WHICH is the BEST link cable for META QUEST?

[@RegiusEques]

Thank you for the review. Was wondering about the INIU cable so glad to see it works well despite its price.

[@simon84uk]

I bought the £90 official one when I ordered the Q2 on launch day, used it maybe 3 times, before ditching it for Virtual Desktop. Interestingly, been circling back round to them on my Q3 having got back a little into "sim racing" (just wheel at my desk lol). Decided to try out that Iniu one you had on a live stream recently as was £13 at the time I saw it. Works very well, losing zero charge as you highlighted. I should probably run a side-by-side of my own two (Oculus vs Iniu), see if I can spot any visual difference...

[@MacInVR]

It's all down to your PC's USB-C port mate. Have you tried the new Raceroom update? It's mega 😉

[@TheNick5301]

did you ever spot and visual dif? or everything was exactly the same in your eyes/opinion?

[@MacInVR]

They all performed exactly the same, as far as I could tell 😉

[@bluebell1]

I mostly use desktop but when I don’t, I use the Kiwi. It’s a little heavy because I don’t have the cable management system. Great review. Thanks Mac!

[@MacInVR]

My pleasure mate 😉

[@miklos182]

THANKS MEN! WISH THS CHANNEL GROW!

[@MacInVR]

Thank you 😊

[@RGEE1979]

I prefer to go wireless via 6E router (thanks to an earlier video from you). So far, it's done the job perfectly.

[@tomc1380]

I also mainly use my Q3 with the official meta link cable for flight/racing sims at 500mbps encoding bitrate. I have a high end i913900k/rtx4090/z790mb and connected to my usb3.2 gen2 type-c port maintains my QPro headset battery at ~80% for like forever and I don't need to attach my Q3 charger to it like powered link cables. Also, the optical cable feels so light and flexible. Given the amount of $'s we spend for good PCVR, the cost of a good cable isn't all that significant imho. A Link cable always produces slightly better distance clarity and 5-8ms less latency than any wireless options. For most other PCVR games I prefer to use my Q3 wireless/wifi6 with either VD or Air Link. With the right settings both wireless options work very well imho. VD has a slight edge with hevc-10bit at 150mbps for reduced compression artifacts. But, Air Link at 200mbps Dynamic always seems to run a little smoother. I can make VD run as smooth by using SSW but this introduces some choppy/wavy artifacts with some games, and I don't like those (Air Link with ASW does the same btw). For wireless PCVR I prefer Air L:ink because it has better overall compatibility and it's easier to switch back and forth from Link. Also, I like to use the Oculus Tray tool because it's easy to create game profiles to control super sampling and ASW modes. Unfortunately, because VD does not have the official Oculus sdk's you cannot use OTT (or finetune with ODT). I just hope that Meta releases a hevc-10bit codec option in the near future. I have asked them to please do this and they say they are looking at introducing this soon (fingers crossed).

[@jdogofoz3642]

@@tomc1380 you know you can go higher then 500 yeah? also your the first that agrees with me with using airlink over VD lol

[@tomc1380]

@@jdogofoz3642 Ya, I often use 650mbps with msfs2020 for a little better distant clarity, but there's not a lot in it imho. Anything with Link at 450mbps or higher doesn't produce any noticeable compression artifacts. Anything above 700mbps can sometimes cause audio stutters. Higher bitrates, say 960mbps are also doable but seem to increase latency by ~10-15ms. Up to you to decide what works best for you imho. Cheers.

[@MacInVR]

Airlink is really janky for me. I tried it recently and was shocked how bad it was 🤔

[@tomc1380]

@@MacInVR Really comes down to your router/wifi setup and ODT/Meta device settings. I have no problem with wireless PCVR using either Air Link or Virtual Desktop. Both wireless systems work very well and it comes down to personal preferences as to which one you like to use. Saying one wireless system is significantly better than the other is nonsense imho. Even Steam Link works pretty well with SteamVR apps.

