Virtual reality (VR) is a relatively new frontier of entertainment that has yet to attract mainstream appeal. But with more industry giants throwing their hats into the metaverse as of late — looking at you, Apple, Sony, and Meta — an intrigue exists for gamers and techies in pursuit of next-level immersion.
After a period of hands-on testing, we’ve decided to recommend the Meta Quest 2, the PlayStation VR2, and the Valve Index VR Kit. All three VR headsets are consumer-friendly devices that felt comfortable during hours of use, supported a breadth of features and content upon unboxing, and performed well at their respective price points.
While sourcing contenders for this roundup, we chose to test VR headsets that are making waves in the small-but-growing market, whether they’re known for their libraries, innovations, or both. All of them are true, dedicated VR headsets with built-in screens, as opposed to mobile headsets that require a smartphone. (Some, but not all, are tethered headsets that require a connection to a separate console or PC.) We also excluded enterprise-level units that are designed for business and commercial use.
What about Apple Vision Pro?
Unless you live under a rock, you’ve either seen or heard about the Apple Vision Pro by now. But, if you’re new to the world of VR, you may be asking yourself why it isn’t included here. Well, as we mentioned earlier, our recommendations are specifically tailored to gaming-centric headsets — the Apple Vision Pro falls into that “enterprise headset” category, so we didn’t consider it for this article.
While still a worthwhile VR category to look into, enterprise headsets aren’t designed with gaming capabilities at the forefront. These types of headsets are designed for productivity and business purposes that can help make your daily life easier. If you’re all about gaming (and we assume you are because you’re here) and want to get into VR, look elsewhere.
What are the best VR headsets for gaming?
Here’s a deeper dive into the best VR headsets we’ve tried. (Note: We’re in the process of testing the HP Reverb G2 and will update this guide accordingly with the final results of our trial.)
