Best VR headset for DCS/flight simulators that isn't extremely expensive

[Flogger23m]

Recently acquired an HTC Vive. I eventually got it setup for DCS and it works well. Of course the problem with the Vive is that it is an older headset, and resolution is quite low and blurry. Things that are easy to spot in the distance on my monitor are significantly harder to see on the Vive. However, it works quite well aside from that and it has sold me on the VR concept for DCS.

Now I am looking into getting a newer VR headset that will hopefully feature higher resolution and better image quality. I will be using it with DCS, and possibly some other flight sims or space sims. Possibly Half Life Alyx. But right now I am more or less just playing DCS.

What headset should I be looking at getting? I am okay with buying second hand, provided there is replaceable face cushions and whatnot. The Vive came with two base stations, so if I can save money by buying a VR headset only and reusing the base stations that would be nice. It also came with two motion controllers, although I have not yet used them.

HTC has some new models up, and there is the Quest 2, Quest 3, and I've heard good things about HP Reverb G2. Any suggestions on what is the best to use for DCS, and what is the best for the price (~$300 or so)?

 

[diego999]

Quest 3 and Pico 4 are the newest "cheap" headsets. Both around the $500 mark.

Quest 2 is an older model and it has fresnel lenses, which means good clarity on the center, blurry everywhere else. It's cheap. 

G2 is discontinued and about to lose official support. It has fresnel lenses too, but is somewhat better than the Quest 2 in image clarity (it has other problems). Owners seem to love it. It's cheap too.

I don't know about the other HTC models. They don't seem to be very popular around here.

Another thing to consider is how powerful your rig is. Buying a better headset only to find your pc doesn't have enough muscle to fill all those pixels at a reasonable refresh rate would be a waste of money.

I'd go for a Quest 3, but my opinion isn't unbiased as I have a Quest 2.

Edited March 19 by diego999
typo

[Flogger23m]

Thanks. I would probably have to look for a used model. I have an RTX 4070 Super, although I have a feeling that might be problematic. The resolution on the Reverb G2 is higher than 4K apparently, and I assume my GPU will  run out of VRAM and have major performance problems. CPU is a Ryzen 7800X3D, 32GB of RAM. At 2560x1440 I get between 80-130 frame rates. I assume with such high resolutions frame rate will be half, my worry would be VRAM.

I assume all newer models will not have the fresnel lenses. Would the Quest 3 be a big upgrade over a Quest 2 overall?

[Qcumber]

9 hours ago, Flogger23m said:

Recently acquired an HTC Vive. I eventually got it setup for DCS and it works well. Of course the problem with the Vive is that it is an older headset, and resolution is quite low and blurry. Things that are easy to spot in the distance on my monitor are significantly harder to see on the Vive. However, it works quite well aside from that and it has sold me on the VR concept for DCS.

Now I am looking into getting a newer VR headset that will hopefully feature higher resolution and better image quality. I will be using it with DCS, and possibly some other flight sims or space sims. Possibly Half Life Alyx. But right now I am more or less just playing DCS.

What headset should I be looking at getting? I am okay with buying second hand, provided there is replaceable face cushions and whatnot. The Vive came with two base stations, so if I can save money by buying a VR headset only and reusing the base stations that would be nice. It also came with two motion controllers, although I have not yet used them.

HTC has some new models up, and there is the Quest 2, Quest 3, and I've heard good things about HP Reverb G2. Any suggestions on what is the best to use for DCS, and what is the best for the price (~$300 or so)?

 

Consider a used quest pro or new if you can find one cheap enough. This gives you DFR which increases your performance massively. I have a QP and a P4 and no longer use the P4. I get a steady 72 fps in most situations. I can't get this performance on a P4 so I would imagine a Q3 would be similar. 

