[SOLVED] Rift vs Quest (Specially looking towards future upgrades)

[Morford]

I have been researching VR a lot the past couple days and have watched literally 10 or more hours of videos. One thing that I was thinking about was the future of the headsets. The Quest seems like it will be like a cellphone (since in essence it is) and every few years will become outdated in specs and eventually things just won't work in 3-4 years. The question is, will the same be true for the Rift since it goes off my PC 's stuff? In other words, I plan on keeping my PC upgraded, will I also have to keep upgrading my Rift? I mean eventually I will, but will I have to as soon as the Quest, or more often, or less often?

 

[cryoburner]

PC VR allows for more graphically-demanding games than an untethered standalone VR headset, assuming you have a relatively decent graphics card at least. However, Oculus added beta support for Oculus Link to the Quest last fall, effectively allowing it to be used as a PC headset as well when connected via a USB cable. So while yes, the Quest's built-in hardware is likely to feel dated before long, and will be limited to whatever games specifically support it, the device should continue to support newer, more demanding games when tethered to a PC, again assuming your system's hardware can keep up.

Compared to the Rift S, there are some other differences in ergonomics and specifications that may affect the experience a bit when tethered to a PC, but if you have any interest in also using the device untethered with standalone content, the Quest will allow for that, while the Rift S will not. Seeing as they are about the same price, that is likely to make the Quest the better option for many.

As for these headsets feeling dated for PC VR a few years down the line, it's certainly possible. Headsets will most likely be offering things like higher resolutions and refresh rates within this price range a few years from now, and perhaps features like eye-tracking and new controller designs. The newer PC VR games are likely to still work on these headsets though. Of course, it's kind of difficult to say exactly what PC VR will be like years down the line.

 

[86zx]

If I were you I would wait for a new quest to come out as right now the tether isn’t perfect but it is way less clutter, I’m sure the next quest will have a much better tether system so it will be the best of both worlds portability and good quality.