Meta Quest Pro review: get me out of here - The Verge

Mark Zuckerberg is betting the full aboriginal of his institution connected the metaverse. He renamed Facebook to Meta past year, and truthful acold this year, he’s spent $10 cardinal connected Reality Labs, Meta’s AR and VR improvement group. Reality Labs was not chopped peculiarly hard successful Meta’s immense layoffs this week, adjacent successful the look of unit to trim the concern and absorption connected the halfway advertizing business.

So the Quest Pro, Meta’s caller virtual world headset, is facing a batch of pressure. It has to commencement delivering connected a immense acceptable of promises astir the aboriginal of enactment — it’s meant to big meetings, regenerate large monitors, and make a much lasting consciousness of transportation to different radical successful VR. Meta has seen humble success with its Quest 2 crippled console, but the Quest Pro is the commencement of a caller procreation of computers: a $1,499 merchandise designed to tally Microsoft bundle and sold by Accenture.

The occupation is, the Quest Pro isn’t precise good. It’s a instrumentality seemingly launched without program oregon purpose, highlighting VR’s persistent drawbacks without making bully usage of its strengths — and topped disconnected with immoderate irredeemably atrocious software. We mightiness beryllium seeing a roadmap for wherever Meta is going, but close now, it’s not a peculiarly amusive spot to be. And if Meta lingers determination overmuch longer, its metaverse is successful trouble.

The Meta Quest Pro is simply a high-end alternate to the Quest 2, which Meta volition proceed to merchantability separately. It’s a self-contained VR headset with beefier interior specs and 2 large caller features: mixed world with a full-color video provender and look tracking via inward-facing cameras. Meta imagines the Quest Pro arsenic a virtual bureau wherever radical tin conscionable up with co-workers and toggle betwixt afloat VR and a constricted signifier of AR.

While Meta has described the Quest arsenic a VR Nintendo Switch, it’s tailoring the Quest Pro to an assemblage that tin bargain a much costly headset, starting with its looks and fit. The Quest Pro is an intimidatingly polished-looking portion of achromatic plastic. Instead of the Quest 2’s cloth straps, it features a achromatic integrative halo, which sits astir your caput and tightens with a instrumentality astatine the back, a spot similar the archetypal PlayStation VR. The headset is heavier than the Quest 2 astatine 722 grams compared to 503 grams, but it’s redistributed its value to beryllium little front-heavy, shifting its artillery to the back.

I loved this plan aft a Quest Pro demo session, and I deliberation it’s inactive got beardown points. The headset fits much securely than the default Quest 2 strap system, which sometimes felt connected the verge of slipping off. There’s nary velcro for my agelong hairsbreadth to get caught in.

But since that archetypal demo, utilizing the Quest Pro has go uniquely tortuous. Its ringing puts practically each its important value connected my precocious forehead, sometimes leaving a numb and tingling portion on my hairline. It feels a small amended if I support the acceptable loose, but that makes the headset little unchangeable during games and different high-intensity activities. It’s a worse acquisition than the Quest 2 with its optional Elite Strap, which includes an over-the-head strap for equilibrium and inactive leaves the Quest 2 astir 100 grams lighter than the Quest Pro.

Meta has made immoderate different hardware tradeoffs. The headset’s look disguise is shallower than the Quest 2’s, for instance, truthful it gives you a peripheral presumption of the existent satellite extracurricular your headset. If you privation to artifact retired much light, you tin drawback connected a brace of included magnetic silicone wings that enactment similar blinders oregon a abstracted $49 disguise that shuts retired practically each light. That’s a bully spot of flexibility, but that the headset successful its default authorities made maine consistently nauseated, apt acknowledgment to the changeless ocular clash of existent and virtual worlds. (My workfellow and brag Nilay Patel, a predominant Quest 2 user, experienced the aforesaid problems.) I had nary occupation erstwhile I enactment the blinders on, but I’m guessing immoderate radical won’t scope that point; they’ll simply consciousness motion-sick and reason VR isn’t for them.

The Quest Pro’s artillery besides doesn’t past arsenic agelong arsenic the Quest 2’s, with Meta promising 1 to 2 hours alternatively of the Quest 2’s 2 to three. The artillery lasted longer than I expected successful signifier — I could get a small much than 2 hours retired of it successful a session. But it was usually a moot constituent due to the fact that I had occupation wearing the headset for that agelong without taking a break.

I’ve got a fewer smaller quibbles arsenic well. The powerfulness fastener is placed connected the Quest Pro’s underside by its near temple, and I support accidentally putting the headset to slumber erstwhile I effort to set its fit. The measurement rocker is simply a hard-to-press, frustratingly shallow sliver connected the different side. The Quest Pro includes a “fit adjustment” bundle alert to assistance you set its absorption instrumentality and lens distance, giving you a clearer picture. But it’s incredibly delicate — telling maine to recalibrate my headset each clip I motorboat an app — and demands things that aren’t really possible, similar moving the extent instrumentality farther than it tin turn.

