I already have the official link cable. I've not tried it for a while as I use Q2 wirelessly most of the time, but I upped the bitrate to 500 and tried it last night in Skyrim and most of the issues I had with compression weren't an issue any more.
I would say that for Steam VR the Index is a better experience in terms of configurability and 'just working' as I had some glitches getting the link cable to work, plus it's far easier on the index to change things on the fly such as refresh rate.
Whether I ditch the Index or not depends on if the FOV is comparable and if the PC performance is as good. I can see me having to upgrade to a 4080 or 4090 next year (if you can get them for RRP) to get better VR performance because of the encoding overhead of a Quest headset over the Index.
I also have a spare broken Quest Elite Battery Strap so I will see if that can be adapted for use as an add-on battery. Might be able to incorporate it into a top strap.
Can't say I've had many issues with Steam VR and a Oculus/Quest headset, though where a game has an Oculus runtime option, I select that.
I just gave the Quest Pro a quick go before packing it away, making sure it's all updated and working correctly for Christmas day.
First impressions:
It's a hefty, solid device and feels premium. It's easy to adjust the eye relief, IPD and the strap tightness. It looks like the forehead and rear pads are not changeable which is bonkers. I will probably invest in cotton covers when VR cover do them.
Initially after the firmware update the passthrough mode didn't work - even when trying to do the guardian. I thought I had a faulty headset for a minute. However restarting the headset fixed it.
Fit and comfort is a bit awkward. The way it sits on your forehead feels a bit precarious for someone like me who is used to the face clamping of Quest and Index. It sort of floats in front of your eyes which feels weird at first (I didn't try the blinders). I will probably need a top strap to stabilize it, but I already have one for the Go which I could use. Though it feels a bit ludicrous a VR headset this expensive would need comfort mods, but everyone's head is different. With no tilt for the headset visor you have to adjust it by tilting the whole headset which again is awkward. The Index and Quest 2 are better in this regard.
The clarity is incredible, with a very colourful and crisp display, clear right to the edges, though brightness falls off at the sides. The SDE is a bit more noticable than Quest 2 but not as bad as the Index. The view is wide and oval and the FOV far better than Quest 2, even with the lenses dialed out for glasses. Wearing glasses is easy with this headset, especially without the side blinders, though I will almost certainly get prescription lenses.
The controllers are easily the best part of the package. They feel incredibly premium, solid in your hands, with a great grip and amazing haptic feedback. The tracking is incredible, feels as good as my CV1 or Index. I can't wait to play some games with these. I would definitely recommend these as an add-on purchase for Quest 2. These are probably the best VR controllers on the market.
Audio sounded really clear, better than Quest 2. Also the Pro has separate left and right earbud sockets which is great as I have compatible earbuds I used to use for my Quest 1.
I've not tried the facial tracking, I shall leave that for when I get to play with it properly.
The only game I tried was Cubism, a 3D puzzle game, because it's quick to download and has a passthrough mode. Playing this in Passthrough mode is amazing! It really adds to the experience when the puzzle is floating in front of you in your room rather than in a blank void. The passthrough itself is grainy and low-res with some distortions and colour artefacts as I expected, but in practice when using it it works very well.
My wife tried the headset on and really liked it as she said she didn't feel claustrophobic in it like she does in other headsets, and loved the colour passthrough. I can see her wanting to play Cubism and Puzzling Places on it.
I tried putting the headset in my spare Quest 2 case, but even though it fits from a width and depth point of view it's too tall due to the forehead pad to be able to close the case. No doubt there will be cases for this which can incorporate the charging dock in future.
So it looks like an excellent headset, but with some potential caveats.
There is a teardown video where the rear pad does pull off, so I expect some mods for this.
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In regards to the SDE, due to the insane clarity of the Pancake lenses, it makes it more pronounce over the Quest 2 due to the Fresnel lenses doing a good job of hiding it, but when you get into PCVR games, you just don't see it.
I look forward to your thoughts when you try PCVR out in it, especially cranking the render resolution up.
For those reading this, when we talk about SDE, this is nothing like the Rift S or Index. The Quest Pro is far superior here.
As for the comfort, it is hit and miss depending on your head shape, but after some adjusting over a few days, you will find that sweetspot where it just sits right.
The fitment app works well at getting the perfect spot and telling you your IPD.
As it is, especially for passthrough, and the latest V47, it seems rushed out the door with some teething issues that need to be ironed out, but like anything this will get better with updates, and hopefully we get 120Hz unlocked soon.
I have an issue where the Desktop window in the Oculus home keeps flicking black, which makes it hard to use, resulting in me having to take the HMD off to use the monitor instead. The previous update didn't have this issue.
Reported this, so hopefully that gets fixed soon.
