Okay Mark… the Quest 2 is a GREAT value…

The Oculus Quest 2 is (almost*) better in every way than the original, provided you have no problem signing in with your Facebook account. But how does the standalone experience compare to PC VR this time around?

Buy Oculus Quest 2

On Amazon (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/xHxRsm7

On Newegg (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/VzcLr1

On B&H (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/l4Afc

Note from me - FYI guys, I'm planning on doing a follow-up video where we hack the crap out of the Quest 2, but we've had to wait until this video released first  

yay, can't wait for that video

*Queue people hating on it because it's a Facebook product*

I'm actually pretty excited to get a Quest 2 myself. The standalone capability is nice, and I can still use it for full-powered PC VR. And with both those features it's still cheaper than any other new VR headset. I've never been a huge privacy freak so the Facebook thing doesn't bother me.

2 minutes ago, WaggishOhio383 said:

*Queue people hating on it because it's a Facebook product*

i thought this had quite a few negative implications, ie needing a facebook account, and tracking user data etc.

i'm not in the market for a VR headset, but if i was i wouldn't buy one that required me to make an account with them and then track data that they sell after i paid for it.

1 minute ago, Letgomyleghoe said:

i thought this had quite a few negative implications, ie needing a facebook account, and tracking user data etc.

i'm not in the market for a VR headset, but if i was i wouldn't buy one that required me to make an account with them and then track data that they sell after i paid for it.

But then isn't this the case with pretty much any other device? If you want to use Steam VR you have to make a Steam account. The goal of the Facebook login is to merge Facebook's existing social features with the Oculus app storefront. They use it for the social features like chat, along with live online events, etc. As far as tracking data, any other big company would do that too.

The main thing is, there isn't really any other option for a solid entry-level VR headset in the price range. If you don't like the Facebook sign in, don't buy the product. If you can live with it, it's a great VR headset for the price.

Did I miss the part where Linus discusses how viable this is as a desktop headset replacement? I hope they do a follow up, didn't answer many questions IMO.

12 minutes ago, WaggishOhio383 said:

But then isn't this the case with pretty much any other device? If you want to use Steam VR you have to make a Steam account. The goal of the Facebook login is to merge Facebook's existing social features with the Oculus app storefront. They use it for the social features like chat, along with live online events, etc. As far as tracking data, any other big company would do that too.

 

The main thing is, there isn't really any other option for a solid entry-level VR headset in the price range. If you don't like the Facebook sign in, don't buy the product. If you can live with it, it's a great VR headset for the price.

The difference is. A steam account is not a social media account whilst a facebook account is. There is a huge difference between signing up to steam which it's focus is selling games to people and a facebook account which it's focus is collecting data on users to sell it onto whomever is the highest bidder whilst also conducting social expiriments, influencing their users habits, targeted advertisement,...

It's in the name really facebook has a social impact on you as a person whilst steam is just a storefront.

5 minutes ago, WaggishOhio383 said:

If you don't like the Facebook sign in, don't buy the product.

Which is exactly what a lot of folks will do (or don't do, actually) and as a result I expect the Q2 will have much lower sales then the original.

What did we do before all those commercial VR headsets? Right, we made our own! That's still a viable option, a last-gen cheap Android phone, some 3D printed phone holder to keep it on your nose (or better: in front of your eyes ), some G-sensor-equipped sticks with buttons and wifi and away you go. Does it have the same quality as the Q2? No, obviously not. But your personal data doesn't leave your house unless you allow it to

Just now, Dutch_Master said:

Which is exactly what a lot of folks will do (or don't do, actually) and as a result I expect the Q2 will have much lower sales then the original.

 

What did we do before all those commercial VR headsets? Right, we made our own! That's still a viable option, a last-gen cheap Android phone, some 3D printed phone holder to keep it on your nose (or better: in front of your eyes ), some G-sensor-equipped sticks with buttons and wifi and away you go. Does it have the same quality as the Q2? No, obviously not. But your personal data doesn't leave your house unless you allow it to

Or you just put a pihole in front of the system running anything from oculus below the quest 2 and well it's gonna be upset with having facebook stuff blocked but it will work no problem and I'm very fine with hurting the feelings of my vr headset if that means peace of mind :p.

