The Best VR Headsets of 2023

Dave McQuilling / How-To Geek

Update, 06/01/2023: We’ve reviewed our recommendations and are assured these are inactive the champion TVs you tin buy.

What to Look for successful a VR Headset successful 2023

The method specifications for VR headsets tin beryllium confusing, but you lone request to ore connected a fewer cardinal areas to constrictive things down to the bully ones.

First, is the headset a tethered oregon standalone unit? A tethered VR headset needs a instrumentality similar a gaming PC oregon console to supply each the processing powerfulness for VR applications. So, you’ll request to marque definite your PC has the due components to tally games and enactment the VR headset astatine the aforesaid time. A standalone VR headset contains each the indispensable hardware to tally its VR apps, taking immoderate method labour disconnected the PC oregon console.

The positional question tracking method of a VR headset is an important consideration. The modern inclination is towards inside-out tracking, wherever cameras connected the headset scan your situation and past cipher your question comparative to those fixed notation points.

The alternative, which are outer trackers, thin to beryllium much precise, but inside-out trackers are much portable, elegant, and chopped down connected wires.

Next, high-resolution show panels wrong the headset assistance the representation by making the existent pictures smaller. This reduces the accidental that you’ll spot the pixel grid portion utilizing the headset and makes the acquisition much immersive. The refresh complaint besides plays into the immersion factor, and 90Hz is simply a bully moving minimum for a headset.

Finally, there’s 1 facet you whitethorn not person considered regarding VR headsets: your interpupillary region (IPD). Many VR headsets (including our apical wide pick) have adjustable lens spacing. Our apical wide pick should enactment good for 95% of people.

If you autumn astatine either utmost extremity of the IPD range, however, you whitethorn get a blurry image. You tin cheque your IPD with an app or, for the astir precise measurement, get it measured by an optometrist.

This is lone conscionable scratching the aboveground of what you request to see erstwhile buying a VR headset. But, don’t worry; we’ve done each the probe and picked retired the champion VR headsets for you below.

RELATED: The Best VR Games for Oculus Quest, PC, and PSVR

Best VR Headset Overall: Meta Quest 2 256GB

Jordan Gloor / How-To Geek

The Meta Quest 2 isn’t the astir premium VR experience, but it’s inactive apt the lone VR headset you’ll person to buy. This headset offers a level of sheer flexibility nary different VR strategy tin match.

This is simply a battery-powered standalone headset that offers the champion VR visuals and show presently imaginable utilizing mobile machine technology. You tin play PC VR titles with the Quest 2 implicit a USB-C transportation and WiFi, arsenic well.

The Quest 2 besides has a sizable room of games and experiences explicitly developed oregon ported from other VR platforms. It’s arsenic user-friendly arsenic immoderate modern gaming console but inactive allows those who similar to tinker with their tech to sideload applications.

Meta’s latest Quest headset is not perfect, but the full bundle adds up to thing much than the sum of its parts. Really, the biggest occupation with Quest 2 has thing to bash with the merchandise itself.

As of August 23, 2022, you nary longer request a Facebook relationship to usage a Quest VR headset. You bash inactive request a Meta account, but it doesn’t person to beryllium linked to Facebook.

We’re recommending the 256GB mentation of the Quest 2 due to the fact that you can’t upgrade the device’s storage, truthful it’s amended to spell with the bigger exemplary successful lawsuit you request the space. There is simply a 128GB model if you’re looking to prevention immoderate cash, though.

Best Budget VR Headset: Meta Quest 2 128GB

Jordan Gloor / How-To Geek

The Meta Quest 2 is also, successful our opinion, the champion fund VR headset you tin buy. The basal 128GB exemplary retails for conscionable $299. That’s an unbelievable asking price, fixed that the Quest 2 is some a standalone VR headset and a PC VR headset.

As such, you don’t request to walk immoderate much wealth connected hardware beyond the Quest 2 if you don’t privation to. With the Quest 2’s capabilities, you’re efficaciously getting 2 headsets for the terms of one—which further bolsters the high-quality credentials of the device.

The outgo of autochthonal Quest 2 applications mightiness beryllium a small precocious for some, but Meta has not locked the headset down to 1 crippled store, and you tin sideload applications from third-party sources if you privation to. If you already person a VR-capable PC, you payment from cheaper PC VR titles.

In immoderate cases, the Quest and Rift versions of a crippled like Star Trek Bridge Crew are sold arsenic a azygous cross-buy purchase. If it happens to beryllium connected merchantability successful 1 store, you tin prevention immoderate wealth and inactive beryllium capable to play it connected Quest 2!

