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Jul 22, 2023

The 2 Best VR Headsets for 2023

We’ve added details about Apple's Pro Vision AR/VR headset and Meta’s upcoming

We’ve added details about Apple's Pro Vision AR/VR headset and Meta's upcoming Quest 3 VR headset to our What to look forward to section.

Virtual reality can be an arresting way to step into engaging virtual worlds, even if it's still a new technology that remains far from being a "most people" purchase. We think the Meta (formerly Oculus) Quest 2 is the best headset for most people because it's the easiest to use and offers access to the widest range of games and experiences.

The Quest 2 has a cord-free design and convincing hand tracking with the added option to plug it into a PC to access more powerful games.

You save $100 (25%)

You save $100 (25%)

You save $100 (25%)

You can spend thousands of dollars chasing the best specs in a VR headset, but we think comfort and ease of use are more important elements for most people who want to explore VR. With that in mind, the Meta Quest 2 is the clear winner. It combines good-enough specs with the ability to use it cord free, but you can also plug it into a computer, which opens up even more options for how and where you can use it. The controllers are intuitive and easy to hold. It can track you as you move around a room. And it doesn't take much time to set up. Additionally, the Quest 2 has a wide selection of compatible content because you can download games, movies, and other experiences from both the Meta Quest Store and SteamVR libraries. (The Meta Quest Pro, released in 2022, is too expensive and lacks the right features for anyone primarily interested in playing games.)

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This headset's screen handily beats the competition, but you’ll need a high-end computer to make the most of it.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $800.

An upgrade to HTC's stock controllers, we think the Valve Index Controllers are the best combo of comfort and accurate tracking.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $280.

You’ll need two base stations to operate an HTC Vive Pro 2 Headset.

For players searching for the latest and greatest VR headset for playing video games, we think the HTC Vive Pro 2 headset paired with Valve Index Controllers and two HTC SteamVR Base Station 2.0 units is the best combination. The Vive Pro 2 has the crispest screen we’ve tried (though you’ll need a powerful computer to max out its abilities), while the Valve Index Controllers combine comfort with the best hand tracking we’ve experienced. Together, they provide an especially immersive VR experience.

The Quest 2 has a cord-free design and convincing hand tracking with the added option to plug it into a PC to access more powerful games.

You save $100 (25%)

You save $100 (25%)

You save $100 (25%)

This headset's screen handily beats the competition, but you’ll need a high-end computer to make the most of it.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $800.

An upgrade to HTC's stock controllers, we think the Valve Index Controllers are the best combo of comfort and accurate tracking.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $280.

You’ll need two base stations to operate an HTC Vive Pro 2 Headset.

Virtual reality can make you feel like you’ve been transported to another world—or at the very least like you are experiencing a wonderfully novel piece of technology. Short films, puzzles, social networks, and other types of VR entertainment are available. But if you’re not into video games, the only VR-ready medium that can offer hours of immersive entertainment, you may grow bored fairly quickly. With that in mind, only gamers or technophiles with fairly deep pockets should seriously consider a VR setup at this time.

Remember that it's still a developing technology. You’re basically a guinea pig helping developers figure out how the headsets should be used.

Virtual reality games are different from games on traditional consoles like the Xbox and PlayStation. Motion-tracking controllers, which bring your hands into the virtual world, are more intuitive for beginners: Swinging a sword feels more like swinging a sword, throwing a mug at a robot feels (kind of) like throwing a mug, ducking for cover can require real ducking. This makes play more immersive and intuitive than with regular video games, where your movements rely on your pressing the right combinations of buttons on a controller. For example, I’ve never been a fan of Halo or Gears of War, but I immediately had fun playing shooter games in VR. On the other hand, an experienced gamer (but VR beginner) told me during testing that he was annoyed that VR still had a learning curve at all.

