The Oculus Quest 2 is a great VR headset, offering impressive standalone performance and a suite of apps and games ready to download and play, but that doesn’t mean Facebook-owned Oculus isn’t working on the next big thing.
The company has already confirmed as much, although it’s not the Quest 3 like many had assumed – hints suggest a more powerful version of the Quest 2, unofficially dubbed the Oculus Quest 2 Pro. Here’s everything there is to know about the upcoming headset right now, including release date and pricing rumours, and what to expect.
When will the Oculus Quest 2 Pro be released?
Given the fact the Oculus Quest 2 launched less than a year ago, it’s likely that we won’t see the Pro model anytime soon – especially given how popular the standard model is – and vague comments from Facebook seem to confirm this.
Andrew Bosworth, the VP of Augmented and Virtual Reality at Facebook, said “Quest Pro, huh? Interesting” and winked when replying to a question about a more powerful model of the Quest 2 in an Instagram AMA, teasing the idea that Facebook is working on something behind closed doors.
Bosworth then followed up in a later Q&A session, this time on Twitter, saying that the hypothetical headset wouldn’t arrive in 2021, suggesting the Oculus Quest 2 Pro might not see the light of day until 2022 or later.
How much will the Oculus Quest 2 Pro cost?
This one’s a little harder to predict right now. The Oculus Quest 2 comes in at £299/$299, which is an impressive price for any VR headset, let alone one that doesn’t need a gaming PC to work.
The Pro version, quite obviously, would cost more than that, but there’s no word on how much it might cost. We’d expect something close to the £499/$499 mark, making it more expensive than the standard model but still not quite as premium as the PC-powered £699/$699 HTC Vive Cosmos, but we’ll update this section once we know more.
What to expect from the Oculus Quest 2 Pro
The Oculus Quest 2 isn’t lacking in the power department by any means, sporting Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 platform paired with 6GB of RAM and either 64- or 256GB of storage, but the ‘Pro’ moniker of the upcoming model suggests that the Pro model will be even more capable in the processing department.
That’s easier said than done when trying to squeeze all the technology that powers the experience within the headset, but it’s certainly possible. It likely still won’t be able to stand up to PC-powered VR experiences, but it’ll go a way towards bridging the gap.
The upgraded processor could be used to increase the resolution of the LCD displays, and there could be a bump from the experimental 120Hz mode to the super-smooth 144Hz used in gaming displays, translating to a higher definition, more realistic virtual reality experience without the need for a dedicated gaming PC.
Don’t go expecting a complete revamp of the headset though; Oculus’ Andrew Bosworth is very clear that “there isn’t a Quest 3, there’s only the Quest 2”.
He then clarified his statement, referring to his earlier comments on an Instagram AMA, continuing “I did hint at an AMA earlier this year about Quest Pro because we do have a lot of things in development where we want to introduce new functionality to the headset along the kinds that people theorize that we would want to introduce, and that’s a little ways off still.”
There will likely be minor improvements to the Quest 2’s controllers too. While the current controllers are well designed and offer decent vibrational feedback, enhanced haptics like those available on the PS5’s DualSense controllers would vastly improve the overall experience.
What would you like to see on the Oculus Quest 2 Pro? Let us know on Twitter.
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