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Meta Quest

From VR & AR Wiki
A Meta Quest 3 headset with a Touch Plus controller

Meta Quest (originally Oculus Quest) is a line of standalone virtual reality and mixed reality headsets made by Meta Platforms, the company formerly known as Facebook. The defining trait of the line is that each headset is a self-contained computer: it runs games and apps on its own mobile chip, tracks your position with cameras built into the visor, and needs no PC, no game console, and no external sensors mounted around the room. That standalone design, sold at consumer prices, is the main reason Quest became the best-selling VR hardware family of its generation.

The first model shipped as the Oculus Quest in May 2019. After Facebook renamed itself Meta in late 2021, the headsets were rebranded from "Oculus Quest" to "Meta Quest" through 2022, and the surrounding software (the operating system, the app store, and the phone companion app) was renamed again to the "Horizon" branding in 2024. Headsets can still be tethered to a gaming PC to play more demanding PC VR titles over Meta Quest Link (a USB-C cable) or Air Link (wireless), but most Quest software runs directly on the headset.

Origin as Oculus Quest

Oculus VR was a VR startup that Facebook acquired in 2014. Its early consumer headset, the Oculus Rift, was a PC-tethered device. The Quest grew out of an internal prototype (known during development as "Santa Cruz") aimed at putting six-degrees-of-freedom tracking into a wireless all-in-one headset.

Mark Zuckerberg introduced the Oculus Quest at the Oculus Connect 5 conference on September 26, 2018, with a spring 2019 launch and a starting price of $399.[1] It went on sale on May 21, 2019.[2] The Quest was the first Oculus headset to combine positional Inside-out tracking for both the headset and the hand controllers with a wire-free, console-free form factor, which is what set the template for everything that followed.

From Oculus to Meta

On October 28, 2021, at the company's annual Connect conference, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook's parent company would be renamed Meta Platforms, reframing the firm around its long-term bet on the "metaverse" rather than the Facebook app alone.[3]

The hardware brand followed. Beginning in early 2022, Meta retired the Oculus name and rebranded the headsets as Meta Quest, so the existing Oculus Quest 2 became the Meta Quest 2 and the Oculus companion app became the Meta Quest app.[4] The original 2019 headset is the one model that kept its "Oculus Quest" name in most documentation, since it predated the rebrand and was already discontinued by then.

Platform and software

Operating system

Every Quest runs Meta's own Android-based operating system. Meta renamed that software to Meta Horizon OS on April 22, 2024; before the rename it was the unbranded system software that shipped on Quest headsets, built on the Android Open Source Project.[5] Recent versions are based on Android 14.[5] In the same April 2024 announcement, Meta said it would open Horizon OS to third-party hardware makers and named Asus (its Republic of Gamers division), Lenovo, and Microsoft's Xbox as the first partners building devices around the OS.[6] Meta later paused that third-party licensing program in December 2025 to concentrate on its own headsets.[7]

Store

Software is sold through Meta's storefront, which has been renamed several times alongside the company. It launched as the Oculus Store, became the Meta Quest Store after the 2022 rebrand, and was renamed the Meta Horizon Store on April 22, 2024 (the same day as the OS rename), at which point it also opened to apps for third-party Horizon OS devices.[8] The mobile companion app that pairs with a headset was likewise renamed from the Meta Quest app to the Meta Horizon app.[6]

Standalone use and PC VR

Most Quest content runs entirely on the headset. For PC VR titles that need a desktop graphics card, a Quest can connect to a Windows PC two ways: Meta Quest Link, a wired USB-C connection that was originally called Oculus Link, or Air Link, which streams the same PC VR feed wirelessly over a 5 GHz Wi-Fi network.[9] A wired Link connection generally gives lower latency and cleaner image quality than wireless, while Air Link trades some of that for freedom of movement.

Tracking, controllers, and hands

Quest headsets use Inside-out tracking: cameras on the headset watch the room to work out where the headset and controllers are, so there are no base stations to mount. Each headset ships with a pair of handheld Touch controllers (the exact model varies by generation, for example Touch Pro on Quest Pro and Touch Plus on Quest 3 and Quest 3S). The same cameras also support controller-free hand tracking, which lets the headset read finger and hand poses directly for menus and supported apps. From Quest Pro onward, Meta added color passthrough so the cameras can show a live view of the real room, which is the basis for the line's mixed reality features.