[@tomc1380]

@@jdogofoz3642 Ya, I can use up to 960mbps but I don't see a lot of difference in clarity much above 500mbps with msfs2020. Anything 450 or higher gets rid of compression artifacts, for me anyway. Latency is about 10-15ms higher with 960 compared to 500 and most of this seems to occur above 800mbps. Also, I seem to get some audio stuttering above 700mbps. Simple to copy/paste (or in my case simply using the Oculus tray Tool (OTT) to see which bitrate works best for you.

[@Subfightr]

Wonderful stuff. Unfortunately I purchased a shoddy cable couple months back and I'm kind of stuck with it but it will certainly help many others out. On behalf of everyone else, thank you for this

[@MacInVR]

Only £17.99 for the Iniu? 😉

[@adamsteinbacher2629]

I was using the JSAUX link cable which worked perfectly, but with Valve constantly updating and improving Steam Link, I gave the PrismXR Puppis S1 dedicated wireless access point a try and my eyes don't see any compression artifacts or lag whatsoever. I'll be sticking with that setup from now on. The wireless freedom is fantastic, as is Steam Link!

[@MacInVR]

I have the PrismXR to test, and hopefully, get it setup this week 😉

[@SledderVR]

Thank you for this video mate!

[@MacInVR]

My pleasure 😉

[@mondo50m]

Just ordered the INIU cable.

[@MacInVR]

That's the one I use 😊

[@jestersraven408]

Have been looking for a Link Cable and this has helped me settle on the Inui one thanks

[@MacInVR]

You're welcome 🤗

[@DeconstructingTheGame]

Curious to know if you noticed any graphical variations with the different cables. Power consumption aside the quality is more important for me. Sometimes I experience pixelation or stutter with my current cable but I have a top spec pc, maybe even overkill.

[@ronm6585]

Thanks Mac.

[@MacInVR]

Cheers Ron 🍻

[@stevenmelling6068]

Good video straight to the point ,Sub

[@MacInVR]

Thanks mate 😁

[@barakoas]

My 10 eur cable from Aliexpress works flawlessly, giving me 2.8Gbps speed... it just doesnt have the external charger plug. The Virtual desktop + wifi 6e router is quite expensive solution but comfy...

[@MacInVR]

2.8gbps?? Wow!! That even beats the Official Meta Cable 😲

[@barakoas]

@@MacInVR I think the speed is more related to the motherboard tbh...

[@tomc1380]

@@MacInVR I've found that the meta pc app usb speed test can give you different results at different times. My OG Link cable can show anything from 2.2 to 3.0 Gbps. The main purpose of the speed test is to ensure you have a good usb3 connection. Anything above 2.0Gbps should be ok imho.

[@darrenwhitehouse7665]

Hi there Mac i originally brought the inui pcvr when i had quest 2 ages ago i still use inui with my quest 3 can i ask in what order did you connect the cables my method is power up pc power up quest 3 once into windows connect usb A to motherboard count 15 long secs the connect usb C to Q3 again count a long 15 secs then connect charger to dongle part i usually get 95% all the time still fully charged after use and i can sit on this for hours at a time but the odd 5% sometimes doesnt charge

[@coolspider500]

I get very tired playing vr so the kiwi one is perfect. even if it doesnt charge i wont be playing long enough for the battery to die idk how heavy it will be on me but i think it will be fine

[@JulianKable]

I read some reviews of the Iniu cable note that it works great for standalone games but has issues with not charging the headset when also connected to PC. did you notice any issues like this when testing?

[@secondthought2]

Hi!, May I ask a question. Can I run flat-games ( non VR ) via usb cable from pc to Quest 3? ( as an Alternative to wireless Virtual Desktop route ) How would one go about doing this wired. Is meta link app good enough for this? is any worse than wireless route thru Virtual Desktop ( still talking about running flat-games on a virtual Screen )

[@MacInVR]

If you have Xbox game pass, there is a native app for playing on a giant screen. If you have virtual desktop, you could play on a virtual screen. I use the Xbox app to play Halo and BLOPS 6 so it works really well 😉

[@onura2710]

Thank you

[@michelfortin7055]

I just ordered the Iniu. Good price, 15% off the first order with a 30-day full refund, no questions asked guarantee and it keeps the headset charged indefinitely.