If you decide to try VR, go in with an open mind and a sense of adventure, and remember that it's still a developing technology. There are already some great VR experiences, like the heart-pumping Beat Saber. But you’re still basically a guinea pig helping developers figure out how the headsets should be used. Expect your headset to become obsolete within a matter of years.

It's a good idea to go to a store to test a few VR systems for yourself; Meta and HTC publish maps of locations where you can test headsets. If you’re skeptical of VR and can't try it ahead of time, you have trouble enjoying the experience at the store, or you aren't completely excited about the idea of exploring at home, a VR headset is probably not for you.

While searching for VR systems to test, we read comparison guides from PCMag, Wired, and CNET. We also interviewed Road to VR co-founder Ben Lang and former Svrf CEO Sophia Dominguez on what to look for in a VR headset.

We considered only headsets that were built for home use, had the ability to track hand and body movements, and had controllers—without those features, you lose most of the magic of VR. We think the best headsets also have the following features:

As VR has matured, we’ve continued to test new models against old favorites. In an initial round of testing in 2016, we set up and tested the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, and then had four VR beginners (with gaming experience levels ranging from zero to expert) use each system too. In 2018, we tested the standalone Oculus Go and the Lenovo Mirage Solo against mobile VR headsets. We also tested the Vive Pro against the Rift. In 2019, we added the Oculus Quest to our testing lineup and pitted the Rift against the Rift S. We tested the Meta Quest 2 and Vive Cosmos Elite in 2020. In 2021, we tested the Valve Index, HTC Vive Pro 2, HTC Vive Focus 3, and HP Reverb G2. We tested the Meta Quest Pro in 2022.

Though we used to have separate picks for PC, standalone, and mobile VR headsets, we’ve grown convinced over the years that cordless headsets like the Meta Quest 2 are the best option for anyone looking for their first headset. As a result, while we continue to test and discuss the latest PC-connected and mobile headsets, we only recommend them for a specific niche.

I spend at least three hours in each VR system myself. Comfort is important, especially for first-timers. VR should maximize immersion—the sense that you’re in a virtual world. Discomfort is one of the quickest ways to break that sense. I noted where each headset concentrated weight on my head, and how my level of comfort changed over the course of a long VR session.

I also carefully evaluated each system's hand controllers, because intuitive controls make games feel much more real. Controller designs vary slightly, with different buttons and a different feel in your hand.

The Quest 2 has a cord-free design and convincing hand tracking with the added option to plug it into a PC to access more powerful games.

You save $100 (25%)

You save $100 (25%)

You save $100 (25%)

The Meta Quest 2 makes it easier—and fun enough to be worth it—to give VR a try compared with headsets that require cables and expensive PCs. The Quest 2 has two capable controllers and is compatible with some of our favorite games. It's also small enough to toss into a tote bag or a backpack, so you can break it out at the office or a party (or could, if you didn't need to safely distance from others). You can set it up and start playing in less than a minute; thanks to built-in sensors that track the two Touch controllers and your other movements, you can navigate an entire room, and the headset won't ever lose your location. As a result, we consistently reach for it over headsets that cost two or even five times as much.

By default, the Quest 2 is cordless. Sensors for tracking your head and hands are built into the headset and controllers, which means you can walk around the entirety of a room and your virtual body will do the same. Although a PC headset with more-precise tracking, such as the Valve Index or the HTC Vive Pro 2, can better replicate your movement and avoid reality-breaking glitches, like your hands floating away, we found the Quest 2 convincing enough to cross that initial threshold into "realness." The ability to play without a cord also means you aren't pulled out of a game when you inevitably trip on the cable tethering you to a PC.

However, many of the best VR games require a connection to a PC to give the headset additional processing power. We think the Oculus Link cable is a worthy buy for any Quest 2 owner because it allows you to play PC games on the headset, unlocking the full Meta Quest and SteamVR libraries.

