ByteDance’s Pico 4 VR headset couldn’t have leaked at a worse time for Meta. Is this the end of the Oculus Quest 2?
ByteDance could once again be coming for Meta’s lunch if reports that it’s preparing to launch two new Pico 4 VR headsets are true.
The main (read: only) name in VR right now is Meta, thanks entirely to the hugely popular Oculus Quest 2. While we believe the Valve Index is the best VR headset in the world, the Quest 2 still packs a punch and costs less than half what the Index does – and is even cheaper if you factor in not needing a VR-ready PC to run Meta’s standalone device.
A new-ish competitor looks to be ready to bring Meta down a peg or two, though.
Pico has been on the VR scene for a while but so far its consumer efforts have mostly been focused on China – which is where its parent company ByteDance is based. There was the Pico Neo 3 that launched in the UK and the rest of Europe in April this year, but it hasn’t yet made much of a splash. However, we could see the brand become a more well-known name when its leaked Pico 4 headsets finally drop.
According to a recent FCC filing – the US’s Federal Communications Commission – Pico is apparently preparing to launch a new Pico 4 device as well as a Pico 4 Pro in the US (via Protocol). Based on the filing, the two headsets appear to share a lot of similarities, with the main difference being eye-tracking and face-tracking, which are exclusive to the Pro version.
Adding further fuel to the fire is a follow-up leak that supposedly revealed what the new controllers will look like.
