Is the Meta Quest 2 Still Worth It in 2024?

Since the launch of the Meta Quest 2 in October 13, 2020, nearly 20 million units have been sold. This has made it the most successful standalone VR headset ever. But just because the Meta Quest 2 was the most popular headset, doesn’t mean that it is still the best. So that leaves you with a question, is the Meta Quest 2 still worth it in 2024?

Now before I start talking about this, I want to mention that I’m basing this article off of my personal opinions and based on the raw specs of the headset. I do want to mention that I personally haven’t used a Meta Quest 3 before. However, I have done extensive research on it and analyzed the opinions of at least 30+ people.

Raw Specs

In this section of the article, we will be looking at the specs of the Meta Quest 2 and the Meta Quest 3. For those who are just looking for a winner, the Meta Quest 3 obviously wins this section. But enough talking, lets get analyzing. All the technical specifications are taken from GSMArena.

Meta Quest 2

• Screens: IPS LCD 1832x1920px per eye, 90Hz native refresh rate
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 (7 nm): Octa-core (1×2.84 GHz Kryo 585 & 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 585 & 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 585); Adreno 650.
• Memory: 128/256GB.
• RAM: 6GB LPDDR5.
• Tracking: Supports 6 degrees of freedom (6DoF) head and hand tracking through integrated Oculus Insight technology (inside-out tracking); 4 front-facing cameras for visual controller tracking, plus gyroscopes and accelerometers in headset and controllers; Hand tracking (beta).
• Battery: 3,640 mAh (14.0 Wh) lithium-ion (2 to 3 hours of use on a single charge)
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac(5)/ax(6), 60 GHz Wi-Fi ay module (currently not in use); Bluetooth 5.0 LE; Type-C USB port, with USB Host support; 3.5mm audio jack.

Meta Quest 3

• Screens: 2x LCD RGB, 2064x2208px per eye resolution, 120Hz native refresh rate (support for 72Hz, 90Hz and 120Hz modes); Pancake lenses with around 96-degree vertical field of view and 110-degree horizontal; adjustable IPD – continuous slider between 58-70mm. Suitable for users with IPD between 53-75mm.
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 (4 nm): Octa-core Kryo (1 x 3.19 GHz, 4 x 2.8 GHz, 3 x 2.0 GHz); Adreno 740.
• Memory: 128/512GB.
• RAM: 8GB RAM.
• Tracking: Supports 6 degrees of freedom (6DoF) head and hand tracking through integrated Oculus Insight technology (inside-out tracking); 4 cameras for visual controller tracking, two front-facing color cameras for stereoscopic 3D mixed reality, new front-facing depth sensor, plus gyroscopes and accelerometers in headset and controllers; Hand tracking.
• Battery: around 4,985 mAh (19.44 Wh) lithium-ion (2 to 3 hours of use on a single charge); 18W charging (around 2 hours for a full charge).
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac(5)/ax(6E) with 6GHz support and 160Mhz channels; Bluetooth 5.2 LE; Type-C USB port, with USB Host support; 3.5mm audio jack.

Now for the most part the 2 headsets look different when it comes to the specs. And obviously in this case the Meta Quest 3 wins. The Meta Quest 3’s better screens make the whole experience a lot better and make edges around objects look a lot cleaner and sharper compared to the edges in the Meta Quest 2. Also, the newer chipset and more RAM available to the Meta Quest 3, allows more detail and better textures to be displayed to the user. Overall if you’re looking for some good looking gameplay and not something slightly blurry and rough, buy the Meta Quest 3.

Software

The software the the 2 headsets run is ever so slightly different. If it wasn’t for the Meta Quest 3’s improved pass through, the 2 headsets would basically run the same experience. Both the headsets run android with Metas software. However in terms of the games and the apps that the 2 headsets can run, is going to change soon.

Newer games being released to the Meta VR platform are slowly dropping support for older VR headsets. This is mostly due to the fact that the Meta Quest 2 is slowly dropping behind in performance and also is lacking some of the features and hardware that the newer headsets have. Some apps are also already not supported on the quest 2. Mostly due to the fact that they are built around the augmented reality features that the Meta Quest 3 has.

But while the Meta Quest 2 may be behind in modern features and hardware, it is still very capable and is able to run the vast majority of games of the Meta VR platform as of 2024. So specifically for this category I’m going to give the Meta Quest 2 the point because the extra $200 dollar price tag of the Meta Quest 3 for basically the same experience in my opinion isn’t worth it right now.

Also, as of writing this article, I do not know when support for the Meta Quest 2 will be dropped. I would guess that it will last quite a bit longer considering the fact that the Meta Quest 2 was the best selling headset and majority of people have them. And even to this day there are still updates coming to the Meta Quest 2 adding features and improving performance every now and then.

Both the headsets also support PC VR with the Meta Quest 3 being better to do so. It’s a good budget PC VR headset, but the Meta Quest 2 can also be used for PC VR for a good budget experience. But you will still need a good computer in order to play PC VR games comfortably. I would highly recommend that you build your own rig, not only for the experience and to learn how, but also so you can completely control what you need for a computer. You can l

Pricing

This is probably why you’re here reading this article in the first place. Both the headsets have their prices, with the Meta Quest 2 being cheaper than the Meta Quest 3 and vice versa. It’s obvious as to why this is, the Meta Quest 3 is a newer headset with many improvements on quality and performance. With the Meta Quest 3 at $500 USD for the base model of 128GB, and the Meta Quest 2 at $300 USD for the base model of 128GB, its clear which one offers more for the money.

The Meta Quest 2 is cheaper than the Meta Quest 3 for many reasons, however the extra improvements of the Meta Quest 3 might not be worth it to those who are not really into VR gaming. However it’s getting increasingly harder to find a Meta Quest 2 due to Meta not selling them anymore. The only way you are going to find them is if a retailer still has them in stock or if you can find a used one on websites like Ebay or Mercari.

Verdict

The Meta Quest 2 is still a decent headset in 2024. It’s still able to play all your modern VR games today comfortably, and it’s still supported by all of the major games. The Meta Quest 2 is, and still will be the most used VR headset. If your looking for the best screen quality and performance, go for the Meta Quest 3 and if you really don’t care about all of that and you want a nice simple experience in VR, go for the Meta Quest 2. It will not disappoint. Its what I use and what I have used since it came out. And I personally could not be happier.