Box Pics TLDR: Pretty much agree with Norman from Tested in the
review posted yesterday, with some additional notes on comparison to G1 and Q2.
Background: Previously owned a Rift CV1, Quest 1, & HP Reverb G1. I've also used a Rift S, Vive, and Vive Pro. We play a pretty even split between roomscale and seated simulator games. Beat Saber, HLA, IL-2, Elite Dangerous, and Project Cars 2 are my main games, but my wife mostly plays short single-player VR only titles like The Room, Down the Rabbit Hole, etc. We've had both the G2 and a DAS-modded Q2 for about week to compare, with intention of keeping the one we like better.
PC Specs: I9-9900k, Z390 Maximus XI Hero, RTX 3080 FE, 32 GB 3200MHz RAM, M.2 SSD, Asus RT-AX86U WiFi 6 Router. PC is water-cooled in Fractal R6 case that in total weighs about 40 lbs.
Environment: We currently live in a ~1400 ft^2 house with lots of small rooms. My PC normally lives in my office which is small room with an 8ft ceiling. I have an IPD of 64mm and I'm 6ft 3in tall with long arms. This is important for context later on...
OrdeShipping Notes: I pre-ordered from Connection on 5/29 within minutes of the orders going live. When orders started shipping on 11/11, my order stayed in "open." On the 12th after seeing no change I called Connection and was informed that several of the early orders were put on a "hold" status for some unknown reason and that my headset would be shipped in the next batch. I requested expedited shipping to compensate for the delay so they gave me next day air delivery at no charge. Can't complain too much other than I wish I had known there was an issue with my order...
Panel/Lenses: Compared to the G1, the lenses on the G2 are definitely an improvement, but the panel changes are more noticeable. The clarity in the sweet spot is slightly better (like 5-10%), but the larger sweet spot (feels like 50-75% larger) is more noticeable. In driving or flying sims, you're not going be reading text at like twice the distance you were before or anything like that, but you won't have to look quite as directly at a sign to read it. The colors and brightness on the G2 are way better, definitely more vibrant. The G1 looks a bit washed out in comparison. In Elite Dangerous, I almost need to look away from stars after a jump just because of how bright they are. It's difficult to overstate how awesome the G2 panel is. Definitely would pick it over a 1080p monitor. In terms of clarity, I would rank them G2>G1>Q2, but they are are all decently close to each other. In terms of colors, I would say G2>Q2>G1 with more noticeable differences. With the G2 there is virtually no SDE even when I'm looking for it in the sweet spot.
Quest 2 PCVR: I had a surprisingly good experience running Quest 2 Link in V23 with 90Hz at the default resolution. When I tried the Q1 with link in the Apr 2020, the compression, lower panel resolution, and 72Hz just produced unplayable experience in E:D for me. The Q2 with this last update is a completely different animal. Very smooth with very minimal compression. Honestly if I had to put a number on it, I'd say the G2 picture was about 15-20% better; noticeable, but not game-changing. Compared to the G2, the Q2 has a little bit of SDE, but I only notice it if I look for it. The sweet spot is smaller on the Q2 as well. Fairly comparable to the G1. We also tried Virtual Desktop with some roomscale games and were very impressed. Held a 30-40ms lag that was almost imperceptible. Might be deal breaker for competitive gamers, but for single-player it's very playable.
Speakers: The G1 speakers weren't terrible in my ears, but they weren't anything special. The G2 was much better. The depth and soundstage were impressive and wouldn't really see the need to replace them unless you wanted noise cancellation. Note that I did have issues with one of my G2 speakers. It would only work when turned to certain positions, frequently cutting out when I tried to adjust it. I removed and reseated it a couple times, but it didn't fix the issue. The built in Q2 speakers, while better than the Q1, are pretty hollow, but the DAS speakers are pretty much on par with the G2.
