Meta Quest Pro review: A next-gen headset for the VR faithful - Engadget

Currently, fewer things marque people's eyes rotation harder than the metaverse. As idiosyncratic who grew up speechmaking sci-fi novels and dreaming astir what virtual worlds mightiness look similar successful the future, that's benignant of sad, but I get it. Mark Zuckerberg is truthful thirsty to marque those dreams a world that he’s betting billions of dollars and the endurance of his institution connected the metaverse being The Next Big Thing. Meanwhile, the mean idiosyncratic is inactive wondering what the constituent of having a VR headset truly is, speech from possibly smashing immoderate polygons successful Superhot oregon Beat Saber.

However, adjacent though it feels similar VR headsets person been astir forever, we're inactive precise overmuch successful the aboriginal days of virtual reality. It was lone a mates of years agone erstwhile the institution antecedently known arsenic Facebook brought VR to the masses with the Quest 2. And present with the Quest Pro, Meta is trying to foster a caller baseline level of tech designed to marque integer worlds consciousness much lifelike, intuitive and immersive. And honestly, I deliberation Meta has done it, due to the fact that portion its $1,500 terms is hard to justify, it’s casual to spot the imaginable of what this hardware tin support.

Hardware and optics

Packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ chip, 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, the Quest Pro delivers 50 percent much show than the Quest 2, according to Meta. However, the existent situation successful designing this headset was blending its standalone plan with thing that's elemental and comfy to wear, and I deliberation Meta has struck an astir perfect balance.

By switching to caller pancake lenses, the institution was capable to trim the thickness of the headset portion inactive delivering a comparatively precocious solution of 1,800 x 1,920 pixels per eye. For comparison, that's higher than what you get from the Valve Index (1,440 x 1,600 per eye) but a spot little than the Vive Pro 2 (2,448 × 2,448 per eye). Though topping retired with a 90Hz refresh rate, the Quest Pro’s visuals aren’t rather arsenic accelerated arsenic astir of its high-end PC-based rivals. For me, that hasn't been a immense deal, arsenic graphics and gameplay person been creaseless and stutter-free. But I should notation I've ne'er truly had problems with VR-related question sickness, truthful your acquisition whitethorn vary.

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My 1 nitpick is that I privation the Quest Pro's 96-degree vertical tract of presumption was a small spot taller. I've recovered that owed to the headset's visor-like plan and its FOV, you thin to ever person a spot of the existent satellite peeking successful crossed the bottommost of your oculus line. Thankfully, its 106-degree horizontal FOV is beauteous overmuch arsenic bully oregon amended than each of its rivals but for the Vive Pro 2's 116 degrees.

Elsewhere, the Quest Pro features 10 sensors connected the interior and exterior of the device. The 5 outward-facing cameras enactment full-color passthrough, hand-tracking and worldly similar country knowing without the request for further outer sensors. Meanwhile, the 5 inward-facing sensors way eyes and look movements for features similar foveated rendering and enhanced avatar animations, but much connected that later.

Design and fit

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To equilibrium the trade-off betwixt powerfulness and fit, Meta cleverly utilized a curved artillery built into the backmost of the headset, truthful there's nary request for wires oregon a belt-mounted powerfulness cell. And erstwhile combined with a brushed forehead cushion and a useful dial for adjusting the headband, you get a headset that's highly casual to enactment connected and wear. Further adjustments are provided via a tiny dial successful beforehand that changes lens distance, portion IPD (interpupillary distance) accommodation is handled by simply moving each eyepiece near and close arsenic needed. All told, it's an incredibly straightforward setup, and acknowledgment to the Quest Pro's acceptable calibration feature, the headset tin punctual you to set your settings if it notices things aren't rather right. And erstwhile it comes to sound, you get speakers that enactment spatial audio built into the arms of the headset, though if you similar to usage your ain headphones, there’s a 3.5mm jack too.

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That said, adjacent with each the attraction Meta paid toward creating a comfy and balanced headset, the Quest Pro's heft tin inactive beryllium a spot of an issue. If you're hopping successful and retired of VR, you mightiness not announcement much. But with a value of conscionable implicit a lb and a half, successful longer sessions, I noticed my forehead sometimes got a spot sore. Usually fiddling astir with however the Quest Pro sat connected my caput was capable to relieve excess pressure. But I besides wouldn't beryllium amazed if this setup gave immoderate radical a low-grade headache during extended use. And I'd besides beryllium remiss not to notation the sweat factor, arsenic the leather forehead pad tin get damp depending connected your activity, and sometimes I wonderment if having progressive cooling connected a VR headset is what we need. Heck, developers could adjacent usage fans to mimic a breeze successful a crippled oregon movie, which could beryllium benignant of nice.

