Question What's the best budget VR as of April 2024?

[kmc312]

As title suggests, what's the budget VR to use with VAM as of 2024? I'm also new to the VR sphere (never use VR before). I searched up some relevant posts on HUB and those dates back around 2021, 2022 so I think it's outdated; opinions might be different now.

I also notice people said Occulus Quest, now Meta Quest brand, is not good because FB likes to track people using it. Is there anyway to circumvent that? Does the headset works with VAM and supports hand tracking, works offline?

If there's any suggestions, let me know down in the comments.

 

[Nameless Vagabond]

what sort of budget are you working with?

 

[kmc312]

what sort of budget are you working with?

below $500 is possible?

 

[FreeMaster69]

As title suggests, what's the budget VR to use with VAM as of 2024? I'm also new to the VR sphere (never use VR before). I searched up some relevant posts on HUB and those dates back around 2021, 2022 so I think it's outdated; opinions might be different now.

I also notice people said Occulus Quest, now Meta Quest brand, is not good because FB likes to track people using it. Is there anyway to circumvent that? Does the headset works with VAM and supports hand tracking, works offline?

If there's any suggestions, let me know down in the comments.

I'm not sure exactly how much/what kind of FB tracking is happening tbh but the meta quest 3 is still the best headset for your budget and does have finger tracking and pretty good AR now.

I am also interested to know about privacy concerns with quest 3 myself though.

 

[kmc312]

I'm not sure exactly how much/what kind of FB tracking is happening tbh but the meta quest 3 is still the best headset for your budget and does have finger tracking and pretty good AR now.

I am also interested to know about privacy concerns with quest 3 myself though.

Oh I see, is Quest 2 also a good option?

 

[FreeMaster69]

Oh I see, is Quest 2 also a good option?

I used the quest 2 quite a lot from the day it came out till the day quest 3 came out and it was a very good experience running through virtual desktop. However, I have to say that the only thing that bothered me with quest 2 sometimes, was the Fresnel lenses as they have a small sweet spot so if you move your eyes to look around it gets a little blurry.

If your budget is $500 I would strongly recommend going for the quest 3 (Lower Gb storage) headset for the pancake lenses, extra ram and upgraded cpu, the difference is huge, so much clearer/sharper. Having a game character dancing in your living room with AR in full color passthrough is also a good experience. The standalone games textures and lighting are day and night difference.

 

[kmc312]

I used the quest 2 quite a lot from the day it came out till the day quest 3 came out and it was a very good experience running through virtual desktop. However, I have to say that the only thing that bothered me with quest 2 sometimes, was the Fresnel lenses as they have a small sweet spot so if you move your eyes to look around it gets a little blurry.

If your budget is $500 I would strongly recommend going for the quest 3 (Lower Gb storage) headset for the pancake lenses, extra ram and upgraded cpu, the difference is huge, so much clearer/sharper. Having a game character dancing in your living room with AR in full color passthrough is also a good experience. The standalone games textures and lighting are day and night difference.

Thanks for the reply, I'll consider it. However, is it possible to play VAM in offline mode (not connecting to FB server and what not) I heard you can't access to headset if it's not connected to your FB account?
Also is other VAM features such as hand tracking works with the Quest?

 

[keycode]

Thanks for the reply, I'll consider it. However, is it possible to play VAM in offline mode (not connecting to FB server and what not) I heard you can't access to headset if it's not connected to your FB account?
Also is other VAM features such as hand tracking works with the Quest?

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/18c3cir

and of course I have been using quest 3 without zukkiniberg facezuck account.

 

[kmc312]

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/18c3cir

and of course I have been using quest 3 without zukkiniberg facezuck account.

Oh thanks for that, I don't want the Zucc to know what I'm doing either ?

 

[Battletoad08]

Do whatever you can to get a quest 3... I had a pimax crystal. I decided to try a quest 3 with passthrough and hand tracking... girls in my house? Ill never have another headset without passthrough and hand tracking... I quit playing VAM all together for like a year. Decided to try it with quest 3 and passthrough and it blew my mind. Seeing a model walk into your room is insane.

 

[Nameless Vagabond]

I agree with the sentiment of others in this thread - for what it costs, the Quest3 is a good buy. I broke down and bought one last week because I wanted to see girls in my room with the passthrough feature. While passthrough has its limitations, but it is very very cool, and the headset works perfectly fine without passthrough enabled as well.

I will say that the Quest3 is nowhere near as comfortable to wear for extended periods of time like my Index is, and the overall quality of the product does seem to be inferior to that of the Index. Even with those flaws, I still think it is a solid buy for someone just getting into VR.

 

[Battletoad08]

I agree with the sentiment of others in this thread - for what it costs, the Quest3 is a good buy. I broke down and bought one last week because I wanted to see girls in my room with the passthrough feature. While passthrough has its limitations, but it is very very cool, and the headset works perfectly fine without passthrough enabled as well.

I will say that the Quest3 is nowhere near as comfortable to wear for extended periods of time like my Index is, and the overall quality of the product does seem to be inferior to that of the Index. Even with those flaws, I still think it is a solid buy for someone just getting into VR.

get the BOBOVR 3 pro headstrap, night and day comfort and has a battery on it. Stock strap sucks.

 

[Nameless Vagabond]

get the BOBOVR 3 pro headstrap, night and day comfort and has a battery on it. Stock strap sucks.

Did you get the "standard" $50 one or the one with "air conditioning"? That feature sounds like a gimmick imo, but the head strap design definitely looks closer to what the Index's strap looks like

 

[Battletoad08]

Did you get the "standard" $50 one or the one with "air conditioning"? That feature sounds like a gimmick imo, but the head strap design definitely looks closer to what the Index's strap looks like

Standard. No fan. I love it. Easily as comfortable as my Index was. Take the blinder thing off the quest 3 and its awesome, doesnt touch your face at all and gives you a better passthough because you actually see your peripherals.