The Oculus Quest 2 offers a great VR experience for game lovers, especially with its built-in speakers that support spatial audio which works perfectly well.
However, you can even get a better sound quality when you choose to connect your headphones to your Oculus Quest 2 whether wired or wireless. Therefore, we will consider how to connect headphones to Oculus Quest 2 in this article.
Headphones help to spice up the VR experience on Oculus Quest 2 which allows you to enjoy your games without disturbing everyone around you with a loud sound.
In case you have wired headphones, you can just plug and play with your Oculus Quest 2. However, connecting wireless headphones to your Quest 2 requires a more complex procedure.
Although Wireless headphones and other comparable audio connections are not officially supported by Oculus Quest.
Recently, Meta stated, that it prefers using a cable connection or depends on the built-in sound system. However, you can still connect headphones to Oculus Quest 2. It isn’t that difficult to set up. Read on!
Does Oculus Quest 2 support Bluetooth Headphones?
Even though the Oculus Quest 2 has a built-audio system, you need to know if it supports Bluetooth headphones or not.
There are times when this feature comes in handy. You can easily play games without having to disturb other people, or even watch movies in bed.
Although, Oculus is yet to make any official announcement about its compatibility with Bluetooth headphones. On Meta support pages, Oculus only states that the Oculus Quest 2 supports both 3.5mm headphones, as well as USB-C headphones.
For now, they have only acknowledged support for wired headphones, and they are yet to make mention of Bluetooth compatibility. In other words, it was just recently that Oculus officially made USB-C headphones compatible with the Quest 2.
How to enable Bluetooth on Oculus Quest 2
To enable Bluetooth on Oculus Quest 2, you need to enable the developer mode and the Settings app sideloaded. Once you have the Settings app installed, it gives you access to the Android Settings of the device, including Bluetooth. Follow the steps below to enable Bluetooth on Oculus Quest 2:
- Open Oculus TV, INSIDE your Oculus Quest, open Oculus TV.
- Select the black box listed under “Unknown Sources.”
- Choose Bluetooth.
- Now, select your headphones, and they should pair automatically.
Although, this particular setup won’t work with all Bluetooth headphones. However, if it does work, you might encounter latency issues. The reason why Oculus Quest chose not to enable this by default was because of the latency issues.
Once your headphones can pair successfully, and you have low-latency headphones, then your Bluetooth headphones will be paired to your Oculus Quest.
How to Use Wired Headphones with Oculus Quest 2
If you have wired headphones, then it’s to connect with Oculus Quest. They only require you to just plug and play. Although, the wired headset does not have an audio jack on both sides.
You can connect a pair of headphones to any side or plug a different headphone into each side.
It’s that simple. Just as it is on a smartphone, PC, or any other device with an audio jack, you just need to plug in your headphones to use them. That’s all!
Recommended: How to connect Oculus Quest 2 to PS4
How to Use Wireless Headphones
Using wireless headphones involves a different process. The Oculus Quest is a completely unfastened headset when it comes to what powers the device.
You don’t need a PC, smartphone, or any external sensors before you can use your Oculus Quest for VR, unlike wired headphones.
However, the wireless nature of the Oculus Quest does not extend to headphones.
Using wireless headphones is technically possible, but you will have to go through several means, and even at that, it might not eventually work with all types of headphones.
The first thing you need to do when you need to use your Oculus Quest with wireless headphones is to unlock developer mode. You can do this via the Oculus app on your smartphone by following the steps below:
- Open the Oculus app.
- Choose Settings.
- Click on your Oculus Quest headset.
- Now, click on the arrow to the right of your device name to drop down more options in case they don’t show up immediately after choosing your device.
- Click on More Settings.
- Select Developer Mode.
- Switch on the Developer mode setting.
- This will direct you to a website (except if you have unlocked developer options on an Oculus device before).
- Scroll down and tap on the link below to create an organization.
- Sign in to your Oculus account.