[@MacInVR]

That is the one I prefer, can basically play for hours on end without any battery anxiety 😅

[@Ghostly-00]

Because of your comment plus the video I've also ordered an INIU for myself. So thanks lol

[@Zer01neBDTDev]

Bad idea, it will die soon enough.

[@southparkfunny536]

@@Zer01neBDTDev shut up

[@vidostrbenk5900]

whats the difference between link cable and tunderbolt 4? would thunderbolt 4 not work?

[@MacInVR]

The thunderbolt ports and USB- are compatible but can provide more power, which is probably why the Meta Link Cable manages to keep the headset fully charged

[@adriking4272]

Why no link for inui cable in description :(

[@MacInVR]

Added to description: amzn.to/4fqUaBJ

[@clamojoat8543]

ok so that explains Y the official cable is expensive. and also according to google usb 3.0 A isn't 2.4 capable. only C is and 2.4 is required to power and charge the quest. so that means ANY type A cable isn't gona cut it so that's Y them others include extra power. problem is the cable may not cut it do to the extra power going in hence Y some a reporting problems still.

[@MacInVR]

I was fine with charging because my mobo has a Thunderbolt USB4 port, which can keep the headset 100% 😉

[@clamojoat8543]

@@MacInVR K i don't have a thunderbolt port so i may end up just getting a external battery. i don't see any of these cables working for any one without that port

[@federicocorsini9640]

Thanks for your videos :) I have a type C 3.2 gen 2 port! Would it be able to charge it?

[@MacInVR]

Anything above USB 3.0 should be okay 👍

[@RabbitFCB]

The Iniu one is out of stock on Amazon for me for more than a month already :( I’ve tested two other cables, but they dropped like 20-30% of charge every hour

[@MacInVR]

Try the upgraded AMVR, then? It worked as well as the Iniu but is a bit more expensive

[@bobskimaxx]

I have an Eniu cable as in your video BUT Quest 3 & 6e router is the way to go for AMS2 👍

[@MacInVR]

It's hard for me, I'm such a VD fan-boy but people need options 😉

[@smanders818]

This is probably a dumb question, but you need this cord for the wifi correct? I can play all these games wirelessly but I could experience lag. New to VR and own a meta quest 3.

[@MacInVR]

No such thing as a dumb question my friend. You don't need this to play wirelessly, just use air link or buy Virtual Desktop (I've done loads of tutorials on that app).

[@Rockysbeats]

are there any headsets that just use a single cable and keep full charge just for watching movies and basic steam gaming using virtual screens you can move around. (Not high powered VR games with hand controls) ?

[@MacInVR]

A Quest 3 with the Iniu link cable could do that, plus you can use virtual desktop to play your flat screen gaming on screens you can move about, resize etc

[@AQUASURF]

I heard they should be usb-c (headset) to usb-c (on the pc) NOT the usb A being shown... is this not the case ? Also the ones with double ends - what is point im kinda confused -if one is for charging - what is the other doing as it cant be video so to speak unless its doing it like a usb camera would to take the desktop that way rather than hmdi or DP...

[@AQUASURF]

So you like my comment but, dont answer it ?

[@MacInVR]

Sorry, I thought I had replied. The Meta cable is USB-C to USB-C, the Iniu cable I use is USB-C to USB 3.0. The cables with the extra USB-C port are purely for keeping the headset charged 😉

[@MetalJudgement]

What's that contraption youn have on the top of your headset ? The one that connects to the bobovr i mean because at the minute im trying to have the my pc connected while running the fan on my Bobovr headstrap and i dont know what type c splitter i need.

[@MacInVR]

It's a KKCOBVR K3 facial interface with integrated fan & I don't understand the question, sorry.

[@MetalJudgement]

@@MacInVR I see so it's part of your head strap. My question basically is how to have the head strap connected at the same time with a link cable to the headset and both working at the same time.

[@MacInVR]

Okay, just plug it into the USB connector on your headset, you DO NOT NEED THE BoboVR battery as the link cable will charge your headset

[@MetalJudgement]

@@MacInVR ok I got it sir. Thank you! I have the BoboVr s3 pro headstrap and I wanted the fan that's on the forehead to run independently in order to do this I just have to press the button firmly while the battery is attached to the headstrap and and it just works lol. Then my headset port is available for the pc link cable.

