How To Watch Movies on an Oculus Quest 2 (Online and Offline)
The virtual screens on the Oculus Quest 2 are so big that you’ll feel like you’re in your own personal movie theater. Which begs the question, how do you best watch movies in VR?
1) Watch 3D Movies via Fandango
Fandango has a small-ish collection of 3d movies on its service (like Ready Player One, Lego Movie, Jurassic World, etc.). You can rent or buy them on Fandango and then log in through the Vudu app on your Oculus Quest 2 (there’s also a discontinued fandango app that doesn’t work).
I highly recommend you buy/rent via your web browser because the Vudu Quest app only has 1 star and it’s kind-of a pain in the butt to work with in VR. I don’t think the Vudu app is so bad that it deserves one star… But, sign up with your web browser.
That said, Fandango is really the only service I’m aware of that gives you instant access to 3d movies on the Quest 2 (for a few bucks). At least somebody is doing it.
I also just watched Ready Player One in 3D, and it’s pretty cool. I feel like I got a little bit of eye strain because of the resolution on the Quest 2 and because my battery ran out before I finished the movie. Other than that it was a cool experience that I really enjoyed.
2) Watch Normal Movies Online (using YouTube, Netflix, and the Amazon Prime app)
I wouldn’t recommend you watch non-3d movies via Fandango (unless you’ve already purchased them there). For me, I prefer these apps for watching movies in VR.
YouTube VR
YouTube VR is my favorite. The YouTube app will stream at a good resolution, so the movies will look good on a big screen.
The problem with this app is that you’ll need to pay for the individual movies because they don’t offer a subscription service like Netflix or Amazon Prime. Past that, the YouTube app is currently the gold-standard for watching VR content.
Unrelated to movies, I highly suggest you check out my favorite VR YouTube videos! They’ll blow your mind when watched in VR.
Netflix
Netflix is my 2nd favorite streaming app for VR. It doesn’t have a heck of a lot of 360 VR content, but you can get access to Netflix’s normal catalog on the app. The resolution isn’t terrible. However, I’d like the movies to stream at a higher resolution than they do.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video is 3rd on my list only because I don’t like their selection as much as I like Netflix’s. And like Netflix, I’d like the movies to stream in a higher resolution while in VR.
Plus, as of this writing, their app is the most buggy. And Amazon won’t let me watch Thursday night football in VR through the app. So screw Amazon; they’re in 3rd place.
3) Watch Movies Online Through a Web Browser
I use services like NFL GamePass, where I highly doubt a VR app will be available anytime soon. However, you can use GamePass in VR through the Firefox Reality browser. Websites that stream video over a web browser usually work in VR (not just adult content cough).
However, I’ve also found websites like DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket App that refuse to serve the Oculus browser. So not all web-based video services currently work in VR.
4) Move Video Files Onto Your Quest 2
This is really the only offline option currently available for the Quest 2. You have to find physical video files and move them to your Quest 2. Very few services will allow you to download video files (let alone high res videos). And even ripping movie files off your BluRays is difficult (and not technically legal).
That said, if you have a video file, it’s pretty easy to move it onto the Quest 2. You could use a service like dropbox that you access via your Quest 2’s web browser. Or you could use the cable that came with your Quest 2 to plug into your computer and manually drag and drop the files over.
5) Sideload Android Apps onto the Quest 2
There is a way to run Android apps on your Quest 2, and those apps may open up a lot more video options than you’d otherwise have had. It’s an intriguing option for things like the Yahoo Sports app that streams NFL games through their Android app.
That said, sideloading apps is a cumbersome process. Reference this article for how to do it.
How Do I Watch Ready Player One 3d or Avatar in 3d on the Oculus Quest 2?
Ready Player One is available in 3d through Fandango and the Vudu app.
For 3D movies not on Fandango. You could buy the BluRay disk, rip the movie file off the disk and put that file on your Oculus Quest. From there, you could play the movie straight from the device. However, that is not easy to do and may not be legal either.
It would be nice if YouTube, Netflix, or Amazon Prime offered any of these titles. But, for now they don’t. That said, as VR increases in popularity, I have to imagine one of these services will start streaming these titles soon.
Conclusion
I genuinely believe we’ll all be watching movies in VR someday. It seems like an absolutely fantastic way to watch a movie on an airplane and feel like you’re watching it in your own personal movie theater.
That said, standalone headsets really aren’t there yet as far as visual quality. Although, if you own a PC VR headset like the Varjo Aero it might be way cooler than I imagine already.