Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2 VR Headset Leaked

The Oculus Quest 2 VR headset leaked in full through a couple of promotional videos posted to an advertising website run by parent company Facebook, the videos detail the features of the standalone headset, a sequel to Oculus Quest 2019. A pair of live Headset demos, scheduled for September 16 and 17, are also listed on the site. That ties up nicely with a previously speculated launch date for September 15th for Quest 2.

Specifications of Oculus Quest 2

The new headset is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 technology, which is specifically built for AR and VR hardware (unlike the general purpose of Snapdragon 835 which powered the original Quest), and that is all according to the videos. One video reports that the Quest 2 has a “nearly 4K screen,” which it claims converts into “nearly 2K per eye,” which a second video claim is 50 per cent more pixels than the initial Quest. The headset has 6 GB of RAM (up from 4 GB). And up to 256 GB of capacity (up from a limit of 128 GB). As well as 3D spatial audio, and controller-freehand tracking.

While the videos contain plenty of new information about the Oculus Quest 2, a few unanswered concerns remain. For a start, it’s not obvious what the refresh rate of the screen would be, which recent sources suggested could rise from 72Hz to 90Hz or even 120Hz to reflect smoother motion. There’s no indication of the scale or weight of the headphones, however. Previous rumours indicated the Quest 2 would be less weighty than the initial Quest but the videos merely refer to the current hardware as “streamlined” and “light.”

The videos do reference a new soft-touch strap that they say makes it easy to slide on and off the headset, as well as a pair of revamped controls with “new ergonomics” that Oculus says can make them more user friendly. Oculus Connection support also returns to Quest 2, allowing you to connect the headset to a laptop using a USB-C cable and to play PC-based VR games with it.

Oculus Needs a Facebook Account?

The Oculus Quest 2 looks likely to be the first Facebook headset to arrive since the controversial decision to require a Facebook account for Oculus users. While owners with current company headsets will use a separate Oculus account until 2023, Facebook has said that future devices will need a Facebook user account, regardless of whether you already have a separate Oculus account in place.

Official Launch

There’s no news on how much the headset is going to cost, but a now-removed Walmart page indicated it could sell for $399 for the 256 GB version. With the Facebook Connect developer conference set to begin on September 16, a formal announcement is hopefully not that far away.