Behind Quest there is facebook; behind Hp Reverb there is nothing.
I think that OQ2 beats HP Reverb in everything.
 
andybird123 said:
I was tempted, but after reading how poor quality the link cable is on PC with the quest 1 I would want to see in depth reviews of using the Quest2 via Link on PC before actually buying and have a G2 on order as well anyway. Link is supposed to be getting upgraded for the Q2 but testers are saying as of now its exactly the same - only 72hz and poor quality.
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I believe the 90hz update was mentioned to be coming at the end of this year or early next year.
 
andybird123 said:
I was tempted, but after reading how poor quality the link cable is on PC with the quest 1 I would want to see in depth reviews of using the Quest2 via Link on PC before actually buying and have a G2 on order as well anyway. Link is supposed to be getting upgraded for the Q2 but testers are saying as of now its exactly the same - only 72hz and poor quality.
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The link picture quality is perfectly acceptable. It's way better than the first gen VR devices, and it will continue to improve.
 
Zeeflyboy said:
So as someone who just recently sold their quest, is considering a Quest 2 (here on referred to as Q2) and also has a G2 on pre-order these are my thoughts. Obviously bear in mind that neither has released so pinch of salt required... this is all based on other peoples opinions in previews except where I mention personal experience. It will start with the positives of the G2 over the Q2 and then move on to the reverse so don't think I'm being overly negative on one over the other:

In favour of G2:

- 2160x2160 vs 1832x1920 is actually 30% more total pixels, so not insignificant. There is also more to the visual experience than pure resolution - you have pixel fill, colour reproduction, brightness, contrast, unwanted effects such as mura or chromatic aberration from the lenses etc... We need to have more direct comparisons of the screens and lenses than just looking at resolution alone. Given the cost targets I would guess G2 to be using higher quality displays and lesnes but that's pure conjecture at this point and money is no guarantee of quality at the end of the day! We also don't know how much facebook is eating on each one sold.

- The Q2 from typical reviews has much the same audio quality as Quest 1... in my opinion it was generally usable and convenient but utter trash compared to my experience with the CV1. The G2 has the same drivers as the index that are better even than the CV1 so the built in audio solutions are incomparable. Mods or separate headphones will be required to get up to the G2 level.

- The Q2 from typical reviews is not particularly comfortable with the standard strap. Once you add the Elite strap which most reviews seem to say is a must have, then the comfort seems to exceed the original Quest, but still from the impressions I've seen feel comparatively unbalanced and less comfortable than a typical PCVR headset such as Rift/RiftS/Index/G2 etc. They have shaved 10% off the weight of the original quest but ultimately they have to pack a lot more in than a non-standalone, so all that weight is concentrated in the front just like with the original Quest. Even with the significantly beefier head strap and off ear monitors the G2 is lighter and with a better weight distribution.

- The G2 seems to have slightly higher FoV but I doubt it will be noticeable so call that a wash. It does however have more adjustable IPD along with a 2 screen design that will make the full FoV usable for more people, and more comfortable for more people - I've seen eg Tyriel mentioning that even though he was within the total IPD range, because he fell in between two of the three IPD settings that he felt a bit of discomfort after extended use and had more chromatic aberration than he would have were he able to set his actual IPD. Individual sensitivity may vary and of course you may be lucky and fall exactly on one of the three fixed settings or close enough not to matter.

- To use the Q2 as a PCVR headset you need to either use Link, or a Wifi streamer such as Virtual desktop which will require sideloading. There is quite noticeable compression on both, but do note the Q2 has the capability to handle much more bandwidth than the Q1 so I would expect this to improve in time... some of that bandwidth will be used in going from 72hz to 90hz, but the rest can be spent on improving image quality. There is also a little introduced latency on both, more so over the wifi options (about 30ms in my experience with a dedicated router connected to the host via ethernet. How it will compare to native such as the G2 remains to be seen, but one thing for sure is it won't end up better than a native uncompressed stream. Normal USB 3.X cables are also quite heavy, thick and stiff while the G2 has apparently put a lot of work into making its 5m cable thin, flexible and lightweight. The official link cable certainly addresses this point, but at a significant cost.

