Living with a Quest 2 with Only Link - 9 Day Test - TomC

[TomCgcmfc]

About 9 days ago I decided to hang up all my current PCVR headsets (Q1, Rift cv1, and Vive Pro) and only use my Quest 2 with the official Link cable (including not using wireless with Virtual Desktop) with all my PCVR games/sims and Moble VR.  The purpose of this was to see if Q2 with Link was capable of replacing any and/or all of my other headsets for PCVR and Mobile VR usage.  I originally thought I would do this for a 2-3 week period in order to get the best out of Link, but after 9 days I think I have come to the point where further testing is unnecessary given the current Link software limitations.

Rather than go into too many setup/system details I will just try to concentrate on the results I got with my fairly good desktop pc (see my signature for details) and concentrate on my good news/bad news/conclusions.

First the good news;
Using Link I never found any of my current Oculus, Steam, and VivePort games, or any independent sims like X Plane 11 that, if Rift compatible, were not compatible, and most importantly, playable.  I also did not find any problems switching between PCVR and Mobile VR with my Q2. 

It became apparent that my Q2 was a much better media viewer and that all Mobile VR apps looked better than with my Q1.

With the Elite headband and a 10000mahr strapped to the bottom Elite head cup with a couple of 3/4" Velcro straps, my Q2 balances perfectly and is now one of the most comfortable headsets I own.  My only minor complaint is that I need to loosen the Elite headband with the rear knob before putting it on/off. 

So, theoretically I could live with only my Quest 2 with Link with PCVR (and mobile of course) and get good results.  This itself was a big eye-opener for me! 

Now the bad news;
PCVR with my flight/racing sims were still nowhere as good as with my Vive Pro (with Etsy Gear VR lens mod).  Audio was nowhere as good as my Rift cv1 or Vive Pro.  Blacks and textures with darkish games were not as good as with my oled Vive Pro, Q1, and Rift cv1, but still surprising very good, and much better than other lcd VR headsets I have used in the past (wmr Dell and Vive Cosmos).

Tracking with Q2 /Q1Link is pretty good but still not up to Rift cv1 and Vive Pro standards.  Still, a lot better than my OG Cosmos, lol! 

Feeding the Q2 internal battery with Link is a royal pita imho.  I have a separate pcie usb3.1 gen2 card with type-c but it does not have a power connection to my 750w psu so it still only delivers about 0.9amps (about the same max as most usb3.1 ports).  Nowhere enough to keep my Q2's internal battery charged and I lose ~10-15% capacity per hour of use.  Not too bad but If I use it again without recharging it continues to decrease in capacity.  I guess I could just keep it connected overnight to see if it would recharge but I'm not confident enough to try this in case it over charges the internal battery.  For me, I've found the best alternative is to recharge the internal battery after use with either an external battery pack or charger.  However, this is not  all that convenient, and certainly not as convenient as a dedicated PCVR headset that you do not need to worry about this with.

My optician measured IPD= 69.0mm. I do not have a problem using my Q2 with settings 3 (= 68mm) and this gives me a very nice clear central view.  However, the FOV is noticeably less than my Vive Pro, a bit less than my Rift cv1, and about the same as my Q1.  For most games/sims this is not a big deal since after +3 years of VR I mainly only focus on the central view and do not tend to google my eyes around very much.

My current conclusions/actions;
- continue to use my Vive Pro for all my flight/racing sims and  Steam/VivePort games that play well with Vive controllers.
- continue to use my Rift cv1 (with ss = 2.0) with  my Oculus Store games and others that benefit using touch controllers.
-  use my Q2 for all media viewing and Mobile VR games.
- monitor future Link improvements. 
- use my Q2 wireless with Virtual Desktop for games that benefit using it and for a bit of wireless fun, lol! 

Overall I think that the Quest 2 is a very good VR headset and I love its flexibility.  I'm not prepared to say it's as good as a dedicated PCVR headset yet.  Maybe one day, who knows?   In the meantime I will enjoy my Q2 with Mobile VR, media, and some wireless games.  Cheers.

[DaftnDirect]

Thanks @TomCgcmfc, sounds like a fair review.

I'm probably going to hang on to my Rift-S and Q1 for a while. I just wish there was another halo Rift on the horizon. My IPD has me squarely half way between Q2's setting 2 and 3, so may not be great for me. Maybe Q3 will provide an IPD solution for everyone (well 99% of people!) and be comfortable enough for the long PCVR sessions... we can hope!

[TomCgcmfc]

DaftnDirect said:

Thanks @TomCgcmfc, sounds like a fair review.

I'm probably going to hang on to my Rift-S and Q1 for a while. I just wish there was another halo Rift on the horizon. My IPD has me squarely half way between Q2's setting 2 and 3, so may not be great for me. Maybe Q3 will provide an IPD solution for everyone (well 99% of people!) and be comfortable enough for the long PCVR sessions... we can hope!

