I’d like to think that somewhere out there, Mark Zuckerberg is cursing the heavens like a Disney villain because this morning, PSVR 2 has had a major Black Friday price cut. This comes just one month after Meta launched the Quest 3S, with its entire USP hinging on being a more affordable VR device than all others. I’ve been testing out the Quest 3S in preparation for our review, and with the larger 256GB SKU now costing more than Sony’s headset, I know which one I’d rather buy.
PSVR 2 is, in my opinion, the best virtual reality headset on the market. You’ll need a PS5 or a gaming PC in order for it to work, but its specs and features make it a truly high-end VR device for gaming. Despite its more premium approach, you can now get its Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle for just $349 at Amazon thanks to Black Friday.
This is by far and away the cheapest cost the headset has had since launch – beating out the Days of Play discount from earlier this year by a whole $100. Black Friday VR headset deals and Black Friday Meta Quest deals are yet to include the Quest 3 or 3S, and even with the most affordable 128GB 3S costing less than this PSVR 2 deal, I’d argue Sony’s visor is the headset to buy right now.
Should you buy PSVR 2 this Black Friday?
In 2024, you’re spoiled for choice for VR devices. The best VR headsets have welcomed many new competitors into their midst, and even if Apple Vision Pro isn’t that great for gaming, it’s reignited a lot of interest in the mainstream tech market.
If you’re looking for that mixed-reality, futuristic, Metaversal experience of Spatial Computing, then the Meta Quest 3 and its more affordable sibling the Quest 3S are going to be more appealing to you. Those devices don’t need to be tethered to a console or gaming PC to work, and will give you a lot of versatility.
If you do already own a PS5 or one of the best gaming PCs though, I personally don’t see the need for a standalone VR headset. The Quest 3 and 3S are very impressive, but they don’t give you the sort of gaming power that the innards of the PS5 can, or indeed, a gaming PC can.
On specs alone, Sony‘s second headset beats most of the competition. You get a 110° FOV, whereas the Quest 3S only has 96°. Resolution per eye on the Quest 3S is 2064 x 2208, which, on paper, is more impressive than PSVR 2s 2000 x 2040 per eye, but nothing matches Sony’s OLED displays for me. The fidelity and detail when your eyes are that close add a whole new layer of graphical goodness, which, try as they might, the Quest 3 and 3S just don’t really come as close to. If you’re playing on a PS5, you also get eye-tracking and foveated rendering, as well as clever haptic feedback in PSVR 2’s headband.
I’d also argue that controller tracking on PSVR 2 is much better when gaming too. In order to be more practical, the Quest 3 range removed the tracking rings on their controllers, which is a blessing and a curse. I’ve noticed in Blade & Sorcery Nomad on Meta’s headsets that hand tracking is really not where you want it to be for that type of game. In equivalent experiences on PSVR 2, I’ve never had those kinds of issues.
Of course, any gaming hardware purchase should come with the consideration of what games are available for it. Thanks to PSVR 2’s SteamVR support and PC adapter that launched earlier in the year, this headset now has access to countless VR experiences if you own a gaming laptop or desktop. Even for PS5, the number of games for it has been slowly increasing, with some of the biggest and best launches like Metro Awakening, Alien Rogue Incursion, and Skydance Bohemoth all coming soon as well.
For more, check out some Black Friday gaming PC deals, Black Friday Xbox deals, and Black Friday CPU deals.