Oculus Quest 2 Vs Valve Index...(Which is Best for You)

the quest ii versus the valve index the long awaited battle these are the two most currently discussed and frequently looked at vr headsets as they represent the best of two worlds the best of a budget friendly world and the best of a premium world however these two are actually kind of like the yin and yang symbol not just only with you know their colors but also they represent two distinct sides while still neither of them being quite complete the quest ii completely eliminating the screen door effects except limited by its fov the valve index with a nice wide fov except limited by the screen door effect this is just one example of what makes the decision between these two headsets just so difficult for a lot of people that have the money or are either willing to save up for a valve index this video will give you a definitive answer to which headset best suits you to do this i'll be using a point based system at the top left is the quest 2 and on the top right is the valve index there will be 10 categories setup display fov lenses controllers tracking audio comfort reliability and value for money each time a headset wins a category it will receive one point in favor of it and to add some credibility on my part for reviewing both of these i've been very active in the vr industry for a couple of years now i work alongside multiple other vr content creators at the respawn i've been through a psvr cv one rift s and obviously the quest 2 and the valve index i have around i'd say 800 or so hours logged on the index and steamvr and just over two weeks on the quest too this is plenty of time to be able to fairly review both of these from the categories that i listed before this will also be primarily focused on the hardware itself i know there's a lot of controversy surrounding facebook with the quest too if you want my opinion on the facebook controversy check out my quest 2 video but this video will be almost purely hardware focused all right let's do this starting with the setup the setup with the quest 2 was ridiculously easy and fast obviously in part due to the lack of lighthouses that needed to be set up also some important ui and tutorial decisions to set this thing up it arrived at my house i opened the box i took the plastic tab out of the controllers put the headset on traced out my playspace logged in with facebook and played through the opening tutorial bada bing like i said in my quest 2 video a newborn baby could set this thing up it's so incredibly accessible it's amazing now onto the valve index side this thing arrived in a huge box that took me a good 10 minutes to unbox due to just the sheer amount of cables and the box literally having two layers to it unbox the headset the controllers and base stations and then unbox the mounting brackets for the base stations the power cables for the base stations the power brick for the base stations the two charges for the controllers as well the cable for the headset and finally the power brick for the headset itself as much as it's cool to see a thousand dollars in you know a boxing form and feel like you have a big substantial product here it's at the same time adding a lot of time to the overall setup which makes it far less accessible to just the average user that possibly doesn't have all the time in the world to unbox this thing it's clear from the get-go from the unboxing that this is a enthusiast product after unboxing i then had to screw in two base stations on either side of my studio as you can see i kind of up the first hole plugged in both of them plugged in the index itself and its own power brick and from that i finally got to the software setup installing steamvr updating the hardware this included individual hardware updates for the headset the controllers and two base stations then i finally got to the room setup which was pretty straightforward once you were there though nowhere near as intuitive and interactive as the playspace setup on the quest too verdict for the overall setup the quest 2 i mean obviously the quest 2 is a wireless device it's designed for a quick and easy setup i'm sorry index you're just too goddamn thick next up is display the quest 2 runs at a resolution of 1832 by 1920 and can reach 120 hertz however this feature is confirmed to be coming in the future right now as i'm recording this video you can't by default access 120 hertz so for now most apps on the quest 2 can range anywhere from as low as 72 hertz all the way up to the standard 90. even using the link cable provided that you upped the default bitrate settings this display still looks incredible however like i mentioned in my quest 2 video the color depth on this display leaves a lot to be decided i'm going to just reuse the comparison from that video on the left is the quest 2 on the right is the valve index you can see how the quest 2 just always looks a little bit washed out while the index collars pop more and speaking of the index the nx runs at a lower per eye resolution of 1440 by 1600 but can be switched from as low as 80 hertz all the way up to 144. you know this is a pretty difficult one to decide between ideally i want a headset with the resolution of the quest too but the color depth and refresh rate of the valve index so for display i'm gonna have to give a point to both i would usually put fov in the display category but for this video it's gonna get its own category so speaking of fov next up is fov the quest 2 has around 100 degree fov however this can vary depending on how close you can get the lenses to your eyes and the same can be said with the index however the index supports nfv up to and around 120 degrees mostly vertical though but the fov does get a nice horizontal boost as well this is a pretty good representation