Headset Comfort: The G2 is by far the most comfortable VR headset we've tried out of the box. Honestly, the G1 is pretty good too but the cable can get annoying during quick head movements. The G2 cable is a huge improvement. When arranged well or hung from the ceiling, it feels like you are wireless. The Q2 stock is atrocious. The DAS mod makes it much better, but the extra weight would still be noticeable in longer play sessions. If you care about light from the nose area, the G2 is really great. Completely blacked out but I didn't feel any pressure on my nose. The nose cutout area is bigger than the G1, if that was a problem for you. The Q2 has a lot of light bleed, but honestly it didn't bother me that much.
Controllers: I like the button layout of the G2 over the G1, but that's pretty much the only positive thing I can say about them. The haptic feedback (vibration) is the same as the G1 which is, in a word, anemic. They make a lot of noise, but don't actually create convincing feedback. Swiping through blocks in Beat Saber just feels so hollow with the G1 and G2 controller. The lack of capacitive touch was also disheartening. In games where your hands are the primary interaction tools, the Oculus Touch controllers are just way more immersive and satisfying to use. Also, the ring placement on the G2 controllers makes my arm reach about 2 inches further than the Q2, which is problem for me when it comes to ceiling fans and room boundaries.
Tracking: The G2 tracking area is better on the side than the G1, so throwing and horizontal swinging is much better. The vertical tracking area is about the same though, with particular problems around waste level. In both Reverb headsets, if I let my arms hang naturally I would frequently lose tracking on one or both controllers if I was looking directly forward, or up. This isn't the end of world in and of itself, but sometimes when the WMR software loses tracking it will erroneously move or twist your virtual controller to completely different part of the screen. Very immersion breaking, and sometimes would take a few seconds or a pause to resolve. The Q2 tracking in comparison is virtually flawless. A couple small misses here and there, but they quickly fixed themselves without doing a huge virtual dance off.
Software: We are definitely not big FB fans, but when it comes to software support, Oculus has it's act together. Of the three OS and menu environments (Oculus, Steam VR, & WMR), Oculus is just way farther ahead of the other two. The menus and home environments are very stable, easy to use, and have a lot of nice built in features. The double-tap passthrough is a lifesaver when it comes to interacting with objects and small children around your play area. With MWR and Steam VR, I have to walk guests through everything and frequently stop to troubleshoot. My wife has about a 50% success rate in getting it set up with out me. With the Quest, I can pretty much hand them the handset, tell them how to find the tutorial, and away they go. The Quest Guardian setup is just leagues beyond WMR boundary system. Literally just walk into a room, draw a circle with the headset on, then boom, your done. It even remembers the area when you go back to it. The WMR setup is bit more laborious and will sometimes forget your area even if you don't move your setup. One area that Steam VR handily beats Oculus though is game cost. Paying $30 for a three year old, 45 minute VR title to play only the Quest is bit absurd. Thank goodness for Steam sales and Virtual Desktop.
Ease of Movement: So there are no surprises here, but the Q2 is really the best option if you need to move your play area somewhat frequently. A solid gaming laptop or well managed SFF PC might work too, but even then you are still dealing with cables and guardian areas. With my smallish office space, I frequently need to move my PC to play roomscale VR without worrying about hitting something (usually the ceiling fan). But that means I have to move my entire PC to a different room when I want to use it for roomscale VR. Using built-in games or VD on the Q2 means I can just hop over to a different room play in a different room with minimal setup.
Our Decision: We're keeping the Quest 2 and returning the G2. It was super painful boxing up the G2 to return back to Connection after seeing how beautiful the picture was, but for our usage case, the Q2 just makes more sense. I can't afford to spend 20 of 90 minutes of playtime moving a PC around and dealing with software problems. The question for us was not, "Is the G2 good?" It was, "how close can the Q2 get visually to G2?" For us, the answer is "close enough."
Recommendation: For those that pre-ordered the G2 or are still considering it, I would highly recommend still getting it and trying out for yourself. Only you are going to know what level of tracking and visual experience is going to be satisfactory to you. If you find Facebook's terms and policies tolerable, maybe give the Q2 with PCVR a shot as well.
EDIT: Added more details on Q2 visual differences from G2
