The Best Tips, Tricks, and Essential Mods for your Oculus Quest 2

Time for some tips and mods for your Oculus Quest 2. Facebook’s new headset has been out for less than eight weeks, and it’s already garnered a significant share of the VR market space. As UploadVR recently pointed out, more SteamVR users are now accessing the platform through Oculus headsets than Valve’s own Index HMD. Unless someone steps up soon, Facebook is going to own this market.

A chart of SteamVR usage by Oculus VR headsets.

Mods For Your Oculus Quest 2

But as good as the Quest 2 is – and you can see our review here – there is always room for improvement. A few of the mods for the Oculus Quest 2 may involve more than you want to do to your headset. Others are quick DIY hacks with things you may have around your home. They can be easily reverted if they’re not for you. And there are a couple here that you should check out if you’re running a public VR lab. Yes, a COVID-19 vaccine is on the way, but this is a good time for planning on our return to some sense of normal in 2021.

So let’s dive into some of the most useful tips, tricks, and mods for your Oculus Quest 2:

FrankenQuest 2 – Comfort is Everything

the biggest mod for your Oculus Quest 2 headset - the Frankequest.

The FrankenQuest 2 is easily the biggest mod you can undertake as it involves replacing the Quest 2 headset support with one from a Vive HMD. If you already have the latter, it’s an inexpensive option. Otherwise, it will cost you $99. Here is a quick video on how to create your own FrankenQuest 2.

Is it worth it? Lots of users claim that it is and that you can now wear the Quest 2 for hours. And the mod gets bonus points for the built-in headphones. It will make it harder to travel with, and you’ll need some 3D printed clips, but sources are readily available. And if you just happened to be retrofitting a VR lab that used Vive HMDs with Quest 2s, this would be a no-brainer.

Headset Padding and Straps

If you’re looking for a simpler alternative to improve the comfort of the Quest 2, you can find a variety of alternative strap designs on Amazon. You might also check out the crowd-funded project, VR Balance for the Oculus Quest, which offers a solution for $39. We bought the Oculus Elite Strap for our units, but they were recently pulled from the market when they started breaking (ours have done fine).

And if you’re serious about mods for your Oculus Quest 2 that improve comfort and are free, take a look at this ingenious solution from a poster on Reddit. It’s as simple as taking the padding from an old shoulder bag (we all seem to have them lying around) and using it as part of the top strap. The red unit on the back is a pass-through battery.

Mods for your Oculus Quest 2 - An ingenious solution for padding the headstrap.

Additional Power – VR Gaming All Day Long

Now that you’ve got a comfortable VR headset, power becomes an essential mod – and this is essential if you’re Quest 2s will be multiuser devices. Oculus sells an additional battery pack, but it’s expensive. You can do better by getting your own battery, and 3D printing or purchasing a plastic holder. Bonus points for this hack as it will more evenly distribute the weight of your headset.

One key point here: you want to get a pass-through battery pack to simplify the charging process. A suggestion from the Reddit user that posted the head strap mod above is to go with one of the following :

  • UGREEN Portable Charger 10000mAh PD 18W USB C Power Bank. Available on Amazon for $21.99.

  • Portable Charger 10000mAh AUKEY Smallest USB C Power Bank. On Amazon for $20.98. 

The first one offers a percentage charge display, which is incredibly helpful if the headset will have multiple users, such as at a film festival or VR lab. But the ports are further apart in the AUKEY unit, which might make that one easier to use.

Mods For Your Oculus Quest 2 – Change That Face Pad

In a world of COVID-19, foam padding is a terrible solution. And while vaccine distribution is getting underway, people will be understandably concerned about health and hygiene over the coming year. And you might even want something better for your own personal headset to minimize the sweat and dirt next to your face. Fortunately, Amazon has several solutions, and you can also check out the options at VR Cover.

Straps For The Hand Controllers

Mods for your Oculus Quest 2 hand controllers - a simple bungee cord hack.

Finally, the wrist straps that come with the Quest 2 are fine, but they can be a minor annoyance to constantly put on and take off. It’s even more challenging if the headset will be in a multiuser setting. There are plenty of options on Amazon, and Reddit poster for the headset mod offers his/her own unique solution – a simple set of small bungee cords – here is the description on how to install them.

Other Mods For Your Oculus Quest 2

We’ll add to this list as we hear of other suggestions. With an active user base still experimenting with a VR device less than seven-week-old, we expect to see many more modifications before the year is out.

Let us know what you have done – or wish you could do – to improve Facebook’s popular headset.