Does the Oculus Quest 2 have a better head strap?

Best answer: Yes. The Oculus Quest 2 features a cloth and Velcro design that's made to better distribute weight around your entire skull rather than placing most of the weight on your forehead and cheeks.

• Buy it now!: Oculus Quest 2 (From $299 at Amazon)

Oculus Quest 2 Taking the pressure off your face

While the Oculus Quest was an amazing product, it wasn't without its shortcomings. One of the biggest issues was with the weight and the head strap design, which were uncomfortable for some users. While you could get additional accessories to help fix these glaring issues, what's better than an out-of-the-box experience that doesn't need modification?

That's why the Oculus Quest 2 has a brand new head strap design that's more comfortable than the original Oculus Quest design for most people.

The original Oculus Quest strap design placed more weight on the cheeks and forehead instead of the back of the head, which wasn't an ideal solution. The cloth straps for the Oculus Quest 2 help cradle the back of the skull much better than the Oculus Quest's head strap design. This design more evenly distributes the weight of the headset around your entire skull, helping to provide relief to your cheeks and forehead.

The Oculus Quest 2 is also about 15% lighter than the first-generation Oculus Quest, totaling around 1.1 pounds (503 grams). By comparison, the original Oculus Quest was around 1.25 pounds (570 grams). While that doesn't sound like a huge difference, any weight reduction with a VR headset is a very good thing. A lighter headset paired with more comfortable straps means a better experience all-around, especially during long play sessions.

Oculus Quest 2 Keeping what's good and improving what's not

While the Oculus Quest 2's headset strap design is different than the original, it's mostly easier to adjust than the original was. If you've ever had to balance the original Oculus Quest against something while trying to tighten the straps on either side, you'll know what I mean.

Two cloth straps run around the sides and are connected via two sliding buckles. The further apart these buckles are, the tighter the straps become, while they loosen up to allow for larger head sizes when pulled closer together. These straps are easier to adjust before you place them on your head, but present a slight challenge after putting it on your head because hair tends to get in the way. These straps do a better job of staying at the intended size than the original Quest's straps, meaning you're not likely to have to adjust them after subsequent play sessions.

The top strap is still a simple velcro strap and can adjust the headband height after placing the Oculus Quest 2 on your head. Just like the original, the Oculus Quest 2 features built-in speakers, as well as a 3.5mm audio jack for plugging in the best headphones around. The Oculus Quest 2 also supports 3D audio through the built-in speakers and via headphones, helping to create even more immersive worlds than ever before.

Oculus Quest 2 Now with optional accessories

The head strap on the original Oculus Quest wasn't designed to be easily removed by a customer. The Oculus Quest 2, on the other hand, was made to be removed and replaced with all kinds of different head straps, including ones that can extend the battery life of your Quest 2. That's because the speakers on the Oculus Quest 2 are completely separate from the head strap, making it simple to pop off the head strap and replace it with another.

The official Quest 2 Elite Strap is a $49 accessory from Oculus that completely replaces the cloth-and-velcro straps that ship with the headset. The Elite Strap is a more rigid strap design (pictured above) that not only adds additional support for the 1.1-pound Oculus Quest 2, but it helps to distribute the weight even more evenly than the cloth straps that come with the Quest 2. A comfy harness hugs your occipital bone (the base of the back of your skull) for ultimate weight distribution, and a handy knob can be turned to quickly adjust the size of the strap.

If that's not enough, Facebook also sells the Elite Strap with an extra battery attached to the back. This helps to add more weight to the back and further balance the design. It also doubles the battery life of the Oculus Quest 2. That's a particularly great thing because battery life is one of the only areas where the Quest 2 is worse than the original Oculus Quest.