[diego999]

7 hours ago, Flogger23m said:

Thanks. I would probably have to look for a used model. I have an RTX 4070 Super, although I have a feeling that might be problematic. The resolution on the Reverb G2 is higher than 4K apparently, and I assume my GPU will  run out of VRAM and have major performance problems. CPU is a Ryzen 7800X3D, 32GB of RAM. At 2560x1440 I get between 80-130 frame rates. I assume with such high resolutions frame rate will be half, my worry would be VRAM.

I assume all newer models will not have the fresnel lenses. Would the Quest 3 be a big upgrade over a Quest 2 overall?

 

A Quest 3 is better in every sense and I think the best improvement are the lenses. You have clarity all across the screen. Resolution is higher but not by a lot.

A trick to save GPU power would be foveated rendering. This technique renders the center of the image at full resolution and the borders at lower resolution. For us with fresnel lenses it's great, as everything outside the sweet spot is blurry anyways.

If you're going for a Quest headset, be aware of this issue at the moment:

 

What @Qcumber says is a good option too.

 

[unlikely_spider]

I went from a G2 to a Quest 3 and I consider it an upgrade for sure, in most ways except for comfort. The lenses are much better.

And strangely I don't seem to be affected by the recent Oculus update, but I do know that there are many who are.

[ismaeljorda]

 

[AngleOff66]

Just in case(you probably already know) But MS is deprecating WMR by 2025/2026?  There are threads here.  When I saw the G2 mentioned, I thought it best to pipe up.

[nikoel]

Look at second hand market from reputable brands you can safely purchase used *COUGHnotpimaxCOUGH*. This how I stretched my dollar. Hell, I got a second hand 4090 for less than a new 4080

Since you're looking at cheap headsets, I am going to go out on a limb and say your hardware is low-mid end for VR

FYI the hardware scale goes something like:

• Very Good: NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 
• Good: Intel 13/14th 700k / 7800X3D with a 4090
• High Mid End: 5800X3D with a 3090
• [Very] Mid: AMD5#### or intel eqv, 3080 - 6900XT if you like the dark-side
• Low End: AMD3####, intel 9th 10th 11th, 3070
• Poe-Tay-To: On scale from one to even, you just won't. Won't Even

All assume 32gb of Ram, NVME SSD 

As Qcumber said, DFR is a must. Quest Pro is the obvious choice for now, but there will be more headsets entering the market with DFR. This is especially the case if you do not have a powerful graphics card. It's much easier to push QP with a mid end system than Q3. The image quality will be miles ahead because you will be able to use the overhead for higher graphics settings. If you have a good graphics card, but a lower spec processor, Q3 is the way to go. DFR pushes processor harder. So chose wisely

Second Hand QuestPro is hovering around the same price or lower as the 3; depending on where you are and how thrifty you get

If those options are too exy, then the Pico4 is the only low end headset I would go for. You will be giving the CCP the colour of your boxers and all your personal info, but depending on your online habits they may already have these 

Edited March 20 by nikoel

[Hippo]

Another vote for the Quest Pro from me.  I don't know where you are but at this price it's an absolute bargain.

[Qcumber]

1 minute ago, Hippo said:

Another vote for the Quest Pro from me.  I don't know where you are but at this price it's an absolute bargain.

That's a great price for new. Most of the used on eBay are going for not much less. 

[Flogger23m]

Cheapest I can find a Quest Pro is for $1000, or an Amazon third party for around $900. I will pass on the Reverb as WMR will stop being supported in 2026. Seems like if you download and store the installer you'll be able to use it past that date though.

I can only find the Pico 4 on newegg through a 3rd party seller. Around $420.

Quest 2 is $200 on sale from major retailers. Comes with some gift cards that I may be able to sell to offset the cost. Obviously this is an older device, but the low price is temping. There is also a Quest 3S coming, and I assume that will be better although priced higher. My main worry would be Meta's software. Someone here pointed to the thread about a recent software update. Is it possible to not auto update software, or are all Quest products tied to some crappy software that requires auto updating?