of fov between the headsets by reddit user code f53 though the actual index and quest 2 isn't listed here this should however still give you a rough idea of how they compare to like the human eye and some other headsets on the market the verdict obviously the index wins this category by a landslide having a nice white fov just adds so much to the experience it's such an immersive feature and definitely something that vr headsets in the future need to be making a core focus for the next headsets the quest to kind of just sticking with the sort of around 100 degree fov is a little concerning and i hope with the next quest that they prioritize getting a nice wide fov now while still talking about vision within the headset next up is the lenses i felt that these need their own category as it's actually an incredibly important feature the lenses used on a vr headset can a lot of times make or break a headset's display there's like no point having a super high res display if everything is going to be covered in glam blurb due to some crappy lenses so starting with the index unfortunately the lenses that valve opted for straight up suck this could be down to them using as they call it a dual element lens for maximum clarity with a bigger fov but sadly whatever these lenses are they are a glaring mess it really upsets me because the display for the most part although not as good as the quest twos is pretty damn good the glare though is just unbearable in some instances basically anything white on a black background is just glare city and this is also made worse by the indexes darker blacks and more contrasting colors something that i previously said was a positive in the display section and the seal around the lenses also sucks it's essentially this rubber that is held on with glue and if you use the index for exercise or sweat a lot this glue for a concerning amount of users and a few beats over players that i'm in contact with ends up melting and causing a loose seal this means there's no longer a seal on the actual display side of the headset so you get something like this poor reddit user unfortunately experienced after an intense sweat session this headset is now basically written off even after using a dehumidifier as a few people suggested it doesn't seem to ever get the lenses back to their clearer state this actually seems to be an issue for a few people that i've spoken to that own an index and it's why i personally never use my index for workouts ever and if i even get slightly sweaty i take it off and i wipe the whole thing down and let myself cool down because i don't want to end up with lenses like this this is obviously going to be a huge deal breaker for anyone who was wanting to use their index for exercise you can still exercise to a degree but risking those lenses being permanently fogged up is a pretty scary thought now on to the quest 2 oculus has a perfect solution to this condensation problem the lenses are just sealed on top of the individual sliders instead of having this crappy glued rubber ring around them unless the lenses are somehow torn off there is no rubber seal to peel away it's a great design i can just dump buckets of sweat into this thing and with a silicone cover and just wipe it all off i wipe off the lenses as well and have had no condensation issues whatsoever researching for this video i also wasn't able to find anyone else who had condensation issues behind the lenses on the quest too either so obviously this seems to be an issue that's pretty exclusive to the valve index so because of that the quest 2 wins this category next up is controllers it's one of the biggest talking points for any vr headset i mean the controllers are how you touch and interact with the virtual world so they better be damn good the quest 2 has very comfortable controllers essentially following the same sort of design that originated with the cv ones touch controllers though with a tracking ring on top instead of underneath it also has a larger circular top as well for where the bottoms go and they are super durable people such as thrill seeker have already stress tested the hell out of these things and they are unlikely to break even when thrown full pulse has a wall they also don't chip it easily as this is white plastic rather than painted black plastic so there's no real threat of paint being chipped off over time with these things and generally the build quality overall feels very sturdy i don't feel like these will break if i grip them too hard they don't feel like they flex at all the triggers feel good with a small rubber piece that sits behind the trigger which provides a nice sort of soft yet firm feedback to pressing the trigger the grip button is also satisfying to press as well it feels more tactile and like you're actually grabbing something more physical as you get feedback in the button itself and the top buttons are also satisfying to press in and out arranged nicely the thumb sticks are also very nice with a nice grip to them and a good click all of the buttons and the thumb sticks have capacitive sensors in them that allows you full tracking of your index finger and your thumb while your bottom three fingers all move together with the grip button though in actual games all you really need is your index finger and your thumb for most gestures like pointing and pressing buttons and grabbing objects and these controllers are also super versatile they're also very comfortable for long play sessions in virtually any game i tested them in and if you don't want to use controllers on the quest too for whatever reason the question also supports full hand tracking it's super cool although still has a way to go and can only really be used in a few applications and browsing menus now onto the infamous index controllers aka