Bigscreen has announced the Beyond 2 family of VR headsets, and they provide a pretty compelling view of what some headset makers should be aiming for.
It surpasses the Meta Quest 3 in a few important areas, with a couple of obvious drawbacks.
First, this is not a standalone headset. You need to plug it into a PC — it’s a PCVR rig. The Bigscreen Beyond 2 is also not remotely cheap. It starts at $1019, compared to $299 for the Quest 3S and $499 for the Quest 3. No controllers are included either.
With those parts out of the way, let’s deal with one of the most remarkable Bigscreen Beyond 2 elements: low weight. The headset weighs just 107g, compared to 515g for Meta’s Quest 3 or 127g for its predecessor.
Low weight also means the Beyond 2 needs a much less bulky strap. It’s lighter than most phones, after all.
Bigscreen Beyond 2 Specs
Like the original Beyond headset, the Beyond 2 uses micro OLED displays with a combined resolution of 5120 x 2560 pixels. This is higher resolution than either the Quest 3 or PSVR 2, although it’s predictably not close to the Apple Vision Pro, which is estimated at a combined 7320 x 3200 pixels.
The 90Hz Micro OLED displays will provide contrast and black levels that are simply not possible with the LCD panels used in Meta’s headsets at present.
The claimed field of view of 116 degrees is strong too, although Bigscreen only currently provides diagonal field of view numbers, not separate ones for the horizontal and vertical.
Clarity at the further ends of the field of view will also be enhanced by the use of pancake lenses. These are used in the Meta Quest 3, and provide far better sharpness in the wearer’s peripheral vision than is possible with the fresnel lenses of headsets like the Quest 2 and PSVR 2.
The standard Bigsceen Beyond 2 does not feature eye tracking, but it is available in the upgraded Beyond 2e. This costs $200 extra, and uses tiny cameras to monitor your eye position.
Both the Bigscreen Beyond 2 and Beyond 2e are currently listed as available from June 2025, although can be ordered today. They come in clear or black casing colours or, if you pay an additional $50, Nuclear Orange.
Straps that include built-in headphones and a more advanced Halo mount strap system are also available for an additional $129/$180 respectively.
The Beyond 2 follows on from the company’s 2023 Beyond headset and, according to Bigscreen, the new model sold in 10 hours the number the original reached in four months. Impressive stuff.
