Meta Quest Pro hands-on: The $1,500 headset that 'will enable the metaverse'

Following the demise of smartphone-based headsets like Samsung's Gear VR and Google's Daydream, virtual reality headsets have generally fallen into two camps: lightweight standalone systems like the Quest 2 and more sophisticated PC-based systems like the Vive Pro 2 and Valve Index. But with the new Quest Pro, Meta is trying to combine the best things about both types of headsets into a powerful, but still very comfortable, self-contained unit. In fact, Meta believes so strongly in its next headset that prior to a demo session for press, Meta Product Management Lead Rupa Rao described the Quest Pro as "the beginning of an evolution in VR. It's going to be our first multi-functional immersive computing platform that will enable the metaverse." And after getting the chance to try it out myself, I can definitely see where that confidence is coming from.