At this point in the history of marketing tech products, consumers usually know what it means when a company adds the word “Pro”to the end of a device’s name. From iPads and AirPods to Microsoft Surface and Galaxy Watch, “Pro”models typically offer the same basic device and basic platform, with a few “nice”top-notch features for enthusiast users who want the best experience.
To get these Pro features, consumers typically have to pay a “Pro premium”of 25 to 60 percent over the most expensive “non-professional”model of the same product. Even the biggest Pro outliers we could find in the tech world barely exceed a 100 percent increase over their non-Pro predecessors.
Despite the name, Meta Quest Pro doesn’t really belong in the same marketing universe as these previous “Pro”products. Meta’s new standalone VR headset costs $1,500 at launch, a whopping 275 percent more than its $400 predecessor, the Meta Quest 2 (which sold well for its still-young market segment). The premium increases to a full 400 percent if you compare Quest Pro to the $300 Meta was asking for Quest 2 just a few months ago.
This increase in price justifiably places sky-high expectations on the new device. A product that costs nearly four times the price of its predecessor should offer some truly unique and luxurious features that early adopters think they can’t live without. For this premium price, this should be the kind of upgrade that will leave people wondering how they were ever happy with the old model.
This is definitely not the case here. Quest Pro’s new features, such as a full-color pass-through camera and the ability to read the user’s facial expressions, feel too experimental and underdeveloped for a template product. And while there are clear improvements here in comfort and screen clarity, they’re less effective than we’d expect for the price (and, frankly, as time has passed since the Quest 2 launched in 2020).
After spending a few days with a retail Quest Pro device, we wonder who exactly this product is for.
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| Headset specifications | ||
|---|---|---|
| Quest Pro | Quest 2 | |
| Weight | 722 g | 503 g |
| Resolution (per eye) | 1800 x 1920 | 1800 x 1920 |
| Update frequency | 90 Hz | 90 Hz |
| Field of view (H) | 106 degrees | 104 degrees |
| Field of view (V) | 96 degrees | 98 degrees |
| CPU | Snapdragon XR2+ | Snapdragon XR2 |
| RAM | 12 GB | 6 GB |
| Inner memory | 256 GB | 128 GB |
Once you open the $1,500 package, putting the Quest Pro on your head will feel much more comfortable than wearing any of the previous Quest headsets. The flimsy “ski goggle”strap that held those old headsets to your face has been replaced with two hemispherical cushions, one that sits on your forehead and the other tightens at the back of your head with a handy dial.
Instead of resting heavily over the bridge of your nose, the Quest Pro’s display floats comfortably right in front of your face at a distance that can be easily adjusted with its own dial. This is a significant improvement – with most of the weight resting on the forehead, the device feels much more secure and better balanced than previous Quest headsets, especially when used for extended periods.
However, the Quest Pro doesn’t achieve the “wear it all day”ideal that some VR accelerators might hope for. The headset’s 722 grams (significantly heavier than the standard Quest 2) starts showing up on your forehead after about an hour, especially when you wrinkle your forehead or move your eyebrows. However, I found this pressure to be quite bearable – I didn’t lift the headset out of pain after 60 minutes or something – and it was certainly preferable to the more significant eye and nose clip of previous Quest headsets.