13 minutes ago, WaggishOhio383 said:

But then isn't this the case with pretty much any other device? If you want to use Steam VR you have to make a Steam account. The goal of the Facebook login is to merge Facebook's existing social features with the Oculus app storefront. They use it for the social features like chat, along with live online events, etc. As far as tracking data, any other big company would do that too.

 

The main thing is, there isn't really any other option for a solid entry-level VR headset in the price range. If you don't like the Facebook sign in, don't buy the product. If you can live with it, it's a great VR headset for the price.

Few important things tho.

1) if you want to get your oculus working, a smartphone is also required. Don't know why or how exactly but I guess installing the facebook app is a requirement then. (if the app is not needed you would be able to do it in a browser, which would invalidate the smartphone requirement)

2) existing oculus owners are forced to use a facebook account if they want to keep using their oculus. So people that bought them 2-3 years ago? Tough, get facebook or get fucked.

3) Do you REALLY want facebook to know you are playing adult games? The truth is, the market for adult VR games is surprisingly big and I doubt many people will happily share with facebook what they are doing when it comes to adult games...

1 minute ago, jaslion said:

Or you just put a pihole in front of the system running anything from oculus below the quest 2 and well it's gonna be upset with having facebook stuff blocked but it will work no problem and I'm very fine with hurting the feelings of my vr headset if that means peace of mind :p.

You really think it's going to work without internet? Having wireless connectivity is a requirement if you want to use the quest 2 at all. No connection is no VR. People require to login to facebook. There's a reason why there was such an outrage at launch because people got instantly banned as soon as they connected to facebook. If they could get around it by not logging in by faking not having wi-fi. People would have gone that route.

There's a reason why there is custom firmware out there to de-facebook the quest 2.

1 minute ago, samcool55 said:

1) if you want to get your oculus working, a smartphone is also required. Don't know why or how exactly but I guess installing the facebook app is a requirement then. (if the app is not needed you would be able to do it in a browser, which would invalidate the smartphone requirement)

I believe you have to do that in order to connect the headset to WiFi and your account so it can do updates. I don't know why you can't do it from the headset. However, I believe it uses the Oculus app, not Facebook for setup.

2 minutes ago, samcool55 said:

2) existing oculus owners are forced to use a facebook account if they want to keep using their oculus. So people that bought them 2-3 years ago? Tough, get facebook or get fucked.

It's unfortunate, but that's what happens when they migrate to a new system. I wish Microsoft wasn't going to make me log in with a Microsoft account to play Minecraft Java, but there's not much I can do about it is there?

3 minutes ago, samcool55 said:

3) Do you REALLY want facebook to know you are playing adult games? The truth is, the market for adult VR games is surprisingly big and I doubt many people will happily share with facebook what they are doing when it comes to adult games...

Don't have any interest in playing that kind of stuff so it's not really a concern for me then is it?

Just now, samcool55 said:

You really think it's going to work without internet? Having wireless connectivity is a requirement if you want to use the quest 2 at all. No connection is no VR. People require to login to facebook. There's a reason why there was such an outrage at launch because people got instantly banned as soon as they connected to facebook. If they could get around it by not logging in by faking not having wi-fi. People would have gone that route.

 

There's a reason why there is custom firmware out there to de-facebook the quest 2.

Didn't you read?

1 minute ago, samcool55 said:

anything from oculus below the quest 2

All of the headsets below the quest 2 work offline just fine and you can bypass the signin if you want to.

3 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Didn't you read?

 

All of the headsets below the quest 2 work offline just fine and you can bypass the signin if you want to.

Yea, I did read. And as I said. No facebook, no VR.

You can get away with your little trick until 2023 for current users. After that you are screwed.

New users can't get around it. (unless you go the custom firmware route, which is at least in the gray area, probably straight up illegal to run but that won't stop some people)

https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/27/facebook_oculus_accounts/

Just now, samcool55 said:

Yea, I did read. And as I said. No facebook, no VR.

You can get away with your little trick until 2023 for current users. After that you are screwed.

