Over my time with the Meta Quest 2, I have had issues with the official elite strap breaking as have may others. So, I am always on the look out for third-party accessories, this is an area where BOBOVR offer lots of coverage. I have now been testing out their M2 Pro Strap, so how did it perform?
What’s in the box?
Inside of the box you get the M2 Pro strap, an additional strip of fabric that can you used as additional support on the top of your head – if you are not fond of halo head straps. Then you also get a battery that attaches to the back of the head strap for charging the HMD and giving you longer sessions, with an extra USB-C to USB-C cable for charging the battery pack.
Attaching to the HMD
It’s pretty simple to attach to the HMD, all you need to do is remove the faceplate and current strap, slide the grips on the M2 Pro strap half way down the side of the Quest 2’s arms, hook the fabric on the front of the head strap through the loop in the middle of the HMD – leaving about a 2cm gap. After that place the faceplate back on and you are ready to go.
If you are looking to add the aforementioned additional support for the top of your head. You will need to do this before attaching the faceplate back on. You will need to remove the current piece of fabric first, to do this you will just remove the pad from the front of the strap and it can be taken off. Now replace that with the front of the extra strip of fabric received and put the pad back on – then just complete the step of hooking it to the HMD. After this you can remove the pad at the back of the strap and attach the other end of the strip in there.
Benefits
The main benefit I found from the M2 Pro strap is the additional comfort that it offers. This is due to the strap being made from very sturdy ABS plastic, meaning it is very durable. With the option to remove the halo head strap, being one that I have taken up, mainly because I am no longer use to halo straps. But, even it you use the halo strap, it also has additional arms and padding to alleviate some of the pressure on your forehead – which is a great addition.
Now, where the comfort is a massive benefit, I did find it took some messing with the get perfect – as it did slip a little bit until I got in perfect for my head. But, once this is done, it’s by far the most comfortable head strap I have used on my Quest 2.
The next benefit comes for the additional playtime that is offered with the battery pack, which does also work as a counter weight – which in turn helps with the comfort of the head strap.
Testing the product
As I needed to test the not only the comfort, but also the battery attachment and length, I went into testing playing a mix of games, from shooters, active and seated games. This way I would get an idea of both comfort when stationary and moving, and also test the how the battery stayed on the strap.
Lets start with the battery, when I first seen the head strap and the battery was not built in but attached via magnets – I wont lie I was concerned this might go flying off the head strap when moving about quickly. However, when I had the product in my hands, this concern was removed as the strength of the magnets was soon evident. This was then confirmed in testing, as never mind how much or quickly I moved the battery stayed attached.
With the battery attached, you will get around three extra hours of playtime from the Quest 2, making for around five-hours of playtime. I did also run testing with casting, as this how I record and stream my Quest 2 gameplay, and found when testing that way, with the battery attached it gave me around four-hours in total rather than the five.
As previously mentioned the comfort of the head strap was the main benefit I found from the product, so I do not think it will come at much of a surprise to find out the strap performance in testing did not let me down one bit. Once I got the comfort perfect for me and eradicated the slipping issue, the support and weighting was perfect to make sure the testing sessions came with no discomfort. Never mind if I was looking around, down or up and the pace of me looking or moving around in my play space.
With the build quality, counter weighting and extra support of the head strap really shining in the testing of the more active games – all keeping it firmly in place and comfortable when moving a lot more.
REVIEWED USING META QUEST 2
For the purposes of transparency, this review was created using a sample provided by the company or their respective PR company. The use of a press sample does not affect my judgement of the product.
Review Overview
Following my issues with the official Elite strap breaking, I am happy to have found a perfect replacement strap in M2 Pro Strap from BOBOVR. Never mind the type of game I have tried playing with the head strap, its been really comfortable and perfectly weighted to make sure its kept firmly in place. However, if at first you are finding it slips a little bit, just make adjustments until you get it perfect – this can take some testing. Add to the comfort the additional three-hours playtime offered by the detachable battery pack, and those longer sessions are possible with a battery pack that is firmly attached to the strap. I have been really impressed with the BOBOVR M2 Pro strap, and the quality of the build really has removed my fears of breakages like I have experienced with the Elite strap. If you are looking for a replacement head strap, I would recommend this one.
