My Quest 2 Setup

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the Quest 2 when it was announced. It seemed like a great piece of hardware for a decent price. The only thing I didn’t like was the strap that came with it. The Elite Battery Strap(EBS) promised more comofort and extended battery life. Added that to the shopping cart w/o thinking about it. Picked it up, switched out the stock strap with the EBS and off I went.

It worked great. But then I started reading about people saying that their EBS would break, crack & snap (I know, there’s a Rice Crispies joke that could be made here). But it wasn’t happening to me. I figured people were just being careless or their kids were running wild with it (my kids had to settle for my older Quest). But then it did happen to me. I contacted Oculus support.

Oculus knew it was a problem and it didn’t take long to find the right form online. Had to fill out a bunch of stuff about the purchase, show the receipt, take a picture and then FedEx(they paid for it) the broken EBS back to them for analysis. And in the mean time they sent me a new one. I was back up within a week with a new EBS.

Within three weeks…snap. It broke again. Really careful with the thing, but I guess not careful enough. My guess is that for some people the natural way to put the head set on just puts too much stress on the plastic bands that hold the front part of the headset to the rear battery pack and it just breaks.

I started the return process again but decided to try something else. I put the headset that came in the box, the sort of cloth/fabric one that with sliders on it to get a good fit. I was sure I’d have to really make it tight and that soon my head would be throbbing. I was wrong. It actually felt fine. The headset sat a little different on my face, but that as it. Comfort was fine. Battery life, however, was lacking since I didn’t have that extra juice from the EBS. So I accersorized.

• Anker Portable Charger, PowerCore Essential 20000mAh Power Bank with PowerIQ Technology and USB-C (find online)
• UGREEN USB C Cable 90 Degree Type C Cable 18W Fast Charging USB A to USB C Cable Right Angle 3ft(find online)
• Edifier H840 Audiophile Over-The-Ear Headphones - Hi-Fi Over-Ear Noise-Isolating Closed Monitor Music Listening Stereo Headphone(find online)

Altogether that ran me about $90. The 3ft cable loops over the left strap and goes down to the Anker Charger in my back left pocket. The headphones plug in and give me better sound (plus my family doesn’t hear all the mayhem from Onward). I’m out of energy before my headset is.

Right now the EBS runs you about $120, but you can make do with what I think is better for less money. Some people may find the stock strap uncomfortable, I thougtht I would. But it’s fine.

Anyway, that’s my current VR setup. Nothing fancy, nothing pricey and it works great for me.