VR headsets are personal gadgets that we wear, and it is cool if we can make them even more personal with some customizations. This is the idea that MightySkins had, and now the company sells skins for Oculus Quest 2 for everyone to buy on its website. Discover with me how they are in this detailed review!
MightySkins
MightySkins is a well-known company that produces skins for many types of gadgets: mice, consoles, smartphones, voice assistants, etc… Of course it also produces skins for VR headsets and it already had lines for the Vive, Vive Pro, Rift S, Oculus Go and others (including the Lenovo Mirage Solo!).
Recently it has also decided to launch a new line dedicated to the Oculus Quest 2, to let you customize as you want both the headset and the controllers. Thanks to a bonus code they have provided me, I have been able to buy them so that to tell you my impressions.
Purchase experience
My purchase experience on the MightySkins website was overly positive. I headed to the Oculus Quest 2 section, and I have been shown many possible skins I could buy, with many different styles: some had abstract drawings, others some cute cartoons, others scary skulls in flames, etc… There was not a huge number of skins, but they were enough, and had so many different styles, that I’m sure that anyone would be able to find at least one that he/she likes.
For every style you can also pick one of the three possible finishes of the skin:
- Matte: basically it is “normal”, opaque like a piece of paper
- Glossy Glitter: the skin would be glossy and smooth, so it would also become a bit reflective
- Carbon fiber: the skin would have a physical texture with a peculiar design, that you can feel under your fingers. It is also a bit reflective and creates different effects depending on how light illuminates it
In case you don’t want to use a preset, you can completely customize your skin. Selecting the “Custom Wraps and Skins” options, you are provided with an online editor, where you can create your own skin. You can select the base color, you can put there images and texts. You can resize and rotate all the elements you add and combine them very easily. You can choose among the three different finishes (matte, glossy, carbon fiber) even for custom skins. You put these elements already on the template of the stickers that will be sent to you, so what you see in the editor is what you get when the package arrives home. This editor works incredibly well, and I found the experience using it very enjoyable: the only little issue that it has is that it lacks a preview feature that shows you how your customized skin would fit on the headset.
Price
Every preset skin costs around $20-$25, with the matte finish making the cheaper option. If you want to customize your skin, you have to add $5 to this price (so it costs $25-$30).
Shipping
Shipping was a bit slow: the skins had to arrive from the US and I live in Italy, so I was expecting at least 2 weeks of wait, and that happened. Anyway I had no problems with customs, and the covers arrived in a good state inside a very little parcel, so apart from the wait, all the rest was good.
Visual analysis
With the code I had been provided, I bought a bunch of skins of different kinds. Opening the package and having a look at them, these have been my impressions:
- I got exactly what I was expecting. The preview images both of the preset covers and the customized ones conveyed exactly the idea;
- All the covers I got were cool;
- The three different finishes also were as expected. The matte one is cheaper, but also a bit less cool. Carbon fiber is more original and I love its texture when I touch it with my finger, but visually I find it ruins a bit the appearance of the image on the cover. Glossy is probably my favorite because it is shiny and it gives more light to what’s on the cover;
- The covers have the usual problems of printed stuff: colors are not always as bright as you would love to, and also the resolution of the print may be a bit better. You notice the first issue especially on the matte finish, on which colors appear more washed out, while the second is noticeable especially with drawings with complex textures, where there are different shades of different colors that blend together, while it is less noticeable on cartoon drawings with strong edges. One of the covers that appear best is for instance the glossy one I got with some cute cartoonish alpacas… besides being very cute, it is also the most good-looking one because it hides all the issues of the print process.
All in all, I was quite satisfied of the appearance of my covers
Setup
I created a custom skin with Skarredghost logo and Unity Cube controllers and installed it on my Quest 2. The results of this procedure have not been that satisfying.
When I tried to apply the sticker on the front face, I wasn’t able to apply it without leaving wrinkles. I tried in all possible ways, but there was no procedure to make it adhere perfectly to the curved surface of the Quest while making it remain smooth. The best I could do was keeping the central part of the sticker flat, but the border ended up anyway full of folds and ridges. This has been pretty disappointing. Furthermore, the front sticker didn’t cover all the surface of the front face of the device, so it remained a clear border with the naked plastic of the headset visible.
The upper and lower stickers were easier to apply and left no white spaces and fewer ridges. But attaching them so that they had no ridges and the holes of the stickers fit perfectly the buttons of the device was pretty hard. I’m a bit lazy, so I ended up with a final result that was not perfect… but if I had more patience, I’m sure the result would have been much better.
The stickers for the controllers were much easier to fit, since the top of the controller is flat, and I was able to use them very easily and the final result was great.
Usage
While using the headset, the stickers make no difference on the head, while you may feel them on your controllers. Especially when the thumb rests on top of the controller, or when you press the system button, you may sense the presence of the edges of the sticker. This is not a big deal, but anyway it is a little issue they have.
Final impressions
I was satisfied with most of the features of MightySkins covers for the Oculus Quest 2. I loved the variety they had, and the possibility of creating one that was completely custom for my tastes. The service was also good, and the quality of the skins ok. The only issue they have and it is a big one is the setup: I think they should re-design their stickers so the setup is easier and the final result presents fewer ridges.
Anyway, I enjoy having my Skarredghost-branded headset 🙂