Is the Playstation VR2 still worth it in 2025? That’s probably a question many consumers ask themselves in this year with headsets like the Quest 3 and Quest 3s selling like hotcakes, offering standalone VR without the need of an additional gaming console at a cheaper price.
But still, my answer is: YES! It is actually still one of my favorite headsets and thanks to the PCVR adapter it is now even more versatile than it was before. It offers OLED colors, incredible brightness, big FOV with a very nice binocular overlap, immersive haptics for the headset and controllers and eye tracking. When a game releases on PCVR, Quest and PSVR 2, I often go for the PSVR 2 version because in many times it is the best way to play the games. But I cannot recommend it unconditionally to everyone and there are some disadvantages that we know but start to look worse and worse the older the headset gets. Let’s go into detail!
Visuals
The PSVR 2 can look gorgeous with its bright OLED panels and bigger than average FOV but it can also look grainy and soft because of its biggest problem: Mura.
Displays
We are looking at two OLED panels with a resolution of 2000 × 2040 pixels per eye. They offer a refresh rate of up to 120hz, offer HDR and are very bright. Much brighter than your average Quest 3 or even Pimax Crystal for that matter. These panels really shine and bright games like Horizon: COTM are simply breath taking. Colors are incredibly vibrant and of course, because it’s OLED, blacks are truly black.
It could all have been so good if Sony did not decide to add some kind of anti-Screendoor effect layer that hides SDE but unfortunately seems to be the reason for Mura.
The Mura looks like a silk curtain that the users have to look through. It sounds worse than it is. Especially in bright scenes it is nearly invisible. But in darker scenes that show more uniform colors, it is clearly visible and may detract from the virtual worlds you want to delve into. Can you get used to it though? Yes of course, but it simply is the biggest gripe I have about the otherwise wonderful headset!
Lenses
The PSVR 2 comes with Fresnel lenses. Yes, same lense type that is also used in the Quest 3s. Fresnel lenses come with those typical concentric rings and often have a small sweetspot and introduce good rays.
And yeah, the PSVR 2 lenses are no exception to this. You first have to carefully look for the sweetspot to enjoy a sharp picture from edge to edge. Especially for people new to VR that is less than ideal and they might wonder if their headset is broken. It is not, you truly have to find that sweetspot and then tighten the headstrap to stay in that. It is a far cry from the pancake lenses of the Quest 3 for example, where you simply put the headset on and you are good.
However, despite that flaw, once you have found that sweetspot, things look up and these lenses are not as bad as their reputation. They offer a good edge-to-edge clarity and Fresnel lenses allow for much more light to get through as compared to pancake lenses. So they are one part of the brightness equation and without a doubt they are not a show stopper.
I personally would have hoped for aspheric lenses like in the first PSVR though. These lenses are not plagued by glare and also would have allowed for lots of brightness. But well, probably Sony wanted to shave a few grams of weight here so they went with the Fresnel style lenses.
Overall, despite its flaws, I still enjoy the PSVR2 visuals for the OLED colors and their incredible brightness.
FOV
The field of view is clearly above average here. I have measured 116° horizontal FOV and 102° vertical FOV, which is way more than most other VR headsets on the market right now. It’s truly enjoyable and together with the the advantages of the optical stack that I have pointed out above and the haptics that we will talk about later in this review, the PSVR 2 is still one of my favorite VR headsets and that is also thanks to the good binocular overlap.
Binocular Overlap
No other VR outlet preaches the Binocular Overlap gospel as passionately as MRTV! And that is good because binocular overlap simply is important for true immersion and for feeling comfortable in VR. And I am glad to report that PSVR 2 offers a really good binocular overlap. Nearly all of your stereo vision overlaps which together with the wide FOV is just a very immersive experience. Well done, Sony.
Comfort
The PSVR 2 comes with its typical Halo style design where the weight is concentrated on the forehead and the actual eyebox floats in front of your eyes. I am personally a fan of this kind of design and Sony simply thought: why change a winning formula. The headset also offers eye-relief again, allowing you to get as close to the lenses as you want or further away from them if you still need to include your glasses into the eyebox. In my opinion the comfort of the PSVR 2 is really good and I have no complaints here. However, there are users who swear by the Globular Cluster comfort mods and I also installed them for good measure. And yes indeed, with these third-party headstraps, you can secure the headset more firmly in place, which helps you stay in the lens sweetspot. So should you not like the comfort out of the box, you do have good options.
