The best VR headsets in 2024 | Tom's Guide

The best VR headsets for your needs, tested by us

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The race to build the ultimate VR headset has evolved beyond virtual reality alone. While VR devices still transport users to immersive virtual worlds, they now offer far more through mixed reality experiences.

With advancements in eye tracking and passthrough technology, VR is merging with spatial computing, bringing augmented reality overlays to your surroundings—whether you’re at home or on the go—opening up fresh possibilities for work and play.

As the industry booms, we’ve curated a selection of VR headsets that deliver the best value for money. These models not only run top VR games but, in many cases, also double as fitness tools, productivity aids, or immersive screens for binge-watching movies and TV shows.

Currently, the Meta Quest 3 leads the pack for its balanced mixed reality experience and robust app catalog at an affordable price. The Apple Vision Pro follows closely with high-end technology but is held back by its $3,500 price tag. For those on a budget, the Meta Quest 3S offers a strong entry point.

Each of the headsets in our list excels in specific features, but one stands out as the best VR headset available today.

Here's a quick overview of the best VR headsets you can buy right now based on our testing and reviews.

Best overall

The Meta Quest 3 is our pick for best overall VR headset for a lot of reasons. In its 3rd generation, Meta has fixed a lot of our common gripes with the hardware — offering impressive passthrough, accurate controllers with decent haptics, and a massive suite of apps and games to experience. And you can get all of this for an impressive price.

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Best premium VR headset

If that $3,500 price tag isn't a tough pill to swallow, the Apple Vision Pro offers the best mixed reality experience out of all the headsets on this list. That includes an incredibly sharp passthrough mode to enable spatial computing, immersive viewing experiences of 3D movies, full integration with Apple products like the MacBook, and super advanced hand and eye-tracking.

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Best cheap VR headset

The Meta Quest 3S is the replacement to the Quest 2 we've all been waiting for — bringing the latest Snapdragon power and all the mixed reality goodness of Quest 3 to a cheaper headset. The passthrough is impressive, the game and app library is huge, and with impressive battery life, you can go for a long time.

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Best gaming VR headset

For the best AAA gaming experience, the PSVR 2 is the headset to choose. With a wide viewing angle and vivid, sharp OLED display technology, to sensational controller haptics and impressively accurate tracking, it brings a new way to interact with a ton of PS first party titles like Gran Turismo 7.

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Best VR headset for work

The Meta Quest Pro can do it all, but it's aimed at the hard workers in a virtual space, such as scientists or engineers. If you fit into this niche, you really can't get anything better. But this is a small niche for sure.

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Best cheap gaming VR headset

As for gaming on the cheap, the original PSVR is a solid choice. The library is dense with games to pick up and play, using the controls and immersion in some rather exciting ways. And while the PSVR 2 is here and bringing some impressive experiences to the table, this is a low cost way into VR gaming.

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Jason brings a decade of tech and gaming journalism experience to his role as a Managing Editor of Computing at Tom's Guide. He has previously written for Laptop Mag, Tom's Hardware, Kotaku, Stuff and BBC Science Focus. In his spare time, you'll find Jason looking for good dogs to pet or thinking about eating pizza (if he isn't already).

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Our expert review:

The Meta Quest 3 "is undoubtedly the best VR headset I've ever tested" is the first line of our review of Meta's latest VR headset. It improves on the Quest 2 in just about every way, including a brand-new Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor and twin LCD lenses that offer 2K resolution in each eye for a combined 4K resolution.

One key long-term strength we're starting to see of this headset is Meta's commitment to updates — most recently seeing a mightily impressive travel mode and continual improvements to bring a more fully-fledged mixed reality experience.

That said, it's still not perfect. The battery life did not impress us — we managed to kill the battery in just under two hours.

But despite this shortcoming though, the Quest 3 is still the top choice. Its improvements over the Quest 2 make choosing the older Quest headset a poor choice unless you're looking for something truly entry-level. And while the PSVR 2 is more powerful and has eye-tracking features, the resolution upgrade on the Quest 3 really bridges the gap. Plus, as with the Quest 2, you can still play PC VR games thanks to the Link cable or Air Bridge (sold separately), something the PSVR 2 cannot manage.

See our full Meta Quest 3 review.

Our expert review:

Yes, the Apple Vision Pro is more mixed reality than truly VR, but that's the direction this whole category is heading in right now. And if you're looking out for the absolute best implementation of VR and AR technology (and cost is no obstacle), Cupertino's new headset is the best way to go.

