Meta Quest Pro hands-on: An unimpressive first impression - Ars Technica

Enlarge / Out of the lawsuit and acceptable to demo.

Even virtual reality's biggest boosters whitethorn hesitate astatine the thought of spending astir $1,500 for the Meta Quest Pro without trying it first. Fortunately, a retail concern means that radical tin try the upcoming Quest Pro astatine prime Best Buy locations during play demos.

After checking retired 1 of those demos, though, we came distant mostly unimpressed with our archetypal impressions. Even if the Quest Pro's caller features extremity up justifying its monolithic terms (and much clip with a retail portion aboriginal this week should assistance reply that question fully), our retail demo did not enactment Meta's champion ft forward.

Where bash I go?

Upon entering Best Buy successful Columbia, Maryland, connected Sunday, I didn't find immoderate signage suggesting that determination was immoderate peculiar VR demo going connected wrong the store. Instead, I had to hunt the aisles until I recovered a lonely Quest show successful an unloved backmost country of the store, implicit with a Quest 2 and Quest Pro nether glass. Nearby, a demo staffer leaned connected a antagonistic playing with his telephone adjacent to a demo portion successful a charging stand. When I approached, helium said I was the archetypal idiosyncratic each play who had expressed immoderate involvement successful a demo (though 1 much came to spot what it was astir portion I was successful the headset).

Enlarge / The Meta Quest kiosk sitting successful an unloved country of a section Best Buy, implicit with Quest Pro display.

There was nary peculiar country oregon circumstantial country acceptable speech for the Quest demo astatine the store. Instead, the demo staffer awkwardly guided maine to a tiny conception of bare carpet wherever I stood unceremoniously betwixt a operation of retail shelving and a heap of boxed 4K TVs. When shoppers and workers ended up crossing done that country during my setup, I got redirected to different conception of carpet adjacent further toward the country of the store. There, I had to acceptable up my ain virtual "guardian" to people the harmless operating abstraction and item walls and different obstructions for assorted "augmented reality" experiences.

To marque matters worse, astir 15 minutes into my demo, a peaceful meditation league successful Tripp VR was interrupted by an abrupt "powering down" connection erstwhile the headset ran retired of charge. The demo staffer apologized, saying the portion "was astatine zero percent erstwhile I got it" and hadn't been plugged successful for precise agelong earlier our demo. I took a speedy buying interruption and came backmost to a afloat charged unit, but the Quest Pro inactive mostly botched its 1 accidental astatine a archetypal impression.

Enlarge / Like a depository portion nether glass.

A Quest for comfort

Demo-specific issues aside, putting connected the Quest Pro is simply a noticeably much comfy acquisition than erstwhile Quest headsets. The flimsy straps connected those earlier units person been replaced with a heavy headband and large, semicircular cushions that remainder connected the forehead and the backmost of the skull. Once it's wrapped astir your eyes, an easy-to-turn knob successful the rear gets a acceptable that feels unafraid without being excessively tight.

This caller plan means the "ski goggles" unit that aged Quest headsets exert connected the country astir your eyes is astir wholly gone here. While the Quest Pro exerted a small spot of unit connected the span of my nose, it was nary much distracting than wearing a brace of sunglasses. I could adjacent scope up and scratch my chemoreceptor without taking disconnected the headset, acknowledgment to a caller open-bottomed plan that allows overmuch amended airflow arsenic good (the demo portion did person magnetic "blinders" pre-installed connected the sides, though, to destruct real-world distractions. I had to inquire to person them popped off).

While I lone spent astir an hr full successful the Quest Pro during my demo, I felt similar I could person kept it connected indefinitely without complaining.

The Quest Pro besides has immoderate bully quality-of-life improvements erstwhile it comes to getting the headset positioned for cleanable ocular focus. The headset's inward-facing cameras automatically detected my interpupillary distance and told maine to set the system's lenses inward to lucifer (which I did by simply reaching up done the bottommost of the headset and sliding successful a creaseless but coagulated motion). The headset besides told maine that it was sitting excessively debased successful beforehand of my eyes, and that I should tilt it upward and retighten for a amended view.

With everything successful focus, though, I person to accidental I was much than a small underwhelmed with the Quest Pro's display. While the representation was possibly a small sharper than I was utilized to connected erstwhile Quest headsets, it was a acold outcry from the high-end clarity boost you'd expect from a high-end headset. The alteration was astir evident lone successful my peripheral vision, wherever images remained crisp and wide with nary distortion adjacent erstwhile casting sideward glances astatine the limits of the display.

My archetypal acquisition with the full-color passthrough camera was not a bully one, either—my presumption of the extracurricular satellite jittered backmost and distant a fewer evident inches arsenic I tried to acceptable up my playspace. While the issues corrected themselves comparatively quickly, it was inactive a jarring commencement to the experience.