It’s only been a couple years but it has been a rocky road for VR. The hype, the dashed expectations, the slow climb toward those early promises made by Oculus and HTC didn’t do any favors. The Rift S (8/10 WIRED Recommends) is the latest headset from Oculus and it’s an enormous improvement over the previous versions. This headset takes you about five minutes to setup and uses one cable—no external power or dongles needed—just a single cable. There’s just one internal display panel instead of the usual two displays (one for each eye) for a total resolution of 2560 x 1440, which is sharp enough to read small text and appreciate fine details. Plus, it’s really comfortable and doesn’t weigh your head down.
A word of warning though, supplies are limited due to COVID-19 related shortages, so Oculus is currently not selling the headset and only a few retailers still have it in stock. Be sure to keep an eye on the price tag, the Rift S should be $400, not the $600 it’s listed for on Amazon.
Room-scale, 2 controllers