I don't quite have the money for a very high end headset and I also doubt I can get acceptable frame rates at extremely high resolutions anyways. I have an RTX 4070, 7800X3D, 32GB RAM which is decent but extremely high resolutions will probably be too much. Just wanting something that can be a decent upgrade over the Vive, which I'll sell to offset the cost.

 

 

 

Edited March 22 by Flogger23m

[nikoel]

The reason you're getting these recommendations is because with DFR the hardware requirements to drive the headset are greatly reduced. Eye tracking is *that* good. A QuestPro with DFR can be ~40% (can't recall the exact number, dont shoot) easier to drive for the graphics card in comparison to Q2. It does come at a cost of the CPU, so it's not free -

The build quality of QP is enterprise level. Stop looking for brand new and go for the second hand market. Heck, there is one floating about that I saw a week ago with a dead pixel that is dirt cheap. Still ions better than a Q2

There are no faceplate materials thus no hygiene issues. You can also just simply purchase a new comfort kit if that is such a huge issue

Either way, everyone is shooting in the dark here since we do not know what your specs are

Edited March 22 by nikoel

[diego999]

1 hour ago, Flogger23m said:

My main worry would be Meta's software. Someone here pointed to the thread about a recent software update. Is it possible to not auto update software, or are all Quest products tied to some crappy software that requires auto updating?

 

It updates on itself, but you can block it.

The issue will be solved by the next DCS patch.

[Flogger23m]

1 hour ago, nikoel said:

The reason you're getting these recommendations is because with DFR the hardware requirements to drive the headset are greatly reduced. Eye tracking is *that* good. A QuestPro with DFR can be ~40% (can't recall the exact number, dont shoot) easier to drive for the graphics card in comparison to Q2. It does come at a cost of the CPU, so it's not free -

The build quality of QP is enterprise level. Stop looking for brand new and go for the second hand market. Heck, there is one floating about that I saw a week ago with a dead pixel that is dirt cheap. Still ions better than a Q2

There are no faceplate materials thus no hygiene issues. You can also just simply purchase a new comfort kit if that is such a huge issue

Either way, everyone is shooting in the dark here since we do not know what your specs are

 

Seems like the lowest price I can find on the Quest Pro is around $600. I'm sure it is a top tier headset, but it is also out of my price range. New will be around $1000.

DFR does look quite good though, at least in terms of performance increase. I have an RTX 4070, 7800X3D, and 32GB RAM. Would the Quest Pro at a higher resolution with DFR on run better than a lower resolution Quest 2 without DFR?

 

1 hour ago, diego999 said:

It updates on itself, but you can block it.

The issue will be solved by the next DCS patch.

Thanks, will the patch be out soon?

Edited March 22 by Flogger23m

[Qcumber]

1 hour ago, Flogger23m said:

Would the Quest Pro at a higher resolution with DFR on run better than a lower resolution Quest 2 without DFR?

Definitely. The panel resolutions of the Q2 is about the same as a QP but the Q2 has a single panel whilst the QP has two panels that are rotated to make better use of pixel count.This gives the QP a better overall resolution than the Q2 but they both need to generate the same output. The lenses are also much better on the QP. Taken together with the DFR you get a very good quality-performance balance.

[Flogger23m]

5 minutes ago, Qcumber said:

Definitely. The panel resolutions of the Q2 is about the same as a QP but the Q2 has a single panel whilst the QP has two panels that are rotated to make better use of pixel count.This gives the QP a better overall resolution than the Q2 but they both need to generate the same output. The lenses are also much better on the QP. Taken together with the DFR you get a very good quality-performance balance.

 

Thanks. I will keep an eye out for a used model, but they seem to hover around the $500-600 range. I ended up getting a Quest 2 from Walmart, but won't open it right away. With cash back and perhaps selling my $50 game credit I may be able to get it for around $160-170 or so after tax.

