I’ve looked at VR and AR headsets for well over a decade, from Google Glass and the first demos of the Oculus Rift to peeks at the future of AR glasses and Android XR. Right now, VR has settled down to just a few players: Meta, Apple, Sony, Valve, HTC and Pico, with Google’s looming Android XR partnership with Samsung waiting in the wings. In the world of AR and smart glasses, there could be a lot of changes coming: the Xreal One glasses, for instance, or the promise of Meta’s Orion project.
But right now, VR is extremely good — and still limited in how much it can do. I find my own use of VR headsets bouncing between Meta’s Quest 3 and the Apple Vision Pro. But it’s pretty clear there’s one great VR headset pick of the moment, and it comes in two differently priced flavors.
What’s the best VR headset overall?
The Meta Quest 3 offers mixed reality and improved display resolution and optics, and is $500 — $3,000 less than the Apple Vision Pro. However, the newer Meta Quest 3S, a lower-cost version of the Quest 3 for $300, is an even better buy for entry-level VR adopters. I prefer the Quest 3, but there are plenty of people who will find the 3S to be a great choice for its price.
The Quest 3 and 3S both have newer, faster Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processors that produce better graphics and allow for higher-res color pass-through camera feeds than the Quest 2, and both have redesigned controllers. Both can create mixed reality effects by blending what the cameras see with VR graphics that are overlaid in the headset to look like AR. The Quest 3 has better lenses and a higher display resolution, but I prefer the feel of the Quest 3S eyepiece on my face, and the 3S also seems to have slightly better hand tracking in low light.
The Quest platform has plenty of side benefits: It has hundreds of games and creative or productivity apps, and several great fitness programs for effective cardio workouts. It can connect to PCs and even double as a work device if you have some patience. It also has hand tracking that works without controllers, but controllers are included to give you two input options. The Quests can even play “spatial” 3D videos shot on newer iPhones.
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Best VR headsets of 2025
Like
- Crisp high-res displays
- Improved new processor
- Mixed reality with better color cameras
- Smaller controllers with better haptics
Don’t like
- More expensive than Quest 2
- Few unique apps and games at launch
- Straps and comfort still aren’t great
- Still only 2-3 hours battery life
Meta’s upgraded VR sequel to the Quest 2 feels like a notable revamp, with improvements across the board: a slightly smaller design, better, clearer lenses, a higher-res display, smaller controllers with better haptics and higher-res color cameras that can mix the real world and the virtual together. This “mixed reality” is similar in spirit to what Apple’s Vision Pro will do but in a lower-res form for a lot less money.
Read my review.
Like
- Updated graphics and faster processor
- Improved color passthrough cameras
- Better hand tracking
Don’t like
- No improvement to lenses or resolution vs Quest 2
- Only 2-3 hours battery life
The Meta Quest 3S (Meta’s replacement to my longstanding Editor’s Choice headset, the Quest 2) is super-affordable at $300 and comes with updated graphics and color passthrough cameras that give the 3S the same gaming and mixed reality powers as the Quest 3. It’s a fantastic budget buy, but Meta cut corners on the display and lens quality with the 3S, choosing to use the same fresnel lenses and LCD display as the Quest 2. It’s perfectly fine for general VR and gaming, but the more expensive Quest 3’s notably clearer lenses and crisper resolution are my favorite for all-day use and for reading text. The Quest 3S also comes with a free game, Batman: Arkham Shadow, adding to its value.
Read my review.
