This article is a summary of customer reviews on Amazon.com as of mid-September 2019.
Customer satisfaction with the Oculus Quest is overall very good as you can see on the banner below.
People love how convenient it is to use. You press the button, mark the play area (if you haven’t done it yet), and you are ready to go. This is the very first, true plug & play system delivering the experience similar to VR on a PC. No hassle, no troubleshooting, it just works.
Also, you don’t need any additional hardware items like console, PC, cameras, lighthouse stations etc. The headset, 2 controllers and a charger is all you need. You can easily take it anywhere you want, use it on the plane or watch movies on a virtual ceiling in bed.
Many people didn’t expect a headset powered by a mobile phone processor would be able to exceed the expectations, yet it did !!!
Currently, Oculus Quest is the best value for money.
There are of course some flaws as well.
The rest of the article delves deeper into customer complaints. At the time of writing (mid-September, 2019) there were 450 reviews altogether.
Below is a list of complains starting with the most common one. Bear in mind that some of these problems may be fixed at some point with the software updates.
Visuals could be better (mentioned by 66 reviewers out of 450)
Distant objects are blurry and text which is not close cannot be read.
Quality is lower than for a TV. It is dead obvious mostly when watching movies on a large virtual screen. Games are not affected that much because objects in immediate vicinity are clear enough.
Some people mentioned FOV could be wider. Also, quality of visuals is lower than for PC VR. That’s mostly due to lower computational power.
Despite all that, vast majority of people considers quality to be adequate.
Comfort problems (42 out of 450)
The headset is front heavy and puts pressure on the cheeks and/or forehead.
A few people reported straps hurting back of the head after long sessions.
There were also a few instances of facemask irritating the skin. This problem is easy to solve because many third party companies provide replacement facemask e.g. vrcover.
Limited content (36/450) – not a problem anymore
In comparison with PC VR (thousands of titles) content for the Quest used to be limited indeed.
As of now, if you have a VR ready PC, you can use your Quest as a PC VR headset. To do that you will need a cable connection between the headset and a PC.
Of course, games and other content created specifically for the Quest as a standalone device grow in numbers too.
On top of that, you can play many games originally created for Gear VR. Some of them were upgraded to use the capabilities of the Quest.
Headset battery dies quickly and charging is slow (29/450)
Battery lasts 2-2.5 hours and charging takes 2 hours.
It is possible to buy a battery pack and attach it to the strap at the back of the head. It provides a counter balance for heavy front and prolongs VR sessions.
Facebook anti-consumer practices (21/450)
Facebook owns Oculus for those who don’t know. Some of their practices annoy the customer base.
The biggest complain is that content for the Rift and Go (Gear VR library) is not fully cross compatible with the Quest – one has to buy the same game for each platform separately.
This situation has improved since the release.
Right now you can play many Gear VR games, some of them were even upgraded to make use of the Quest controllers.
Second, Oculus Link was released. It allows to use Oculus Quest as a headset for PC (instead of the Rift) and access massive VR games library for this platform.
Another complaint is that Facebook is very restrictive on what content is allowed into the official store. It’s less of a problem because you can use SideQuest to load the content not officially approved.
Games are expensive (17/450)
In May 2018 an average price for one hour of VR experience was 7 USD. Yes, VR games are significantly more expensive than pancakes (read conventional games), yet VR is more fun.
Tracking issues (12/450)
Oculus Quest uses inside-out tracking method. It is not as good as outside-in for a PC, yet better than Windows Mixed Reality.
Inside-out tracking is less robust. It becomes obvious when you play games competitively. Outside-in players simply have an edge.
Also, dead zones where tracking for the Quest fails are bigger. If you put controllers behind your back or too close to your face, tracking is lost.
A positive side of the inside-out is that it doesn’t require laborious preparation of the play area. It is by far more convenient for casual usage.
Battery covers of the controllers come off (7/450)
The covers are kept in place by magnets. During more intense gaming, those covers tend to come off.
Occasional crashes, glitches, freezes and stutter (6/450)
Speakers could be better (6/450)
People usually complain about flat bass profile. Some mentioned low maximal volume.
Issues with casting (6/450)
You can cast what you see and hear to some other device like TV, so other people can experience it too. People reported that for some titles it doesn’t work at all, or fails after a while.
There were also complaints about a lag and occasional freezes.
Light leaks (5/450)
There is a gap between the nose and a facemask, so you can see the floor. It is possible though to buy various replacement facemasks e.g. vrcover.
Quest forgets the play area (2/450)
Before you start playing, you have to designate a play area. Oculus Quest is able to remember a couple of them, so you don’t have to do it from scratch every time. The problem is that sometimes it doesn’t recognize old play areas, and the whole process has to be repeated.
The headset gets hot (2/450)
Problems with accommodating glasses (2/450)
Glasses with very wide frames are problematic even when you use spacer included in the package. Also, one has to be careful, because it is easy to scratch lenses of the headset when they accidentally rub against the glasses.
Unacceptable lag for competitive multiplier games (1/450)
Guardian system for seated experience is annoying (1/450)
Guardian system displays a grid when you get close to the play area boundary. For seated experience the play area is very small, so if you stretch your hands, the controllers end up outside of the play area and the grid is turned on. This can be annoying for some people.
Facemask gets soaked with sweat (1/450)
There are replacement facemasks on the market which do not have this issue.
Controllers battery could last longer (1/450)
Controllers are powered by replaceable batteries. You can buy a bunch of rechargeable ones and get rid of the problem altogether.
Defects (22/450):
- headset dead or broken on arrival
- headset/display/mic/speaker broke shortly after the purchase
- problems with installing new apps and updates
- headset discharges very quickly even when it’s not used
Complains about the consumer support – only 4 in 450 reviews.
How to choose which system is for you
Specs comparison tables
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