Which is the best VR kit to be playing this (and other games) with this deep into 2024?

[Goon Lord Supreme]

As the title would imply, I'm just wondering which would be the best VR kit to buy for VR games and Half life alyx to enjoy them properly.

I currently have the Meta quest 2, which i know is far from one of the top of the range kits. However it cost me £80, and for a first VR system its been absolutely brilliant. the main issues i have with it is the resolution on it just isn't up to par, and i find it makes my eyes strain far more than i would like whilst playing games. which i think is mostly down to the resolution. I'm assuming that anything with higher resolution is going to be better. but just how clear are the images you get? because you don't really get much of a good comparison when you're watching the game be played on a 2K monitor.

I know Alyx is intended to be played with the Index, but the index is old now and far more advanced kits have been released. So i don't want to dedicate £1k to it when there are probably better kits for the same price nowadays. i know there are some insane kits that blow everything out of the park, but i'm not looking to spend a mortgage down payment on VR.

Any advice would be of great help, i know the steam community has some absolute deities when it comes to PC knowledge, and i'm not too informed on VR sets just yet.

I think my last key point is that i don't really want to be pushing more than £1000 - £1200 on a kit unless its going to be pretty future proof and provide the best experience i can get out of VR. I haven't experienced mid or top range VR so i'm unsure as to what quality experience i can get depending on how much i spend.

i've been trying to hold out for the index 2 because valve hardware seems to be great when it does release. but i'm getting impatient and i don't want to murder my eyes playing on low end kit for much longer.

[LemonyNebula]

Yeah, I'm still on the Index, so I'm not sure if I can really answer this, but I will say from what I hear, almost every headset focuses on one or two aspects and fails heavy in another.

Some have the best screens, but bad fov. Some have the best Fov but bad comfort. Some have the best comfort but worst price... so on so forth.
I would rather they boosted each aspect by less so they didn't have to cut back on any others.
They usually boost the highly marketable factors like resolution, but then drop the ball on things like IPD or other stuff that means little to most.

Also, I honestly don't think I can rid my index controllers. They seem so superior to anything else...

I hate the fact that the Index still, to me, seems to be the only all rounder as it is now so behind.

[Goon Lord Supreme]

Originally posted by LemonyNebula:

Yeah, I'm still on the Index, so I'm not sure if I can really answer this, but I will say from what I hear, almost every headset focuses on one or two aspects and fails heavy in another.

Some have the best screens, but bad fov. Some have the best Fov but bad comfort. Some have the best comfort but worst price... so on so forth.
I would rather they boosted each aspect by less so they didn't have to cut back on any others.
They usually boost the highly marketable factors like resolution, but then drop the ball on things like IPD or other stuff that means little to most.

Also, I honestly don't think I can rid my index controllers. They seem so superior to anything else...

I hate the fact that the Index still, to me, seems to be the only all rounder as it is now so behind.

Yeah ive done a bit of research since and it looks like the valve index controllers are still second to none. the headset isnt as good as some, but its older gear now so it cant stay top of the range forever. sadly it doesnt seem to drop in price ever.

i do find it funny that most of the reviews ive seen seem to say "get (headset) standalone and then buy the index controllers separately because they're still the best"

[V I D A L]

I think the Index is till top due to it's high FOV. Seeing things well on your peripheral is some of the most immersive feelings VR can provide.

Also, the Valve Index headset still is the most 1:1 accurate tracking headset you can get.

Sure, Quest 3 right now is cheap and has higher resolution. The image clarity is amazing... not to mention being light and wireless, but I still prefer the Index for immersive story driven games and I use Quest just for VR active games like Beat Saber, Ragnarock etc.

At very least, the Index controllers are basically essential to enjoy Alyx to the max.