Reporter from every business: Zheng Yuhang
Tech giant META (META, stock price of US$128.54, market value of US$345.457 billion) CEO Mark Zuckerberg (Mark Zuckerberg) said on Tuesday that Meta's latest virtual reality helmet Meta Quest Pro is priced at US$1,500 and will be shipped on October 25.
This new helmet debuted at the Meta Connect developer conference held on October 11, and it costs $1,100 more than its previously released Quest 2 helmet. Quest 2's user base loves fitness, gaming and other entertainment activities, while Quest Pro targets businesses and professionals who can afford higher prices.
Image source: Meta official website
Compared with Quest 2, the newly designed Quest Pro has undergone some major hardware upgrades, equipped with 10 high-resolution sensors (5 internally, 5 externally) and completely improved optical components. The Quest Pro is also the first device to use the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Plus chip, along with 12GB of memory, 256GB of storage and a 90Hz refresh rate. Meta says the XR2 Plus performs 50% more than the XR2 on the Quest 2.
According to a commentator article published by tech media Engadget, Quest Pro has a resolution of 1800 x 1920 per eye, and its pixel density is higher than the VR devices Valve index (1440 x 1600 per eye) and Quest 2. Although it still doesn't match the Vive Pro 2 released by HTC (2448 x 2448 per eye), the visual effect is also great. Meta almost completely eliminates the common screen door effect of headset devices. It strikes a good balance between resolution and high-fidelity graphics. (Note: The screen door effect refers to the effect that appears to be viewing the world through a mesh screen when using modern virtual reality headsets. This is the result of a black blank area between pixels when viewed close.)
article says that Meta seems to have solved all major hardware problems, with facial and eye tracking unlocking more natural conversations in virtual reality, and more precise hand and finger tracking makes interacting with virtual objects easier. With a lightweight and very comfortable helmet that offers better visual effects than most online alternatives (except for super expensive enterprise-grade options like Varjo's VR-3), the entire kit is very convenient to use. The helmet is also equipped with a wireless charging base, which is relatively easy to store despite being a bit cumbersome.
article believes that Quest Pro is the headset that Meta really needs, which can provide a high-quality VR experience for building applications and environments. But it is still unclear whether this is enough to convince people to work and live in virtual reality.
However, it should be pointed out that Quest Pro is not perfect either. TechCrunch reports that battery life is the biggest problem with the device. Meta claims that the Quest Pro can only last for 1-2 hours, which doesn't seem to match the name "Pro" and may cause some difficulty in sales. The comment article of
Engadget also mentioned that the hand strap of the Quest Pro controller also needs to be further improved so that users can more easily switch between using buttons and finger gestures without worrying about falling. In addition, its price is so much higher than the Quest 2, so it may not be so easy to get an average consumer to pay.
Meta shares fell about 4.5% in midday trading on October 11, and closed down 3.92% at $128.54 as of the close. CNBC commented that this highlights investors' response to the company's new VR headset.
Image source: Google Finance
(Cover image source: Daily Economic News Lan Suying (picture and text irrelevant))
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