Like
- Vivid, high-res OLED display
- Comfortable fit
- Excellent controllers
- Realistic vibrations
- Powerful graphics potential
Don’t like
- Expensive
- Needs to be cabled to PS5
- Included earbuds are just OK
- Doesn’t work with old PSVR games
- Game library needs more exclusives
The PSVR 2 is expensive ($550), and needs a PlayStation 5 to even work. It’s tethered, not wireless. And Sony hasn’t supported the PSVR 2 with enough unique games to justify its existence. The PSVR 2 is still a fun luxury if you’re a PS5 gamer who also owns a PC. Its HDR OLED display, graphics quality, built-in eye tracking and fantastic advanced controllers — which have the same vibrations and adaptive force-feedback triggers as the PS5 DualSense controllers — give this headset a premium feel that makes its best games perform at a different level. It has some exclusives like Gran Turismo 7, Resident Evil Village and Horizon: Call of the Mountain, but not enough.
Read my PlayStation VR 2 review.
Like
- Amazing micro-OLED display
- A mostly fluid hand-eye control interface
- Blends the real and virtual worlds impressively
- iOS support folds in tons of familiar apps for work
- Playing back personal 3D memories feels transporting
Don’t like
- Extremely expensive
- Hand-eye interface isn’t always perfect
- Not many VisionOS optimized apps yet
- External battery and cord required for use
- Doesn’t work over glasses
The Apple Vision Pro is an amazing piece of tech and a bleeding-edge high-end mixed reality headset that also runs iOS and thousands of iPad apps, works without controllers using eye and hand tracking and can run multiple apps at the same time, along with being a virtual MacBook monitor. However, it’s way too expensive for anyone but XR professionals and early adopters. The 4K micro-OLED displays are stunning, and videos and photos look fantastic. Apple’s device requires a tethered battery pack, is only made to work within Apple’s ecosystem and doesn’t have many unique apps yet at launch that do more than act as floating 2D screens. The Vision Pro could very well be the start of a whole new chapter in headsets and may turn into the best product in this whole category over time, but not right now for most people. At its current price and software limits, you’re better off waiting and trying a free demo instead. And, now that it’s been around for over a year, it’s hard to tell when Apple will update this headset to something with newer processors. The Quest 3 and 3S are far cheaper tickets to explore similar ideas in the meantime at a huge discount.
Read my Apple Vision Pro review.
Like
- Excellent SteamVR compatibility
- Good audio
- Innovative controllers
Don’t like
- Requires external room sensors for tracking
- Display resolution lags behind current headsets
Valve’s headset isn’t as cutting-edge as it was when it debuted in 2020, but its Steam VR and Vive hardware compatibility, excellent audio and fancy controllers still make it hardware worth considering. Valve’s “knuckle” controllers are pressure-sensitive and can track all five fingers, making them almost like gloves. Not all apps make the most of them, but Valve’s hardware is mix-and-match compatible with the HTC Vive, which also is built on the Steam VR platform. The Index headset has excellent audio, but its display resolution is no longer as good as competitors’.
Read our Valve Index review.
Get ready for the most powerful Meta Quest yet. Dive into full immersion with brilliant 4K resolution and rich spatial audio, feeling like you’re inside your favorite games. Stream shows on giant vibrant screens anywhere in your home, or enjoy the ultimate experience with Infinite Display’s widest field of view. With premium comfort and wireless design, you can move freely in workouts or take your headset on the go. And when you buy a Meta Quest 3 now, you’ll get $30 in Quest Cash.
Other VR headsets we’ve tested
Meta Quest Pro: This older, outdated, eye-tracking-equipped Quest headset can track facial expressions and has a crisp display, but the less expensive Quest 3 already makes it obsolete with its better graphics, cameras and display resolution.
HTC Vive XR Elite: The glasses-like design of the XR Elite is a sign of the future, but the software and performance of this headset don’t justify its price.
PlayStation VR: The original PSVR still works on the PlayStation 4 and 5, but it’s not compatible with PSVR 2 games and hardware. It still has some great games to discover, but its lack of dedicated controllers and awkward setup feels ancient.
How I test VR headsets
Although mainstream VR headsets have been around for nearly a decade, the apps they run and the computers, phones and game consoles they work with keep changing. I run key apps and software on the headsets, using them mainly in standalone mode if they’re designed to be self-contained, or with a PC, game console or phone if they’re primarily meant as connected peripherals.
