Skip to main content

$200 Oculus Go VR headset hits Amazon

The $200 Oculus Go VR headset is back in stock on Amazon

Google Daydream View 2 vs. Oculus Go
Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you wanted to make sure that you could get your hands on the $200 Oculus Go portable VR headset at some point this year, then you had to act fast and pre-order one straight from Amazon. Alas, the headsets had already been sold out, but are currently back in stock on Amazon. Not only are they available for pre-order, they’re actually shipping today as well.

Just a few hours after the posting first appeared online around midnight PT on Tuesday, May 1, they were labeled as out of stock on Amazon. The product page now says that the Oculus Go is “currently unavailable,” and that Amazon does not “know when or if this item will be back in stock.” But no longer!

Recommended Videos

Folks who were lucky enough to place a pre-order were shown a December 31 release date, but don’t take that as gospel — it’s just a placeholder date for now. Seemingly as soon as Facebook made the official announcement that the Oculus Go, they went back in stock.

Oculus Go Review

Read our Oculus Go hands-on review

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Over the more than two years now passed since the release of the original Oculus Rift consumer headset much has been questioned about what Oculus would do next. While HTC has been developing the Vive Pro and the Vive Focus, Oculus has been more interested in the midrange space. Although there are still rumors of a wireless, high-end headset known as Santa Cruz in the works at the VR company, the next big release from Oculus VR is the Oculus Go, a midrange headset that will look to bridge the gap between the purely mobile Samsung Gear VR and the Oculus Rift.

Oculus Go will not have positional tracking, only allowing for turns and tilts, and is designed as a stationary headset. However, it will be entirely wireless and untethered from any additional devices, and will contain all of the required processing power, battery, and display technology needed to deliver virtual reality for wearers.

The Oculus Go’s “fast-switch” LCD screen will deliver a QHD 2,560 x 1,440 resolution and will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 mobile processor. Although it will have access to a wide range of applications that have already been released for the Gear VR, Oculus has made sure that it won’t stutter when pressed to render something complicated. Alongside a new 72Hz rendering mode, it will also employ dynamic throttling and fixed foveated rendering.

The whole package looks very much like the Oculus Rift, though with a lighter-grey aesthetic. The wireless remote will offer basic in-app controls. Audio will be handled by built-in speakers, rather than headphones, which should deliver spatial audio while still making it easy to hear what’s going on around you.

Updated on May 1: Just hours after going on sale, the Oculus Go sold out on Amazon. Facebook announced at its F8 keynote that the headset would be shipping today.

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale is a freelance evergreen writer and occasional section coordinator, covering how to guides, best-of lists, and…
Meta wants its next VR headset to replace your laptop
Oculus Quest VR Headset

Mark Zuckerberg wants the announcement of his company's next premium VR headset to be an "iPhone moment" -- a defining shift for virtual reality with mass consumer adoption of the technology. To achieve that vision, Meta, the company that Zuckerberg helms, will first start by replacing your trusty laptop with goggles.

Meta, which owns Facebook and the company and technology behind Oculus, is working on an unannounced premium virtual reality headset called Project Cambria, which the company briefly teased at its Connect conference. Project Cambria comes with new technology that isn’t yet available on current VR headsets, like eye-tracking and facial recognition monitoring to record your facial expressions -- as well as new optics.

Read more
How to watch HTC’s ViveCon today, the ‘most important VR event of the year’
htc vivecon vr headsets 2021 vive air leak

HTC has been teasing that multiple new virtual reality headsets could be launching at ViveCon, the company's VR conference, this year. Slated to take place virtually this year on May 11, HTC had announced its plan to "[unveil] game-changing VR headsets, software, and platforms to take your experience to another level" at the show. Depending on what's announced, these new VR headsets sound like they could replace a number of options that are currently considered the best VR headsets you can buy.

While ViveCon is expected to be an enterprise-specific conference this year, those following the augmented, virtual, and mixed reality market could see how HTC is advancing the segment with its latest wares and platform to foster more innovation in the VR space.
How to watch ViveCon 2021 live stream

Read more
Two new ‘game-changing’ VR headsets could arrive at HTC’s ViveCon next week
HTC Vive Pro Eye virtual reality headset

HTC has been teasing that a new virtual reality headset could launch at its Vivecon conference next week, but the company may have more up its sleeve. We are hearing reports that HTC has several VR headsets in the works. The company is expected to launch at least two new headsets at ViveCon on May 11, and it will likely use the venue to talk about the recently leaked Vive Air.

The two headsets rumored to be launching at ViveCon are the HTC Vive Pro 2 and the Vive Focus 3 Business Edition. HTC's sports-focused Vive Air was leaked late last month, but the company quickly debunked speculation that this particular model will be launching any time soon. Instead, HTC said that the Vive Air is just a concept.

Read more