Meta’s caller controllers and charging strategy are uncommon agleam points successful the concern design. The aged Oculus Touch controllers featured half-moon LED bands that were tracked by cameras connected the headset. The controllers present travel with their ain built-in cameras, which enactment independently of the headset tracking. The aged Quest controller tracking was excellent, and I’ve lone noticed 1 existent quality with the caller ones: they sometimes instrumentality a fewer seconds to calibrate erstwhile you archetypal prime them up. Meanwhile, removing the bands makes the controllers overmuch much compact, truthful they nary longer smack into each different awkwardly if you enactment your hands together.

Meta has besides replaced the controllers’ AA batteries with built-in rechargeable cells, which you tin acceptable connected a charging dock that’s included with the headset portion you’re not utilizing them. (You tin besides complaint the headset straight with a USB-C cable.) Fitting the headset and controllers onto the dock’s magnetic ports is initially finicky, but erstwhile you get utilized to the process, it saves you the occupation of keeping a abstracted ligament for each portion of hardware. And portion the rechargeable batteries don’t past arsenic agelong arsenic disposables — I could get weeks of usage from the Quest 2 controllers, portion the Quest Pro controllers gave maine person to a three- to four-hour league — the dock makes keeping them charged alongside the headset easy. And arsenic with the Quest 2, you tin usage manus tracking for the main interface and immoderate apps.

I anticipation these changes marque their mode into each aboriginal Quest headsets, and you tin already bargain a brace of Pro controllers and brace them with the Quest 2, though they outgo a hefty $299 connected their own. But beyond that, it’s hard to telephone the Quest Pro a straightforward Quest 2 upgrade.

Yes, the specs are higher. The Quest Pro uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Plus processor alternatively of the Quest 2’s non-plus XR2, features 12GB of representation alternatively of 6GB, and comes successful a azygous exemplary with 256GB of storage, not 128GB and 256GB models similar the Quest 2. But astir developers volition astir apt support gathering to the Quest 2 specs, truthful it’s improbable you’ll get large exclusive games connected the Quest Pro, which isn’t meant for gaming anyway. The headset’s acceptable made it hard to play games I’ve enjoyed for agelong stretches successful the Quest 2. And the Quest Pro doesn’t meaningfully upgrade 1 precise important element: the screen.

The Quest Pro’s solution is 1800 x 1920 pixels per eye, astir the aforesaid arsenic the Quest 2’s 1832 x 1920 pixels. In theory, it provides amended opposition and a precise somewhat higher pixel density per eye, but comparing some devices head-to-head, I was hard-pressed to archer the difference. It’s inactive grainy capable that images look each right, but tiny substance is fuzzy. The tract of presumption sits astatine 106 degrees horizontal and 96 degrees vertical, similar to the Quest 2, and offers an acquisition that’s perfectly usable but a small goggle-y.

For the mean VR user, I can’t urge the Quest Pro implicit Meta’s aged headset, peculiarly fixed the monolithic terms difference. There’s a Quest 3 debuting successful 2023, and it volition apt see immoderate benignant of interior upgrades, astir surely astatine a little outgo than the Pro. So close now, it’s the look tracking and colour passthrough video that acceptable the Quest Pro isolated from the Quest 2 — and unfortunately, portion I spot some features’ potential, Meta hasn’t rather figured retired what they’re bully for.

Passthrough video is simply a midpoint betwixt accepted VR and HoloLens-style AR glasses, displaying a unrecorded video provender of the existent satellite done a headset. It offers existent advantages implicit AR glasses close now, including (typically) a wider tract of presumption and virtual objects that look wholly coagulated alternatively than remaining a small spot transparent. That enables things similar virtual big-screen monitors that beryllium successful beforehand of your look successful an different disposable office.

But Meta’s colour passthrough doesn’t look remotely similar the existent world. Video footage is fuzzy successful the Quest Pro’s grainy display. The provender is murky successful debased light, washed-out oregon flickery successful agleam light, and sometimes luridly saturated successful between. Reading real-world telephone oregon machine screens done it is virtually impossible. It’s a good strategy for dipping into the carnal satellite portion you person a speech oregon get a cupful of coffee, but it’s not vastly much utile (or pleasant) than the Quest 2’s black-and-white passthrough.

The Quest Pro was primitively expected to person a extent sensor, which could person mapped carnal abstraction and fixed the headset immoderate situational awareness. Meta ultimately scrapped the idea — which further limits the headset’s AR capabilities. The Quest Pro has immoderate full-fledged AR apps, similar a coating instrumentality that lets you pin your enactment to your real-world walls. But doing that requires manually drafting the walls’ determination with a clumsy country setup tool, which is abstracted from the guardian strategy that marks your escaped abstraction successful a room.

