The Meta Quest Pro is making its way to reviewers, who say that the pricey $1,500 mixed reality headset from Meta Platforms will be out of reach for most consumers but could be a natural upgrade to business users who want to upgrade from the Quest 2. Offering augmented reality in color and avatars with nuanced facial expressions, the Quest Pro is a productivity tool “ideal for builders, architects, engineers, designers, and others” who want to create or work in immersive environments. For everyone else, a consumer-priced Meta Quest 3 will be arriving in late 2023.

The Meta Quest Pro can be used “as a development kit for cutting-edge developers looking to start building for mixed reality or social VR experiences,” writes UploadVR in a detailed review of the new device, which shipped October 25.

While the Quest Pro provides “an early taste of technologies that will be foundational to the future of VR,” its limitations include “an aging processor generation that doesn’t enable higher-fidelity VR,” UploadVR writes, suggesting the Quest 3 “may include a next-generation chip yet be sold at around a quarter of the price.”

The Quest Pro uses pancake lenses and has its battery built into back of the head strap, giving it a streamlined feel. “The visor seems to float in front of you rather than truly being attached to your face,” explains UploadVR, noting that there are some issues, including a single strap adjustment that means “you can’t rotate the visor relative to the strap.”

When moving quickly the visor experienced some lateral shift at a looser setting. The verdict: the Quest Pro is great for seated activity, but “for active room-scale gaming” classic ski-goggle-style headsets are preferable.

Light-blocking is another issue. “Unlike pure VR headsets, Quest Pro doesn’t have a facial interface by default. You can still see the real world in your peripheral vision and below you,” reports UploadVR.

While the unit ships with side-light blockers that can be magnetically attached to the headset, the “real world” is still a visible distraction below. For that, Meta  plans to ship an optional Full Light Blocker for $50 in late November. UploadVR concludes the IRL seepage at the bottom of the visor “means Quest Pro is still weeks away from being able to act as a ‘full’ VR headset.”

As for the Quest Pro’s color passthrough mixed reality, it’s described as “3D and fully depth correct,” with stationary objects that “appear rock solid,” although UploadVR describes the actual passthrough image quality as “grainy and washed out, like an old phone camera video recording,” concluding it is “less useful than a Vive Cosmos style flip-up visor, but it doesn’t really impact the usability of mixed reality apps since you’re interacting with virtual content. Your real room is essentially just the setting.”

Meta says the Quest Pro comes with “curated collections of mixed reality content, productivity apps that bring your workplace to life, apps and games that feature hand tracking and leverage social presence, and more.”

Engadget reports that the forthcoming Quest 3 will incorporate some of the high-end features, like face and eye tracking, possibly using pancake lenses, while selling in the $300-$500 price range.

Related:
Meta Quest Pro Review: A Next-Gen Headset for the VR Faithful, Engadget, 10/31/22