The Oculus Quest 2 is getting a big price hike, but no new features

Date:
Tue, 26 Jul 2022 17:00:00 +0000

Description:
The Oculus Quest 2 is about to get a massive price increase, so is it time to bring back the cheaper 64GB version?

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The Oculus Quest 2 is about to get a lot more expensive.

From August 1, 2022, one of the best VR headsets out there is going to see
its price jump up to $400 / 400 / AU$630 for the 128GB version (up from $299
/ 299 / AU$479), and $500 / 500 / AU$790 for the 256GB model (instead of $399 / 399 / AU$639).

That means if you want to grab the Oculus Quest 2 ( now officially the Meta Quest 2 ) before it sees a massive price hike youve only got a couple of days left. Meta has warned that the price increase will also impact the best
Oculus Quest 2 accessories and refurbished units giving you even fewer reasons to hold off making a purchase if you've been on the fence.

According to Meta, despite the incredible success its VR hardware has seen with an estimated 15 million Quest 2 headsets being sold , and over $1
billion being spent on Meta Quest apps since launch the price hike is necessary to combat increasing operational and development costs. This argument is similar to the one used by Amazon earlier today (July 26) when it announced that the price of Amazon Prime was going up in the UK and Europe .

Every cloud has a silver lining, though sorta. In this case, if you purchase a new Quest 2 between August 1 and December 31 2022 you'll be able to snag a free copy of Beat Saber one of the best Oculus Quest 2 games worth $30 / 23 / AU$47.

To get the free game youll not only have to buy the headset within the time frame above, but activate it before January 31, 2023, using an account that doesnt already have Beat Saber on it. Do that and youll have 14 days to buy and download Beat Saber at no cost though youll still have to pay for DLC like the Fall Out Boy and Billie Eilish song packs. Analysis: Bring back the 64GB Oculus Quest 2

While the Quest 2 is going to become more expensive starting next month, its actually just going back up to the price it originally was, at least in the
US and UK for those of you in Australia its going to be a whole AU$10
cheaper than it was at launch.

When the Quest 2 first launched you couldnt buy a 256GB version of the console. Instead, the 128GB model was the more expensive option at $399 / 399 / AU$639, with a cheaper 64GB headset available for $299 / 299 / AU$479. That changed about a year ago when Meta decided to scrap the 64GB model, reduce
the price of the 128GB one, and brought in a new 256GB version.

However, the big issue with Meta reverting to its original pricing is that theres now no $299 / 299 / AU$479 Quest 2 and thats a problem.

Sure, the Quest 2s $399 / 399 / AU$639 price still makes it a fair bit
cheaper than rivals in the VR market (like the Valve Index ),but its nevertheless a tough pill to swallow. Thats especially true when you look at gaming as a whole. Would you rather have a PS5, an Xbox Series X, or an
Oculus Quest 2? (Image credit: Future)

The full-powered PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles are only fractionally more expensive in some parts of the world at $499 / 449 / AU$749, while the diskless PS5 ($400 / 360 / AU$600) or the Xbox Series S ($300 / 250 / AU$500) are actually cheaper in some regions.

You might not get the unique VR experience, but youll get access to a much large selection of great titles, and next-gen upgrades for some of your favorites from the PS4 and Xbox One-era.

To combat this, Meta needs its cheaper VR headset it needs the 64GB version of the Quest 2.

In a recent teardown of why you shouldnt buy the Oculus Quest 2 256GB model, we explained that large amounts of storage arent necessary for VR games. They top out at about 8.8GB for Resident Evil 4 VR , and most are under 2GB, so even with the 128GB model you still have plenty of space for lots of games.

And, based on our experience, the 64GB version is also fine. We actually
still use our 64GB headset, and while we do have to delete and swap out games its not much of a hassle. Plus, our headsets hard drive is only full because we have quite a few games that we've reviewed; most people won't be pushing the limits of their hardwares storage anywhere near as much.

At this time Meta has yet to announce plans to relaunch a 64GB headset for
its original $299 / 299 / AU$479 price, but we hope this changes. VR is
really starting to take off, and a big reason for that is that the Quest 2 is a relatively inexpensive gadget for people to pick up.



If cheaper rivals can come to market, Meta could see its status as top dog in VR world threatened and that wouldn't bode well for its future VR projects like the upcoming Project Cambria headset.

Weve previously posited that Metas downfall would be more likely to come from its own mistakes rather than the success of its competitors and todays news lends weight to that theory. Oculus Quest 2 losing Splinter Cell is a gaming tragedy



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/oculus-quest-2-getting-way-more-expensive-but-n o-new-features/


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