I’ve checked out VR and AR headsets for effectively over a decade, from Google Glass and the primary demos of the Oculus Rift to peeks at the way forward for AR glasses and Android XR. Proper now, VR has settled all the way down to only a few gamers: Meta, Apple, Sony, Valve, HTC and Pico, with Google’s looming Android XR partnership with Samsung ready within the wings. On this planet of AR and good glasses, there could possibly be a variety of modifications coming: the Xreal One glasses, as an example, or the promise of Meta’s Orion venture.
However proper now, VR is extraordinarily good — and nonetheless restricted in how a lot it will possibly do. I discover my very own use of VR headsets bouncing between Meta’s Quest 3 and the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional. However it’s fairly clear there’s one nice VR headset choose of the second, and it is available in two in another way priced flavors.
What’s the perfect VR headset total?
The Meta Quest 3 presents combined actuality and improved show decision and optics, and is $500 — $3,000 lower than the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional. Nevertheless, the newer Meta Quest 3S, a lower-cost model of the Quest 3 for $300, is an excellent higher purchase for entry-level VR adopters. I desire the Quest 3, however there are many individuals who will discover the 3S to be a fantastic alternative for its worth.
The Quest 3 and 3S each have newer, quicker Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processors that produce higher graphics and permit for higher-res colour pass-through digicam feeds than the Quest 2, and each have redesigned controllers. Each can create combined actuality results by mixing what the cameras see with VR graphics which might be overlaid within the headset to appear like AR. The Quest 3 has higher lenses and a better show decision, however I desire the texture of the Quest 3S eyepiece on my face, and the 3S additionally appears to have barely higher hand monitoring in low gentle.
The Quest platform has loads of aspect advantages: It has lots of of video games and artistic or productiveness apps, and several other nice health applications for efficient cardio exercises. It could connect with PCs and even double as a piece gadget in case you have some persistence. It additionally has hand monitoring that works with out controllers, however controllers are included to present you two enter choices. The Quests may even play “spatial” 3D movies shot on newer iPhones.
Learn extra: The Greatest VR Video games to Play in 2025
Greatest VR headsets of 2025
Like
- Crisp high-res shows
- Improved new processor
- Combined actuality with higher colour cameras
- Smaller controllers with higher haptics
Don’t love
- Dearer than Quest 2
- Few distinctive apps and video games at launch
- Straps and luxury nonetheless aren’t nice
- Nonetheless solely 2-3 hours battery life
Meta’s upgraded VR sequel to the Quest 2 appears like a notable revamp, with enhancements throughout the board: a barely smaller design, higher, clearer lenses, a higher-res show, smaller controllers with higher haptics and higher-res colour cameras that may combine the true world and the digital collectively. This “combined actuality” is comparable in spirit to what Apple’s Imaginative and prescient Professional will do however in a lower-res type for lots much less cash.
Learn my evaluation.
Like
- Up to date graphics and quicker processor
- Improved colour passthrough cameras
- Higher hand monitoring
Don’t love
- No enchancment to lenses or decision vs Quest 2
- Solely 2-3 hours battery life
The Meta Quest 3S (Meta’s substitute to my longstanding Editor’s Selection headset, the Quest 2) is super-affordable at $300 and comes with up to date graphics and colour passthrough cameras that give the 3S the identical gaming and combined actuality powers because the Quest 3. It is a incredible price range purchase, however Meta minimize corners on the show and lens high quality with the 3S, selecting to make use of the identical fresnel lenses and LCD show because the Quest 2. It is completely tremendous for basic VR and gaming, however the dearer Quest 3’s notably clearer lenses and crisper decision are my favourite for all-day use and for studying textual content. The Quest 3S additionally comes with a free recreation, Batman: Arkham Shadow, including to its worth.
Learn my evaluation.
Like
- Vivid, high-res OLED show
- Comfy match
- Glorious controllers
- Reasonable vibrations
- Highly effective graphics potential
Don’t love
- Costly
- Must be cabled to PS5
- Included earbuds are simply OK
- Would not work with outdated PSVR video games
- Sport library wants extra exclusives
The PSVR 2 is dear ($550), and desires a PlayStation 5 to even work. It is tethered, not wi-fi. And Sony hasn’t supported the PSVR 2 with sufficient distinctive video games to justify its existence. The PSVR 2 remains to be a enjoyable luxurious for those who’re a PS5 gamer who additionally owns a PC. Its HDR OLED show, graphics high quality, built-in eye monitoring and incredible superior controllers — which have the identical vibrations and adaptive force-feedback triggers because the PS5 DualSense controllers — give this headset a premium really feel that makes its greatest video games carry out at a unique stage. It has some exclusives like Gran Turismo 7, Resident Evil Village and Horizon: Name of the Mountain, however not sufficient.
