Enjoy my BestorX Premium Deluxe Audio Strap for Oculus Quest 2 Review. You can buy this updated head strap now on Amazon for $65.99 → https://amzn.to/3yW8U61
I recommend this strap over the original, as it greatly improves on key areas I previously struggled with on the earlier model. Check out my other video on the original strap here → https://youtu.be/emjNoh9trKg
Overview
So I last looked at the best or Premium Deluxe Audio Strap back in July this year. It was a decent head strap, but I did have a few issues with it, namely the strap size, the foam pad material, and its rear head pad that was very small, and not very supportive.
BestorX has listened to a lot of this feedback and they have now released their updated version of its Premium Deluxe Audio Strap.
In the box to get the Premium Deluxe Audio Strap itself, it comes already assembled, with its straps and headphones already attached. There are two ring-shaped rear head pads, a pair of audio cable clips, and a manual to tell you how to put everything together.
What’s new?
So at first glance, it doesn’t look like there has been much change overall to this head strap, but on closer inspection, there has been a few minor alterations and improvements here and there that does help fix and improve the issues I was facing on the older strap.
The most obvious change has been the top foam pads, which is made more obvious due to the choice of the caramel brown colour they have chosen to use on the top head pad and ear cushions. The soft cotton cover head pad has been upgraded to a PU leather headband of a similar size, however, the density of this pad is a lot firmer and therefore is a little bit more supportive. Being made of PU Leather, it makes the head pad easier to catch sweat and be easy to wipe it down with a damp cloth or wipe. The colour choice of these pads IS definitely different, personally, I would have preferred them to be your standard black colour but it’s nice to see something a bit different to all the other headsets selling today.
The one big issue with the previous head strap was the rear pad that it had. It was far too small with a tiny piece of foam padding at the back, which really didn’t help support the back of your head and this followed through to the overall support of the head strap. What BestorX has done here is to keep the rear head strap the same, but in place of the tiny foam pad, they have an Elite Strap style rubber silicone ring that attaches to the rear straps velcro and its bigger surfaces helps cradle the rear of your head much better. Two of these silicone rings come in the box, and one has a piece of velcro on both sides to allow the second ring to be attached inside the other, for people with smaller head shapes or for younger children. Most adults will get by with the one that comes without the Velcro band on the inside. However, you could use the inner velcro one to stick some additional foam padding on the inside, for added comfort.
The previous head strap didn’t have much adjustability for even the most average-sized head, let alone larger heads. In my previous video I mention that the rear strap should be larger to accommodate this, but what BestorX has done is to increase the size of the side rails of the head strap instead. This allows the strap to be a little bigger than the previous strap so that it can accommodate larger heads. For me, at its maximum extension, there is about an inch more space, so although it does accommodate a larger head I worry that it might not still be enough for people that have much larger heads than my own.
There are a few other small additional changes that have been made to this updated head strap. The audio cable that came with the previous strap was just a little too small for me and it looks like they have addressed this by adding some additional cabling to allow you to feed the audio cable more easily through areas such as the facial interface without the need to use the bundled audio cable clips. The audio connector is also slightly less bulky than the previous version, which is a welcome change because it can sometimes get in the way of the USB C port on the side of the Quest 2.
Is it a worthy upgrade?
So overall it looks like they have addressed a lot of the issues that I had with the previous head strap, so the important question is; is it a much better improvement over the previous head strap and can it compete alongside some other good quality head straps, such as my current favourite, the Bobo VR M2 strap.
All these changes have greatly improved the Premium Deluxe Audio Strap. I can’t tell that much is changed with the headphone quality, but they still have the same limited range of movement that still doesn’t allow them to fully make contact with my ears, however, they still sound great and they are the perfect compliment to the Quest 2.
I find its overall build quality to be still the same as the previous version. It doesn’t have the same level of rigidity as some other head straps. I do like his top head pad though. There really is no right or wrong way to wear it, and it allows the ability to place it in any way you like to get the best comfort out of it. The added new rear pad does make this new head strap a lot more stable and a lot more comfortable. Being able to where the head pad a little higher than most halo straps do allows you to take more of the front weight off the Quest 2 headset, in the cheekbone area, and that alone really helps with the overall comfort when wearing this head strap.
My Impressions
I like that they have really listened to all the feedback from the previous headset and they have fixed most of them on this brand-new model, however, I really would’ve liked some extra rigidity on the head strap to make me think about swapping it with my BOBOVR M2.
I would’ve liked to have seen some additional attention made to the headphones mounting system. With better pad adjustment and movement and the ability to be able to clip the headphones up at their outmost position, to make it easier to put the headphones on without having to manage the headphones at the same time.
If you’re looking for an all-in-one audio head strap, and you don’t have the wallet to reach for the HTC Deluxe Audio Strap, then this updated head strap from BestorX is a great cheaper alternative that ticks many boxes, and headphones alone are a great way to experience games on the Quest 2 without using the Quest 2’s onboard speakers. And all of this comes in at half the price of what you would pay for the deluxe audio strap from HTC, especially when you have to add the cost of the 3D printed parts needed for the DAS too.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Intro
0:16 – Brief overview
0:43 – Unboxing
0:58 – What’s new?
4:13 – My impressions
You can view this video and many more on our YouTube channel. If you like what you see, please do Like and Subscribe to our channel so you can be alerted when our next video goes live.
