Facebook’s extraordinary Oculus Quest completely changed the VR game. No wires, no PC, no external sensors, this was the first proper all-in-one headset that you could take to a friend’s place, throw straight on their head and dive into a virtual reality experience with zero learning curve and zero barriers to entry. It instantly took VR out of the realm of geek tech and made it something anyone could enjoy.

For all its accessibility, its power was limited compared to what you could do when you plugged a headset into a PC. That put the brakes on content somewhat, but it was an acceptable tradeoff for the convenience factor. Still, we’ve been eager to learn how a second-gen device could raise the bar, and today, after a series of embarrassing leaks over the last few days, we know. Facebook has revealed the Oculus Quest 2 at its Facebook Connect live stream.

The Quest 2 does indeed offer significantly more power. It gets a solid brain upgrade with the Snapdragon XR2 processor, which is some 46 percent more powerful than the original, while its graphics processing units deliver 33 percent more power, and it gets a RAM bump from 4 GB up to 6 GB.

There’s also an improvement in screen resolution, from 1,440 x 1,600 pixels per eye up to 1,832 x 1,920, which Facebook says should eliminate the “screen door” effect that was noticeable but not a dealbreaker in the Quest. The extra grunt in the processor will enable refresh rates up to 90 Hz, where the original ran at a standard 72 Hz – although this capability will arrive in a software update later.
The Oculus Quest 2 headset and controllers