There's plenty to do inside a Quest 2 headset. We welcomed the return of several of our favorite games, including the addictive Beat Saber, which on its own could be justification to buy the Quest 2. We also like the Matrix-like Superhot, the 3D-painting experience Tilt Brush, the battle royale-style Population: One, and the adventure-puzzle game Moss. If you have a PC, you can plug in the Quest 2 (using the separate Oculus Link cable) and play the critically acclaimed first-person shooter Half-Life: Alyx.

The Quest 2's LCD screen offers 1832×1920 pixels per eye, which made it one of the first headsets that didn't regularly give us the "screen door effect," which is a light grid laid over your field of view. The Quest 2 currently has a maximum refresh rate (think of this as the VR way of saying "frames per second") of 120 Hz, matching the HTC Vive Pro 2 and beating the Quest Pro's 90 Hz. Higher refresh rates are generally believed to reduce the likelihood that users might experience motion sickness while using a VR headset.

At a claimed 503 grams (1.1 pound), the Quest 2 is a hair heavier than we prefer for our VR headsets (it's like hanging a half-liter bottle of water from your face). But due to cushy foam padding that rests on your face and adjustable straps that reach around to the back of your head, we found that the Quest 2 is fairly comfortable to wear for hour-long play sessions, though we had to fiddle with the fit to get it to sit correctly. The headset's strap is a downgrade in quality and comfort from previous Meta headsets. If you care enough to want to change it, you have to shell out $50 extra for the halo-style Elite Strap.

The Quest 2's Touch controllers, which are similar to the original Rift Touch controllers, are among our favorite styles of VR controllers. The two controllers are molded to sit in your hand, with your pointer fingers resting on triggers and your middle fingers resting on "grip" buttons. Your thumbs can reach a small joystick, plus A, B, and home buttons. Sensors built into the headset track the location of the controllers, so moving your hands physically moves them in VR. The Quest 2's controllers are intuitive to use and easy to hold for long periods. While Ars Technica reports that the newer controllers are less accurate than those that came with the original Quest, Tested notes that they seem to simply operate in a different way. In practice, we didn't notice a change in quality between the controllers. The lack of external sensors that a headset like the HTC Vive Pro 2 uses to carefully replicate your hand movements in VR might be missing here, but we found the Quest 2's controllers still accurate enough to fly through difficult levels of Beat Saber without frustration.

Interestingly, the Quest 2 also gives you the option to ditch the controllers and use just your hands to interact with menus and some games. We found the tracking to be functional, but fairly inaccurate; if you move your hands too far away from the headset, it loses sight of them and you’re no longer in control. You also need to learn a series of gestures, such as pinches and drags, which means the learning curve is just as steep as using the controllers. We think hand tracking has long-term potential for even more natural gameplay, but we didn't find it intuitive enough to choose over the controllers for now.

It's like hanging a half-liter bottle of water from your face.

The Quest 2 does not have built-in headphones. Instead, it has built-in speakers that direct 3D sound toward your ears. The Quest 2's audio quality is good enough for immersive VR (and sounds even better than the original Quest), though it isn't as clear as you’d get with a pair of nice headphones.Thankfully, you can plug in your own headphones (or buy the $50 earbuds that Meta advertises) on either side of it. We do like the open-ear setup in a social setting, where the speakers can clue onlookers in on what the person wearing the headset is seeing.

Meta says that the Quest 2's battery lasts two to three hours, though we found it fell closer to the two-hour mark. That's plenty of time for solo play. However, when we’ve used cordless headsets with friends, we have always ended up running out of battery power. You can use the Quest 2 while it's plugged in, though you won't be able to move around as much when you’re connected to a cable. We managed to play Beat Saber with the headset plugged in for a while, but we eventually ripped the cord out of the socket.

No one has gotten the strap quite right on a VR headset. I usually wear my long hair down or in a ponytail and have yet to use a strap that doesn't slide around or bunch up my hair. The Quest 2's strap lacks padding and doesn't distribute weight on the back of the head as well as a halo-style strap, and we think many people will choose to upgrade to the Elite Strap. However, we didn't find it so irritating that it detracted from our gameplay.