New users can't get around it. (unless you go the custom firmware route, which is at least in the gray area, probably straight up illegal to run but that won't stop some people)

https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/27/facebook_oculus_accounts/

I know. What I'm saying is that even with a fb account sign in you can block any and all connection after letting it go 1 time and just keeping it signed in.

the simple fact that the quest 2 requires a facebook account to even work is making this VR headset the worst value you can get... My social media is meant for one thing only and VR and games is not that one thing.

I absolutely hate how Facebook is merging all their services with Facebook.

First it's oculus, now it's Instagram and next is WhatsApp.

I'm one of those people that's more agitated with LTT's covering of the Quest 2. I'm honestly surprised Linus isn't sticking to his guns regarding privacy on this one, and was disappointed when the Short Circuit video came out. In this video, they said they wouldn't "sweep anything under the rug", but Linus essentially excused Facebook's actions surrounding Oculus. Of all LTT videos, this and the Short Circuit videos I have ever thumb'd down. It's a combination of LTT not being able to read the room on the topic (or not caring), and the sacrifice of integrity for the sake of sponsored content. I understand that it isn't really an integrity sacrifice, since it's not a "review", and the sponsorship is disclosed, but it breaks the norm of what I expect from LTT content which to date, has been pretty hard on these topics, especially where privacy and poor practices occur in businesses. I mean, we can take TunnelBear as a great example. It was touted as a great product LTT believed in, but the moment it was acquired by McAfee, the sponsorship as well as LTT's trust in TunnelBear went out the window. Granted, this is a privacy product where privacy is the goal, but given Facebook's history, why should the acquisition of Oculus be treated any differently, given Facebook's notorious history that is only getting worse, especially in conjunction with poor practices surrounding Oculus. Oculus was a VR product for gamers, being subjected to privacy issues, and even issues concerning device ownership being subject to the whims of an external account.

All I'm saying is, this content does not feel like the norm from LTT.

Yes, the product itself and the tech behind it is cool. But no, I cannot support it with Facebook involved, and cannot support this content.

I'm still very green on VR - is the 64Gb Quest enough? How many games can you have onboard the headset? I won't be getting a VR-capable PC for a while still, but I'm very much into Beat Saber and SuperHot, but I don't want to be installing and uninstalling games all the time...

4 minutes ago, Atlantean said:

I'm still very green on VR - is the 64Gb Quest enough? How many games can you have onboard the headset? I won't be getting a VR-capable PC for a while still, but I'm very much into Beat Saber and SuperHot, but I don't want to be installing and uninstalling games all the time...

Beatsaber and super hot run even on the cheap older gaming laptops just fine. It's really not too hard to drive.

26 minutes ago, Atlantean said:

I'm still very green on VR - is the 64Gb Quest enough? How many games can you have onboard the headset? I won't be getting a VR-capable PC for a while still, but I'm very much into Beat Saber and SuperHot, but I don't want to be installing and uninstalling games all the time...

64 GB should be plenty of space for the average user. Most games don't take up more than 1-2 GB max. Beat saber only takes 700 MB, while Superhot is on the higher end at 1.91 GB. And of course if you eventually get into PC VR those games won't take up any space on the headset at all.

What third party link cable are they using? I'm also curious if a usb-c to usb-c cable can be used as a link too

There will always be people out there that will say, so what if you need facebook account. I don't care about privacy, blah blah blah, I've got nothing to hide.
Got nothing to hide? Then show your address, phone number, bank account, credit card info, all contacts, photos, text messages you have on your phone, out to the public, if you got nothing to hide.

I bet 99.9999% isn't going to, because privacy does matter. Too bad these idiots failed to realize it, and they continue with their I don't care about privacy attitude, along with their, I've got nothing to hide BS.
Hypocrite!

3 hours ago, _Sir said:

All I'm saying is, this content does not feel like the norm from LTT.

In case you missed it (can't imagine, but still): this video was sponsored by: FB-owned Oculus

The facebook linking requirement makes it almost dead weight IMO

Unless someone makes mods or something to bypass any of that and just make it a normal headset.