When the Oculus Rift consumer edition virtual reality headset was first released in March 2016, it debuted alongside a portable alternative: the Samsung Gear VR. One required just a Samsung smartphone, while the other required a fully-compatible PC. At the time, the differences in technology and overall experience made the Oculus Rift (or better yet, the HTC Vive) the VR headset we’d recommend every time.
But with the announcement of the new standalone VR headset, the Oculus Go, we’ve had to go back and reconsider whether a mobile setup can really compete with the power of a PC-enabled headset.
In this head to head comparison of the Oculus Rift vs. Oculus Go, we’ll compare Oculus’ two flagship virtual reality offerings to see whether you need to pay for a high-end gaming PC and the higher cost of the standard Rift, or if the new Go headset offers enough on its own to give you a full VR experience.
Specifications
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Design
Although official specifications for the Oculus Go have yet to be released, we do know a few details about its design that allows us to make some speculative comparisons between it and the Rift. In terms of the basic design layout of the two headsets, they look quite comparable. Both feature a fabric coating over a hard-plastic shell, though we’re told that the Go will feature a “new fabric” that’s more breathable. The new Oculus Go has a soft elastic strap for fitting the display to your head, where the original Rift’s is a mixture of plastic and velcro fabric.
Both in terms of aesthetics and materials, the Oculus Go is immediately reminiscent of something like Google’s Daydream View headset. Like that one, the style is designed be comfortable and approachable for people’s first VR experience. Unlike the Rift, which looks like a piece of sci-fi tech, the Go looks more like something that’s meant to blend in to your living room.
We’ll have to wait to try it on ourselves to report on how it effects comfort, but the new materials should make it easier to swap the headset off and on, which is something that Oculus appears to see as important for its new portable device.
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Source: Digital Trends