Although the Quest 2's Touch controllers are the most comfortable to hold and use, they lost sight of our hands more often than headsets that use exterior sensors you place around the room to track the location of your body and hands. The Quest 2 is built with inside-out tracking, which means the headset uses cameras to track lights emitted by the controllers. Throw your hands behind your back and you might find your virtual hands no longer respond when you move the controllers. In my experience, as long as the room was well lit and I kept the controllers in front of me, this didn't seem to be much of an issue.

As is the case with any other VR headset, it feels hot inside the Quest 2. The foam face pad can quickly become soaked with sweat when you play an active game like Beat Saber. If you plan to share the headset with friends, it may be a good idea to pick up a few disposable masks.

We found the new way to adjust the Quest 2's lenses puzzling; instead of a lever on the outside of the headset to change interpupillary distance to account for different faces and eyesight, you have to reach into the headset and push directly on the lenses. That means you can't adjust it with the headset on and are at a higher risk of dirtying the lenses.

Finally, it's worth questioning whether you’re willing to drop $400-plus on what is still very much an emerging technology. While the Quest 2's price tag might sound incredibly cheap compared with the competition, it's likely you’ll want to tack on a few accessories that come standard with more expensive headsets. To get the most out of the Quest 2, you’ll also want to buy a PC and Link cable. Then, there are the extra accessories to consider.

This headset's screen handily beats the competition, but you’ll need a high-end computer to make the most of it.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $800.

If you want a more powerful headset that pushes VR closer to its current bounds (or want to avoid a headset affiliated with Facebook), we recommend buying the HTC Vive Pro 2 Headset and pairing it with Valve Index Controllers and two HTC SteamVR Base Station 2.0 units. You’ll need a fast gaming computer—and be willing to spend five times more than it would cost to buy a Quest 2—but you’ll be rewarded with the crispest screen, detailed position and motion tracking in a whole room, and access to VR's best games. This headset isn't a level-up for the VR industry as a whole, but it does offer a step forward in specs at a price that would have been a dream just a decade ago.

While the Quest 2 focuses on freedom of movement and ease of use with its standalone design, the Vive Pro 2 seeks to bring your body and hands into VR in as much detail as possible. Setup involves placing two HTC SteamVR Base Station 2.0 devices in elevated locations; you can either mount them on a wall or set them on a shelf. Then, they communicate with your headset and controllers to create a strong sense of presence within VR. When you move your hands or take three steps, so does your in-game body.

The experience is convincing enough that you can focus on what you’re doing instead of what you’re seeing.

Using the Vive Pro 2 and the Base Station 2.0 devices, our hands never disappeared or floated away like they sometimes do while using a Quest 2. If you have four base stations, your VR play space can expand to as large as 33 x 33 feet. There's also the option to add a wireless adapter to the headset for $350, though it limits the Vive Pro 2's resolution and refresh rate. It's tough to imagine spending that much on an already expensive headset, but a cord can be a distracting bummer after the freedom of using a cordless Quest 2 (especially in larger room setups).

SteamVR has a huge library of VR games for the Vive Pro 2, including the adrenaline-pumping Half-Life: Alyx and perennial favorite Beat Saber. For those already used to using Steam, it's an especially easy way to manage a library of VR games.

The Vive Pro 2 has a 5K screen, meaning each of the two LCD screens it floats in front of your eyes have a resolution of 2448×2448 pixels. The Quest 2 is noticeably less sharp at 1832×1920 pixels per eye. The Pro 2's field of view is notably wide at 120 degrees, and it can reach a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz (or 90 Hz if you’re using the headset wirelessly). In practice, that means you’ll still be aware that you’re staring at a screen; we sometimes noticed flares of light when we looked at high-contrast images like white text on a black background. But the colors and blacks look crisp, in-game action is smooth, and the experience is convincing enough that you can focus on what you’re doing instead of what you’re seeing.