Apple has tackled a lot of the common challenges for headsets with some truly great ingenuity in both hardware and software. For example, the microOLED displays with pixels smaller than red blood cells make for super sharp pass-through (with the lowest response time in the industry right now at just 12 milliseconds). On top of that, the futuristic eye and hand-tracking experience is head and shoulders above the tracking you can find in the competition.

And sure, there are some issues with it. Beyond that massive $3,500 asking price, the tethered battery can get in the way sometimes, personas during FaceTime calls are pretty weird to look at, and its missing some big apps like Netflix and YouTube (though the latter is coming soon).

But you're looking at the most innovative product to come out of Apple since the iPhone — being made even better with the incoming VisionOS 2 update. This is a revolution in the making, and it's certainly the technically superior VR/AR system of the bunch.

See our full Apple Vision Pro review.

Our expert review:

The Meta Quest 3S is everything you could ever want from a budget VR headset — all of the Quest 3's staple features like great color passthrough and speedy performance, but packed into a cheaper piece of hardware. This is why Tony Polanco has called it "the best VR headset for the money."

Are there cutbacks? Of course. This is a cheaper entry-level headset from Meta, but the team has been carefully strategic in its compromises, as to not massively impact the experience. For example, you get cheaper Fresnel lenses over pancake, along with a lower resolution display with a narrower viewing angle inside. I'd be lying if I didn't say you'd be hard pressed to notice these mid-action (except for the occasional bit of glare from those lenses).

Without a 3.5mm audio jack, you're left using the speakers on here or bluetooth headphones. The latter comes with some latency, but the speakers themselves are loud and bassy without compromising the quality.

Besides that, you're still getting that same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor that keeps all the latest and greatest experiences (such as Batman: Arkham Shadow that comes for free with every purchase) running smoothly, the mixed reality experience gets better over time as more developers support it, and that reduced display quality does mean the battery runs longer on here.

Oh, and if you wanted to dip into the best PC VR games, that's just one Meta Quest Link cable away. Starting at $299, this is the best bang for your buck when it comes to getting started with the world of virtual reality.

See our full Meta Quest 3S review

Our expert review:

Sony's new PSVR 2 is arguably the best wired VR headset, given it has a plethora of high-end specs, including a brilliant OLED display. But it sits behind the Quest 3 because it requires a PS5 to work and is limited to the PlayStation ecosystem. Plus the gap between the Quest 3 and PSVR 2 is much smaller than the gap between the Quest 2 and the PSVR 2 thanks to a new processor and display on the Quest 3.

Still, the PSVR 2 is excellent, especially for gaming. The headset is comfortable with just a relatively slim but sturdy cable that connects it to the PS5, the screen is excellent with impressive passthrough capabilities and 4K resolution. Plus, there's 3D audio support and easy buttons for adjustment.

But the real ace-in-the-hole is the Sense controllers. These are not only rather comfortable and good at tracking, but they also have excellent haptic feedback; an area where other VR headsets are lacking.

And thanks to being in the PlayStation ecosystem there are exclusive games like Horizon Call of the Mountain and the ability to play Gran Turismo 7 in VR. Combined with the VR tech, the PSVR 2 is one of the very best virtual reality systems you can buy today.

See our full PlayStation VR2 review.

Our expert review:

The Meta Quest Pro is effectively the grown-up version of the Quest 2. Though the Quest Pro can play games, it’s aimed at designers, engineers, scientists and creatives who frequently collaborate online. This is another step toward Meta’s goal of making the metaverse a reality and, questions about the metaverse’s viability aside, the Quest Pro is itself an impressive piece of tech.

The issue is that it may not be practical for most VR enthusiasts, let alone anyone looking to just get started experiencing mixed reality. Its features aren't aimed toward gaming, meaning that there are better — and certainly less expensive — options for VR gamers.

At $999, you would be better off with a PS5 and PS VR or a gaming PC with a VR headset if all you want to do is play games. And the Quest 3 performs just as well when it comes to games but at half the price.

Given that the Quest 3 can probably do most things you'll need, most people will probably pass on the Quest Pro. But if money is no object, there's no denying that the Meta Quest Pro is a great VR headset.

See our full Meta Quest Pro review.

Our expert review:

If you want to play VR games on a console then the PlayStation VR system is a decent option given its lower price point. As reviewer Sherri L. Smith noted: "PlayStation VR delivers compelling games in a comfortable, easy-to-use headset that won't break your budget."

