Facebook launches a smaller, more powerful Oculus Quest 2 starting at $299 and launching in October

At Oculus Connect 7 Facebook Connect today, the company announced a big follow-up to the Oculus Quest, and it’s been improved in almost every way. Yes, it’s the same headset as the leaks foretold, but there’s more to be seen.

The Oculus Quest 2 is $100 cheaper, 10% lighter, a bit smaller and now comes in a two-tone light grey and black design. It also sports a processor that’s twice as powerful, has more RAM and sports a higher resolution display. Pre-orders for the device kick off today; the device launches October 13, 2020.

The headset is compatible with all of the existing Quest content, and even though it’s SoC is significantly more powerful (a Snapdragon XR2), don’t expect developers to fully shift to making Quest 2 exclusives — it sounds like Oculus is mainly relying on the CPU/GPU gains to power the higher-res display and achieve the same battery life on a smaller battery.

This will soon be the only device that Oculus sells, as the company has announced that it’s sunsetting its PC VR line just months after sharing it was ending sales of the Oculus Go.

Facebook is officially killing off the Oculus Rift line

Here’s the full list of improvements over the original Quest, which it’s worth noting only went on sale in April of last year.

Quest 2 features

• $299 (64GB) or $399 (256GB)
• New two-tone design
• More powerful Snapdragon XR2 Platform
• 6GB RAM
• 503g headset weight, 10% lighter than previous generation
• Product Dimensions: ​191.5 mm x 102 mm x 142.5 mm (strap folded in)
• 72hz 1832×1920 (per eye) Fast-switch LCD
• Integrated speakers and microphone
• 2-3 hours battery life
• Adjustable IPD with three settings for 58, 63 and 68mm
• Redesigned controllers

All-in-all, there’s a lot going on, which I break down in-depth in my expansive review here.

Review: Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2 is outstanding