Audio
As far as audio is concerned the PSVR 2 offers an in ear solution, just like they did with the PSVR 1. While that certainly works it does leave quite a bit to be desired, especially if you are used to the likes of Valve Index and Reverb G2 over-ear-floating audio.
I have quickly replaced the in-ear headphones with an on ear solution from Globular Cluster which gives me so much better sound with the headset. So unfortunately, nothing to write home about!
Microphone
The built in microphone falls into the same category. It is usable for multiplayer games but it certainly is not broadcast quality like for example the microphone of the Bigscreen Beyond. It feels too hot and tends to distort.
Controllers & Tracking & Haptics
The controllers are simply a big win for the PSVR. First of all: tracking works so much better as compared to the first Playstation VR. You do not need to set up a camera on top of your TV anymore but the headset tracks itself and the controllers using 4 built-in cameras. That works flawlessly and you will not run into problems here.
The controllers are truly exceptional. They deliver some of the strongest haptic feedback vibrations I’ve ever experienced in VR, and to top it off, they feature built-in force feedback on their triggers! And yes, it makes such a huge difference to feel different kinds of resistance when pulling the trigger of diffent kinds of weapons. No other VR headset offers something similar and you need to take that into account also when looking at the price of the headset.
But it is not only the controllers that offer haptic feedback. Even the headset itself can vibrate and yes, it makes a difference in VR. You feel much more immersed when you not only see what’s going on around you but when you feel it. It’s hard to describe and you might think how could headset rumble make such a big difference? But when row your boat through a vast jungle river and a huge flying robotic dinosaur soars above your head, that rumble makes it all so much more believable.
Game Compatibility & Outlook
PSVR 2 offers a wide selection of VR games. Most VR blockbusters get the PSVR 2 treatment and as I had mentioned above, thanks to the immersive hardware I often prefer the PSVR 2 version over the Quest or PCVR ones. So, you won’t get bored here and without a doubt there are more games here than you can play. Of course, and I believe I even have not mentioned it until now you will need a Playstation 5 or Playstation 5 pro to play these games because the PSVR 2 is not a standalone headsets.
Thanks to PSVR 2 being able to take advantage of the power of the PS5, you will find games here that are simply not achievable on a mobile processor like those found in the Quest headsets. Games like Resident Evil 8 or Cyube for example. So that is a big advantage here. However, the Playstation store is not the center of the VR world right now. That is clearly the Meta Quest store and you will find more new games there.
Also, we cannot really feel Sony being very supportive of their own platform. We did get a few exclusive games, like Horizon and Resident Evil, which were wonderful, but it seems that’s it and the company seems to want to leave it at that. PSVR 2 was not a big success and Sony launching a PCVR adapter that makes the headset a very capable PC headset seems more like a parting gift than anything else.
Conclusion
With all that said, yes, I can still recommend the PSVR 2 in 2025. Especially for those of you who already own a PS5 or a PS5 Pro and who want to delve into VR. Despite its flaws it is still a very capable headset that can easily compete against Quest 3 and others when it comes to immersion. And yes, even for its $549 asking price, it simply offers a lot: OLED colors, a big FOV with a good stereo overlap, extreme brightness, the best haptics of any VR headset out of the box and even eye-tracking. I could also recommend it as a PCVR headset using the $50 adapter. So if you own a gaming PC or a PS5, you absolutely have my blessing to get the PSVR2 in 2025, even for it’s original asking price. But for sure there will also be sales like in 2024 when the headset was sold for only $350. At that price, the PSVR 2 is an absolute no-brainer and I actually hope that the headset could come down in price permanently.
For those of you who do not own a Playstation 5 (Pro) or a gaming PC, of course the PSVR 2 is a tough sell since you would need to spend a couple of hundred dollars on top of the already pricey PSVR 2. So for you, there is no question, go for the Quest 3 or Quest 3s instead!