The semi-futuristic-looking headset is surprisingly comfortable, with a superb range of some of the best VR games. This includes games like Hitman 3, Stride and Star Wars: Squadrons among others.

If you have a PS4 or PS4 Pro, then PlayStation VR is definitely one of the more affordable ways to play VR games with decent-quality graphics since you don’t need an expensive gaming PC. Plus, even with the less-than-stellar Move controllers and graphics that fall a bit short of high-end PC graphics, you still get a relatively high-end VR experience.

One thing to also bear in mind is that the PlayStation 5 also has support for PlayStation VR but it has some issues. It doesn't play as nicely with the Move controllers as its PS4 counterparts. Additionally, with the release of the PSVR 2, there won't be new games coming to the PS VR headset. But if you want to just play VR games for the first time and you already have a PS4, the PS VR headset could be a perfect entry point.

See our full PlayStation VR review.

Our picks for the best VR headsets are rather few, due to the fact that a lot of the top VR headsets of the past few years have been discontinued and replaced with one or two models. Yet, that's not to say the choice is a completely easy one. The first thing to consider is what type of VR experiences you want and what hardware you already have.

As it stands, if you want some virtual reality action on the PS5 or Xbox Series X you need to go with Sony. Only the PS5 supports VR in the form of the PS VR headset, and the PS VR2 is on its way, designed specifically for the PS5. Xbox Series X and Series S lack VR support entirely and there's no hint that VR support will come in the near future. We hope this will eventually change given Windows 10 has baked-in VR support, but right now things don't look too hopeful.

For those with powerful PCs and a dedicated virtual reality space, then headsets like the Valve Index, which we have not reviewed, are worth considering. You can also do PC passthrough with the Quest headsets, but they won't be as powerful gaming rigs as a high-end gaming PC combined with an Index headset.

People with less space and less powerful hardware should go for the Meta Quest 3. It offers an all-in-one VR experience and can be connected to a PC using a cable or wirelessly, though that can be a pricey extra.

For owners of the PS4 or PS4 Pro, the choice is a lot easier as your best option is probably the PS VR headset, though at $499 the Quest 3's superior performance and platform are worth considering. If you have a PS5 you should probably still get the PSVR 2 if all you're concerned about is playing VR games. The gaming headsets utilize the console's power to provide graphics above what standalone headsets can manage with their mobile chipsets for a cheaper price than PC VR gaming rigs. Unless you want to experience mixed reality or prefer VR apps and experiences to VR games, the PlayStation VR ecosystem is a great way to experience VR using some of your existing hardware.

Identifying the best VR headsets takes a suite of things to consider, from the hardware itself to the software the headsets will work with. We test and consider how easy it is to set up a VR headset and system, how well-designed and comfortable the headset is, how well its interface works, and take a look at the accessories the VR headset can use.

We also take a look at how specific VR headsets work such and how easy the interface to use, as well as how head tracking performs and the quality of the controllers with the headsets.

A major part of initial testing involves evaluating how much space is needed to set up one of our picks for the best VR headsets to get the most out of them.

A product can look great but still be uncomfortable to use. Aside from testing out all the various content, we spend at least 30 minutes wearing each headset. We test to make sure any embedded air vents are keeping things cool. And if it does get sweaty, we see how well the face guard wicks away moisture. We also weigh the headsets, because even the lightest gadget can feel heavy after long periods of use. Finally, we test how adjustable the head straps are and how secure they feel.

As the de facto face of your virtual experience, the interface is vitally important. We test how responsive and intuitive the home page and subsequent menus are, as well as test special features, like voice commands and gesture control.

Whether it's a traditional gamepad or something more elaborate, like Meta's controllers, we're checking to see if the input devices are ergonomically designed; after all, no one wants hand cramps. We also test tracking and responsiveness in a number of games.

Hardware without great software is just an expensive paperweight. We not only examine the size of a device's library but also scour the listings and test out some of the higher-end apps and titles. At this point, a good library should feature a number of games, apps, movies and other experiences.

Here at Tom’s Guide our expert editors are committed to bringing you the best news, reviews and guides to help you stay informed and ahead of the curve!

Jason brings a decade of tech and gaming journalism experience to his role as a Managing Editor of Computing at Tom's Guide. He has previously written for Laptop Mag, Tom's Hardware, Kotaku, Stuff and BBC Science Focus. In his spare time, you'll find Jason looking for good dogs to pet or thinking about eating pizza if he isn't already.

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