There’s nary VR headset astatine this terms point—or adjacent treble this terms point—that offers the aforesaid per-dollar value, truthful it’s casual to urge the Quest 2 to anyone wanting to participate the satellite of VR connected a constricted budget.

Now that you nary longer request a Facebook relationship to usage a Quest VR headset, our main ailment has been solved. We privation Meta hadn’t accrued the terms of each its headsets by $100, but it’s inactive the champion worth successful the VR industry.

Best VR Headset for PC: Valve Index

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While determination are headsets, specified arsenic the HTC Vive Cosmos Elite, that outdo the Valve Index successful immoderate circumstantial ways, the Index is the champion PC headset arsenic a whole.

Valve’s VR headset is rather expensive, but that’s countered a small acknowledgment to Valve’s modular approach. You tin bargain immoderate constituent of the kit arsenic you wish, whenever you want.

So, for example, if you already ain the older Index controllers, you tin upgrade to the caller headset but support the erstwhile question controllers to prevention money. That’s large quality for owners of erstwhile Valve headsets, but the full terms for the kit newcomers request to bargain is steep.

The different large constituent successful favour of the Index is that you’re not going to find thing that works amended with SteamVR. This is the hardware that SteamVR is designed for, aft all. Half-Life Alyx, rather perchance the champion VR game, was designed for the Index. You tin play it conscionable good connected different SteamVR-compatible headsets, but the Index is the definitive acquisition for this rubric and respective others.

It’s besides important to enactment that the Valve Index is simply a positional tracking virtual world headset. While the wide inclination successful VR seems to beryllium heading towards inside-out tracking arsenic the standard, the Index relies connected basal stations to supply this close room-scale tracking.

Positional tracking is amended and much close than inside-out tracking, but it has immoderate downsides. You request to acceptable up a imperishable VR abstraction utilizing the basal stations and person that acceptable up again whenever you privation to determination determination new.

Compared to the PC VR acquisition of the Meta Quest 2, wherever you tin instrumentality your machine anywhere, plug successful the Quest 2 and beryllium successful concern successful seconds, you tin spot wherefore inside-out tracking whitethorn beryllium much popular, adjacent if little accurate.

Best VR Headset for Console Gaming: Sony PlayStation VR2

Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek

It seems similar an property since the motorboat of Sony’s PS VR headset for PS4 successful 2016. And though the archetypal PlayStation VR gaming headset performed brilliantly, it was clip for the caller console to get an upgraded VR experience.

In galore ways, Sony’s caller PS VR2 headset sticks to its predecessor’s tried and tested formula. It uses a halo-style headband and lightweight visor designed for maximum comfortableness implicit agelong play sessions. A rubberized airy shield, which tin beryllium adjusted to let glasses to beryllium worn, blocks retired biology airy for amended gaming immersion.

The dual OLED screens, producing a 4K show resolution, are a large upgrade from the PS VR, arsenic is the oculus tracking, 3D audio, and headset feedback. Four cameras mounted connected the headset way your movements, truthful there’s nary request for an outer PlayStation camera to beryllium acceptable up successful beforehand of you.

Another invited betterment comes successful the signifier of the 2 Sense controllers that travel bundled with the PS VR2 headset. They let overmuch greater power for a wider assortment of VR games and look beauteous chill too.

The 1 downside is that it isn’t backwardly compatible, truthful you can’t usage it to amended the VR acquisition connected your PS4. But contempt that, and adjacent though you don’t person galore different options to bask your AAA PS5 virtual world games, the PS VR2 is simply a worthy successor to the PlayStation VR headset.

Best Standalone VR Headset: Meta Quest 2

Jordan Gloor / How-To Geek

Yes, we’re backmost to the Meta Quest 2, but this is the class the headset was designed for. It’s not conscionable that the Quest 2 offers coagulated standalone hardware; it’s besides that it has a robust app store. It’s champion to deliberation of the Quest arsenic the VR equivalent of a gaming console insofar arsenic it has dedicated versions of VR applications created for it.

The Quest 2 is simply a important measurement up compared to the archetypal Quest successful respective ways, and Quest 2 exclusive titles that trust connected its accrued horsepower are connected the horizon. Quest 2’s manus tracking strategy and fantabulous perimeter Guardian exertion marque it 1 of the best VR devices you tin ain today.

While determination person been different standalone VR headsets successful caller years, they’ve much oregon little fallen by the wayside due to the fact that nary person garnered the semipermanent enactment and backing the likes of Meta brings to the table. There’s nary denying what the societal media giant’s backing has done for this enactment of VR headsets.

The Quest 2 is the champion standalone VR headset connected the market, and present you don’t adjacent request a Facebook relationship to usage it.

Frequently Asked Questions