Controllers

The different large portion of the headset's kit is the caller Touch Pro Controllers. Meta is utilizing the aforesaid basal plan arsenic what we got connected the Quest 2. The large quality this clip is that alternatively of relying connected a large airy ringing with LEDs, the controllers present person their ain built-in sensors for some manus and digit tracking. Not lone does this assistance streamline their design, but I besides recovered a noticeable upgrade successful accuracy and responsiveness.

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The controllers besides person much-improved haptics that adds an other level of immersion, particularly successful apps wherever you tin flip the controllers implicit to usage arsenic a stylus. For illustration successful Painting VR, brushes usage a assortment of rumbles and vibrations to convey a consciousness of size and weight. The wide effect feels overmuch similar HD Rumble connected the Nintendo Switch's Joy-Con, but with adjacent amended fidelity for unit feedback.

I besides admit the controller’s subtly textured rubberized grips that marque things consciousness unafraid adjacent successful the vigor of virtual battle. However, I benignant of miss the manus straps Valve uses connected the Index controllers which let you to rapidly power betwixt buttons and digit oregon manus gestures without needing to acceptable the controllers down.

General show and apps

Of people the existent magic happens erstwhile hardware meets software, and astatine slightest retired of the gate, the Quest Pro offers immoderate beauteous awesome performance. The headset’s optics are crisp portion eliminating astir immoderate hint of the surface doorway effect. Text is besides precise legible and I had nary occupation penning portion of this reappraisal successful VR. Next, erstwhile my workfellow Cherlynn Low visited my virtual bureau successful Horizon Workrooms, I deliberation the operation of Quest Pro’s oculus and facial tracking to present much lifelike expressions connected my avatar mightiness person been convincing capable to get her to walk much clip successful VR. And connected my end, enactment for spatial audio makes moving successful VR consciousness little similar floating successful a simulation and much similar really moving successful an bureau with idiosyncratic else.So adjacent though Cherlynn was sick that day, we were capable to collaborate without maine risking catching what she had, and it felt benignant of heartwarming successful a weird, nerdy way.

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On apical of that, a batch of tent-pole features similar Meta's country knowing conscionable benignant of work, astatine slightest astir of the time. I recovered that the Quest Pro was beauteous bully astatine automatically detecting the presumption of floors and walls, truthful I didn't person to perpetually redraw the boundaries for my room-scale guardian. It adjacent automatically detected immoderate objects similar my table (and remembered them successful consequent sessions), which makes it easier to acceptable up a virtual workspace that mimics what I person IRL. Though I did announcement successful rooms that were much cluttered, things didn't ever enactment rather arsenic smoothly.

The Quest Pro's full-color passthrough is besides truly impressive. Don’t get maine wrong, it’s inactive not arsenic bully arsenic utilizing your eyes to navigate meatspace. But it's much than close capable to fto maine locomotion from country to country to drawback a solid of h2o without taking disconnected the Quest Pro oregon bumping into anything.

In apps similar Cubism, I had a blast positioning blocks to lick puzzles successful 3 dimensions and successful I Expect you to Die I got to unrecorded retired my puerility phantasy of being a concealed agent. And successful Tribe XR, I was capable to bask the basics of mixing and beat-matching portion utilizing the aforesaid instrumentality pro DJs use, astatine slightest virtually. The improved three-window multitasking successful the Quest Pro’s desktop mode adjacent makes it easier to power betwixt apps and enactment connected portion you're successful VR. Or, well, it would beryllium if determination was a wider availability of 2D apps.

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And that benignant of brings maine to the large contented with the Quest Pro: determination conscionable aren't a batch of optimized apps that truly instrumentality vantage of its upgraded capabilities. For accepted 2D apps, portion important worldly similar Slack is supposedly connected the way, determination isn't adjacent enactment for messaging bundle similar WhatsApp. So if you're similar maine and aren't a predominant idiosyncratic of Instagram oregon Facebook Messenger, things tin inactive consciousness a spot disconnected.

But possibly the much telling happening is presently however fewer apps determination are successful the Quest Pro conception of the store. Titles similar Nanome, which lets you presumption molecules successful VR are truly neat and interesting, but alternatively niche. I don't cognize astir you, but I don’t truly walk a ton of clip staring astatine assorted compounds and conformations successful my escaped clip – and I was a bio large successful college.