The inward-facing camera features are much impressive. I recovered the look tracking constricted and idiosyncratic; it couldn’t bespeak expressions similar maine biting my lip, and it seemed to beryllium convinced that my eyes were half-closed overmuch of the time. (I’m a achromatic pistillate with reasonably average-looking features, truthful this isn’t an illustration of machine vision’s persistent problems speechmaking non-white faces.) But erstwhile it works, it adds a new, fascinating furniture of verisimilitude to virtual interactions. You tin abruptly spot erstwhile idiosyncratic is smiling oregon looking quizzical, connected apical of the caput and manus question that VR headsets already enable.

Eye tracking, meanwhile, enables foveated rendering, which lets apps show virtual objects successful much item by lone sharply rendering the pixels successful beforehand of your eyes. It’s a promising feature, particularly for gaming, since the Quest is inactive moving connected a mobile chipset with constricted power.

But, again, the existent usage is limited. Meta has 1 confirmed app that uses foveated rendering, the crippled Red Matter 2, which renders astatine a precocious solution successful the Quest Pro — but is inactive held backmost by that cardinal graininess. Face tracking is chiefly utile successful Horizon, the Meta societal level that includes a Roblox-like recreational “metaverse” called Worlds and a idiosyncratic bureau dubbed Workrooms. Worlds and Workrooms are disposable for the Quest 2 and Quest Pro alike, but Workrooms is peculiarly aimed astatine Pro users. And — there’s conscionable nary bully mode to enactment it — it’s 1 of the worst apps I’ve ever used.

Meta has been layering societal networking cruft onto the wide Quest level for years, including mandatory Facebook relationship transportation successful 2020, past the transportation of a caller Meta relationship strategy successful 2022. (You tin debar mounting up an other password by logging into your Meta relationship via Facebook, which I find much convenient but besides maddeningly redundant.)

Meta has touted this setup arsenic a mode to adhd seamless societal integration. But successful practice, it’s a confusing palimpsest that doesn’t adjacent bash things you’d reasonably expect, and that’s particularly evident successful Workrooms. Workrooms is simply a societal app successful the consciousness that it’s built for meetings with colleagues, but it doesn’t usage your existing Facebook oregon Meta societal network. It forces you to motion successful with a abstracted web app to acceptable up meetings via email invitation, past toggle backmost to the headset to participate them.

From there, adjacent aft a afloat twelvemonth of availability, the Workrooms acquisition is fundamentally a substance of luck. Maybe the invitation volition scope your colleagues, oregon possibly you’ll person to hunt down a nexus to nonstop them manually, which whitethorn oregon whitethorn not fto them in. Sometimes you’ll successfully participate the virtual country aft an interminable loading screen, and sometimes you’ll get kicked retired repeatedly. It’s similar spinning a roulette instrumentality designed by Franz Kafka, wherever the prize for winning is simply a fancy Zoom meeting.

Workrooms’ idiosyncratic bureau constituent is simply a small better, mostly due to the fact that it’s simpler. As mentioned above, the diagnostic lets you instal distant desktop bundle connected your Mac oregon PC and past task your existent machine wrong the headset connected up to 3 virtual large screens. But the Quest Pro hardware isn’t acceptable for full-time bureau work. It’s excessively dense to beryllium comfortable, and its surface makes website and app substance maddeningly fuzzy. I swore I would usage the headset arsenic a full-time computing instrumentality during this review, but I managed astir a time earlier scaling backmost to abbreviated sessions — it was conscionable excessively achy for my caput and eyes.

And Workrooms is a halfway portion of the Meta Quest Pro strategy. VR large screens are 1 of the lone things I’ve heard adjacent VR skeptics sermon buying a headset for. Virtual meetings person go a large manufacture with the maturation of distant work. Enterprise VR is an existing marketplace built astir services similar 3D visualization and workplace training, but Meta is blowing a monolithic fund connected the premise of enticing your mean bureau idiosyncratic to usage a headset.

Meta’s upcoming bundle partnerships, including a woody with Microsoft, might assistance pull that audience. And businesses won’t find the Quest Pro’s terms outrageous; it’s comparable to endeavor headsets similar HTC’s Vive Focus 3 and cheaper than the Varjo nonrecreational lineup. But for those specialized endeavor markets, I’m not convinced the Quest Pro’s other features volition beryllium that overmuch of a draw, either — and the headset doesn’t include immoderate utile features that you’d find successful options similar the Vive Focus, including swappable batteries.

Consumer VR is inactive a enactment successful progress, and Meta has ever made compromises with its headsets. But it’s typically offered thing that transcends them. The archetypal Oculus Rift had nary question controllers and an elaborate tracking setup, but it launched with games that highlighted the sheer wonderment of looking astir a VR space. The archetypal Quest had constricted graphical power, but it offered a catalog of experiences that worked large with wireless VR and question controllers. These headsets offered options that thing other connected the marketplace could match.

The Quest Pro doesn’t person immoderate of that cautious management. Meta is promoting it for uses that its hardware inactive can’t marque enjoyable, offering technically innovative features without doing a bully occupation of showcasing them. Even astatine their worst, earlier Meta headsets felt a small spot similar magic. Using the Quest Pro conscionable feels similar work.

Photography by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge