Oculus Quest 2 is a marvelous piece of tech, there is no doubt about it. It is also relatively easy to set up and use. 

A question that people often have though is whether you should turn the Quest 2 off or leave it in sleep mode when not actively using the device.  Here is the short answer to the question:

To maximize the battery life of your Quest 2, Oculus officially recommends turning the headset off when not using it.  However, if you only plan to take a short break (up to a couple of hours) and want to later continue where you left off, leaving the Quest 2 in sleep mode is totally fine. 

I am now going to discuss the topic in more detail and give my two cents about why and when you should prefer either power mode.

What is Sleep Mode and How to Turn the Quest 2 Off Properly?

The thing that might confuse a lot of newcomers is that briefly pressing the power button puts the Quest 2 in sleep mode instead of turning it off.

In sleep mode, the headset will automatically “wake up” again when you place it on your head. Since the Quest 2 has to store the previous state of the device (open applications, etc), it will also be draining some power when sleeping.

To power off the Quest 2 completely, there are two main ways:

• Press and hold the power button for approximately 10 seconds
• Press and hold the power button until you see a shutdown dialog in VR. Select the “Power off” option.

Next, I am going to further discuss the two power modes and when you should prefer one over the other and vice versa.

Powering the Quest 2 Off Should be Your Preferred Option

Without giving it much thought or research, I have personally always turned both my original Oculus Quest as well as the Quest 2 off when I am not actively using them.

I only use the sleep mode when taking a small break from gaming (e.g to let my head and eyes rest) and also while writing articles for this website and testing things out during that. These are scenarios where I know I will be using the headset again shortly.

But is this the correct way of using and maintaining your headset? Is there a correct way all?  I did some research and reading about the topic to find out.

With that being said, here is a breakdown of the different factors to consider when deciding whether to put your Quest 2 to sleep or turn it off completely:

• Sleep mode stores the device and application state.  It’s great when you want to resume a game / browser tabs, etc after a break.
• Waking Quest 2 up from sleep is much quicker than doing a regular full startup. 
• Oculus Quest 2 drains battery when in sleep mode (up to a couple of percent per hour). 
  • If you leave your headset in sleep mode for a longer period (overnight for example) the battery is likely to be drained considerably and you will have less play time when you come back.
  • Over a longer period (months and years), more charging cycles means your overall battery life will be shorter.
• The Quest 2 uses motion sensors to determine activity. To avoid unwanted “wake up”, avoid sleep mode when travelling and carrying your headset in a bag. Alternatively, you can disable the automatic wake up by navigating to Settings → Device → Power.
• Charging the Quest 2 battery is faster when it is turned off compared to when it is in sleep mode.
• Quest 2 is essentially a small computer that gets slower over time when not rebooted (excessive temporary files and use of cache memory). If you mainly keep your Quest 2 in sleep more, be sure to do a periodical shut down / reboot to maintain optimal working state.

Depending on how often and how much you use your headset, I hope that these factors help you reach an optimal balance in terms of convenience and ensuring the longevity of your headset. 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

There are also a few additional questions related to the topic that I haven’t yet addressed directly but which are definitely worth clarifying. 

Does Oculus Quest 2 turn off automatically?

Oculus Quest 2 does not turn off automatically. Instead, it goes into sleep mode when the headset is inactive for 15 seconds (default value). You can reconfigure the inactivity period from Settings → Device → Power.

What causes Oculus Quest 2 to turn on and off?

One of the reasons why your Oculus Quest 2 might be turning on and off intermittently is that it detects movement and wakes up from sleep. If your headset is actually in a restart loop, it might be in the middle of an update which it is unable to complete.

I have covered the Quest 2 boot loop issue and various solutions in my previous article.

Should you turn the Quest 2 off for charging?

Technically Oculus Quest 2 allows charging both while actively using the headset and also in sleep mode. However, the most optimal way to charge the Quest 2 is by turning it off beforehand. It is the fastest way to charge your headset while being friendly with the battery.

One scenario where charging in sleep mode makes sense, is if your battery is empty and you are waiting for a software update.