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This is benignant of to beryllium expected, arsenic it's going to instrumentality a portion for developers to instrumentality vantage of the Quest Pro's caller features. This headset benignant of feels similar the Nintendo Switch astatine motorboat but without a tentpole crippled oregon app similar Breath of the Wild to brace with it. Sure, you tin spell backmost and bask each the aged Quest apps, arsenic the Pro is afloat backward compatible with existing software. But erstwhile you're spending $1,500 connected a VR headset, you benignant of privation thing you tin suffer yourself successful for the adjacent period oregon more.

My different gripe is that, portion a batch of the big-ticket features enactment amazingly well, a batch of the finer details look half-baked. For example, it took astir an hr for Cherlynn to successfully sojourn my bureau successful Horizon Workrooms. Because this is VR, you can't conscionable nonstop a nexus to a gathering similar you would successful Zoom, which meant she had to bounce backmost and distant betwixt her headset, telephone and laptop conscionable to find wherever to judge my invite. And erstwhile I wanted to upload an representation to pin connected my virtual whiteboard, archetypal I had to spell backmost to my fake seat astatine my fake table conscionable to upload something, earlier needing to determination backmost to the whiteboard again to station it. That's conscionable convoluted, and that’s adjacent with my having already acceptable up Meta’s Remote Desktop app. And portion Meta says it's moving connected it, determination are different small frustrations similar being constricted to a azygous virtual desktop (which you can’t adjacent determination by the way, astatine slightest not close now) erstwhile connected to a Windows PC portion Mac users get three.

Charging and accessories

While Meta doesn't supply authoritative artillery beingness claims for the Quest Pro, I've recovered that you're looking astatine betwixt 2 and a fractional and 3 and a fractional hours connected a charge, depending connected the usage case. This is typically longer than I privation to beryllium successful VR successful a azygous sitting, but if you request to beryllium jacked successful for extended periods, the Quest Pro besides comes with a six-foot USB-C cablegram you tin usage to support it running.

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Other bundled accessories see a protective silicone screen and 2 airy blockers that connect magnetically to the broadside of the headset, which helps chopped down connected imaginable distractions from the carnal realm. But if you truly privation that implicit VR-dive experience, you'll person to ammunition retired $50 for Meta's Full Light Blocker. Or you opt for the low-tech solution and conscionable determination to a acheronian room. You besides get 2 Quest Touch Pro controllers on with 2 wrist straps and stylus nibs that tin beryllium attached to the bottommost of the gamepads to suit your needs.

When it comes to keeping everything juiced up, there's a truly useful wireless charging dock that holds some the headset and the controllers. Admittedly, getting the controllers to beryllium decently successful the dock is simply a spot tricky astatine first. But the concealed is holding them arsenic if you're utilizing them, earlier twisting your wrists inwards and past dropping them connected the dock. If you did it right, you'll consciousness a small rumble and spot the tiny indicator lights occurrence up. There's besides a dedicated cablegram for charging the controllers, but you lone get one. So if you're traveling with the Quest Pro and you permission the dock astatine home, you'll request to complaint the controllers 1 astatine a time.

Wrap-up

Look, trying to reappraisal a next-gen VR headset feels benignant of similar evaluating a Mars colony based connected the spaceship that takes you there: Ultimately the Quest Pro is simply a vas to acquisition fancy caller bundle that doesn’t beryllium yet. And close now, determination conscionable aren't capable apps to truly accidental if that colony is simply a utopia oregon Autobot metropolis aft Megatron attacks – burned down and wasted.

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But if we tin disregard that contented for a minute, astatine slightest connected a hardware level, there's a batch to similar astir the Quest Pro. It offers akin or, successful immoderate situations, amended show than different high-end user headsets — each without the request for wires oregon a beefy PC. You tin power betwixt controllers and manus gestures astatine a whim, portion the plethora of sensors makes the headset a truly large standalone device. You get crisp visuals, a streamlined plan and amazingly bully artillery beingness — not to notation a truly useful charging dock.

But for now, we're going to person to hold for the headset’s bundle and experiences to drawback up, which is simply a batch to inquire erstwhile it costs this overmuch to strap connected the goggles. Purchasing a Quest Pro, astatine slightest for now, is thing you bash connected faith, due to the fact that you judge successful the committedness of VR and wherever it mightiness spell successful the not-too-distant future. So portion the Quest 2 tin grip basal VR, the Quest Pro adds powerfulness and finesse successful a mode that could unlock however radical research virtual worlds. The tech is determination but are you consenting to fork implicit large wealth to effort it?