The Oculus Quest 2 is the latest standalone VR headset from the Facebook-owned Oculus, and it’s been an absolutely enormous hit so far – but despite that it’s been temporarily pulled from sale for a few weeks.
For the uninitiated, the Quest 2 is an all-in-one VR headset that works on its own wirelessly, and also connects to a PC, with PC VR apps, using the Oculus Link cable. That means you can play room-scale virtual reality games without an expensive desktop PC – or a load of cables getting in the way – but still benefit from the power of that PC if you own one.
The good news? It’s £100 cheaper than its predecessor. Given the success of the original Quest (now discontinued), it’s no surprise that it’s selling fast. With its disruptive pricing, the Quest offers a powerful and versatile headset at a fraction of the cost of competitors, like the HTC Vive Cosmos Elite which punches in at £899, and the even more expensive Valve Index that costs £919.
The bad news? Right now you can’t buy one at all, as it’s been pulled from sale worldwide over a minor skin irritation issue. And even when it is in stock, it’s selling so well that it isn’t often discounted, so genuine offers are few and far between – but we’re working hard to find every saving out there. Here’s where you can buy the Quest 2 at the best price when it’s back in stock.
Why was the Quest 2 removed from sale?
The Quest 2 has been removed from sale worldwide temporarily, as part of a voluntary recall by Oculus and its owner Facebook.
The problem stems from concerns about a rare skin irritation problem caused by the headset’s foam padding. Existing Quest 2 owners are eligible to request a free silicone cover to sit on top of the foam, and the pause in headset sales is to give the company time to add the cover into existing headsets – with the aim for the headset to go back on sale on 24 August, with a silicone cover included in every box.
At that point the base storage will also increase from 64GB to 128GB, with no increase in price.
Curiously, this isn’t the first time that the foam has been an issue. The Quest 2 was briefly removed from sale on Amazon across Europe earlier this year over the same issue.
At that time only Amazon stopped selling the headset – while other retailers including Oculus.com carried on selling it – and when it eventually returned on sale Oculus said that the headsets are now manufactured with a new foam that does not cause any irritation. Presumably this foam fix wasn’t enough, since it’s now opted to include the silicone covers instead.
How much does the Oculus Quest 2 cost?
- 128GB – £299
- 256GB – £399
The Oculus Quest 2 starts at £299 for the 128GB model in the UK. This makes it £100 lower than the starting price of the original Quest, which only included 64GB storage – as did the Quest 2 initially, but the 64GB model is being phased out for a 128GB version at the same price.
Meanwhile the larger capacity 256GB model is also a major upgrade from the 128GB maximum on the original Quest, which cost £499 – meaning you now get more storage at a lower price for both tiers of the headset. Nice.
Best Oculus Quest 2 discounts and deals
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While the product recall is in effect you can’t buy the Quest 2 anywhere right now – which means there aren’t many deals to be had. Check back here when the headset goes back on sale on 24 August.
Where to buy the Oculus Quest 2
When it comes back in stock, you should also be able to buy the Quest 2 directly from Oculus or any of the retailers listed below:
- Game – Free standard delivery
- Argos on eBay – Click and Collect available
- Argos – Standard same-day delivery available for £3.95
- Currys PC World – Free standard delivery in 4-5 days
- John Lewis – Free standard delivery
- Very – Free Click and Collect or £3.99 for standard delivery
Is the Oculus Quest 2 better than the Quest?
The simple answer is yes, but see our review to find out why.
The Quest 2 is 10% lighter, more comfortable, and offers an improved display with over 50% more pixels than the original Quest. This translates to a bright, detailed experience with nearly 2K resolution per eye.
The refresh rate also gets a boost to 90Hz from 60Hz, along with controllers that last four times longer than the batteries on the original.
More importantly, Oculus has simplified the IPD (or Interpupillary Distance) adjustment. The IPD measures the distance between your pupils to calculate a 3D effect that’s believable. Users can now quickly choose the setting that works best out of three options.
Of course, if you’re looking at how to buy the Quest 2, you probably know most of this, but see our handy round-up of all Oculus Quest 2 deets and news and the best Quest accessories if you want to know even more. For more future-facing tech, take a look at the latest Oculus Quest 2 Pro news.
The Quest 2 release came just ahead of the release of the Sony PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X consoles.
