Taking the market analysis into account
The previous market analysis has shown that Pico, Meta Quest and HTC Vive headset models continue to dominate the market. Due to their comparatively lower price and good performance, it can be predicted that they will remain market-dominating in the future, at least for the time being. The Pico 4 Ultra Enterprise, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest 3s Enterprise and Meta Quest Pro models were chosen for the utility analysis. This was due on the one hand to the requirement that the headset should be declared as a low-value asset, which is accompanied by a net price cap of €1000, and on the other hand to the requirement that the headset should be enterprise-capable. HTC Vive Enterprise models all had to be excluded due to their price.
Based on the utility analysis for the Pico 4 Ultra Enterprise, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest 3s Enterprise and Meta Quest Pro models, a buy recommendation for the Meta Quest Pro results. The recommendation can be justified as follows:
1. Overall utility value:
The Meta Quest Pro achieves the highest rank compared to the other models with a utility value of 3.7. This shows that it offers the best overall performance in terms of the evaluated criteria. In second place is the Meta Quest 3 with a utility value of 3.6.
2. Strengths and weaknesses of the Meta Quest Pro:
• Price and guarantee (weighting 20%): The Meta Quest Pro receives the maximum rating of 5 points here, making it the best choice in this area. This is mainly due to a limited-time business bundle offer (Black Week - 55%: https://unboundxr.de/b2b/meta-quest-pro-256gb-test), which significantly reduces the price.
• Controller (weighting 10%): The Meta Quest Pro's Touch Pro controllers are the best in this comparison with the maximum rating of 5. In addition to self-tracking, hand tracking and finger tracking, the controllers with TruTouch offer improved haptics compared to the other controllers. This can enable precise control and interactivity. In addition, these controllers are the only ones in the comparison that have an integrated battery, which means that there is no need to replace (or buy) batteries. The battery life of the controllers is around 8 hours, which should actually be enough for an average (working) day of continuous use.
• Resolution (weighting 15%): With a rating of 4, the Meta Quest Pro performs well to very well in the resolution category (best: Meta Quest 3 and Pico Ultra 4 Enterprise). However, the resolution of all headsets is in such a good range that this has no particular influence on the overall rating.
• Battery life (weighting 10%): A rating of 4 shows that the Meta Quest Pro performs well compared to the other models. The running time of around 2.5 hours is absolutely average and therefore neither particularly good nor particularly bad in comparison (best: Pico Ultra 4 Enterprise).
• Data protection (15%): In the area of data protection, the Meta Quest Pro receives a very poor rating, but this does little to change the overall rating, as all of the headsets compared have poor ratings. Neither Meta nor Pico make clear statements about GDPR compliance. This can be adjusted using your own settings in the MDM. It could be argued that Meta has already shaken customer trust to such an extent that in principle no decision can be made to buy a Meta headset. Conversely, it could also be argued that since the gross violation of data protection and privacy, Meta has been under much greater scrutiny than Pico and cannot afford any further missteps in this regard.
!!! Attention: This only applies if it is purchased during the Black Friday offer period or at a comparably low price. As soon as it has its normal (high) price again, the decision will be in favor of the Quest 3.
Other points that suggest that the studio should buy a Meta Quest Pro:
The Meta Quest Pro is not only in terms of the criteria in the NWA, but can also be used for AR and XR scenarios due to its precise passthrough, which makes it flexible. The Touch Pro controllers with self-tracking and TruTouch haptics as well as eye and face tracking also support more targeted interaction of users with the virtual environment and collaborative scenarios.
Given the fact that the studio wants to expand its focus from the cultural sector to other areas such as education and the development of a platform such as ENGAGE, which may require well-functioning collaborative work and "realistic" social interaction, the ability of eye and face tracking as well as the precision of the controllers should definitely be taken into account when making a purchase decision.
As the end users of the applications that the studio develops are unlikely to use a "high-end" VR headset due to the lower price, a hybrid approach could make sense in the future. The Meta Quest Pro could be used for development and testing, while the applications/platform are optimized to run optimally on cheaper end-use devices (e.g. the Meta Quest 3 or 3s), which in turn could be tested on these. This would provide cost-effective access for users on the one hand, and ensure high quality and innovation opportunities on the development side on the other.