Weighing in at 850 grams, we did notice the bulk of the Vive Pro 2 more than the 503-gram Quest 2. We’ve also seen complaints online that some face shapes don't mesh well with Vive headsets, though we didn't have a panel of testers with more physical variations try this one out because of pandemic restrictions. However, we find halo-style headsets especially helpful for adjusting fit. We also like the Vive Pro 2's foam face cushions, which wipe clean easier than the one included with the Quest 2.

The wand-style controllers included with the full Vive Pro 2 Full Kit are fine; it's a design that HTC has sold for years now, though we’ve found them a bit awkward to use. We think it's worthwhile to spend a bit more and buy Vive Pro 2 accessories à la carte so you can swap in a pair of Valve Index Controllers instead. The Valve Index Controllers can track each individual finger, have both a joystick and a trackpad (most controller sets have only a single trackpad), and are more comfortable to hold. They’re widely considered the best VR controllers made.

The Vive Pro 2 headset comes with on-ear headphones. We think they’re good enough for an immersive VR experience and didn't think twice about using them. But if you’re an audiophile, it's possible to remove them and use USB-C headphones instead. Or, you could consider getting the cheaper Valve Index headset for its slightly superior audio quality.

There's no doubt that the Meta Quest Pro improves on the Meta Quest 2. Its new "pancake lenses" handle light in a new way that allows the headset to be less bulky. Those lenses, combined with the Quest Pro's upgraded display, produce visuals that appear sharper with better contrast. The Quest Pro also introduces features like eye and expression tracking that can make social interactions feel more realistic and immersive. Its controllers, strap, and audio are better, too. But unless you want to build models or read PDFs in VR all day long, most people will be happier with the cheaper Meta Quest 2 or the more gaming-focused Vive Pro 2.

Meta has marketed the Quest Pro as a solution for the workplace. You can edit documents in Adobe Acrobat or meet with coworkers, draw on a whiteboard, and type on your computer in Meta Horizon Workrooms. But the fact is you can do all of these things in a Quest 2 headset for a third of the price; given the way people use VR headsets today, tracking expressions and a sharper screen for reading documents just doesn't justify the higher price tag. We’re also curious about who exactly is spending all day working in VR. We found it frustrating to even log into Adobe Acrobat—we had to check our email for a code, but the Quest Pro's cameras for augmented reality—which now display color instead of the Quest 2's black and white—are so bad we couldn't read our phone's screen from inside the headset (AR games felt like a gimmicky bust, too). It was difficult to orient a pen correctly to write on a whiteboard, and it was easier to pull off the headset to chat in Slack than navigate back to the app inside the headset (I also was late to a Zoom meeting in the real world when I became too immersed in VR). The Quest Pro's hand tracking isn't good enough to make us put down the controllers, either; we’re still waiting on a headset maker to make it feel truly intuitive.

As a result of the social and workplace focus, the Quest Pro is also not the right headset for anyone who would rather play video games. The Vive Pro 2 has a better screen, refresh rate, and field of view, and does a better job of tracking your movement around a room for slightly cheaper than the Quest Pro (provided you already own a PC). You can still have a great game experience (or visit to Meta Horizon Worlds) on the Quest 2 for a third of the price, with longer battery life to boot.

The PlayStation VR2 is designed as the perfect companion to the PlayStation 5. It's not a standalone headset—it requires a PlayStation 5 to function, and it uses a single USB-C cable to connect to the PS5. But the PS VR2 is comfortable and easy to set up, it looks great, and it comes closer than any other cabled headset to bringing console-level simplicity to VR.

Because it uses a "halo" harness system that rests on top of your head, the PS VR2 is more comfortable than other headsets and adjusts more simply. It's also easier to put on and take off, and it's the easiest time we’ve had adjusting a headset around glasses. Each eye has a 2000×2040 OLED screen, and supports high-dynamic range. This effective resolution of 4K minimizes "screen-door effect," and although the image isn't perfectly sharp in every game, the OLED panels provide a great-looking image with very good black levels at high-refresh-rate modes of 90 Hz and 120 Hz. This should help mitigate VR-induced motion sickness for some wearers.