Learn my PlayStation VR 2 evaluation.
Like
- Superb micro-OLED show
- A largely fluid hand-eye management interface
- Blends the true and digital worlds impressively
- iOS assist folds in tons of acquainted apps for work
- Taking part in again private 3D recollections feels transporting
Don’t love
- Extraordinarily costly
- Hand-eye interface is not all the time excellent
- Not many VisionOS optimized apps but
- Exterior battery and twine required to be used
- Would not work over glasses
The Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional is a tremendous piece of tech and a bleeding-edge high-end combined actuality headset that additionally runs iOS and 1000’s of iPad apps, works with out controllers utilizing eye and hand monitoring and may run a number of apps on the identical time, together with being a digital MacBook monitor. Nevertheless, it is method too costly for anybody however XR professionals and early adopters. The 4K micro-OLED shows are beautiful, and movies and photographs look incredible. Apple’s gadget requires a tethered battery pack, is simply made to work inside Apple’s ecosystem and doesn’t have many distinctive apps but at launch that do greater than act as floating 2D screens. The Imaginative and prescient Professional may very effectively be the beginning of a complete new chapter in headsets and will flip into the perfect product on this entire class over time, however not proper now for most individuals. At its present worth and software program limits, you’re higher off ready and making an attempt a free demo as a substitute. And, now that it has been round for over a yr, it is laborious to inform when Apple will replace this headset to one thing with newer processors. The Quest 3 and 3S are far cheaper tickets to discover related concepts within the meantime at an enormous low cost.
Learn my Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional evaluation.
Like
- Glorious SteamVR compatibility
- Good audio
- Modern controllers
Don’t love
- Requires exterior room sensors for monitoring
- Show decision lags behind present headsets
Valve’s headset is not as cutting-edge because it was when it debuted in 2020, however its Steam VR and Vive {hardware} compatibility, glorious audio and fancy controllers nonetheless make it {hardware} price contemplating. Valve’s “knuckle” controllers are pressure-sensitive and may observe all 5 fingers, making them nearly like gloves. Not all apps benefit from them, however Valve’s {hardware} is mix-and-match appropriate with the HTC Vive, which is also constructed on the Steam VR platform. The Index headset has glorious audio, however its show decision is not nearly as good as opponents’.
Learn our Valve Index evaluation.
Prepare for probably the most highly effective Meta Quest but. Dive into full immersion with sensible 4K decision and wealthy spatial audio, feeling such as you’re inside your favourite video games. Stream reveals on big vibrant screens wherever in your house, or benefit from the final expertise with Infinite Show’s widest subject of view. With premium consolation and wi-fi design, you’ll be able to transfer freely in exercises or take your headset on the go. And while you purchase a Meta Quest 3 now, you’ll get $30 in Quest Money.
Different VR headsets we have examined
Meta Quest Professional: This older, outdated, eye-tracking-equipped Quest headset can observe facial expressions and has a crisp show, however the cheaper Quest 3 already makes it out of date with its higher graphics, cameras and show decision.
HTC Vive XR Elite: The glasses-like design of the XR Elite is an indication of the longer term, however the software program and efficiency of this headset do not justify its worth.
PlayStation VR: The unique PSVR nonetheless works on the PlayStation 4 and 5, however it’s not appropriate with PSVR 2 video games and {hardware}. It nonetheless has some nice video games to find, however its lack of devoted controllers and awkward setup feels historic.
How I check VR headsets
Though mainstream VR headsets have been round for practically a decade, the apps they run and the computer systems, telephones and recreation consoles they work with maintain altering. I run key apps and software program on the headsets, utilizing them primarily in standalone mode in the event that they’re designed to be self-contained, or with a PC, recreation console or telephone in the event that they’re primarily meant as linked peripherals.
