The Best VR Headsets of 2023

I don’t know if anything has ever wowed me right out of the box like the Valve Index. This is a big, expensive set of powerful VR gear, but it’s also beautiful to look at. The packaging, the design of the headset, and all the smaller functional touches establish this as the frontrunner among high-end tethered headsets on our list.

It’s an investment, but for this kind of low-nausea, high-performance experience, you’re getting what you pay for. You can expect frames rates of 90 fps or higher, immersive audio, and at least four different main points of comfort adjustment

It comes with wall-mountable base stations (for room-scale tracking), user-friendly documentation, and has the best VR controllers I’ve tried to date. The controllers boast 87 sensors for precision gesture-based input, along with comfy fabric straps that hold them in place—especially convenient when you have a large head-mounted display blocking your vision. Speaking of which, this didn’t feel as heavy and unwieldy as any of the other tethered headsets I’ve tested, which is a big win for long-term comfort.

If you intend to spend hours in VR playing performance-intensive games and don’t need a standalone headset, you’ll be quite pleased with the Valve Index and its massive software catalog, including Valve’s Half-Life: Alyx. Just make sure your PC has enough power to support it.

Many VR enthusiasts have long considered the Vive to be the gold standard, and the HTC Vive Pro 2 mostly lives up to that reputation. It has a 120Hz refresh rate like the Index, it features immersive over-the-ear headphones, and it performs like a dream.

If you’re worried about VR-induced nausea, the Vive Pro 2 is probably the best antidote we’ve found so far. If you’re skeptical about the amount of time you’re likely to spend in VR, or don’t care about top-performing hardware, then the Pro 2 is probably too big an investment for you—but it’s truly an impressive way to experience the medium. Pair it with a high-end gaming PC, and VR doesn’t get any more convincing.

A few issues hold this one back. For one thing, setting it up involved a lengthy, frustrating gauntlet of update downloads and troubleshooting. The PC-gaming hobbyist who’s used to the do-it-yourself mentality may not mind, but it’s a tedious barrier compared to headsets like the Quest 2.

It’s also very heavy, with a lot of cables running to and from your head, the Link Box adapter, your PC, and your power source—not to mention the cords from the two base stations. It feels like a bit of a mess.

The fantasy of the metaverse is still an imperfect one, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have some terrific fun with this undeniably powerful piece of hardware.

If not for the fact that it’s a tethered headset requiring a PC to run, HP’s Reverb G2 feels like the Microsoft Store equivalent to the Quest 2. It’s a good headset with Oculus-style controllers and a solid, playful user experience. It’s a breeze to set up, doesn’t come with any base stations, and the documentation is clear and simple.

Like the Quest 2, you can designate a boundary for a certain degree of room-scale tracking, but it works with a stationary setup as well. The Reverb G2 has over-ear headphones like the Vive or Index, but the overall construction feels lightweight and a little on the fragile side. Unlike a lot of rechargeable VR controllers, the G2’s take two AA batteries each.

One thing I particularly liked about the headset is its use of old-fashioned velcro. It’s very easy and intuitive to adjust to your head shape. It’s an easy piece of hardware to get calibrated and running the way you want it to in general.

If you’re a casual gamer looking to check out a game like Superhot and see what VR’s all about, this is a low-risk entry point, assuming you’ve got a compatible PC.

The PlayStation VR2 (PSVR 2) delivers an impressive VR gaming experience. Its advanced specs and technology like high-quality motion tracking make it a console gamer's immersive video game dream—provided that dream involves being tethered by a wire to your PlayStation 5. This VR headset comes with no wireless connectivity. Even its integrated earbuds are connected by wire.

The PSVR 2 comes with two Sense motion controllers, which we found were both accurate and enjoyable to use for navigating through the games we tested the headset with. It's got two 2000 x 2040 HDR-capable OLED displays with a 120Hz refresh rate, and uses foveated eye tracking to render specific areas (where your eyes are focusing) in great detail. During testing, the headset itself fit us comfortably.

Sony has promised that a large library of games to use with the PSVR 2 is on its way. Unfortunately, if you invested in the original PSVR headset, you'll find that your existing VR games aren't backward compatible with the PSVR 2. That's disappointing, especially when you consider that, at the time we reviewed it, the headset was selling for $550.

Being able to play the VR titles that gamers already own would take some of the sting out of that price, though launch titles like Horizon Call of the Mountain are still technical achievements in their own right.

Read our full review of the Playstation VR2.

This lightweight plug-and-play VR system comes with some compromises, but it’s a great option for the casual gamer (or Skyrim fan) who’s already invested in Sony’s PlayStation ecosystem. The PSVR system was originally made for PS4, but PlayStation 5 owners can get in on the fun with a simple camera adapter, which is easy to obtain through the mail.

PSVR lets you experience some of the best VR games available without the need for a high-performance PC. But it comes with a few notable compromises. Some games only run at 60fps, and the textures or resolutions may not always knock your socks off, especially if you’ve seen what PC-driven VR can look like.

Think of PlayStation VR as a great introduction to the medium, especially if you just want to cut through the noise and play some familiar games in a new, more immersive dimension. If you’re looking to play a specific title on PSVR, do some extra research before making the leap, but a number of games offer significant improvements on PS5—faster loading times, resolution boosts, and so on.

The biggest drawback here is the overly simple head strap, which has a tendency to feel like it’s squeezing on your skull. Longtime users say this problem starts to go away after months of regular use. But for some, PlayStation’s superb Move Controllers and its library of incredible games will make the PSVR a no-brainer.

Bnext’s straightforward mobile headset is a top seller on Amazon. It’s got a pair of sliding mechanisms—similar to the Merge’s—that let you fine-tune your lens placement for maximum clarity.

There are some great free VR experiences that can be enjoyed with something like this, but it’s ultimately unremarkable compared to the elegant simplicity of Google Cardboard—or something a little nicer.

Although the straps are gentle and easy to set up, its facial interface isn’t all that comfortable for lengthy VR sessions and, worst of all, there’s no easy way to use your phone’s touch screen without taking it back out of the headset.

Some apps, like Within, offer a full library of content that lets you input commands simply by holding your gaze in one direction, but this is a big source of friction a lot of the time.

Google Cardboard is a wonderful novelty: it’s inexpensive, accessible, and user-friendly. Like the Merge, it’s easy to slide your phone into, but it also does a pretty good job of holding the device in place.

There’s something playful and immediately charming about the simple cardboard construction; it gets the job done, and it captures children’s attention in a way that a fancy Oculus headset doesn’t.

At $25 or less, the price of entry is roughly equivalent to buying your kid a toy at Target. This headset opens them up to a whole new medium for experiencing places they’ve never been, seeing things they probably won’t find in 2D filmmaking, playing different kinds of games, or for learning.

It’s smooth, sturdy, and a breeze to put together. It’s held in the proper configuration with strong velcro, and there’s a single button in the upper right corner for basic touchscreen input. Kids and adults alike will appreciate the comfort and ease of access here.

It doesn’t have straps or adjustable parts, so it never feels restrictive in the way other headsets do. You can simply remove it from your face at will, which makes it easy to share, check the environment around you, and so on.

If you want to dabble in VR and gain a better understanding of the medium or introduce your children to it, this is the fun, risk-free option you’re looking for.