Meta Quest Pro is available now – is this mixed reality for the masses or another miss
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Meta’s new Meta Quest Pro has moved quickly from the reveal stage to a store near you. It just asks that you have deep pockets and maybe some serious intent.
And that you are at least 13 years old.
I picked up that little bit when I was reading the product details on BestBuy.com (opens in new tab) where you can now buy the $1,499 / £1,500 / AU$2,450 headset among others, and for some reason it tickled me. The line is certainly suitable for Meta Quest and Quest 2 VR headsets, which are mainly used for gaming and will cost somewhere in the range of your traditional game console. Kids as young as eight are likely to want one. It is unlikely that a teenager will look at the Meta Quest Pro.
Unlike its VR ancestors, the Meta Quest Pro isn’t just about experiences you can have in a virtual world. It literally combines a high-resolution view of your real world with a view taken on the fly and placed on top of it. Simply put, it has all the hardware and innovation to justify that dazzling price. One of the main features:
- It has new LCDs with quantum dot technology
- Face and eye tracking
- Hand and gesture tracking in the redesigned controllers
- External color camera
- A custom Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ CPU
- 12 GB memory
- 256GB onboard storage
- Wireless charging station
In other words, this is a portable computer that seems to have a lot of potential. It also feels, to me at least, a bit familiar.
In 2016 I was one of the the first to test drive Microsoft’s HoloLens (opens in new tab), another powerful portable computer with mixed reality ambitions. Admittedly, Microsoft was slow to get the then $3,000 headset into consumer hands. First developers got it, then it was opened up to some consumers (I think they were called “explorers” 🤦♂️), but as far as I know it never sold in volume and has almost been abandoned (Microsoft threw its support behind the Meta Quest Pro) and especially enterprise tool.
However, Meta’s approach is fundamentally different. It’s available on the aforementioned Best Buy and on Amazon, Argos and Curry’s in the UK. There is also no waiting time for developers to adopt and develop the platform. Many of the most popular Quest 2 VR apps, such as Gravity Sketch and the ever-popular I Expect You to Die, already work on the Meta Quest Pro. There’s even a desktop productivity app, Immersed, which uses the headset’s visual pass-through technology to position multiple displays all around you.
There are apps like Meta Horizons Workroom, which are said to be disliked by Meta’s own employees (opens in new tab)that can use the Pro’s new facial recognition technology.
My point is that Meta and Meta Quest Pro customers don’t have to wait for useful apps, they may already be there.
The other major difference between Microsoft’s ill-fated efforts and Meta Quest Pro is the pass-through technology. HoloLens has a transparent visor so you can see your real world with a projection of what appeared to be a big screen (75-inch or so) TV floating in front of you. It can look wide because the viewing window naturally shifted when you turned your head, but you could also look around it, breaking the illusion.
Meta Quest Pro instead uses external cameras to bring in an HD view of your world and then combines it with VR elements. This means that however or wherever you look, VR will be a part of your environment. It can also make carrying the Meta Quest Pro a little easier because the VR screens don’t have to be so close to your eyes, like in the HoloLens.
A firm fit
I’ve never found the HoloLens particularly comfortable or, with its double-head ring system, easy to wear. The Meta Quest Pro’s headband system looks simpler, which is good news, and our reporter Hamish Hector found the headset to offer a “comfortable, yet secure fit.” However, the 772 gram (1.7 lb) headset is not a lightweight. Even the original HoloLens weighed just 579 grams.
I’m excited about the redesigned controllers that eschew the Quest 2’s tracking rigs and add some visual sensors to pick up finger movements. However, I still think the Meta Quest Pro should ship with tracking gloves for $1,499.
It’s an auspicious time for a VR headset designed to be both your new work environment and a next-level VR entertainment platform. At this price point, the latter seems unlikely, but companies that don’t bother using the HoloLens may be willing to pop into Best Buy or Currys and give the Meta Quest Pro a try.
If you’re looking for the best VR games to pair with your expensive new investment in mixed reality, we’ve got your list here.