the knuckles as they were originally coined they have a cool strap design that holds your hand in place and allows you to completely let go of the controller it's a cool design however they too often need modification for people's hands i along with many of my colleagues find these little uncomfortable after a while as they aren't really all that ergonomic to different hand sizes there seems to be something generally agreed upon within the community unless you have smaller hands that perfectly fit them most people end up getting these little 3d printed parts that seem to grip bigger hands better the finger tracking and the ability to flip people off in vr is cool for like 10 minutes before you actually start you know playing games you just sort of forget about it games like beat saber also need some angle adjustment to play comfortably but this isn't too much of a big deal though in some oculus exclusives like echo vr the controllers get a little uncomfortable as not having a pressable grip button and instead pressure sensors can cause a lot of accidental grab or just not grabbing at all so if you're planning on playing oculus exclusives on the index with the index controllers you might have some problems though they do technically work and they work okay they also get sweaty pretty fast due to the harsher plastic material and your hands basically being taped to the the bottoms are actually kind of loose on the top and feel far less substantial than the quest 2's controllers the thumb sticks comfort wise are fine however the thumbstick drift is rampant with these things every single person that i know that owns an index has had to replace these things at some point even with light use one of my colleagues has actually replaced his index controllers five times like how is that acceptable though steam support for the most part is great and will replace anything including the headset provided you are under warranty though the warranty only lasts a year and still well over a year since the index is launched valve seems to still have not fixed the drift issue and in terms of durability these things seem to break pretty easily particularly in the trigger area up here which seems to be the weakest point of construction and generally the entire control is just kind of weak feeling especially around the script sensors i definitely feel the index control is just straining a little bit under my grip pressure when i make a fist i haven't noticed this to be a problem at all on the quest two controllers i can grip these things as hard as i want and i don't feel like they're gonna break or bend having a touch pad on top is also a nice inclusion though it does basically nothing in most applications and games however it provides essentially another capacitive sensor on top for finger tracking in conclusion if the index controllers were made out of a slightly better material and had much better reliability and durability this point would almost definitely go to the index controllers because although they're a little uncomfortable and need some maybe modding they are still very very cool and just being able to let go of these things is awesome but since they are just so unreliable i'm gonna have to give this point to the quest too next up is the audio this is gonna be a quick one i'm sure you probably know what i'm gonna say the quest two is pretty shitty built-in speakers that get the job done though realistically you're gonna want to buy yourself some headphones and finding headphones or earbuds that actually are comfortable for long play sessions is kind of difficult the index on the other hand has absurdly good built-in off-air speakers they can perfectly simulate someone whispering in your ear an explosion going off in the distance and conversations in the same room like in half-life alex it adds so much to the immersion especially in racing and horror games so this point easily goes to the index i 100 with minus tech tips what he says he would like just that headset version of this to use in regular gaming these speakers are just incredible next up is tracking the quest 2 uses full inside out tracking with the four cameras that are dotted around the sides of the headset it works really well and i've had very few instances of tracking loss however not being able to put your hands low down to your sides or behind your back is pretty annoying sometimes i hope in the future we get maybe rear or side cameras as well though right now just with the four cameras most games are totally playable unless you're doing something like what i used to do with mixed reality content or using a mull staff and beat saber but provided you're using this like you know normal human being the tracking is very solid on the quest too and the lack of bass stations is amazing onto the index basestation 2.0 is great i get virtually perfect tracking when in view of the base stations though a key point there is when in view i have some lights that block my second sensor sometimes so for some people like myself buying an extra lighthouse is inevitable which are almost 200 each though you get what you pay for as with incredibly fast movements these sensors have absolutely no problem keeping up though height of the drill these into your wall will be a complete no-no for some people and having to turn each one on individually whenever you want to play vr is pretty annoying they also have a history of failing after a while with a red light of death as they constantly have to spin so inevitably the motor will degrade over time they also make this incredibly annoying high-pitched noise constantly whenever they are turned on which can be uncomfortable for long periods of time it basically sounds like you have tinnitus or something it's very very annoying in conclusion i'm going to have to give