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Always on the verge of adoption, never quite.
That pretty well describes the consumer virtual reality and augmented reality landscape over the past half decade. But consumer mixed reality now officially deserves a look thanks to growing competition and new headsets from a variety of gamers old and new. As the business case for AR / VR technologies outstrips consumer adoption, pressure from the company, which widely employs consumer mixed reality hardware, has helped move the technology in the right direction in all the scopes.
What follows are our picks for the best VR and AR headsets available.
Oculus Quest 2
From the company that pioneered wireless virtual reality, Oculus Quest 2 is an evolution of the popular Quest headset. With Quest 2, Oculus takes a multigenerational leap in processing power with the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 platform that offers increased AI capacity and 6GB of RAM. The new display features 1832 x 1920 pixels per eye, the company’s highest resolution display yet. With 50% more pixels than the original Quest, everything from multiplayer games and productivity apps to 360-degree video looks better than ever.
$ 399 at Amazon $ 399 at Best Buy $ 399 at Adorama
Oculus Rift S
If you have a high-powered gaming PC, the Rift S is the best value for leveling up VR. Features high-quality in-room monitoring and controllers for an impressive overall experience. There is also an impressive catalog of games available. It’s a bit bulky, but other than that, this headset is hard to beat.
$ 399 at Amazon
HTC Vive Cosmos Elite
If you want to enhance your experience at a combined pixel resolution of 2880 x 1700, and if you want room-wide gameplay with best-in-class room tracking, Vive Cosmos is worth checking out. It’s an upgrade from the original Cosmos, and because the system is designed with interoperability in mind, you can create your own VR gaming experience with other HTC components.
$ 900 at Best Buy $ 879 at Adorama $ 899 at Walmart
HTC Vive Cosmos
For those who don’t need external tracking and don’t mind the lower resolution, the HTC Vive Cosmos will save you a couple hundred bucks and represents a pretty solid piece of equipment. It’s also part of the same modular universe as HTC, which means you can personalize your VR experience and upgrade it however you see fit.
$ 700 at Best Buy $ 699 at Adorama $ 700 at Walmart
Oculus Go
If you want a cheap standalone headphones that are wireless, the Oculus Go is a great deal. The Go defined what was possible in wireless headphones, and it’s still a great piece of hardware, doubly thanks to the vast library of games and apps available from Oculus’ ever-growing library.
$ 270 at Amazon
EPSON move BT-300
Very transparent glasses with an innovative Si-OLED screen. Superior transparency, plus a high resolution camera, ensures seamless integration of digital content with the outside world. The BT-300 features a binocular display, making it ideal for side-by-side 3D content for work or play.
$ 699 at Amazon
Abductor
Raptor is a combination of a bike computer and an AR system. The display projects a discrete AR layer of information in front of the rider’s eyes, displaying information about performance, body posture and accomplishments in a way that allows the eyes to stay on the road.
$ 599 from Everysight
Vuzix Blade
Although most often used for business applications, Vuzix headsets are top of the line and can be deployed for home use. A very good use case is education, where headsets can help children (particularly those currently adjusting to distance learning) to connect and engage with the material.
$ 899 from Vuzix
Alone
It is like an always active coach. Solos is an AR display designed with athletes in mind. Displays work equally well for runners and cyclists, feeding back critical data to improve performance without inhibiting your view.
$ 499 in Solos
