For the very best VR experience, you might want to consider upgrading to one of the best Meta Quest 2 head strap alternatives. After all, the default Quest 2 fabric strap has more cons than pros. It's easy to slide on and off, but it absorbs sweat and germs and does nothing to counterbalance the front-heavy design or add cushioning. You can buy the official Elite Strap, but it's a bit pricey and has had plenty of issues with durability.

Thankfully, a few third-party straps offer a much more "elite" alternative for a lower price. Whether you're looking for more cushioning, a more secure fit, better weight distribution, or adding more battery life to your headset, these are the best Quest 2 straps available. I've used every single one of these products (and more) and have chosen the very best for you to get for your Quest 2.

Keep your head in the game with these Oculus Quest 2 head straps

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

While halo-style straps aren't usually my favorite, the BoboVR M2 Pro makes up for that with the rest of its brilliant design. That all starts with the magnetic battery packs that ship with the head strap, each of which carries a huge 5,200mAh capacity. For reference, the Quest 2's internal battery is only a 3,640 mAh capacity, so one BoboVR battery will get you more than double the battery life when plugged into the Quest 2.

You can opt for a single battery or grab the pack with two batteries and a magnetic charger if you think you're going to be playing for more than 5-6 hours at a time in VR. No matter which size you pick, it's hard to describe just how incredible it is to simply pull the battery pack off and slap a new one in its place. There's even an audible beep that occurs when a new battery gets dropped onto the magnetic connectors. Talk about brilliant design!

Aside from charging your Quest 2 while playing, the BoboVR M2 Pro head strap is also super comfortable. It's got a halo-style design, which is similar to a PlayStation VR headset if you've ever used one. That means it primarily puts the headset weight on the top and back of your head, with a luxurious forehead pad to ensure proper weight relief.

BoboVR also put little pads on the top of the headset that helps it stay straight and level while playing. No need for a top adjustable strap with this design!

Now, as I said before, halo-style straps generally aren't my favorite design. If you're playing games with a lot of movement — especially games that have you tilting your head forward a lot — you'll probably find that this strap isn't tight enough for your liking. That is if your head is shaped anything like mine, most likely. I've also found that it slightly reduces the headset's FoV, so it's a little more obvious that you're looking through a pair of lenses into a VR world instead of just being fully immersed in one.

That being said, it's hard to argue with the overall design and convenience of this head strap, and that's what makes it the best overall strap we can recommend.

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

KIWI Design took a little while to jump on the battery head strap train, but they absolutely did it right. This strap is nearly identical to our favorite non-battery strap below from KIWI, the difference being that it packs a big battery in the back portion of the strap for extra-long play sessions.

This battery was sourced by Amprius in the U.S., which means it's an extra high-quality battery that you can feel safe with. It also charges the headset twice as fast as the stock charger and features two 3,200mAh batteries inside the strap. That's double the capacity of the Quest 2's internal battery and effectively means you'll be tripling your battery life when you pick up one of these head straps.

Pulls your head in close to the headset and even helps widen the headset's FoV. That means you'll immediately notice a slightly wider view of the virtual world, which is a huge advantage. Plus, since this is an Elite-style strap, it hugs your head and won't let up even through the craziest, most active games out there.

The downside there is that, over long play sessions, I found the headset's weight could really be felt on my cheeks. Getting a nice thick face pad will help this quite a bit, but it's still something to consider if you're playing in VR for hours or are super sensitive to the weight on your cheeks. The battery also isn't modular like BoboVR's meaning you'll need to take the headset off and charge the battery if you happen to play longer than 7 hours or so.

KIWI makes many of my favorite Quest 2 mods, whether it's the best Quest 2 face covers (opens in new tab) for fixing the headset's uncomfortable foam interface or excellent Quest 2 hand straps (opens in new tab).

(Image credit: Nick Sutrich / Android Central)

KIWI's Quest 2 elite strap takes some design cues from Meta's failed official Elite Strap and improves them in meaningful ways. First off, the construction of KIWI's elite strap is much sturdier than the one from Meta. In addition, the plastic is thicker without feeling heavier, and the strap itself is quite a bit thicker. The official Elite strap had durability issues, while KIWI built its strap to withstand much more tension.

Plenty of padding on the top and back helps cushion and better distribute the headset's weight, helping to put more weight on the back of the head and relieving the weight off of the cheekbones. The removable pad on the back is made of the same PU-leather material that many face pads are — including the one above — and can be easily wiped down or swapped out at will. It also can be adjusted to cradle the back of the cranium or sit further up, depending on your comfort.