this one to the quest too the index tracking is better on a raw performance side but 200 per base station having them to drill them into a wall and switch them all on individually every time you want to go play vr and constantly have an annoying high-pitched sound whenever they're running is really frustrating so the quest two wins this category next up is comfort the quest 2 by default comes with a generally pretty crappy head strap that does the job but for prolonged play sessions it's pretty uncomfortable it also comes loose over time so kind of to tighten it back up every now and then is also a little frustrating especially since it's not just one titan knob on the back like most headsets on the index but instead a two strap adjustment thing that if not perfectly aligned can cause the headset to pull to one side of the face basically this strap just straight up sucks and owners of the quest 2 will inevitably have to get the 50 elite strap i wouldn't be surprised if oculus intentionally made this strap because they wanted people to pay for a 50 accessory the face pad slash gasket is pretty solid as you can see i have a little silicone cover over this one but the one by default still uses this slightly rough sweat sponge which i despise with oculus headsets though this can be easily rectified with a vr cover like what i'm using there's no ipd slide on this headset but instead three set modes for ipd this is by far the worst design feature of this headset as it straight up writes this thing off for many people with any ipd that doesn't perfectly align with the free options that oculus gave you i have it on setting number three and even then it's a little too wide to fit my ipd and i can never get this thing perfectly clear also without the glasses spacer my eyes were literally touching the lenses perhaps this is down to the shape of my nose but i've seen a few other people also complaining about this so i personally had to put the glasses spacer in to use this thing at all but this isn't too much of a problem because at least oculus did include a fix in the form of the glasses spacer with the headset itself now onto the index side this thing is adjustability galore this is everything that comfort should be in a vr headset although being doubled the weight of the quest too this headset is far more comfortable the material used is also far more comfortable and a fully adjustable ipd slider an fov lens distance slider one knob at the back that adjusts the tightness one strap on top adjustable built-in headphones and even a pad for smaller heads this thing in terms of comfort is just incredible i love it so much however being double the weight of the quest 2 i always end up feeling a little bit of neck strain after prolonged play sessions i also think the default headband is a little too large for most people even people i know who i wouldn't regard having a particularly small head have to use the included small head pad overall the index completely smokes the quest to in comfort though with the right accessories the quest 2 can get pretty close however the index does win this category now for a big one reliability i have an entire video writing about the unforgivable state that the index is in right now i've already mentioned some of the hardware issues in some of the previous categories and most of you already know the index on a reliability side is a total mess at the moment the biggest issue being thumbstick drift something virtually every owner of the index seems to have to deal with at some point this is a very well documented issue by now and valve still hasn't seemed to have fixed it some of the issues i personally had with the headset were having to replace the cable twice due to a pretty bizarrely dumb design of the cable slot and cable clip as you can see if i tilt the headset up or down this crushes the cable there's no warning for this so a lot of people and i mean a lot of people crush this cable with the mechanism and don't even realize it and end up with the dead cable the only way to avoid this is to completely untighten the headset and slide it onto your head and then tighten up again the second point of failure is the previously mentioned cable clip this sits at the back of the headset and keeps the cable from hanging on your shoulder however it's got a pretty harsh edge that over time put strain on the cable resulting in cable failure both of these issues could likely just be easily solved just with a more robust cable possibly a braided cable as the cable that we currently get with the index has a pretty weak rubber cover and standing on this cable for too long or too hard can just straight up kill it the rubber provides seemingly little protection to the inner cable and if i put pressure on the cable i can even feel its flex outside of the cable though the index also has an array of common to uncommon hardware issues displays dying is another surprisingly common one my right display kind of burnt out while playing some boneworks and had to be replaced though it is great that valve completely replaced the entire headset for free so i am very appreciative of that though now i am out of warranty so if this ever happens again i am one of my colleagues at virus spawn has also had their display die on them with generally pretty light use though display failure is generally a less common hardware issue for the index but from the research that i've done it still happens to a concerning amount of people and far more than with even the quest too a quick google search shows you basically nothing even in oculus subreddits about the quest to having display failure well the index is littered with posts and reports of dead displays or display issues base station failure on the index like i mentioned is also a problem for again a concerning