- No battery to run out

- No need for a facebook account. To some this is a significant factor, for others it's not a factor at all - make your own choice!



In favour of Q2:

- While it comes at the cost of some some compression and extra latency, I can tell you that for 99% of my PCVR gaming I used the Quest with WiFi rather than plug it in... The freedom of not having a wire out the back of your head cannot be overstated, even seated it is better, especially if playing something that involves a lot of looking around like dogfighting in IL2 or DCS! If you've never used a wireless VR headset before you won't know what you are missing, so it won't be as big of a deal but man it's hard to go backwards. Note that this is NOT currently a native quest function but instead requires sideloading a version of Virtual desktop or ALVR for example, and could technically be cut off by Oculus if they removed the ability to sideload or forced the virtual desktop dev to remove it once they bring the sideloading in house as they are planning. I imagine there would be uproar and I don't expect it to happen but it's worth mentioning. Carmack allegedly has his own Air-link Using WiFi but politics mean oculus aren’t currently releasing it due to user experience concerns... it may or may not ever see the light of day.

- Oculus software is in my opinion ahead of the curve... ASW and ATW are the best in the industry, passthrough+ is very cool and the guardian setup etc is brilliant. The Quest can do native hand tracking, and do it pretty well. At the moment it's not a huge deal for me but I would imagine it won't be long before some sim games allow you to start using both real physical controls and then just your hands to interact with cockpits etc - that would be pretty game changing. I'm sure you'll see an addon for the G2 but ultimately it will probably come at extra cost unless MS release it built into the WMR stack.

- Oculus insight tracking is basically the gold standard in camera based inside out tracking. The G2 looks to improve on this substantially and WMR tracking is actually supposed to be very good, but I'm sure if you really push it to the extremes then the Quest will end up victorious. The battery life on the Q2 controllers is insane too if you care about that.

- There are some good oculus exclusive VR games currently. You should be able to play these through revive on a G2 but you are adding yet another layer of abstraction inducing performance overheads and occasional bugs/compatibility issues... some games going forward could conceivably be Quest exclusive given Oculus now have no dedicated PCVR headset in production. If this does occur and they are only found in the mobile store there will be no way to play these on the G2.

- The ability to play standalone is pretty cool. I'm primarily a PCVR sim racer/flier, but the ability to just use the quest anywhere was definitely a plus point for the other types of games - things like beatsaber, pistol whipped etc were great to just be able to use in the living room with lots of space. Exercise in VR is definitely more fun without the wire or need to be in the same room as a PC.

- Price. Clearly the Q2, even if you say everyone needs the elite strap, is a blinking bargain!


So overall I would say it really depends what you do. Both have some pretty clear advantages in my opinon... The best headset for Sim gaming and seated VR? Without a doubt it'll be the G2 even with the wire. Best general purpose headset? Has to be the Quest 2 in my opinion just due to how flexible it is and the value for money.

I think in a perfect world the answer is get both. If that isn't an option then you need to think about where your priorities lie - what do you spend most of your VR time doing? Would you benefit most from having the absolute best highest quality visual and audio experience with comfort for long gaming sessions, or would you prefer to trade some of that for features, flexibility and cost savings? Is the Facebook data mining and account blocking policy a deal breaker or not?
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Wow! Thanks Zeeflyboy. That was a lengthy explanation. A lot more understanding, thanks to you. I will probably go for the Reverb G2, but not as quickly as I would have bought the Quest 2, because of the price. Seeing that I am about to get MS Flightsim 2020, the G2 is a much better option. However, not with my present system Intel i7-6700K and GTX980Ti, but after upgrading. I have used Areofly FS2 with my Oculus Rift CV1, and I think that is just like sitting in a aircraft cockpit. I thought that was fantastic, so just imagine the Reverb G2 with FS2020! The only reason I have some money to spend was a cancelled vacation to the USA, and to Spain, plus many other cancelled events due to CV-19. All adds up to about £3000 plus spending money saved from all the cancelled events. Thanks again
 
aoaaron said:
It’s acceptable.

