Oculus Rift S and Quest Will Launch Next Month, Pre-Orders Are Open
By Last month, Oculus revealed that its next step in VR gaming would be a two-pronged approach: a revision of its original headset with the Rift S and a standalone headset in the Quest. Specs and features had been detailed alongside a Spring 2019 release window and a $400 USD price tag for each package. Now, Oculus has announced that both will launch simultaneously on May 21–pre-orders for Rift S and Quest are now open as well.
The Rift S makes several improvements over the original Rift, a platform that has been out since March 2016. First off, the Rift S has an increased resolution; it’ll display 1280×1440 per eye, 2560×1440 in total, although it now displays in 80Hz (down from 90Hz). Another addition is integrated audio on the headset and a more comfortable, secure headstrap. The biggest feature, however, is the company’s new inside-out tracking technology called Oculus Insight. This negates the need for external motion sensors since there are five built into the headset, capable of full positional tracking.
While the Rift S remains a PC-based platform, the Oculus Quest packs everything you need into the one unit. The standalone VR headset is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor–a significant upgrade over the specs of the lesser mobile counterpart the Oculus Go. Quest also features Oculus Insight with four built-in sensors to offer full positional, six degree-of-freedom tracking. It’ll display an impressive 2880×1600 resolution (a bit of a bump from the Rift S), but at a lower 72Hz. Two options for storage space will be available: 64GB at $400 and 128GB at $500.
A pair of revised Touch controllers come with each headset, which reposition the motion sensor rings to be above the face buttons to track better with the new Insight sensors. We’ve spent some time with the Oculus Quest and will have a definitive review on GameSpot soon.
