"Old VR Headset Bad"
August 22, 2026- John Meta, 2026
Virtual Reality is an interesting beast. A few decades ago it was seen as the final frontier for entertainment... and now that we've had it in our grasp for over a decade it's become a fun but expensive niche at best and a technical nightmare with a side of motion sickness at worst. That's not to say that it's a misnomer though. According to confirmed numbers, the Oculus Quest 2 sold a jaw dropping 20,000,000 units. We don't have an exact number for how many were sold and this figure was last reported a couple of years ago, so it's very likely that the actual amount of units sold for the Quest 2 are in the 25,000,000 range. That would put it higher than the Wii U, the PS Vita, the GameCube, the Original Xbox and even the Atari 2600. When you consider that those sales are coming from what many people believe to be a "Luxury" entertainment medium, those numbers are nothing to scoff at.
However, there's always going to be a catch that limits how far VR can truly reach. VR Headsets need a lot of tech and complex functions to work. You need the base for the headset, a way to track where the headset is looking, some controllers (that HAVE to be intuitive to use without being able to see them), a way to track where the controllers are (which HAS to be without any latency), a way to balance the device comfortably on your head, a way to charge the device, a way to charge the controllers, the list just goes on and on... and that's before getting into the software you need to put onto the headsets. Because of all of these variables that headsets HAVE to abide by, VR as a medium falls into the awkward middle zone of being primarily made for video games while also being the perfect example of something I like to call "Apple Core" where even if a product is completely figured out and getting easier to make it still feels the need to be expensive because of how high tech the idea of it is. (And yes, the irony of both "Apple Cores" being a real thing AND the Apple company making their own VR Headset that costs over 3 grand isn't lost on me)
High tech prices aren't a VR exclusive thing in the video game industry, but usually when something in that aforementioned industry has a high price tag there's always going to be some kind of workaround to get your hands on what you desire without denting your wallet using a saw. The reason i'm bringing this all up is because VR works in exactly the same way. If you just want to watch videos in VR then there are plenty of "phone headsets" that use the gyro of your phone and an optical insert to make a VR effect work, and those have been around since as far back as 2014 with the Google Cardboard. There's also a cluster of headsets that don't come with any controllers if the only games you're intending to play are best enjoyed without VR controllers like Sim Racing games. However, the option that most people are going to look for if they want to get a VR fix within their budget is to peruse around the market for headsets that were initially intended to be cutting edge VR that have been pushed out of the limelight due to the passage of time.
There are many headsets that fit this criteria. Just to name the ones that immediately come to my mind there's the Oculus Rift, the Oculus Rift S, the Oculus Go, the Oculus Quest, the Original HTC Vive, the HTC Vive Pro, the PSVR1, the PICO Net 3 and if you're willing to fork out a bit more cash there's the HP Reverb G2 and the PSVR2. Every headset in the first category can easily be found online for prices under 100 quid and everything after that is a little bit more expensive but never more expensive than the absurd prices that more modern VR headsets go for.
There's a catch to all of this, though. It's the sole reason behind me making this webpost and it's a catch you probably wouldn't expect looking from the outside in. The VR community has a concerningly large amount of people that bemoan ANYTHING VR related that isn't bleeding edge. The amount of times I've looked on the internet and seen someone that's smugly appeared in someone's comments section just go "Man, this headset sucks nowadays. Get a Quest 3!" is comically high. Maybe it's because they've had too much experience with the newer headsets leading to their standards being raised too high as a result?
Take a look at this picture.
This is a list taken directly from Steam's Hardware Survey, as they track what VR headsets people are using. Just by looking at this list there are already a LOT of interesting things that it reveals. For one, the Valve Index (2019) is the best non Oculus headset on the charts with a sizeable 10% cut of the market share. On top of that, there are plenty of old names that are still kicking about with 1% or higher including the Oculus Rift S (2019), the Windows Mixed Reality line of headsets (2017) and even the Original HTC Vive and Rift CV1 (2016). Hell, the top spot on the list is the Quest 2 which is barely beating out the Quest 3 despite releasing almost 3 years later and being "discontinued" in 2024.
Here's some food for thought for you. I decided to take Steam's list for VR headsets and remove every headset that's less than 4 years old. You can see the headsets that still qualify by looking at the picture below.
