Oculus Quest 2 vs. PSVR2: Which is the best for you?

If you are new to virtual reality and need an excellent VR gaming experience, you will soon have a number of choices two of which are the Oculus/Meta Quest 2 and the PlayStation VR2. Despite the age gap of two years between the two headsets, each has its strengths and weaknesses, making it hard to decide which one is the best for you.

This article will compare the PSVR2 vs the Oculus Quest 2, helping you make an informed purchasing decision when PSVR 2 is released later this year. We will look at specifications, features, and pricing to see how they stack up vs each other.

We recommend reading this article if you come across terms and acronyms that makes you unsure: The ultimate VR glossary of words, terms and acronyms

We will cover:

• Pros and Cons
• Specifications
• Design and comfort
• Display
• Tracking
• Controllers
• Content
• Price
• Conclusion

Pros and Cons

Pros

Oculus Quest 2

• Many accessories available
• Excellent price
• Versatile headset with plenty of content
• Capable of VR gaming and metaverse platforms
• Both standalone and tethered headset
• Access to SteamVR

PS VR2

• Dynamic foveated rendering
• Active eye tracking
• Deep blacks and color vibrancy with High Dynamic Range (HDR)
• Haptic feedback within the headset for increased immersion
• Controller capacitative triggers and buttons from DualSense technology
• Exclusive Playstation content

Cons

Oculus Quest 2

• Requires a Facebook login (will be changed to a Meta account this year)
• Requires Elite Strap to be comfortable

PS VR2

• Requires a PlayStation 5 to work
• The Fresnel lens is dated
• No access to SteamVR

Specifications

It is neck-and-neck which of the two gaming headsets come out on top from specifications, despite the two year gap in release between PSVR 2 and Quest 2. From a pure visual experience based on metrics, PSVR 2 has Quest 2 beat with slightly higher resolution per eye and a better display engine of OLED rather than LCD. This means that color accuracy, black levels, and response time will be smoother on PSVR 2 compared to the Quest 2.

What is certain is that dynamic foveated rendering from eye tracking in PSVR 2 is welcomed with open arms and will result in better perceived visual clarity.

At the same time, the central benefit of Quest 2 is its standalone feature, whereas PSVR 2 must be tethered to a PlayStation 5 to work. Although this means the pure processing capability of PSVR 2 is better but comes at the cost of freedom of movement.

Design and comfort

Oculus/Meta Quest 2 is one of the most well-known VR headsets. Additionally, Quest 2 and PSVR2 have a unique and noticeable design aesthetic, being recognizable from just looking at them.

When it comes to comfort, PSVR 2 is unreleased and speculative about its comfort. However, the predecessor, PSVR, had an innovative halo-strap solution, helping to alleviate the front heaviness of the headset. Actually, PSVR is notoriously known as one of the most comfortable virtual reality headsets on the market, and PSVR2 will likely build on this.

In comparison, the Quest 2 out-of-the-box strap is not the most comfortable. It is commonplace to find DIY solutions on the Quest sub-Reddit where users have attached the PSVR halo strap to the Quest 2 for increased comfort. This is despite the lower overall weight of the Quest 2 and is why the Quest 2 Elite Strap accessory is popular.

Display

In raw resolution and FoV figures, little difference is found between Quest 2 and PSVR2. However, the OLED display engine in PSVR2 is more suited for virtual reality than the LCD seen in Quest 2. While PSVR2 also features a high-dynamic range for deeper blacks and vibrant colors.

Additionally, PSVR2, with its integrated eye tracking, offers dynamic foveated rendering, whereas Quest 2 delivers static foveated rendering. In other words, PSVR2 will be able to optimize its visual experience better than the Quest 2 and deliver a smoother and more immersive experience.

Sadly, PlayStation decided not to use the Aspherical lens found in PSVR. But instead went with the older optics technology, Fresnel. As PlayStation VR2 is still unreleased, it will be interesting to experience if there will be an impact on visuals from the fresnel lens.

Tracking

The most significant difference between the two headsets is that Quest 2 can be standalone. Whereas PlayStation VR2 must be tethered to a PlayStation 5 to function. In practical terms, this decreases portability and general usability for PSVR2 compared to the Quest 2. However, it comes from more capable processing, as the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chipset found in the Pico Neo 3 Link and Neo 3 Pro is less powerful than a PlayStation 5.

Similarly, both Quest 2 and PSVR2 feature video-passthrough for convenience when locating one’s controllers or communicating with someone outside of gaming sessions.

Lastly, where Quest 2 offers hand-tracking, released in a recent update by Meta (former Facebook), PSVR2 has built-in eye tracking that can increase immersion in the VR content experiences and will likely have hand tracking in later updates.

Content

Both the Quest 2 and PSVR2 content library of games is immense. However, PSVR2, backed by Sony Entertainment Studios, offers exclusive first- and second-party titles not found on the Quest 2. The same can be said about the PlayStation Plus subscription service.

At the same time, the Quest 2 library of games is plenty to satiate any VR gamer’s needs.

Controllers

The controllers offered for PSVR and Quest 2 feature 6 degrees of freedom capabilities, which means that movement is tracked in the virtual world. In more detail, the third-generation Quest 2 controllers are capable of partial finger tracking and capacitive sensors. 

While, the controllers run on AA batteries and are therefore not rechargeable which the PSVR2 controllers will be.

Similarly, the DualSense controller from PlayStation 5 is the most cutting-edge controller on the market with dynamic actuators changing pressure intensity based on what is done in the game. For example, a rusty lever in a video game is harder to pull on the controller than a lever in mint condition. PSVR2 hand controllers will likely adopt these innovative technologies.

Price

The Quest 2’s price is $399 (for the 128GB Quest 2 model). What this means is that the speculated price point of PSVR2 will be the same as the Quest 2. This means that you should make your purchasing decision based on features and specifications rather than your wallet. As well as if you own a Sony Playstation 5 gaming console.

Conclusion

In some ways, it is noticeable that there is a two-year release gap between Quest 2 and PSVR2. The controllers on PSVR2 are rechargeable and feature added functions that increase immersion. Similarly, the visual experience will likely be superior on the PSVR2 from the OLED display engine featuring HDR and the dynamic foveated rendering from the Tobii eye-tracking.

Additionally, the out-of-the-box comfort between PSVR2 and Quest 2 will likely be better on PSVR2 from the novel Halo strap design, distributing the weight of the headset better than the strap of Quest 2. While PlayStation Entertainment Studios around the world also will be offering exclusive gaming content for PSVR2 that cannot be played anywhere else.

Conclusively if you want an exclusively VR gaming headset working with your PlayStation 5 and do not mind the higher price, then go for PSVR2.

However, if you desire more freedom, are on a budget, and want more social VR experiences like the Horizon platforms, we recommend going for Quest 2 or the Pico Neo 3 Link.