While the original PlayStation VR was an admirable first effort for Sony, it was also an awkward piece of hardware. It launched when consumer-focused headsets were in their nascency, which is probably why Sony could get away with a jerry-rigged chimera of old and new technology. The headset looked slick and was comfortable, but its displays left a lot to be desired, the setup was frustrating, and it used controllers that were a generation older than the PS4. PSVR felt like a solution hurriedly thrown together to make the most of an emerging trend.
Its successor, the PlayStation VR 2, is the opposite in almost every way. It’s a thoughtfully designed piece of hardware that is powerful and delivers a user-friendly, plug-and-play experience that is almost entirely frictionless. The technology powering it is modern, making it a worthy companion to the PlayStation 5, and its Sense controllers are designed specifically for gaming in VR spaces. The PSVR 2 is undoubtedly a major step forward for PlayStation’s virtual reality ambitions and one of the best headsets on the market, but in the ever-shifting landscape of virtual reality, its price and current value proposition leave it in an awkward position once again.
Out of the box, the PSVR 2 looks and feels like a premium piece of technology. The matte-white-on-deep-black PlayStation color scheme is replicated here to great effect, and the form factor swaps the sharpness of the PS5 for rounded corners and curved bands that make the whole unit pleasing to look at, as well as put on and take off. The Sense controllers are similarly elegant in design, comfortably filling my hands and allowing my fingers and thumbs to rest on the buttons and triggers very naturally. The original PSVR was lauded as being the most comfortable headset on the market, and PSVR 2 can also claim that accolade, as it is even more comfortable to wear. It may feel a little heavy for those who are used to the lighter Meta Quest 2, but the weight feels well-distributed, so I didn’t have the neck-fatigue issues that I feared may crop up during longer sessions.