I've included Windows Mixed Reality in the calculations because the last headset made for WMR was made in Early 2023 and the majority of the WMR headsets that still see use were made before then. That's good enough evidence for me to count it. The only real enigma of the list is the "Pimax HMD" entry, as that entry covers every Pimax headset. As the majority of Pimax's headsets were made after 2022 I've decided not to include them in the final calculations despite keeping them on the list you see above.
All together, this list of older headsets makes up for a grand total of 52% of the PCVR market. Even if we were being charitable and decided not to include Windows Mixed Reality into this calculation these headsets would still be the majority by a measly 0.02%. With that knowledge, you can comfortably assume that the majority of people using a VR Headset in 2026 are using some kind of older headset likely due to it's affordability. It's a slim majority, but it is still a majority.
The reason I feel the need to point all of this out is solely because of how patronizing the VR community makes these older headsets feel. Whenever they try to make a point about how "bad" they are, they're unknowingly wagging a finger at over half of the community that actively plays these games, and in a medium that's known for being expensive it an come off as unintentionally snobbish. I must preface that not everyone in the community is like this and most of the people who are trying to tell you about how much better the newer headsets are have good intentions when recommending them. It's more so just that the context it's put under makes it seem like they're taking a complete guess on how much money you have and ASSUMING you have a loaded wallet because of how "VR is an expensive medium". Even if they don't intend for their words to come across that way, it's very hard to dodge that pitfall and most people don't even bother thinking about it.
There is another reason why I wanted to make this web post, and it was my experience with getting back into VR. For some context, my family decided to go all in on VR in late 2019 with my mum buying 3 pairs of the Oculus Quest 1 with two of those going to me and my sister. My mum would eventually move on to a Quest 2 and a Quest 3 later down the line due to her being more invested in the Meta ecosystem, but I primarily used my Quest 1 as a PCVR headset. I didn't have any complaints for it at the time and all the games I wanted to play worked perfectly. I did slowly start to pump the brakes on how much I used the headset though, and it laid dormant in a large storage case made for the Quest 1 for a couple of years.
Fast forward to 2025 and I have a sudden itch to start looking into VR again. Part of this was due to me leaving Roblox and thinking about everything I could do with my fully extracted Junichiro model which then lead to me remembering that VRChat exists. There was just one problem with me wanting to use the Quest 1 in 2025 though, and that's that I moved my Daily Driver computer from a Windows 10 PC to a Linux PC, and Linux doesn't tend to play nice with VR. I tried for an ungodly amount of time to get the Quest 1 running to a functional level on my Linux PC but no matter what I tried the stuttering was unplayably bad and it crashed whatever I was playing every other minute. It was at that point I decided that I would need to get another VR headset at some point later down the line.
Cut to a few weeks later and the Steam Hardware Announcement comes up. From the very beginning I wasn't all too interested in the Steam Controller or the Steam Machine as all of the things they would give me felt unnecessary with what I already had (Especially the Steam Machine as I've always used my Steam Deck a bit like a Steamified Switch) but I was immediately hyped for the Frame due to it being revealed in the right place at the right time. From there, I decided to start saving up a bit of my monthly funds to go towards the Steam Frame when it would eventually come out.
This desire for the Frame would linger in the back of my mind for a while... and then it would be pushed to the forefront of my mind again after the prices for the Steam Machine were revealed. From there I started to form a backup plan for if the Steam Frame were to somehow outprice me despite all of the saving I had been doing. I hadn't decided on anything in the moment though due to me only taking a look at the other Headsets out there from a distance. Remember that for me it would be a little trickier because I was looking for something with full Linux compatibility.
Fast forwarding to August 9th I would hear some news that would put a screeching halt to my Steam Frame plans. Emails were sent to many Steam users warning them that CEVA Logistics, who managed Valve's Hardware shipping in Europe, had been hacked on the 7th of August which effected everyone who had bought any of Valve's hardware from the Steam Controller's release to then. I guess it was a good thing that I didn't want the Steam Controller or Steam Machine because I dodged a MASSIVE bullet by not getting either of them. From there, I decided that it was time to take the money I had initially saved for a Frame and put it towards my backup plan. The question was... what headset do I get?
I was initially dancing with the idea of getting a Pico 4 as I had found a listing for a good price, but I pumped the brakes on that idea after learning that the company behind Pico was ByteDance... who are the makers of TikTok. Not only did I not feel like supporting them, but they also got the data of all of their users leaked a few days later. I also briefly considered the HP Reverb G2, but I'd heard that the Linux compatibility on it was really shoddy, so I passed up on it.