Models

The table below lists the headsets with publicly documented specifications. Prices are the launch prices in US dollars at the headset's debut; several models were later repriced (the Quest 2, for instance, rose to $399 in 2022 before the line was reshuffled, and the Quest Pro was cut to $1,000 in 2023).[10] Resolution is given per eye.

Model Release date Launch price (USD) SoC Resolution per eye Notable
Oculus Quest May 21, 2019 $399 (64 GB) / $499 (128 GB) Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 1440 x 1600 OLED @ 72 Hz First standalone 6DoF Quest; inside-out tracking; discontinued 2020[2][11]
Meta Quest 2 October 13, 2020 $299 (64 GB) / $399 (256 GB) Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 1832 x 1920 LCD @ 72-120 Hz Best-selling model; launched as Oculus Quest 2, later rebranded Meta Quest 2; discontinued September 2024[12]
Meta Quest Pro October 25, 2022 $1,499.99 Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 1 1800 x 1920 @ 72-90 Hz Pancake lenses, eye and face tracking, color passthrough; price cut to $1,000 in 2023; discontinued 2024[13]
Meta Quest 3 October 10, 2023 $499.99 (128 GB) / $649.99 (512 GB) Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 2064 x 2208 LCD @ 90-120 Hz Pancake lenses, full-color passthrough mixed reality, depth sensor[14]
Meta Quest 3S October 15, 2024 $299.99 (128 GB) / $399.99 (256 GB) Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 1832 x 1920 LCD @ 90-120 Hz Cheaper Quest 3 sibling; same SoC and color passthrough but Fresnel lenses and lower-res displays[15]

Discontinued models

Three of the listed headsets are no longer sold. The original Oculus Quest was discontinued in 2020 once the Quest 2 arrived.[2] The Meta Quest 2 was discontinued on September 25, 2024, when the Quest 3S took over its $299 entry-level slot.[12] The Meta Quest Pro was discontinued in 2024, with sales ending in early 2025 and buyers pointed toward the Quest 3.[13] As of mid-2026 the actively sold models are the Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Facebook's newest VR headset, Oculus Quest, ships in the spring for $399". 2018-09-26. https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/26/oculus-quest-ships-in-the-spring-for-399/.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Oculus Quest". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculus_Quest.
  3. ↑ "Introducing Meta: A Social Technology Company". 2021-10-28. https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/facebook-company-is-now-meta/.
  4. ↑ "Oculus Brand Is Dead, Oculus Quest To Become Meta Quest". 2021-10-28. https://www.uploadvr.com/oculus-brand-dead-oculus-quest-to-become-meta-quest/.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Meta Horizon OS". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_Horizon_OS.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Introducing Our Open Mixed Reality Ecosystem". 2024-04-22. https://about.fb.com/news/2024/04/introducing-our-open-mixed-reality-ecosystem/.
  7. ↑ "Meta is pausing its dream of sharing Quest's Horizon OS with third-party headset makers". 2025-12-17. https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/17/meta-is-pausing-its-dream-of-sharing-quests-horizon-os-with-third-party-headset-makers/.
  8. ↑ "Meta Horizon Store". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_Horizon_Store.
  9. ↑ "Set up and connect Meta Horizon Link and Air Link". https://www.meta.com/help/quest/509273027107091/.
  10. ↑ "Facebook parent Meta raises price of its Quest 2 VR headset by $100". 2022-07-26. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/26/facebook-parent-meta-raises-price-of-its-quest-2-vr-headset-by-100.html.
  11. ↑ "Oculus Quest Specs, Price, Release Date And Everything Else". https://www.uploadvr.com/oculus-quest-specs-price-release-date/.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Quest 2". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_2.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Meta Quest Pro". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_Quest_Pro.
  14. ↑ "Meta Quest 3". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_Quest_3.
  15. ↑ "Meta Quest 3S". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_Quest_3S.
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