The $299 Oculus Quest 2 VR headset starts shipping today

The Oculus Quest 2, Facebook’s new virtual reality headset, has started shipping today. The Quest 2 is a cheaper, revamped version of the original 2019 Quest. It’s got the same untethered standalone design but with a new chipset and a big bump in screen resolution and controller battery life. And it’s starting at $299 for the base 64GB model and $399 for a 256GB version, a $100 drop from the original Quest.

Quest 2 preorders have been open since September, and it’s available through Oculus’ own site and stores like Best Buy and Walmart, with a full list of retailers in Oculus’ announcement post. It was difficult to buy an original Quest over much of the past year, thanks to persistent supply problems, but the Quest 2 still appears to be widely in stock.

As we wrote in September, the Quest 2 improves some of the Quest’s biggest shortcomings, particularly its weight and balance problems, as long as you pay the extra $49 for an alternate head strap. Oculus has also expanded its library since the original Quest’s launch, and it’s got a slate of upcoming games promised for later this year. The only potential catch is that you’ll need a Facebook account — not just a separate Oculus account — to use it.

The Quest 2 is replacing the original Quest, and starting next year, it’s going to be Facebook’s only headset, since the tethered Rift S will be discontinued in the spring. The product still has some higher-end competition, including the Valve Index and upcoming HP Reverb G2. But if you’re looking for relatively cheap VR that doesn’t require a PC, the Quest is in a unique position — and now, it’s on sale.