Update: Meta Quest 2 just got a new rival with the PICO 4 VR.
If you’ve been holding off on picking up a Meta Quest 2, you may want to pull the trigger now, as Meta has announced a significant price increase for its popular standalone VR headset.
Released back in October of 2020 as the Oculus Quest 2, the second iteration of Facebook Reality Labs’ VR headset was later rebranded as the Meta Quest 2 in November of last year.
Even though the headset itself is now almost two years old, Meta revealed in a tweet that the company plans to increase the price of the 128GB model to $399 and the 256GB model to $499 beginning on August 1. This means that you have less than a week to try and snag a Quest 2 for its original price.
For reference, when the Oculus Quest 2 first launched, the now-discontinued 64GB model was available for $299 while the 256GB version could be had for $399.
Where you can still get Oculus Quest 2 for original price
- Shop Oculus Quest 2 @ Amazon: (sold out)
- Shop Oculus Quest 2 @ Oculus: (in stock for $299)
- Shop Oculus Quest 2 @ Best Buy: (in stock for $299)
- Shop Oculus Quest 2 @ GameStop: (in stock for $299)
- Shop Oculus Quest 2 @ Walmart: (in stock for $299)
- Shop Oculus Quest 2 @ Adorama: (sold out)
- Shop Oculus Quest 2 @ Newegg: (in stock for $299)
Justifying the price hike
In its tweet, Meta cites “investing in moving the VR industry forward for the long term” as the reason behind the price increase. In order to soften the blow though, the company does plan to give away download codes for Beat Saber for a limited time.
While subscription services like Netflix and Amazon Prime have been forced to raise their prices recently, there have been few (if any) cases where a company increased the price of its retail products so long after their launch.
In addition to new Quest 2 headsets, Meta also plans to increase the prices for both Quest 2 accessories and refurbished units beginning next month.
In a blog post, Oculus provided further details on how increasing the price of the Quest 2 will help fund its continued research in the VR space, saying:
“The costs to make and ship our products have been on the rise. By adjusting the price of Quest 2, we can continue to grow our investment in groundbreaking research and new product development that pushes the VR industry to new heights.”
Meta also cited its upcoming high-end headset called Project Cambria which is scheduled to launch later this year as one of the reasons it’s raising the price of the Quest 2.
Grab a Quest 2 while you can
Meta’s price increase for the Quest 2 will go into effect on August 1, so you still have some time to pick one up right now.
Currently, you can find the Quest 2 for its original price of $299 for the 128GB version or $399 for the 256GB version on Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, GameStop and other online retailers but this could change fast.
Likewise, if you want to save a few bucks, you can pick up a refurbished Quest 2 from Facebook’s Store for $249 for the 128GB model or $349 for the 256GB version.