but compared to the g2 with the best fidelity of visuals we’ve seen in Vr?
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Yes, no comparison with G2, but it's not objectively bad - much better than the CV1 and Vive, and closer to the Rift S, plus it will be improved. It already has improved massively over the first few iterations.

The main thing is if you have an existing Oculus library and particually if you own exclusives like Lone Echo, Stormlands and Asgards Wrath then these will work far more reliably and with better performance on Link than when using Revive on the G2 or Index. Obviously the image quality won't be as sharp but the gameplay experience will be better and the controls will be mapped 100% properly as they're designed for the Touch controllers. Also Quest link uses Oculus Asynchronous Time-Warp frame-rate interpolation when needed and that is far, far, better than the Steam VR equivalent. (Not sure about the WMV version though).

It'll be interesting to try the Q2 wirelessly using virtual desktop for racing sims, as I think that will be a very good experience, one that I will try as it'll make getting in and out of my Playseat Challenge folding racing seat a lot easier. Though obviously it'll be better once 90hz and full resolution support is enabled. However I know my Index will be sharper and the larger FOV and edge clarity may make it objectively better.

If you want a headset just for PC pims I'd say go for the g2 because it doesn't have the compression overhead over link of the Q2, resulting in better performance and image quality, also it's got far better audio and potentially is more comfortable.

As an all-round headset the Q2 can't really be beaten (except of course for that annoying Facebook login requirement).
 
Ravenger said:
Yes, no comparison with G2, but it's not objectively bad - much better than the CV1 and Vive, and closer to the Rift S, plus it will be improved. It already has improved massively over the first few iterations.

The main thing is if you have an existing Oculus library and particually if you own exclusives like Lone Echo, Stormlands and Asgards Wrath then these will work far more reliably and with better performance on Link than when using Revive on the G2 or Index. Obviously the image quality won't be as sharp but the gameplay experience will be better and the controls will be mapped 100% properly as they're designed for the Touch controllers. Also Quest link uses Oculus Asynchronous Time-Warp frame-rate interpolation when needed and that is far, far, better than the Steam VR equivalent. (Not sure about the WMV version though).

It'll be interesting to try the Q2 wirelessly using virtual desktop for racing sims, as I think that will be a very good experience, one that I will try as it'll make getting in and out of my Playseat Challenge folding racing seat a lot easier. Though obviously it'll be better once 90hz and full resolution support is enabled. However I know my Index will be sharper and the larger FOV and edge clarity may make it objectively better.

If you want a headset just for PC pims I'd say go for the g2 because it doesn't have the compression overhead over link of the Q2, resulting in better performance and image quality, also it's got far better audio and potentially is more comfortable.

As an all-round headset the Q2 can't really be beaten (except of course for that annoying Facebook login requirement).
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I find Asgard's Wrath and Lone Echo work fantastic via Revive on my Index and better than when I used my Quest. Quest had a lot of artifacts and really bad scaling issues. Liv in Lone Echo looked like a child when I used the Link.. well i exaggerate but she looked like a midget.

ASW 2.0 I found excellent when I used a CV1 and Rift S. I didn't have the same experience with the

I think you've painting the headset in a much brighter light than what it is. For a PCVR headset, taking into account visual fidelity, audio fidelity, latency, compression artifacts; its simply not very good.

As a deal, yes its great £299 for a Q2 which can do great stanadlone portable VR and entry-level bottom of the barrel PCVR is good. However I still think the best VR deal was the CV1 when it was bundled with tonnes of games for £399. Best audio quality in VR, best controllers at the time, great tracking, great panel, best lenses.