I use the headsets for a mix of work, gaming, fitness and creative uses, and stay attentive to where the headsets have pain points (moments of discomfort, feelings of disconnect or sensations of nausea or distortion). Using technology like VR can often be a highly subjective experience, but by being attentive to details I find I can discover where each product is uniquely useful.
Comparison is also key: I’ve looked at pretty much every wearable AR and VR device of the last 15 years and also covered a lot of the wearable tech, phone and computer landscape. How these devices work as game consoles, fitness devices, work accessories and social tools are all key areas. I also think about displays, audio, controllers and accommodations for eyeglasses.
Factors to consider when buying a VR headset
VR and AR sometimes feel like product categories that never quite seem to become mainstream, but change is coming fast to the headset landscape.
Google and Samsung are introducing a new VR/AR platform later this year called Android XR. Samsung’s Project Moohan is a Vision Pro-like headset that will also run Google’s Gemini AI and plenty of Google Play apps. Expect Android XR to forge a bridge between Android phones and headsets and glasses, although it’s hard to tell how fast that shift will happen. Samsung’s headset, which doesn’t have a price or release date yet, looks to be the only Android XR device in 2025. Android XR could be the future, but right now, it’s hard to tell whether you should wait for it. Qualcomm’s future plans for VR and AR lean on phones as a way to power smaller glasses, but so far there aren’t any of these smaller devices that we’d recommend.
In the meantime, Apple’s $3,499 Vision Pro headset — a self-contained, standalone VR/AR device that Apple is positioning as a full spatial computer — is the highest-price device on the consumer market, with a very different pitch than games-focused devices like the Meta Quest. Its ability to run all sorts of iOS apps and have multiple apps open at once make it a unique option, and its possibilities as an iOS mixed reality computer, paired with its fantastic display quality and unique input method of hand-eye tracking, might make it a promising device for creators, researchers and anyone with a large enough wallet to pay for a high-end personal cinema on their face. It also emphasizes things like computing and video quality instead of what are still the Quest’s greatest strengths: gaming and fitness. But it’s over a year old now, and Apple could be shifting to a more affordable version in the next couple of years.
The Vision Pro isn’t the only mixed reality VR headset out there: Expect more in this category, which blends VR with video of your surroundings using color passthrough cameras that feel almost like augmented reality. The Quest 3 is the most affordable mainstream mixed-reality VR headset, and Apple’s is the most expensive. Samsung’s Project Moohan will also feature mixed reality, and I expect plenty more to come.
Sony’s $550 PlayStation VR 2 delivers a great console gaming VR experience for PlayStation 5 owners and includes eye tracking like Apple’s Vision Pro, but isn’t wireless and is still a relatively expensive accessory (it costs more than the PS5 itself). It’s more expensive than both the Quest 2 and Quest 3, and still needs a PS5 to work, but costs far less than a Vision Pro (although it serves a completely different purpose and relies on a limited set of PlayStation VR games to even function). Its more limited library and functions make it less versatile than a Quest, but a fun Quest alternative for anyone deep into Sony’s PlayStation 5 ecosystem. However, the PSVR 2 right now feels like it’s not really where the future of headsets is heading.
For PC owners, there are several options. You could use a Quest 3, Quest 3S, PSVR 2, or consider several existing devices. The biggest previous players in the PC VR gaming scene (Microsoft, Valve and HTC) have been quiet on that front, especially now that Microsoft has discontinued most of its mixed reality efforts and VR headset compatibility. That could change again soon. A PC-connected VR headset can offer the most versatile collection of software for an immersive VR experience, and it also lets you use that headset for creative and business tools. Steam is clearly the best conduit for PC VR right now.
The cost of a new VR headset is going up these days. If price is your biggest concern, the Quest 3S currently offers the best value in VR: a completely wireless experience, with access to a great library of fantastic games.
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