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Oculus' Elite Strap makes the Quest 2 1000% betterA must-buy for fellow headache sufferers
A must-buy for fellow headache sufferers
TheOculus Quest 2is a great VR headset for anyone looking to dip their toes into virtual reality, but if I had one complaint about Oculus' standalone headset (apart from themandatory Facebook accountrequirement), it would be the uncomfortable little knobbly bits on its elasticated head strap. They’re just too painful to use the Quest 2 for any significant length of time, and they always give me a nasty headache for the rest of the day. Happily, I’ve since discovered that the Quest 2’sEliteStrap accessory eliminates this problem entirely, and is well worth getting if, like me, you want to be able toplay Half-Life: Alyxwithout feeling like you’ve got a real-life head crab hugging your skull.
The Elite Strap is one of the manyextra accessoriesavailable for the Quest 2, and must be bought separately to the main headset. On its own, it costs another £49 / $49, but it’s also available as part of an additional battery and carry case bundle for £119 / $119. I’ve only tested the former, so I can’t say how the extra weight of the battery affects the overall ergonomics of the headset, but unless you constantly find yourself running out of power during a typical play session, I’d recommend sticking with the regular Elite Strap if you want to dramatically improve your overall VR experience.
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To their credit, Oculus have since acknowledged this issue and have currently paused sales of both the Elite Strap and the more expensive Elite Strap and Battery Pack bundle while they sort it out. We don’t know when either one will go back on sale just yet, but when they do, I can heartily recommend it for fellow headache sufferers.
Indeed, as terrifying as it was to attach the Elite Strap to the Quest 2, I managed to do so without any unintended breakages and once it was on, I was away. While the rigid arms don’t offer quite as much vertical adjustment as the basic strap, the smooth, rubbery head support sat snuggly against the back of my head and the firm, tactile halo dial (much like the one on theRift S) let me tighten it as much as I needed to get a good fit. Most importantly, the halo dial stayed put even on its tightest setting, which is something I can’t say is true of the one on the Rift S. That dial was constantly slipping and jolting out of place when I had it in for testing it earlier in the year, but the Quest 2’s Elite Strap has held firm throughout the time I’ve been using it.
And man alive, the effect is transformative. Whereas the basic strap often had me ripping off the headset after about an hour (90 minutes absolute maximum), the Elite Strap let me carry on Questing for as long as my feeble muscles allowed. After my first Elite Strap session ofBeat Saber, for example, it wasn’t through pain that I had to sit down and have a rest. It was through actual fatigue, as I’d been merrily swinging my arms about for at least a couple of hours without even the slightest hint of discomfort.
No knobbly bits here, no sir.
Alas, I doubt we’ll see any change on this front in the foreseeable future, and especially not until Oculus sort out whatever manufacturing fault is causing some straps to break. Maybe we’ll finally get a proper halo dial with the inevitable Quest 3? I live in hope.