Maybe I'm being a bit too pessimistic about the device. I'll buy one most likely just because its a neat piece of tech to play with.

But part of me thinks for £299, I might as well save a bit for the G2 headset and then sell my Index headset for an upgrade in visuals.
 
aoaaron said:
But part of me thinks for £299, I might as well save a bit for the G2 headset and then sell my Index headset for an upgrade in visuals.
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I think you'll miss the finger tracking of the Index and Oculus headsets on the G2, as the G2 doesn't have capacitive touch. For me the finger tracking via capacitive touch is one of the most immersive features of those systems. I remember being totally amazed when I fired up my CV1 and I had hands in VR that approximated my actual finger positions, and which interacted in a realistic way when manipulating objects, and the Index takes that to the next level.
 
Ravenger said:
I think you'll miss the finger tracking of the Index and Oculus headsets on the G2, as the G2 doesn't have capacitive touch. For me the finger tracking via capacitive touch is one of the most immersive features of those systems. I remember being totally amazed when I fired up my CV1 and I had hands in VR that approximated my actual finger positions, and which interacted in a realistic way when manipulating objects, and the Index takes that to the next level.
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I already have a Vive, so have base stations, I'm half planning on getting index controllers to go with my G2


Zeeflyboy said:
I believe the 90hz update was mentioned to be coming at the end of this year or early next year.
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Yes true, but even at 90hz we don't know what the quality will be like, I'll wait for actual reviews


Ravenger said:
The link picture quality is perfectly acceptable. It's way better than the first gen VR devices, and it will continue to improve.
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its "acceptable" on the Quest 1, but the quest 2 is already higher resolution and they don't even have 90hz working yet, still only 72hz, that definitely wouldn't be acceptable to me right now


so basically, we have a Vive with a 10m cable that we can use either in the games room for seated/standing games, or in the living room more space for stuff like beat saber/pistol whip, I've already ordered a G2 which will only be used in the games room, but the quest is also attractive to not have to get the extension cables out all the time, me and my son also want to play Squadrons together so will be wanting 2 headsets, so a quest 2 if they have the link cable working well would make a nice Christmas present, but its not quite compelling enough at this point to replace the G2 for me

but, if I'd never owned a VR headset before, at £299 these are going to sell like hot cakes
 
andybird123 said:
its "acceptable" on the Quest 1, but the quest 2 is already higher resolution and they don't even have 90hz working yet, still only 72hz, that definitely wouldn't be acceptable to me right now
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Even at 72 Hz if they upped the bandwidth to what the Quest 2 should be able to handle with its better chip and higher resolution, that should be (I hope) a big visual quality increase over link?
 
Ravenger said:
I think you'll miss the finger tracking of the Index and Oculus headsets on the G2, as the G2 doesn't have capacitive touch. For me the finger tracking via capacitive touch is one of the most immersive features of those systems. I remember being totally amazed when I fired up my CV1 and I had hands in VR that approximated my actual finger positions, and which interacted in a realistic way when manipulating objects, and the Index takes that to the next level.
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This feels like dejavu so not sure if I answered this post but process it. Yes, the G2 weakness is lack of capacitive touch. Can always upgrade to Index controllers later and find some cheap base station 1.0s on ebay but I agree.

However the compromises on the Quest 2 are:
1. Far worse visual fidelity
2. Compression based artifacts so very poor dark scene performance (lots of macroblocking on the colour black)
3. Not native PCVR
4. Far far far inferior audio experience
5. Far worse latency (compared to basically no latency)
6. Image scaling issues game to game (this is my experience with Oculus Link specifically in Lone Echo)
7. No proper physical IPD but instead a 'work around' - with an IPD slider you get the pinpoint sharpness for your eyes, on the Quest2 its a compromise
8. Inferior comfort with a front heavy headset which simply won't be good for long play sessions and will require modding and more money
9. Speculating but I've found Oculus LCD panels to be far far far inferior colour wise to the competition. My Index looks far better than my Rift S, and the G2's colours look better than the Index.
10. 90hz refresh rate not supporting out of the box
11. I've found ASW/ATW all very finicky on the Q1 with Link. Not sure how much they've fixed or addressed this given there are already compromises going over USB.

etc.