PS VR2's goggles also include IR cameras that enable full eye tracking. It works well, judging by something as simple as menu navigation in Horizon: Call of the Mountain (more on that in a minute). It could be a great accessibility accommodation for some users, but we’ll have to see what uses games find for it in the future. Audio-wise, the PS VR2 includes a surprisingly decent-sounding detachable pair of earbuds. You can also use your own PS5-compatible headphones.

Replacing the involved, unreliable combination of PlayStation Camera and Move controllers the original PS VR used for tracking and control, the PS VR2 now uses inside-out tracking and custom Sense controllers that should feel familiar to anyone who's used a VR setup in the last several years. The Sense controllers work well, and the tracking in our experience so far is effective, though picky about the spaces it considers appropriate for room-scale VR.

The result is very good hardware. But the PS VR2 is currently a tough sell. It retails for $550, which is quite a bit more expensive than an Oculus Quest 2, which doesn't require a PS5 to use (even if its feature set is worse without a connected PC). On top of that, the PS VR2 isn't backward-compatible with the last-generation PS VR's software library, so it lacks the plethora of games you get with Meta's Quest headsets or other, PC-based headsets. As for exclusives, other than added VR modes to games like Gran Turismo 7 and Resident Evil: Village, options are limited, and mostly available on other platforms as well. The only major exclusive release for PS VR2 at launch is Horizon: Call of the Mountain, which is beautiful but ultimately somewhat shallow, particularly for a full-priced game.

It's a great device, but until PlayStation announces a slate of must-play games that aren't available anywhere else, most people shouldn't buy one yet.

If you want to use the Quest 2 or a PC headset to their full potential, you need a powerful gaming computer and, ideally, an empty room to set it up in. (The Quest 2 will suggest virtually marking off a 6.5-by-6.5-foot area, minimum, though you can play games with less than that if you’re sure you won't run into anything). Both Meta and HTC have pages featuring compatible VR-ready PCs and bundles, and both list minimum and recommended PC specs (Meta's list is here, and HTC's is here) for use with their systems. Both headset makers also offer tools that you can download to test whether your current PC is VR-ready.

If you aren't after the best possible headset specs and would like to spend a bit less on a PC-tethered headset, we think the Valve Index offers a great middle ground. For $1,000, you get a headset, the widely beloved Valve Index Controllers, and two base stations, allowing for a more accurate and immersive room-scale VR experience than a Meta Quest 2 can provide. We also think the Index audio sounds a hair better than the HTC Vive Pro 2's. However, the Vive Pro 2 has a better screen and added options like the ability to go wireless. There's also some evidence that an Index 2 is on the way.

At its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, Apple announced its long-awaited AR/VR headset, Apple Vision Pro, which will start at $3,500 with an expected launch date of early 2023.

The Vision Pro's outward appearance isn't a radical departure from other recent headsets save for a feature Apple claims is designed to improve the sense of presence with other people in the room: an externally-facing 3D OLED screen that projects the user's eyes to outside viewers. However, these visuals are actually artificially generated via 3D scanning in the headset similar to the process of enabling Face ID on recent iPhones. For video conferencing, the Vision Pro uses the same scanning process to create a realistic avatar of the user's head, which is intended to appear to other participants.

Apple's M2 processor powers the Vision Pro, but the now-standard Apple chipset is further augmented by Apple's new R1 processor, which Apple claims will significantly speed up the processing of Vision Pro's onboard cameras, mics, and sensors to enable full gesture and voice controls. The Vision Pro will skip the external input devices entirely—instead, the Vision Pro's glass and aluminum chassis houses five sensors and 12 cameras to track your eye movements and hand gestures along with the room around you. These gestures are used to navigate an iOS-style interface Apple is calling VisionOS, a "spatial operating system" that will allow users to arrange multiple windows and widgets around them, whether natively on the device or while connected to a Mac.

