4. Upgrade Your Headstrap—You’ll Thank Us Later

Photo by Road to VR

If you’re happy with your Quest 2 and plan to use it frequently, we highly recommend the official Elite Strap or Elite Battery Strap accessories to improve comfort.

The soft strap that’s included with Quest 2 is one of the worst on any Oculus headset to date. It does a poor job of distributing the headset’s weight. The Elite Strap accessories are rigid and offer a counterweight to better balance the headset. With better balance, you don’t need to tighten the strap nearly as much to keep the headset in place, sparing you from discomfort and the unsightly ‘VR face’ after taking off the headset.

Get the low-down in our full review of the Quest 2 Elite Strap accessories.

5. Avoid Direct Sunlight in Your Lenses or Risk Ruining Your Quest 2

Photo by Road to VR

This one has been catching unlucky VR headset users off guard since the early days. Quest 2 is no different.

If you let direct sunlight stream into the lenses for a long period the lenses can focus the light and burn a hole in the headset’s display, permanently damaging it  (much like you can use a magnifying glass to focus sunlight enough to burn a hole in a piece of paper).

Make sure you don’t leave your Quest 2 sitting out with its lenses facing windows.

If many people use the headset, you might want to consider making it a ‘rule’ that it gets put away in a closet, drawer, or under a dishcloth to prevent anyone from accidentally leaving it the wrong spot for sunlight damage.

6. Check out Experimental Apps Through App Lab

Image courtesy Oculus

While Oculus only allows select apps into the main Oculus Quest store, you can easily install early and experimental apps, as long as you know where to look. Oculus App Lab allows developers to officially distribute their apps on Quest outside of the main store. Installing them is as easy as having the link to the app, then clicking the button to install the app to your headset. But where do you find them?

App Lab DB

App Lab DB is a straightforward list of known App Lab apps. You can sort apps by Popularity, Recency, Ratting, and Price. Clicking an app will take you directly to the App Lab Page

SideQuest

SideQuest is a popular alternative to the official Oculus Quest store. While many of the apps on SideQuest require a more complicated ‘sideloading’ method, SideQuest also lists the easier-to-install App Lab apps in a special section. Here’s how to find and install them:

  1. Browse the App Lab section of SideQuest
  2. When you find the app you want, click the ‘Oculus App’ button at the top right of the page, you’ll be directed to the app’s official Oculus page
  3. Click the blue button to buy or install the app, then it will appear in your Oculus library like any other app

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Rupert Jung

    Thank you, that’s a nice summary :)

  • Katana Man

    I hope the 90hz update is released by November.

    • TB

      Was it?

      • Ragbone

        yes, no.

    • Ragbone

      Who is November?

  • waetherman

    These are great tips. I only discovered the passthrough view yesterday and it’s a great feature.

    • You can actually use it outside, but just don’t point it at direct sunlight. Maybe on a not so sunny day or in the shade of a building and stuff like that.

    • h4rr4r

      The cameras are good enough for inside out tracking, that is their actual purpose.

      That you can look out of them at all is kind of amazing when you think about where they are.

  • Do any of them help me sign into the Oculus phone App, which is simply not working for me right now and hasn’t been since yesterday, so I can finally pair the headset and actually use the device for anything besides a £388 paperweight (headset plus Link cable)?!

  • Don’t forget something like VR Covers. That fake leather is SO much easier to clean then that terrible foam.

    • Arno van Wingerde

      … and for people who need glasses… clip-on prescription lenses.
      Expensive at around $100 but worth it if you use your Quest a lot.

  • Dick Massive

    Here is another tip.
    Sell it, you’ll thank me later.

    • sdrawkcab

      lol

  • I don’t see that voice commands button on my Oculus headset, so I can’t activate voice commands. Any advice?

    • dk

      apparently it’s available in just a few countries

      • Beatrix Von Bilderberg

        What countries are those?

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  • Scotty Bot

    Fyi, we have discovered a bug with Passthrough Background which interferes with 3rd party bluetooth devices. Support ticket in place, and workaround posted on Reddit.

    • Scotty Bot

      Side note, Passthrough Shortcut seems to not affect it.

    • Scotty Bot

      New firmware finally fixed it.

  • Jonathan Topping

    The passthrough shortcut option is not in experimental features for me. Double tapping my headset (both with my hand, or with a controller) does not make it do passthrough. I can’t find the setting anywhere, and would LOVE to have it enabled. Any help?

    • benz145

      It’s been moved; the guide has been updated to account for this. The passthrough shortcut option is now under Guardian.

  • Ragbone

    Here’s a tip, get the point?

  • Chris

    Regarding recording gameplay directly to the headset…. you guys should have mentioned that the audio is ALWAYS out of sync. Always. I have tried every game. It always happens. Frustrating to deal with, and you have to re-sync it within video editor software.

  • Ragbone

    I wonder when fb will have enough money to add voice commands outside america.