[@Getinbedrn]

Hey how old does a mother board need to be to can’t play it cause I wanted to get a meta quest link cable for Christmas

[@MacInVR]

As long as it has USB 3.0 or above, you should be okay 👍

[@mikejonesuk]

As usual, Mac, a well-researched and informative video. I can't get wireless to work reliably on my PC/router set up, so have to use cables. I have a cheap 5 metre cable I bought years ago (2020) as soon as I bought my first Quest, and a shorter cable I use when sitting down near my computer desk for seated games/UEVR/video, etc. Do you know whether the KIWI cable management clips are available to buy separately?

[@MacInVR]

I'm afraid not, maybe replace your older cable with the Kiwi, then you get 2 of them 🤔

[@rafalpyszny8018]

Hi Mac. I wonder if you could help me out? What cable would you recommend to use for Xbox series X and oculus quest 2? At first I thought I would need a capture card, but I don't need to record or stream . I can also connect wirelessly using Xbox cloud gaming app but it requires something like 17 pound monthly subscription. Just looking for something not expensive but reliable. My TV is up to speed with series X but REALLY want to give a shot to Quest 2. Thanks in advance 👍

[@rafalpyszny8018]

@Mac in VR

[@MacInVR]

Really sorry, my friend, I use Xbox Ultimate to play via Quest and Android. All done wirelessly 😳

[@chizu_]

Meta released an app called "Hdmi link" If you plug in an Hdmi cable to quest, it should work fine

[@nielst.3891]

My Syntech cable (5 mtr length) achieves 2.5Gbps.

[@MacInVR]

That's pretty good 👍

[@Red-Magic]

My link cable of 4+ years recently died, and they weren't being made anymore. So to replace it, I bought a Syntech one. While it does similar charging to what you describe for the INIU one, the Syntech cable has horrible connection reliability issues. It's as if they made their USB-C end to a slightly different than standard dimension, so you get disconnects if you shake your head or wiggle the cable at the port, and that of course kicks you out of your game and the link itself. I bought an INIU one recently and it's expected to arrive next week, and I'm glad to see you recommend it as highly as you do. Hopefully they don't have manufacturing issues like Syntech

[@MacInVR]

Mine has worked flawlessly. I also use those awesome little cable management clips from Kiwi Design 😉

[@AKCobra1120]

Honestly, I think virtual desktop with a wifi 6e router is superior to Meta's clunky wired solution. I can only imagine how good it COULD be if Guy Godin had access to the usb interface.

[@RolandDobbins]

These tech boomers just can’t fathom it.

[@jdogofoz3642]

link cable quality is always better then VD if I want the best clarity in my q3 I'm always reaching for that cable in sim racing games amd skyrim etc I have a wifi6e router. I also have a 7800x3d paired with a 4090.

[@ChrisJones-sw9il]

@@jdogofoz3642does cable give u better fps too?

[@jdogofoz3642]

@@ChrisJones-sw9il no bout the same. don't get me wrong though the wireless from VD and airl link etc are awesome and a great for 90% of pcvr but some benefit from that slight extra clarity of the cable but nothing is more free then being completely wireless

[@jss4837]

Latency is significantly better with cable, and i think visuals are better and more stable too. But otherwise yeah vd is pretty good.

[@mauriceshapero7200]

This is a great informative video - thank you. I'm trying to determine if it would be better to get a 5 or even a 10 Gbps cable, will the quality of the image be noticably better, ie. less compression. Especially at 120Hz.? Or is there a limit to what the quest 3 can handle, and 2.5 Gbps is more than enough?

[@MacInVR]

All of the encoding & decoding is done by the headset, so an higher rate cable wouldn't make a difference. 2.5gbps is perfectly acceptable 👌

[@mauriceshapero7200]

@@MacInVR yep, I got a 5gbps cable and it made zero difference! Strangely the 5gps kiwi cable when tested says it’s 2.1gbps. But the 2.5 Iniu cable comes out at 2.4!

[@MacInVR]

That's close to what I got 😊

[@mauriceshapero7200]

@@MacInVRdoes that mean the Kiwi cable isn’t really 5gbps? Or is it just the way oculus measures it?

