Alternatives to the Oculus Go

Facebook/Oculus has already announced that they will cease production (and from 2021 support) of the Oculus Go. This comes as a surprise to many XR enthusiasts, as the Oculus Go is one of the more popular headsets at the moment.

The Oculus Go is known for its light weight, high user-friendliness, and relatively low purchase price (compared to other headsets). These features make the Oculus Go the ideal headset for beginners, but also for special groups, such as children in hospitals. The advantage of the Oculus Go is that the headset works completely wirelessly and without a computer at any location. For this reason, it is perfect for quickly showing someone a fun 360-degree video. But with the discontinuation of the Oculus Go and reduced support from Oculus, it might be wise to look at alternatives.

Fortunately, there are several headsets that can serve the same purposes as the Oculus Go! In this blog, we highlight a few good alternative headsets for you.

This headset has a powerful built-in processor and is therefore more suitable for playing games. The Oculus Quest can also be used entirely wirelessly but can be connected to a computer via Oculus Link if desired. By doing so, you can access applications that are typically only available for high-end headsets. This makes the Oculus Quest a unique all-round headset that can be used for entertainment as well as business applications.

One disadvantage of the Oculus Quest is that the headset is only intended for consumers. Oculus states that business users need to have a commercial license (Oculus for Business). With this license, the Oculus Quest can be used in a business and commercial environment, but the downside is that besides this license, you also need to purchase enterprise software from Oculus for a minimum of one year.

The Pico G2 is considered the most obvious successor to the Oculus Quest. The Pico G2 is most comparable to the Oculus Go. The same light weight, ergonomic design, and ease of use characterise this headset. However, Pico has added some handy features that make the headset even more comfortable. For example, the battery of this headset is integrated into the band that goes over the back of the head, thereby reducing the pressure at the front of the headset (which is noticeable with the Oculus Quest). This makes the Pico G2 4K a bit more comfortable to wear for longer periods.

HTC Vive Focus Plus is a 6 DoF headset with a powerful built-in processor. The Vive Focus Plus is intended for business users who want to use the headset for enterprise applications. With high-resolution visuals and 6 DoF movement tracking, the headset is perfect for developers and companies that want to implement their own content. For instance, the HTC Vive Focus Plus is often used by architecture firms that have designed a house in VR. With the Vive Focus Plus, you can easily walk through the virtual space without cables and without restrictions. Developers can also work well with the Vive Focus Plus, as the Viveport platform allows for relatively easy development and sharing of custom content by and with other developers.

The Vive Focus Plus can be used in a business setting without any software restrictions, but it must be covered by the HTC Enterprise Service for warranty purposes.

VROrbit Theater is a lesser-known headset but focuses on a very specific purpose. As the name suggests, the VROrbit Theater is for watching 360-degree videos and images. The VROrbit runs on an Android system, making it very user-friendly, and adding your own content is also very easy. The headset can be connected to a computer via a USB-C cable, allowing you to drag and drop the files you want to play on the headset. When you then turn on the headset, you see the folder and can select the content using the simple controls on the headset (and even the included wireless mouse).

Possibly the least well-known headset in this list is the Skyworth VR S801. This headset was developed in collaboration with Reality Technologies, one of the largest worldwide distributors in VR, AR, MR, 3D, and AI. The Skyworth VR S801 uses the same design as the Oculus Go but is even lighter (only 310 grams). The Skyworth VR S801 has a high resolution, allowing it to display VR and 360-degree content beautifully.

Just like the Pico G2 4K, it is very easy to load your own content onto the Skyworth VR S801. This makes the headset commercially a good candidate to replace the Oculus Go (partly because the Skyworth S801 is in the same price range as the Oculus Go).

Perhaps the name doesn't mean much to you, but XRspace Manova promises to be the new headset of the future. XRspace was founded by HTC co-founder Peter Chou. The design of the headset is reminiscent of the Oculus Quest 2. It is a standalone headset with built-in tracking for 6 DoF, a powerful built-in processor to support various applications, 20% lighter than comparable headsets, and comes with a range of custom accessories. The Manova is currently only available in Asia, and it is unknown when this headset will be available for purchase more broadly. But one thing is certain: XRspace is an interesting company to keep an eye on!