It was then that I learned about a website that had a huge compatibility list for what VR Headsets were compatible with Linux. As it turns out, the list for compatible headsets was remarkably small and there were only two ideas I had floating in my head after reading into the compatibility list. Either a HTC Vive (any model) or a Valve Index.
I was stuck trying to make a decision between these two headsets for a very long time, but I eventually leaned towards getting an Index. It was a lot pricier due to the Index holding on to quite a lot of it's value, but I did have my reasons. Firstly, according to the website I was using for my research the Linux compatibility for the Index was sublime. I was obviously going to be taking the advice of someone else for this, but I felt like it was a gamble worth taking due to my lack of options. Secondly, from what i'd heard from the VR community the controllers on the Valve Index are the best of any Headset out there making that a huge incentive for me to drop the extra money needed to get one. Thirdly, I had already been mentally preparing myself for spending a fuck ton of money on a headset so the elevated price of the Index compared to the Vive wouldn't really phase me. And finally, because my only prior experience with a VR headset was the Quest 1 it wouldn't really be feeling like i was using a 7 year old headset... because the only other headset I've used is also 7 years old. To me it would just feel like I'm using a regular old VR headset the way god intended.
And with that, I decided to get a Valve Index despite the fact that the Steam Frame was right around the corner. It's been a few days since I got the Index and now that I've had the time to get accustom to it, do I like the headset? Hell no.
I love it.
For starters, the website I was using wasn't lying about the Linux support. All I had to do to get it working was to hook up the headset, sync up the base stations... and that was it. No complicated additional steps to get Steam to recognize the headsets, no deprecated programs that hold the VR experience together with Scotch Tape and broken dreams, no performance dips from relying on a middle man... it all just worked. Even with the Linux compatibility that the site listed i was still blown away at how seamless it all was.
On top of that, everything that the VR community have praised about the Knuckle controllers is right. They feel comfortable to use, the finger tracking is amazing, the placement for the buttons and sticks feels just right and the fact that you can completely let go of the controllers while still keeping them on your hands is still surprising to me. My only real complaint is how some games weren't expecting me to use the Knuckles due to being optimized for the more traditional Wand type controllers that the Quest headsets have, so a few games I tried didn't make use of the squeezing function of the controllers. That's not really the fault of the controllers, though.
And now for the most crucial bit. How good was the experience of actually using the headset? Once again, it was incredible. Almost every game ran at a clean 90 FPS without ever dropping, the audio provided by the speakers on the headset feel like witchcraft, the general comfort of the headset was a lot better than I was expecting looking at the bulk of it and everything came together to provide an experience that made me step back and go "Yep, I made the right choice getting this thing".
The last thing I want to mention about the index comes down to the whole point of this webpost... because you would not BELIEVE the amount of people who were telling me to stay as far away as possible from the Index because of "how poorly it's aged". Age or not, a good headset is a good headset. It's not like it's going to randomly downgrade the specs it has, the only thing that's changed is the standards of the people around it. There is a little bit of genuine concern sprinkled in there because of multiple reports for the fragility of the controllers or the headset, but a concerning amount of the replies I got on any posts that mentioned to get an Index didn't even focus on the fragility of the set or the scarcity of the parts with them instead ranting about how bad the headset looks to them. I get the complaints about the scarcity for Index parts and I was fully aware of that when I got it. If my Index starts to have problems I'm more than happy to look for ways to keep it running... but some people genuinely make it sound like getting an old headset is going to lead to your house catching on fire. Jesus guys, i'm not buying a Galaxy Note 7.
What's the moral of this 3,000 word masterpiece of mine? I'll tell you. If you want to get into VR but you're scared off by the insane prices of the newer headsets, don't be scared to dive into the older headsets first. They still provide an amazing experience regardless of how much further their younger brothers have pushed the medium. Putting all of your eggs into the basket of a newer headset is a pretty irresponsible way to spend your money when you consider that newer headsets still scratch the same "I want to try VR" itch that the older headsets do and it's a shame that more people haven't come around to realizing that.
I'll probably update this post in the future if my Index ever runs into any critical problems, but for now all you need to know is that I'm going to ring the neck out of this Index.