[@MacInVR]

The theoretical speed is 5gbps, all the cables claim that (even the fibre optic Meta link cable). In reality, between 2-2.5gbps 😲

[@Belthorian]

Question, if you have a USB 3.2 port and a 10 gig cable, will it work better than the cables listed? Also if I am connected through virtual desktop with a WiFi-6 connection don't I have more bandwidth than a direct cable connection?

[@MacInVR]

1) Interesting question, from what I can discern, 5gb is a theoretical speed, but really only 2.5gb is feasible. Would be interesting to try and see what you get though. 2) The bottleneck is the Quest encode/decode cycle, so the answer is no.

[@Belthorian]

@@MacInVR I was getting 2.6 gb in the test. I had the quest app running on the PC with quest link active. Inside MSFS I hit the Control Tab combo to go into VR mode and it said headset not detected. I have always used Virtual Desktop so I am not even sure how to do VR in quest link for MSFS 2020.

[@MacInVR]

In the Quest headset, open the quick settings menu (bottom left) then click link (there is an option to launch automatically if Quest detects a link cable as well).

[@Belthorian]

@@MacInVR I did that, I was successfully linked but Microsoft Flight Simulator could not detect the headset.

[@oohkaay]

Hi Mac, do ineed to plug in and out every session? Or can i leave the cable connected to pc and quest 3, and turn the headset on and off when i want to play in vr after starting the pc? thx

[@MacInVR]

I often leave my Q3 plugged and hanging up, won't do it any harm 😉

[@oohkaay]

@@MacInVR Thanks, for helping and your nice review! I remove the quest adapter, when i don' t use it, but the green light indicates that it is still charging? I thought constant charging makes the accu go bad over time... Also, i was wondering if it has to be plugged in and out for each new session (after shutting donw pc) for some reason. To make it even more confusing, Sebastian from MRTV and some other guys tell us to connect in a different order: PC-Quest3-power cable instead of what is in my manual: power cable-Quest3-pc 🤪

[@oohkaay]

@@MacInVR TY, mate!

[@Face_WASPS]

Great vid, have the official cable, but try not to use any.

[@MacInVR]

Too busy making little Faces 😂

[@Face_WASPS]

@@MacInVR well keeping them feed and watered mostly

[@Grodstark]

On reddit etc I see alot of people completely sh!t on the Iniu cable for some reason. They say it wont work etc, is it just rookie errors from these people or what?

[@MacInVR]

The problem is that everyone PC's are different, they may not have their drivers up to date etc BUT because it doesn't work (even though it's their fault) the product is crap. Me? Everything is up to date. My Iniu cable gets used for all my sim-racing live streams and keeps my headset at 100% 🤩

[@Grodstark]

@@MacInVR Update, it does not work flawlessly. It refuse to detect USB 3.0 and it only goes to 350mbps, not 2.5gbps. I've tried connecting my Rift cv1 in the same USB and it detects 3.0 without a problem. This cable refuse to detect any of my USB 3 ports and only gives me a USB 2.0 which is unplayable.

[@Zer01neBDTDev]

Mine just died, so yeah, it won't work for long.

[@tasosm7x]

INIU is the GOAT

[@MacInVR]

For the price, it's pretty amazing 😉

[@bryn-plays]

Can a link cables damage a quest 3

[@MacInVR]

No 😉

[@bryn-plays]

​@MacInVR but can't It over charger the vr and damaged the battery

[@MacInVR]

No, it cannot. I've been using link cables since the OG Quest and have never had any problems 😉

[@bryn-plays]

​@@MacInVR thank you

[@shingetsu10]

Surely any old USB-C cable will work

[@MacInVR]

Needs to be a high quality data cable that can also carry a charge, so no 😉

[@Zer01neBDTDev]

Do not buy INUI Cable, the Cable will stop working soon enough, mine stopped working after less than 10 Usage. The cable is not reliable in time. Again do not buy it. (And stop removing my comment, are you paid by INUI ?).

[@MacInVR]

I'm not paid by Iniu, I've had my cable for 6 months & have had no problems