amount of users speaker failure is another one as well and headband snapping also another issue onto the quest too although i've only had my quest for like two weeks now judging by the rest of my colleagues at for respawn and the oculus community as a whole it seems to be light years more reliable than the index however the issues that the quest 2 does have in terms of reliability seems to be for the most part software related some problems with the link cable and ocular software though a lot of these seem to be too user specific to make any clear conclusion on though you could argue that facebook essentially being able to break your 300 headset because you didn't give them your real name and your account set up you could consider that as a reliability issue but like i said this video is focused on the hardware side of these headsets so obviously for hardware reliability this easily goes to the quest too finally is value for money is the quest 2 worth 300 or is it worth saving that 300 and just putting it towards an index the quest 2 with the array of features that it offers right out of the box is 100 worth 300 in fact realistically this thing could be priced at 500 and it would still be a good deal i mean only just five years ago did the htc vive launch with nowhere near the specs and usability that quest 2 has for 800. for a headset of this quality and a display this good controllers this solid and generally pretty reliable software the value for money here is just insane the price however does have a lot to do with facebook and their data collection as well as being an attempt to own as much of the vr market as possible as if facebook do come out on top the amount of power that they'll have in the next five years with vr adoption increasing at such a fast rate will be insane facebook clearly know exactly what they're doing but this is in fairness forcing competition at a rate that we've never seen before which will continue to drive down prices and accelerate the development of this via hardware now on to the index side is this thing truly worth 1 000 i mean if you've watched this far you probably already know what i'm gonna say this headset is clearly filling a very specific spot in the enthusiast vr mark though the materials here are generally pretty solid nothing feels particularly cheap besides the creaky plastic index controllers this just doesn't feel to me like in a thousand dollar product with all the hardware failures base station setup and some poor optimization in some vr games that for obvious reasons prioritize optimizing for oculus hardware as it's more widely adopted the nx just feels like it's overlooked by a lot of developers obviously all of the great oculus exclusives as well you can't play them for revive however the performance leaves a lot to be desired and now a 300 headset running a high-res display that can soon do 120 hertz and be completely wireless at the same time i can say how hardly that the valve index is not worth a thousand dollars 700 to 800 like the original htc vive i mean maybe then still even then it feels steep for the hassle that you're inevitably gonna have to go through with rma if valve fixed the more common hardware issues with this thing maybe i could say that this headset is worth it for an enthusiast audience especially if you have a powerful pc that can 150 percent the super sampling to try and dampen the screen door effectively but to an average consumer i can't say that the index is worth a thousand dollars especially since only after a year and a half since its launch it's already had its display outpaced by a 300 headset so value for money this easily goes to the quest to buy a long shot so final verdict the quest two with seven points winning setup display lenses controllers tracking reliability and value for money and the valve index with just four points winning fov audio comfort and also display now at the end of the day you are going to have to decide which headset best suits you this is all just my opinion though in fairness opinion based on experience but hopefully this video did help you out and trying to make this decision a little bit easier spending this amount of money on very new technology is daunting for a lot of people and i understand how it feels to get into vr space for the first time if you have any questions feel free to join my discord i'm super active in there i respond to as many people as i can so feel free to join my discord link in the description down below and if you did get to this point in the video i really do appreciate it i worked so hard on these videos this video right here was a son of a to make so thank you so much if you did watch at this point i i really do appreciate it if this video helped you or you just enjoyed it for entertainment purposes a like would be much appreciated and maybe a sub if you want more content like this thank you for watching i really appreciate it i'll see you guys in the next one peace bye-bye uh i need to say something for my outro maybe this can be it maybe me just talking about nothing right now can just be that clip at the end oh this video is going to take so much editing oh my god oh oh my recording is 40 minutes long and this is a 40 minute long recording oh jesus oh god okay i can do it though big a big brain place why am i even i need to leave i need to like go edit this okay i'm a peace out have a good day everyone uh thanks for watching bye bye peace

Channel: GetHip

Views: 1,392,116

Keywords: GetHip, Launch Issues, Performance Issues, FPS, Framerate, Resolution, Valve Index, VR, Virtual Reality, Pavlov, Beat Saber, Space Pirate Trainer, Review, Honest, Facebook, Informative, Oculus Quest, Oculus Quest 2

Id: aFD6RNja7-0

Length: 25min 0sec (1500 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 12 2021