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Oculus Quest price, features, specs, and release date

Here's everything we know about the Oculus Quest, including its hardware, software, features, compatibility, price, release date, and more.

Kevin Tucker

September 26, 2018 2:50 PM

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Thanks to this year's Oculus Connect 5 keynote, we now know that Project Santa Cruz has been given an official designation: Oculus Quest. The company's standalone, wireless VR HMD is packed with features and promises an experience largely on-par with the Oculus Rift, and that's thanks to a suite of new tools and features that aim to make virtual reality content more engaging than ever before.

Hardware, features, and specifications

The Oculus team has remained very tight-lipped about what exactly is under the hood of the Quest, the standalone HMD previously known as Project Santa Cruz. However, we do have a few fundamental bullet points that help spell out just what the device is all about:

• untethered/completely wireless
• modern optics and display
• updated Touch controls
• 6 degrees of freedom (6DOF)
• integrated audio
• Insight and Guardian support

It's possible, though not necessarily guaranteed, that the Quest uses a lot of similar components found in the Go: namely, a Snapdragon processor pared with the Go's unique optical lenses. The Quest will most certainly be running a more powerful processor than the Snapdragon 821 featured in the Go, but again, we don't yet know which processor will be included. With that said, we do know that the Quest will feature a new display that is capable of displaying a resolution of 1600x1440 per eye, which is considerably higher than the Go's resolution of 1280x1440 per eye.

As for other components, the Quest makes use of four built-in, wide-angle sensors that allow for 6DOF movement without the need for external sensors. Coupled with the wireless controllers and the system's built-in 360 degree audio (which has been tuned for extended bass response), users should be able to enjoy untethered VR in a platform that is well beyond the capabilities of the pared-down Go.

The Quest will also enjoy some of the latest software features on the market, including support for Oculus Insight and Guardian. Insight is Oculus' suite of tools that power the device's inside-out tracking systems, creating 3D maps of the environment in order to accurately convey motion and position. Guardian works along with this system, remembering the details of rooms and the location of obstacles in a better effort to keep VR participants from stumbling over furniture or falling out of windows.

Oculus Quest price, release date, and launch software

The Oculus Quest will begin shipping next spring, and will be sold for a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $399 for the 64GB storage model. This figure is well under what many VR fans expected the standalone HMD to cost, particularly in knowing that the headset is aiming for Rift-quality experiences.

It's worth noting that the $399 price tag appears to include two separate Oculus Touch controllers, the likes of which appear to be slightly different when compared to the Touch controllers offered for the Oculus Rift or for the Oculus Go. These are updated input options with redesigned circular halos and new asymmetrical form factors clearly designed for specific left- and right-hand uses.

Finally, Oculus has stated that the Quest will be fully compatible with all other Oculus software moving forward, meaning that Quest-developed experiences will be future-proofed against later hardware revisions. Even better, the team has also promised that over 50 titles will be available for the Quest at the time of its launch, and many of the bigger hits featured on the Rift, such as Robo Recall and Moss, will be compatible with the Quest.

Though there's no clear-cut release date yet, a spring 2019 release window should put the Oculus Quest into the hands of players between March and May of 2019. To stay on top of Oculus VR and everything related to the Quest, be sure to keep it tuned right here to Shacknews.

Kevin Tucker

Guides Editor

Kevin Tucker is a core component of Shacknews' powerful guide development team. For questions, concerns, tips, or to share constructive criticism, he can be reached on Twitter @dukeofgnar or through e-mail at kevin.tucker@shacknews.com.