The original Oculus Rift was the headset that made consumer VR real. Three years later, Facebook is replacing it with something that doesn’t look much like it at all. The Rift S, shipping May 21, 2019 at $399, is a strange kind of sequel — not a “Rift 2,” as Oculus is careful to say, but a refresh that trades away some of the original’s best traits to solve the one problem that kept VR annoying: the setup.
After a week inside it, the verdict is clear. The Rift S is the easiest PC VR headset to get into that Oculus has ever made, and it’s the one I’d hand to someone who wants PC VR without a ritual. But it’s also a headset that feels like it was aimed at developers more than enthusiasts — one big upgrade, several debatable trade-offs, and a screen that’s barely better than the three-year-old model it replaces.
The Big Win: Insight Tracking Kills the Camera Stands
The Rift S’s main addition is the biggest quality-of-life win in PC VR since the Vive. It’s called Insight — the same inside-out tracking system that powers the Quest — and it means the Rift S has no external sensors. No camera stands to mount, no wires to run across your room, no USB ports sacrificed to a Constellation sensor array.
This is the end of the original Rift’s worst annoyance. Setting up the first-gen Rift meant arranging IR camera stands, occupying half your computer’s USB ports, and accepting that a default two-camera setup couldn’t track your controllers when you turned around. The Rift S has five cameras built into the headset — two on the front, one on each side, one on top — and they track your hands and body across a full room with no external hardware at all.
Setup is now the Quest’s: plug in one USB and one DisplayPort cable, run the Oculus software, put on the headset, and trace a guardian boundary around your play space with a controller. It takes minutes instead of an afternoon. For anyone who ever bounced off PC VR because of the sensor setup, this alone justifies the Rift S. Oculus ended the tyranny of camera stands, and that is a genuine win.
The tracking itself is impressive — easily a match for the old Constellation system in practice. Your hands stay tracked through most movements, and the fifth camera gives a little more range than the Quest’s four. It’s not perfect, and aggressive movements at the edges of your range can still drop tracking, but for the overwhelming majority of sessions it’s solid. The trade-off is that you’re still tethered to a PC — you don’t get the Quest’s wireless freedom — but the Rift S was never trying to be wireless.
The Screen: A Modest Bump and a Downgraded Refresh Rate
Here’s where the Rift S gets controversial. The screen is a 1280×1440-per-eye LCD — up from the original’s 1200×1080 OLED. That’s a real resolution bump, and the switch to LCD means crisper pixels and no pentile subpixel layout. But it’s still lower resolution than the Quest, and — this is the part that angered fans — the refresh rate went down.
The Rift S refreshes at 80Hz, not the 90Hz that was the VR comfort standard and that the original Rift hit. This matters because refresh rate is a major comfort factor; too low and you risk motion sickness and visible flicker. Oculus says a small number of people can see flicker at 80Hz that they wouldn’t at 90Hz. I didn’t notice it in my sessions, but the downgrade is real, and it’s a strange step backward for a headset that’s supposed to be the platform’s PC gold standard.
Why the compromise? Compatibility. Oculus kept the Rift S’s PC requirements identical to the original Rift, so anyone whose computer met the old specs can run the new headset. That’s friendly to existing owners, but it means you can’t push higher refresh rates even if your GPU is capable — the option just isn’t there. If you have a modern graphics card, the Rift S won’t let you use it to its potential. You’re locked to 80Hz regardless.
The screen also doesn’t feel like a meaningful visual upgrade after three years. It’s a bit sharper, but it’s not the generational jump you’d expect from a headset replacing a three-year-old product. That’s the headline disappointment: the Rift S’s display is a lateral move, not a step forward.
The Comfort and the IPD Controversy
The Rift S borrows its comfort design from the Lenovo Mirage Solo and PSVR — a halo-style ring that rests around your head and tightens with a wheel at the back. It’s a genuinely comfortable design that distributes the added weight (from the tracking cameras) across your head, and I found it more comfortable than the Quest. The headset is a little heavier than the original Rift, but the halo makes that weight disappear.
There are two trade-offs here that have fans upset. First, Oculus removed the manual IPD slider — the physical dial that adjusted lens distance for different eye spacing. It’s replaced by a software adjustment that’s supposed to replicate the process. For most people, it works fine out of the box; for people with dramatically wider or narrower pupillary distances, it can be a real problem. Second, Oculus dropped the original’s integrated over-ear headphones for directional speakers that sit near your ears. They leak sound — enough that you’ll want your own headphones or Oculus’s earbuds if you play around other people.
There is one nice addition: a button slides the whole screen forward and backward, PSVR-style, which makes the headset much easier to use with glasses. That’s a thoughtful touch.
The Design: Utilitarian and Forgettable
The original Rift was a striking piece of industrial design — almost elegant, distinctive. The Rift S is not. It’s manufactured by Lenovo, and it shows: the headset is a clunky, utilitarian piece of plastic that looks like an anxious robot with a giant forehead. If you care about how your headset looks sitting on your desk, the Rift S is a step backward in style.
That blandness is telling. Oculus reportedly scrapped a more ambitious Rift 2 overhaul and shipped this modest update instead, and the utilitarian design suggests the Rift S isn’t really meant to wow consumers. It’s meant to be usable, affordable, and — crucially — to give developers a headset with the Quest’s feature set but without the Quest’s hardware limitations.
The Verdict (And It’s Complicated)
The Oculus Rift S is the easiest way into PC VR that Oculus has ever shipped, and it’s the right call for a specific set of people. If you want to play the platform’s biggest, best-looking exclusive experiences — Stormland, and the high-end PC VR library the Quest can’t run — and you’ve been put off by the sensor setup, the Rift S is the headset. Its inside-out tracking is a real upgrade, its setup is painless, and its comfort is excellent.
But it’s not the headset enthusiasts wanted, and Oculus seems to know it. The 80Hz refresh is a downgrade that some people will notice. The screen is barely better than the three-year-old model it replaces. The IPD slider removal and leaky speakers are real compromises. And the headset feels aimed at developers and first-time PC VR buyers more than at the hardcore fans who’ve been waiting three years for a true successor.
The uncomfortable truth: the Rift S launched the same day as the Quest, at the same $399 price, and for most people the Quest is the better buy. It’s wireless, more convenient, and more approachable. The Rift S only makes sense if you specifically want the PC VR library and the higher fidelity it offers — and even then, Oculus’s own messaging frames it as a developer tool and a stepping stone, not a destination.
The Rift S is the swan song of first-generation PC VR. It’s the easiest way into the ecosystem, and it ends the sensor-stand era for good. But it’s a headset that consolidates rather than advances — one big upgrade, several small trade-offs, and a clear sense that Oculus has its eyes on the next thing. If you’re a PC VR enthusiast with a working Rift, this isn’t a must-buy. If you’re new to PC VR and want the simplest on-ramp to the best-looking library, it’s the one.
Score: B — The easiest PC VR setup ever and excellent inside-out tracking, held back by a downgraded 80Hz refresh, a screen barely better than the three-year-old Rift it replaces, and the removal of the manual IPD dial. A smart on-ramp and a solid developer headset — not the enthusiast upgrade fans were hoping for, and a tougher sell than the $399 Quest it launched alongside.