The KIWI elite strap adjusts in two main places. First, the wheel on the back of the head rotates to adjust the length of the straps, making it effortless to put on and remove. Secondly, the padded strap up top helps vertically adjust where the pad sits at the back of the skull, working in conjunction with the middle strap hinge to better fit all sorts of head shapes and sizes.

You'll also appreciate that the design leaves more room for Quest 2 over-ear headphones than the default Elite Strap. And its hinged design allows you to find the perfect vertical angle from your eyes to the Quest 2's lenses.

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

Anyone looking for a replacement strap will likely turn away from VR Cover's canvas strap, which looks similar to the stock Oculus strap (pictured above). But it's not a one-to-one replacement: it has two back straps cradling the top and bottom of the head, giving you a much more balanced and supported fit. You'll connect a T-strap with either a short or long strap, giving folks with large heads a better option that won't feel so tight. Overall, it's much better thought out than what Oculus provided out of the box.

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

Selling at a slightly lower price than most Elite Strap replacements, the VR Cover model provides some benefits that a larger, more rigid Elite Strap won't. One, it'll actually fit inside most of the best Oculus Quest 2 cases, whereas Elite Straps take up extra room and require a special case. Two, it lets you slide on or remove your Quest 2 much more quickly once you've found your proper setting; with the Elite Strap and its imitators, you'll have to carefully loosen and tighten the knob every time. And three, it doesn't add weight to the headset.

Of course, a soft canvas Quest 2 strap won't provide the same firm structure as an Elite; and while it can be wiped down, it'll still collect sweat rather than repelling it. But these small downsides shouldn't stop you from investing in this upgrade. But don't stop there: the best Quest 2 VR Cover accessories are all high-quality and will upgrade more than just your strap.

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Bottom line

While the cloth strap that ships with the Quest 2 might be considered good enough to start with, gamers who play a lot in VR will find that it leaves a lot to be desired. Particularly if you're a power user that plays the best Quest 2 games for hours at a time or wants to use a mouse and keyboard in VR. The headset is just too front-heavy to be comfortable for long.

All Quest 2 gamers should consider picking up the BoboVR M2 Pro head strap with battery. It's not only unbelievably comfortable for long periods of time, but the modular battery design makes it easy to charge your Quest 2 effortlessly. Just charge the pack up with a USB Type-C charger and pop it on your headset with the magnetic attachments. It's incredibly simple to use and you'll wonder why it isn't an official Meta product.

If you prefer the comfort of an Elite-style strap with its extra-tight fit, KIWI Design has a superb battery head strap that triples the Quest 2's battery life and still finds ways to make the headset comfortable to wear. A big battery like this adds quite a bit of extra weight, which you can feel in your cheekbones after long play sessions if you don't have a super cushy facepad.

KIWI Design also makes a non-battery version that's pretty simple to install. It provides incredible comfort thanks to a bevy of pads all around the strap — all of which are removable and washable — and the double adjustment hinge ensures the strap won't snap, unlike the official Elite Strap.

What about head straps that fit external battery banks?

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

If you've got one of the best portable chargers or power banks (opens in new tab) and would rather get a strap that utilizes one of these, I'd recommend thinking twice. While it might sound tempting to grab one of the many Quest 2 head straps that allow you to simply slap in a power bank you already own — like the Ahroy elite strap with battery holder pictured above — the quality and overall design of most of these straps is usually pretty bad.

I've tried half a dozen different types of Quest 2 head straps with room for a battery pack and didn't find one that was particularly good at all. Many of these are made of cheap, creaky plastic that barely feels like it will hold the Quest 2 on your head. On top of that, having a semi-loose power bank strapped to your head really isn't a great idea, anyway.

Some of these head straps did a better job of holding the battery tight than others, but all of them made me worry the pack was going to fly off at any given time. Plus, there's no guarantee your battery pack will actually charge the Quest 2 fast enough to keep it going for a long time.

In my case, all of the Qualcomm QuickCharge 2.0 or 3.0-compatible battery banks that I have didn't actually charge the Quest 2 while I was playing. Rather, it just kept it from draining as fast as it normally would while playing a game. All of the above-recommended head straps from KIWI or BoboVR will actually charge your Quest 2 while it's playing thanks to specially designed circuitry.