In my experience 3 things matter the most for the BEST (not compromises) VR expeirence:
1. Visual fidelity (resolution, fov, lack of artifacts, colours, contrast, black level, IPD for precise sharpness and alignment )
2. Audio fidelity (audio, microphone)
3. Immersion (refresh rate, latency)

In those 3 areas, the Quest fails.

The quest excels at:
1. Convienance
2. Value
3. Portability
4. Cable weight

which I think are all lower on the priority list if you want the highest fidelity best experience.


I think if you want to play Superhot, Pistol Whip, Thrill of the fight... and casual fun VR experiences, the Q2 is amazing for the price.
If you want to play Project Cars 2, Asseto Corsa, Skyrim VR, Fallout VR, Asgards Wrath, Stormland (I've found for Oculus titles revive is amazing), Lone Echo.. then the G2 is a no brainer with its shockingly good visual quality.

SteamVR and Revive have bridged the gap that IMO once existed between Oculus and Steam for gaming outside of ASW.. which in my experience in the games I need it for (Skyrim) on Oculus headsets caused some weird peripheral artifacts.
 
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I think tracking should be on that list - that's one of the biggest factors in choosing a VR headset. People go for the Index because it has the most robust and accurate tracking system. The Oculus Insight inside out tracking system is way better than any other inside out tracking system currently, and is continually being improved, but it's coverage isn't as good as the Index.

Immersion also depends on how good the controllers are and the Quest beats the G2 as the Touch controllers with the capacitive touch are arguably the best all-round controllers for ergonomics and comfort. (Index controllers are technologically more advanced and capable, but the controls layout isn't as ergonomic).

You also have to look at software Ecosystems. The Oculus ecosystem is (apart from the Facebook schenanigans) a much more polished and friendly experience than Steam VR or WMR.

But objectively the G2 is THE headset to go for if you're primarily playing PC VR sims, no question. For PC VR overall the Index is the best all-rounder, especially if you want that hand presence. But Quest 2 is really the only budget option which has enough features and capabilities to make it worth considering, especially now the Rift S is discontinued.
 
At this stage we don't know how close Q2 will get to G2, but I don't think anyone is disagreeing that the G2 would be visually the best we can get right now.

However Q2 is now the 2nd best headset in terms of display resolution, better than index. It is lower FOV though, but so is the G2. Nothing widely available yet beats Index in that regard.

All mainstream headsets now use LCD so black levels are a common issue across them all.

90Hz+ is coming.

a lot will depend on how the resolution and compression works once they upgrade Link, and what solutions we start to see for using Wifi6.
 
Time for some more bemusement regarding people's egos.
Seriously, there's been no side by side comparisons of the two units, so we really don't know which will have the best visuals or audio. Take a break chaps and have some patience.
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
Time for some more bemusement regarding people's egos.
Seriously, there's been no side by side comparisons of the two units, so we really don't know which will have the best visuals or audio. Take a break chaps and have some patience.
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You don't need side by side, the G2 has the best resolution, moving screens with ipd adjustment, and speakers near your ears. Absolutely it will have the best visuals and audio compared with the G2. This isn't ego it's basic physics.

You can use other headphones with the quest, so this is "fixable" but it adds to the cost comparison.

What we don't know is how good wired/wireless PCVR is going to be with the quest, it might be 90% as good as the G2 but a considerable bit cheaper, or it might be complete dog doo.

If you want to be sure then a long wait might be in order to see what level of support the Q2 ends up with.
 
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