Until then I will be looking for a used Pro if one pops up on ebay.

[Flummi]

After a few VR-Headsets I would actually recommend a Quest 3.

Its the best bang for the buck at the moment.

[Johnny Dioxin]

Pico 4 is cheaper and has higher res and good passthrough for brew slurping

 

Mind you - they are flogging off the Quest 2 for $/£200 new now, so if you are really stuck for cash you could do a lot worse.

Edited March 22 by Johnny Dioxin

[Qcumber]

The only issue with the P4 and Q3 is that you really need a good GPU to get the most out of them. A QP or Q2 are much easier on your GPU so you can push up the settings in DCS and still get good fps. 

2 hours ago, Flogger23m said:

I ended up getting a Quest 2 from Walmart,

If you have this why don't you use this first to get used to VR and learn all the tricks for optimizing oculus. Then see what comes out next year. There might be an affordable headset with eye tracking by then. Lots of people still use the Q2 and a get great experience. 

[majorandme]

Take your time shopping or VR sets with oculus, as you won't be able to use them anyway.

[freehand]

5 hours ago, Flogger23m said:

 

Thanks. I will keep an eye out for a used model, but they seem to hover around the $500-600 range. I ended up getting a Quest 2 from Walmart, but won't open it right away. With cash back and perhaps selling my $50 game credit I may be able to get it for around $160-170 or so after tax.

Until then I will be looking for a used Pro if one pops up on ebay.

If I was in the market for a Headset for DCS a used Quest pro is king for so many reasons not worth repeating as it has all been said before.

[LucShep]

Not quite as proficient with VR as others here, but have had the chance to test different popular HMDs.
I too was on a budget searching for the best VR experience (and no lighthouses) for the least money.

To me, the HP Reverb G2, and the older G1 as well, are still excelent purchases in the used market - if it's a good flawless specimen.

Ended up getting a Reverb G1 ("Pro" version, the second version of the G1, with no mura issues and, it seems, a better quality cable). 
Pretty much as brand new, and it was cheap - you can find various Reverb G1 from 140,00€ upto 250,00€ on Ebay, both from private and professional sellers.
Really happy with it (zero issues!), for the price I don't think there's anything better.
Tiny sweet spot but great image quality, and works awesome for my needs (using it at 90Hz, 45FPS with reprojection). Decent audio and comfort as well. 
The cable splits in two, connects to GPU DisplayPort and to USB 3.0+ (use fastest available port in motherboard), meaning that it's direct - there's no image compression/decompression processing, so there's no extra hit on GPU resources unlike other HMD competitors.
Downsides.... IPD is fixed in hardware, only adjustable through software (WMR). There's no possibility of wireless use - but then no headset battery to worry about.
Also, if that's a concern - as you mention Half Life Alyx - the controllers are "meh", totally usable but not great (I don't use them, don't care).
There have been reports of cables going bad on it (and then only fixable by modding the HMD, as they're connected internally), and that's the only concern with the device itself, as far as I'm aware.

Tried the Reverb G2 and it's an identical experience to the G1 (and same resolution) with quite a few upsides. The colors seem a bit better calibrated, and audio-speakers are even better. The IPD adjustment is done manually (tab-slider) in the headset, and it's a little more comfortable. And if it's a "V2" (G2 version 2) you also have the advantage of the mask gasket swapping to adjust eye/face distance to the lenses. Also, the controllers are a bit upgraded (another upside, if important to you). 
Like the G1, it's not wireless. There are issues with cables becoming damaged with time (the twist and turning doesn't help) and replacements are expensive at 100,00€+ a pop.

There's also the issue with Windows 11, rumours suggest no more support for WMR by the end of this year (which these HP Reverb headsets use). 
I'm on Windows 10 and don't intend to upgrade, so I'm not concerned at all atm. But could be a concern in the mid/longer term for Windows 11 users, though I'm convinced an alternative from third parties will appear.