I exploit the headsets for a mixture of work, gaming, health and artistic makes use of, and keep attentive to the place the headsets have ache factors (moments of discomfort, emotions of disconnect or sensations of nausea or distortion). Utilizing know-how like VR can usually be a extremely subjective expertise, however by paying attention to particulars I discover I can uncover the place every product is uniquely helpful.
Comparability can also be key: I’ve checked out just about each wearable AR and VR gadget of the final 15 years and likewise coated a variety of the wearable tech, telephone and laptop panorama. How these gadgets work as recreation consoles, health gadgets, work equipment and social instruments are all key areas. I additionally take into consideration shows, audio, controllers and lodging for eyeglasses.
Components to contemplate when shopping for a VR headset
VR and AR typically really feel like product classes that by no means fairly appear to grow to be mainstream, however change is coming quick to the headset panorama.
Google and Samsung are introducing a brand new VR/AR platform later this yr referred to as Android XR. Samsung’s Venture Moohan is a Imaginative and prescient Professional-like headset that may even run Google’s Gemini AI and loads of Google Play apps. Count on Android XR to forge a bridge between Android telephones and headsets and glasses, though it is laborious to inform how briskly that shift will occur. Samsung’s headset, which does not have a worth or launch date but, appears to be the one Android XR gadget in 2025. Android XR could possibly be the longer term, however proper now, it is laborious to inform whether or not you need to watch for it. Qualcomm’s future plans for VR and AR lean on telephones as a approach to energy smaller glasses, however thus far there are no of those smaller gadgets that we might suggest.
Within the meantime, Apple’s $3,499 Imaginative and prescient Professional headset — a self-contained, standalone VR/AR gadget that Apple is positioning as a full spatial laptop — is the highest-price gadget on the patron market, with a really totally different pitch than games-focused gadgets just like the Meta Quest. Its potential to run all kinds of iOS apps and have a number of apps open without delay make it a singular choice, and its potentialities as an iOS combined actuality laptop, paired with its incredible show high quality and distinctive enter technique of hand-eye monitoring, may make it a promising gadget for creators, researchers and anybody with a big sufficient pockets to pay for a high-end private cinema on their face. It additionally emphasizes issues like computing and video high quality as a substitute of what are nonetheless the Quest’s biggest strengths: gaming and health. However it’s over a yr outdated now, and Apple could possibly be shifting to a extra inexpensive model within the subsequent couple of years.
The Imaginative and prescient Professional is not the one combined actuality VR headset on the market: Count on extra on this class, which blends VR with video of your environment utilizing colour passthrough cameras that really feel nearly like augmented actuality. The Quest 3 is probably the most inexpensive mainstream mixed-reality VR headset, and Apple’s is the most costly. Samsung’s Venture Moohan may even function combined actuality, and I anticipate loads extra to return.
Sony’s $550 PlayStation VR 2 delivers a fantastic console gaming VR expertise for PlayStation 5 homeowners and contains eye monitoring like Apple’s Imaginative and prescient Professional, however is not wi-fi and remains to be a comparatively costly accent (it prices greater than the PS5 itself). It is dearer than each the Quest 2 and Quest 3, and nonetheless wants a PS5 to work, however prices far lower than a Imaginative and prescient Professional (though it serves a very totally different function and depends on a restricted set of PlayStation VR video games to even perform). Its extra restricted library and capabilities make it much less versatile than a Quest, however a enjoyable Quest different for anybody deep into Sony’s PlayStation 5 ecosystem. Nevertheless, the PSVR 2 proper now feels prefer it’s not likely the place the way forward for headsets is heading.
For PC homeowners, there are a number of choices. You may use a Quest 3, Quest 3S, PSVR 2, or take into account a number of present gadgets. The most important earlier gamers within the PC VR gaming scene (Microsoft, Valve and HTC) have been quiet on that entrance, particularly now that Microsoft has discontinued most of its combined actuality efforts and VR headset compatibility. That would change once more quickly. A PC-connected VR headset can provide probably the most versatile assortment of software program for an immersive VR expertise, and it additionally enables you to use that headset for artistic and enterprise instruments. Steam is clearly the perfect conduit for PC VR proper now.
The price of a brand new VR headset goes up nowadays. If worth is your greatest concern, the Quest 3S at the moment presents the perfect worth in VR: a very wi-fi expertise, with entry to a fantastic library of incredible video games.
