An image of a new Oculus Quest virtual reality headset apparently leaked online. The image was posted by Twitter user WalkingCat, who has produced credible leaks in the past. It shows a headset very similar to the existing Oculus Quest, but with a black-and-white color scheme, potentially slimmer design, and possibly controversial feature setting.
The Quest is the flagship product of Oculus, owned by Facebook, and the leaked image appears to show an iterative update rather than a new generation of headphones, similar to the Oculus Rift S that followed the tethered Oculus Rift. Instead of the black-on-black fabric and plastic combination of the original 2019 earbuds, it appears to show a completely plastic white body with a black face mask. The straps have been redesigned to make the adjustment feature on each side less prominent or replace it with a single adjuster on the back, though they have the same basic design as the original Quest, rather than the more comfortable but bulky halo “Style Oculus adopted for the Rift S.
The headset looks shallower, which is consistent with previous reports of a smaller, lighter Quest on the go. But that is difficult to judge from a single angled representation. The best tracking cameras, by contrast, do have a markedly lower and more side-facing location. That plausibly allows you to pick up a wider horizontal range of motion for the controller. The rendering includes a pair of Oculus Touch controllers, which look very similar to the existing design beyond their white plastic.
All of these are welcome changes, as the front weight of the current Quest is a real disadvantage compared to competing PC corded headsets. But there is also an ominous change: the lack of an interpupillary distance slider at the bottom of the earpiece. The current Quest’s IPD slider physically changes the distance between the lenses, providing a clearer focus for people with eyes that are closer to or farther than average. Oculus removed this feature from the Rift S, and Quest may also be missing it. It’s also possible that the slider simply moves, since we can’t see the top of the headset or its right side.
Even if this leak is real, we still don’t know the specs of the headphones or if this image reflects the latest design. (We don’t even know if Oculus is completely changing its appearance or if Quest could offer multiple color options, although Oculus has not in the past.) Pricing will also be a major theme for an updated Quest, with Oculus recently removing its low-end Go design. The current Quest starts at $ 399, but one made with slightly cheaper materials could fetch a lower price.
Oculus declined to comment on the leaked image. But a Nikkei Asian Review Last week’s article stated that Oculus plans to begin serial production of new headphones in late July. That could line up with an announcement or a release date later this year, possibly around the Oculus Connect developer conference.