Tried the Quest 2 and, in comparison to my Reverb G1, was really awful in my recent experience (using it wired, but can be wireless).
Overall image quality was noticeably inferior, resolution was fuzzy (and shimmering everywhere), horrible colors, though the sweet spot was a wee bit larger.
The audio was really poor, and so was the comfort (or rather, the lack of it!).  Very disapointing, would not recommend it.
I'd rather get the much older Oculus Rift-S (also tested) at way cheaper used prices and, for me, near the same visual experience and much more comfortable.

Tried the Pico 4 (wired and wireless with virtual desktop) and, coming from the Reverb G1, what you imediately notice is the MUCH wider sweet spot, due to the pancake lenses.
It's really much better in that regard, you can look around a lot more without moving the head so much. Also, the lack of cables (when wireless) was an unexpected pleasant experience for me (not giving importance to it initially).
The overall image at times does look inferior, as if "compressed quality", but still good for a VR device at this price point.
The audio was just okay, as was comfort, though the owner complained that it's quite finicky to set up on PC(?).
What we did notice was the GPU working much, much harder than with my G1 (encoding and decoding processing on background, it must be), with similar system to mine.
You really need a very strong GPU for it, and that can be the deal breaker for some. That, and dedicated router requirement for the wireless experience to work without issues.

I haven't tried a Quest 3 but, I believe, much of what I just said for the Pico4 will apply too. Though, knowing Oculus/Meta, it should be a more refined experience.
Like with the Pico4, I read about the need of having a dedicated 5G router for Air Link (if wireless), which also adds cost - something more to think about.

I hear a lot of good things about the Quest Pro, and it's the one HMD that intrigues me the most (Varjo Aero and BSB way too much €€€€ for me, no interest in Pimax HMD).
The problem is, even in used market, the prices (in Europe) are still a bit too high. And it too seems to require a dedicated router for the wireless experience (but can be wired).


The TLDR would be something like this.....

• Reverb G2, also older Reverb G1, gives most "bang for the buck" (but only on used market). You get a super nice image (ultra sharp and high quality) but only on the centre of fresnel lenses (small "sweet spot"). There's no wireless possibility and reliability of cables is a concern, as is long term usage with rumoured discontinued support of WMR on Windows 11, at the end of 2024.
• Quest 3 and Pico 4, good purchases (new or used) due to the pancake lenses (sweet spot is almost all across the lenses!) but require a potent GPU (4070Ti Super or better) for best experience in demanding games like DCS, and not an improvement in image quality if compared to Reverb G1/G2. 
  A dedicated 5G router for wireless use is also somewhat of a requirement (extra cost on top).
• Quest 2 only if really, reeaally cheap. Quality is (IMHO) nowhere near, for any given parameter; even old Rift-S looked like an alternative to this one.
• Quest Pro looks like the one to get (?) but prices are questionable (usually high). Requires a dedicated router for wireless use.

Edited March 25 by LucShep
spelling(?)

[freehand]

3 hours ago, LucShep said:

Not quite as proficient with VR as others here, but have had the chance to test different popular HMDs.
I too was on a budget and wanted the best experience for the least money.

To me, the HP Reverb G2, and the older G1 as well, are still excelent purchases in the used market - if it's a good flawless specimen.

Ended up getting a Reverb G1 ("Pro" version, with the initial reported mura issues resolved and, it seems, better quality cable). 
Pretty much as brand new, and it was cheap - you can find various Reverb G1 from 120,00€ upto 250,00€ on Ebay, both from private and professional sellers.
Really happy with it (zero issues!), for the price I don't think there's anything better.
Tiny sweetspot but great image quality, and works awesome for my needs (using it at 45FPS with reprojection). Decent audio and comfort as well. 
Downsides.... IPD is fixed, only adjustable through (WMR) software. No possibility of wireless use.
Also, if that's a concern - as you mention Half Life Alyx - the controllers are "meh", totally usable but not great (I don't use them, don't care).
There have been reports of cables going bad on it (and can only be replaced by modding the HMD, as they're connected internally), and that's the only concern with the device itself, as far as I'm aware.