- Input the name of your “organization” (this can be anything).
- Now, click on submit
- Tick the small box to agree to the terms of the agreement.
- Once again, open the Oculus app.
- Choose Settings.
- Now, select your Oculus Quest 2 headset.
- Click on the arrow to the right of your device name to drop down more options in case they do not show up immediately after choosing your device.
- Click on More Settings.
- Now, enable the developer mode.
- Switch on the developer mode setting if has not been switched on.
That’s it!
How To Pair Bluetooth Headphones With the Oculus Quest 2
Up till today, Quest 2 is yet to declare its support with wireless Bluetooth headphones or similar audio connections. Therefore it looks like Meta (Facebook) wants you to use a wired connection or trust the in-built sound system.
Although, this doesn’t imply that your wireless experience is not possible! Pairing your Bluetooth headphones with Oculus Quest 2 is not as hard as you might be thinking.
Simply follow the steps below to pair Bluetooth headphones with Oculus Quest 2:
- Turn on your Oculus Quest 2 headset.
- Open “Quick Settings”.
- Tap on the “Settings” button.
- Choose “Devices”.
- Select “Pair” in the Bluetooth Menu section.
- Power on and put your headphones in pairing mode.
- Now, click on “Pair new device”.
- Select your audio device from the available list and click on “Pair“.
That’s it! Your wireless headphones have been successfully connected to your Quest 2! Note that since this is an “unofficial method”, not all wireless headphones will work following these steps due to compatibility issues.
Therefore, in case you encounter an issue, don’t be too quick to assume that there’s a problem with your headphones.
How To Connect Headphones To Oculus Quest 2
The first thing to do when you want to connect headphones to Oculus Quest 2 is to enable the Experimental Features on your Quest 2 headset which will allow you to pair your headset via Bluetooth.
You can connect AirPods to Oculus Quest 2 as well. Follow the steps below to connect headphones to Oculus Quest 2:
- Open the Settings Menu from your Quest 2.
- Select Experimental Features from the drop-down menu.
- Now, power on your headphones and ensure they are discoverable, then tap the Pair button next to Bluetooth Pairing Menu.
- Choose your headphones from the available list of devices, and you are good to go.
That’s it! Now your wireless headphones have been connected to your Oculus Quest 2.
If you are so keen on how you can connect Bluetooth headphones to Quest 2, then there isn’t any harm in trying. It won’t make your warranty ineffective or invalid or break your Quest 2. Just get set not to be too disappointed in case what you are getting is not everything you are expecting.
Let’s hope that sooner or later Oculus will introduce this amazing functionality in the future.
Can’t Connect Headphones to Oculus Quest 2? Try these Fixes!
In case you have tried all the methods aforementioned and you still can’t connect headphones to Oculus Quest 2, then it may be because of any of the reasons listed below:
FPS Drop
This is the one common issue that you may encounter once you connect your headphones to Quest 2. The frame rate will drop and lag which will affect your game and leave it glitchy and even annoying to play.
Audio Issues
Are you experiencing Audio issues such as the audio quality being absurd and mostly it is out of sync? I’m sure you want to aim for better audio quality to get unlimited enjoyment from your VR headset and its games.
Stuttering Issue
This is a problem that makes Quest 2’s games unplayable which causes the game to stutter for both the sound and in-game.
You can fix all these problems by following any of the steps below:
- There is always a solution in case you don’t want or even have a pair of wired headphones and rather stick with your Bluetooth headphones.
- The 3.5mm audio jack can also fix this problem which is usually removed from modern electronics. Most Bluetooth headphones have an audio jack which allows them to be used as wired headphones while others also have a USB port known as USB C headphones.
- You can as well buy a Bluetooth transmitter and connect it to the 3.5mm audio connector on your Quest 2 headset.
Once your Bluetooth headphones become wired, it will be very easy to connect them with your Quest 2. This is how to connect headphones to Oculus Quest 2.