Computer Shopper - UK (2020-07)

ISSUE389|COMPUTER SHOPPER|JULY2020 43

SPECIFICATIONS

DISPLAYLCD•RESOLUTION2,560x1,440•

REFRESHRATE80Hz•CONNECTIONS1x DisplayPort,

1x USB3•WEIGHT563g•DETAILSwww.oculus.com•

PARTCODERift S

meantverylittle.Subjectivelyatleast,theRift
Sseemstodoabetterjobatreducingthe
degreeatwhichyoucanspotindividualpixels.
Thenewdisplayrefreshesat80Hz,which
isbetterthantheOculusQuest(72Hz)but
worsethantheoriginalRift(90Hz).Inpractice,
anuntrainedeyewon’tnoticemuchdifference
between80Hzand90Hz,althoughwedidfeel
aslightimprovementwhenswitching
immediatelyfromtheQuestto theRiftS.

FUNAND GAMES
GiventhattheRiftSisentirelydependent
on atleastamoderatelypowerfulgaming
PC, you’dexpectitto offertheverybest
VR experiencefromOculusto date.
Fortunately,youwon’tbedisappointed–
not onlyareyouableto accessthebroad
selectionof gamesthatareavailableon
Oculus’sownstorefront,buttheRiftSalso
supportsSteamVRoutof theboxand
displaysthefullWindows10desktop.
ProvidedyourPCisupto thetask,
breakouthitssuchasBeatSaber,Arizona
SunshineandSuperhotperformflawlessly.
OculusrecommendsatleastanIntelCore
i5-4590processorandNvidiaGeForceGTX
970orGTX1060graphicscardforunhindered
VRperformance,whichisareasonably
accessiblelistof hardwarerequirements.
DespiteofficiallybackingHTC’sVR
goggles,SteamVRalsoranwithoutahitch,
evengoingasfarastorecognisetheOculus
Touchcontrollersandrendertheminapps
andgames.There’scertainlynothingstopping
youfromplayingbeefytitlessuchasFallout4
orSkyrimVRusingtheRiftS,againassuming
thatyouhavetherightPCforthejob.
WindowsMixedRealityheadsetsalso
manage to runSteamVR,butthecontrollers
aren’tfullysupported,andtheresultscan
be alittlehitandmiss.

FRESH EYES
PushingtheOculusRiftStoitslimits,we
foundthattheTouchcontrollersoccasionally
failedto registermovement(particularly
when weheldacontrolleratarm’slength).
It’s oneof thefewdownsidesof ‘inside-out’
trackingcomparedto usingexternalsensors,
althoughOculusstatesthattheplacement
of thecamerasontheRiftSimprovesthe
rangeof motiontrackingincomparisonto
the Quest.Thishasbeenfurthersolidified

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drasticallyimprovedmotiontracking,

althoughthelackof externalsensorsstill

provesto beaslighthindrance.

Oneof thebenefitsof ditchingthe

externalsensors,however,isthatthose

camerascanbehijackedto displaytheuser’s

surroundingsinreal(ish)time.Oculuscalls

thisfeaturePassthroughPlus,anditcanbe

activatedatanytimefromtheOculusHome

menubar.It’sincrediblyusefulforpreventing

potentialdisasterscausedby overzealousVR

usage,andalsoservesakeyfunctioningetting

yourplayareasetupwithoutanyhassle.

Thesetupprocess,incidentally,is

wonderfullysimple.ThePassthroughPlus

featureallowsyouto completethefiddlybits

–identifyingthegroundlevelandcreatinga

safeplayarea–whilewearingtheheadset.

All youneedto getstartedisanOculus

accountandtheOculusdesktopapplication.

It’safarcryfromtheneedlesslycomplicated

setupproceduresof old,anditmeansthat

evenatruetechnophobecouldgettheRiftS

upandrunningwithminimalstress.

NEW REALITY

Allinall,thisisagreatupdatetotheoriginal

Rift.Thebestfeatureshavebeencopied

from theexcellentOculusQuest,andthe

worstfeaturesarenomorethanalittle

iinnccoonnvveenniieenntt.IItt’sscceerrttaaaiinnllyyaanneeaassyysseellllffoorraa

PCgamerwithaninterestinVRorevenfor

anewcomerto theworldof VRonPC.The

OculusQuestremainseasierto useandthus

potentiallybetterforcasualplay, thoughthe

RiftSisclearlyabetterheavy-dutyoptionfor

moreenthusiasticgamers.

Nextissuewe’llbereviewingtheRiftS’s

newestmaincompetitor,theHTCVive

Cosmos,thoughdon’tfeelobligedto waitif

you’realreadythinkingof buyingtheOculus

headset.Despitecosting£700,a£300

premium,theViveCosmosoffersthesame

setof basicfeaturesastheRiftS,including

inside-outtrackingandfullSteamsupport.

There’smoreto thiscomparison,of course,

butfundamentally,thefactthattheRiftS

can evenremotelycompareto aproduct

£300moreexpensiveputstheheadsetin

an excellentposition.

TheRiftSisn’twithoutitsownissues,but

forthefranklyoutstandingprice,thereis

currentlynothingbetterontheVRmarket.

WillGeorgiadis

The bestfeatures have

been copied from the

excellentOculus Quest,

and the worstfeatures

arenomorethan a

little inconvenient

➡The headset

is comfortable,

but it will

make you look

like agloomy

beluga whale