I kinda doubt that a dual screen with Q1  IPD adjustments is going to happen but who knows?

[hoppingbunny123]

you like the cv1 more?

[nalex66]

The latest PTC seems to have lowered the quality of Link; I can see jagged edges on my Dash menu that I’ve never noticed before. This is probably due to the encoding resolution bug, but rolling back to v21 didn’t fix it. Hopefully they can get Link optimized for Quest 2 soon, including the 90 Hz update. At that point I think it will be more of an apples-to-apples comparison with other PCVR headsets. 

The battery charging is a bit of a pain compared to Quest 1; sometimes it charges over Link when the battery is low, but other times it just maintains the current charge level, whereas Quest 1 seemed to always charge up while connected. I don’t think there’s any harm in just leaving it connected after use to charge up, but I don’t generally like leaving my PC on when I’m not using it, so I’ve been plugging it in with the charger overnight. Either way, it should have a smart charging circuit to protect against overcharging. 

[RuneSR2]

hoppingbunny123 said:

you like the cv1 more?

He likes the CV1 ss 2.0 more, not just the CV1  B) - I love CV1 too, but I do not like CV1 without ss 2.0 - ok, can do ss 1.8 in Asgard's Wrath - maybe ss 1.5 in Hellblade - going lower, the CV1 is of litte or no interest to me.  The impact of ss is immense - like measured here in view distance and acuity:

RIFT CV1
Ss 1.0 = 2 meters 
Ss 2.0 = 3.5 meters 
https://forums.oculusvr.com/community/discussion/91907/testhmd-fov-sde-res-super-sampling-the-rift-s...

Sad that many CV1 users have never tried CV1 with ss 2.0 and may have no clue what the CV1 can do. Especially when moving in games, which will remove much SDE. Effects of ss 2.0 are often mostly in the flow. 

Ss 2.5 is great too, works perfectly in Lucky's Tale and Pistol Whip using my GTX 1080,  and might be the top level (due to the physical res I doubt ss 3.0 would make much sense)  - but need a 3080/6800XT for that to shine in demanding games. Maybe even 3090/6900XT... Or better lol. 

I have a few games where I'm down to 22.5 fps and even 3090/6900XT probably will not be enough for 90 fps - and that's using CV1 ss 2.0 (not 2.5). Users considering the CV1 some old low-end solution have no idea what they are talking about. 2c.

Btw, I don't like the Index res 100%, but I'm ok with Index res 150% - and I really love the Index res 200%. You simply cannot evaluate a hmd independent of the amount of super sampling used.

[RuneSR2]

Right now I'm probably using CV1 like 80% of my time. Blacks aren't much of a problem with Index, but still in games like Wilson's Heart I prefer the oled and even the SDE better - the game looks fine using the Index, but CV1 ss 2.0 just feels like "the way it's meant to be played". 

Also bought Pagan Peak - and being a dark game with fine but not outstanding texture quality, I bought the Oculus version without even considering the Steam version:

https://youtu.be/kLOHItn8Xgs

I do not have any problems using CV1 ss 2.0 - it usually provides the most amazing experiences, and nothing compares to the CV1 sound. I really hope we'll see new oled hmds soon - like the new screen tech from Samsung. 

[DangerousDanH]

I dont understand what the delay is in getting the Link optimised for Q2. There's been no news on it and we're now nearly a month post release.
* Native quest 2 resolution coming through over link
* 90 Hz enabled
* Full integration of display quality settings (no going to a separate debug tool to tweak things)
* and finally native resolution on the device itself when not using link.

The screen can do better - lets get this moving!

[TomCgcmfc]

Update; 21 Nov 2020

Ok, after a few minor problems with my Q2 and Elite headband I returned both to the Oculus store for a refund a couple of weeks ago.  Oculus Support was very helpful and I quickly got my return mailing labels, dropped it off at my local courier depot, and got a full paypal refund a week later.

Thanks to the new v23 Oculus/Quest updates my Q1 headset with Link has improved a lot and I'm now into my second week of running a similar test of only using my Q1 with Link for all PCVR apps.  I'll start a new thread on this once I finish testing this and let you know how I think it compares to my Rift cv1 (at 2x SS) and Vive Pro.  Cheers.

[KaBox]

I use Quest 2 for mobile movies only, games of Quest 2 not suit for me, like games 20 years ago with low and poor texture.

I love VR games on PC but VR now still so young so far.

I'm waiting for the better headset but i's impossible cos so hard .

I wish Quest 2 has weight about 200-300 grams, now it's so weight for me. I must use a lifter to lower its weight while watching movies.