The Vision Pro has a cable that runs from the headset to an external battery pack, which Apple claims will provide around two hours of usage time between charges. This appears to be a compromise to reduce the weight of the headset itself.

Apple's headset is set to cost significantly more than any other consumer-level headset from competitors like HTC and Meta, though Apple appears to be targeting somewhat different use cases. While the Quest and Vive headsets have primarily been positioned for gaming use cases, Apple instead emphasized the general entertainment benefits of the Vision Pro in its presentation.

Apple stressed the 3D display capabilities made possible by the Vision Pro's better-than-4K resolution per eye, combined with its own spatial audio tech, which it claimed could provide theater quality immersive media experiences. An announced but light-on-details partnership with Disney suggested other three-dimensional Disney park style-experiences and the ability to stream multiple sports feeds at once via ESPN, which Disney also owns. There was some mention of more traditional gaming, though that demonstration focused on "flat" games on a 2D plane using a controller.

The Vision Pro's price is obviously likely to be a key sticking point for most consumers, and it's not clear how Apple will make a clearer case that the Vision Pro's experience will warrant that cost for most people. We’ll have more details on the Vision Pro later this year.

Meta also announced its Quest 3 VR headset in June. The follow-up to the popular Quest 2 has what are called "pancake optics," which use flat plastic lenses to reduce the size and weight of the headset. Meta said the Quest 3 will have the highest resolution display of all its headsets. The new model is powered by a next-gen Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset and offers color passthrough video support. The Quest 3 will start at $500 for 128GB of storage, but Meta hasn't yet announced a release date. The company said it will share more information about the Quest 3 at its Meta Connect developers conference in late September.

There was a lot to like about the Oculus Rift S and Oculus Rift, but Meta discontinued them.

HTC has built many headset models, some of which we’ve recommended in the past. We think the Vive Pro 2 makes the most sense for people who like to play video games, but if the specs on a different HTC headset better meet your needs, it's likely a good buy. Vive also benefits from access to the huge library of Steam VR games.

Windows Mixed Reality headsets, in our experience, have less reliable tracking and less content, and worse controllers than Meta and HTC headsets. However, the HP Reverb G2 is the best option currently available.

Pimax headsets have impressive features that match or beat the competition. But in our experience these headsets are bulky, suffer from screen flaws, and are among the most expensive VR options out there.

If you can swallow spending $1,000 more to avoid a Meta-branded gadget, the HTC Vive Focus 3 is the best standalone VR headset available. Its screen is higher resolution and has a wider field of view than the Meta Quest 2. However, we still prefer the Quest 2's controllers.

Sam Machkovech, Review: We do not recommend the $299 Oculus Quest 2 as your next VR system, Ars Technica, September 16, 2020

Jess Grey, The Best VR Headsets to Try (and Some to Avoid), Wired, September 20, 2020

Scott Stein, The Best VR Headsets for 2020, CNET, September 8, 2020

Will Greenwald, The Best VR Headsets for 2020, PCMag, October 14, 2020

Scott Stein, Oculus VR will soon require you to have a Facebook account, CNET, August 18, 2020

Adi Robertson, Vive Cosmos Review: Not Out of This World, The Verge, October 10, 2019

Adi Robertson, Valve Index Review: High-Powered VR at a High-End Price, The Verge, June 28, 2019

Ben Lang, co-founder of Road to VR, phone interview, November 18, 2016

Sophia Dominguez, former CEO of Svrf, phone interview, November 17, 2016

Signe Brewster

Signe Brewster is an editor on Wirecutter's PC team. She also writes about virtual reality. She previously reported on emerging technology and science for publications like Wirecutter, MIT Technology Review, Wired, Science, and Symmetry Magazine. She spends her free time quilting and pursuing an MFA in creative writing.

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