Tried a Reverb G2 and it was pretty much identical experience to the G1, with a few upsides. The colors seem better calibrated, and the audio-speakers are even better.
IPD adjustment is done manually in the headset, a little more comfortable and, if it's a "V2" (G2 version 2), you also have the advantage of the mask gasket swapping to adjust eye/face distance to the lenses. And the controllers are a bit upgraded (another upside, if important to you). 
Like the G1, it's not wireless. There are issues with cables becoming damaged with time (the twist and turning doesn't help) and replacements are expensive at 100,00€+ a pop.

There's also the issue with Windows 11, discontinuing support for WMR by the end of this year (which these HP Reverb headsets use). 
I'm on Windows 10 and don't intend to upgrade, so I'm not concerned at all atm. But could be a concern in the mid/longer term for Windows 11 users, though I'm convinced an alternative may appear from third parties.

Quest 2, in comparison to my Reverb G1, was really awful in my recent experience (using it wired).
Overall image quality was noticeably inferior, resolution was fuzzy (and shimmering everywhere), horrible colors, though the sweetspot was a wee bit larger. Audio was really poor, and so was the comfort (or rather, the lack of it!).  Very disapointing, would not recommend it.
I'd rather get the much older Oculus Rift-S (also tested) at way cheaper used prices and, for me, near the same visual experience, and much more comfortable.

Tried the Pico4 (wireless and wired with virtual desktop) and, coming from the Reverb G1, what you imediately notice is the MUCH wider sweetspot, due to the pancake lenses.
It's really much better in that regard, you can look around without moving the head so much. Also, the lack of cables (when wireless) was an unexpected pleasant experience for me (not giving importance to it initially).
The overall image at times does look inferior, as if "compressed quality", but still good for a VR device at this price point.
Audio was okay, as was comfort, though the owner complained that it's quite finicky to set up(?). What we noticed is the GPU was working much, much harder (encoding and decoding processing on background) than with my G1, with similar system to mine. You really need a strong GPU for it, and that can be the deal breaker for some.

I haven't tried the Quest3 but, I believe, much of what I just said for the Pico4 will apply too. Though, knowing Oculus/Meta, it should be a more refined experience.
I read about the need of having a dedicated router for Air Link (wireless), which also adds cost - something more to think about.

I hear a lot of good things about the Quest Pro, and it's the one HMD that intrigues me the most (Varjo Aero and BSB way too much €€€€ for me, no interest in Pimax HMD).
The problem is, even in used market, the prices (in Europe) are still a bit too high. 


The TLDR would be something like this.....

• Reverb G2, and older G1, gives most "bang for the buck" (but only on used market). You get a super nice (ultra sharp and high quality image), but only on the centre of fresnel lenses (small "sweet spot") and reliability of cables is a concern, as is the long term usage due to the planned WMR discontinued support.
• Quest 3 and Pico 4, good purchases (new or used) due to the pancake lenses (much, much wider sweet spot) but require a potent GPU (such as RTX 3090, 4070Ti Super, 4080, etc) for best experience in demanding games like DCS (IMHO), and no increase in image quality (in sweetspot) compared to Reverb G1/G2. 
  A dedicated router for wireless use is also somewhate of a requirement (extra cost on top).
• Quest 2 only if really, reeeeaaally cheap. Quality is (IMHO) nowhere near, for any given parameter; even old Rift-S looked like an alternative to this one.
• Quest Pro looks like the one to get (?) but prices are questionable (usually high).

 

If money is tight G1 for sure.

[diego999]

19 hours ago, Flogger23m said:

Thanks, will the patch be out soon?

 

 

Couple of weeks I think. You'd have to ask ED