Oculus Quest 2 Not Charging While Playing? (Quick FIX!)

Meta Oculus Quest 2 not charging while playing? Well, you must read this guide to learn why!

If you’re attempting to charge your Oculus Quest 2 while gaming to play as much as you want without worrying about the battery, this guide is for you.

Here, you will learn why the battery is not charging while gaming, should you do this in the first place, and how to charge correctly!

The Oculus Quest 2 battery is not charging while gaming because your device uses more electricity than the charger supplies. To optimize the charging, you must use a direct wall outlet connection or use fast-charging A/C equipment.

Let’s unwrap everything we’ve mentioned!

Why Does Oculus Quest 2 Won’t Charge While Playing?

While having your Oculus Quest headset plugged into the power while playing games is not recommended, many people still do it to prolong the battery life.

However, the Oculus Quest 2 headset is not charging while playing games because of a voltage insufficiency.

Your Oculus Quest 2 will utilize many hardware resources when playing games, so you need sufficient voltage to charge the unit.

What could be happening in your case is that the Oculus Quest is charging, but your headset consumes the battery, making it look like it’s not charging.

Oculus Quest 2 Battery Withdraw

The Oculus Quest 2 has a single cell Lithium-ion battery with 3640 mAh with 3.85 V of nominal usage.

The battery takes about 3 hours to charge fully and lasts up to 3 hours of gaming and intensive utilization. 

The Quest 2 withdraws approximately 4.7V to 7V when gaming and the supplied charger only delivers 4V to 5V.

However, the amount of consumption solely relies on the game, the amount of utilization, and the specifications of your charging equipment.

Should You Charge While Playing?

The straightforward answer would be No, it’s not recommended to charge your Oculus Quest 2 while gaming for three reasons…

• The battery will degrade faster when charged while gaming or using the device.
• The device’s hardware temperatures will rise while gaming and charging.
• Your Oculus Quest will reduce the charge received based on the stress.

This may lead to overheating, which causes lag, delay, and, in some cases, shutdowns. If you want to charge your Oculus while gaming safely, continue reading!

Oculus Quest 2 Not Charging While Playing?

Tip: Follow the steps chronologically!

1. Switch to Another A/C Outlet

The very first suspect is the electrical outlet that you’re currently using to charge the Oculus VR headset.

Whenever the power from the wall socket is insufficient, your Oculus Quest 2 could still say that it’s charging, but using a lot of battery while gaming might surpass the amount charged.

So, as a first step, we recommend simply plugging your Oculus Quest 2 into an electrical outlet that is proven to work by other devices.

Also, if possible, plug your VR headset into an outlet in another room of your home, which will take voltage from a different fuse from the main circuit.

Tip: Play for at least 5 minutes to determine whether the battery is charging or going down!

2. Plug Your VR Headset Directly!

If you’re using any type of socket splitter, outlet extender, or power divider, you should know that your Oculus Quest might not receive sufficient charge.

The best way to charge your VR headset is to plug the device directly into the outlet to guarantee maximum socket voltage withdrawal.

Here’s a list of devices that you should remove from your setup:

When you’re confident that nothing is rerouting the power supply of your Oculus Quest 2, plug the device directly into the electrical socket.

Then, turn on your game and test whether the Oculus Quest 2 battery will charge sufficiently, charge very slowly, or still go down when gaming.

If your Oculus Quest 2 battery is still not charging while gaming, continue reading ahead!

3. Do NOT Use Extension Cables!

So, if you’re using an extension USB cable from the outlet to provide you with more space when gaming, you should know that these extenders are often low quality.

However, the quality is not the only factor that will affect the charging of your Oculus Quest when using an extension cord.

• Verify that your Oculus Quest 2 charger is not extended!

The longer the USB charging cable, the more resistance the voltage has to overcome, which will reduce the total amount of current reaching your VR headset.

This might make your Oculus unit receive less charge than it uses, making the battery still go down even when connected to A/C.

4. Use Fast-Charging Equipment

So, if your Oculus Quest 2 is not charging when you’re playing, the reason is most likely due to higher battery consumption than battery charging.

This typically happens when you’re using a standard charging cable, which withdraws 5V from the outlet but only delivers 4V at the end of the cable due to resistance.

• Oculus Quest 2 uses a power adapter + USB-C cable for charging!

Hence, you can improve the voltage received at the end of the cable by implementing a charger that withdraws 6V from the socket to provide 5V to your Oculus Quest.

There are many kinds of fast-charging cables and adapters, so you must purchase a better charger for your VR headset.

Oculus Quest – Fast-Charging Equipment!

To optimize and fasten the charging of your Oculus Quest 2, you must use as short a USB cable as possible to lower the amount of resistance.

In addition, you must use a fast-charging power adapter, which will increase the voltage your headset receives and start charging when gaming.

5. Charge Oculus via Power Bank!

A power bank is an excellent way to charge your Oculus Quest 2 while gaming, especially if you put the charger in your pocket so you can move freely.

However, many people reported that the Oculus Quest headset is not charging through a power bank or maintaining its current charge.

Well, this is entirely normal, based on the model of your battery bank and the charging cord.

So, if your Oculus Quest 2 only maintains its charge, you’re lucky because, for most people and their battery banks, the headset even loses charge when gaming, but much slower than usual.

Tip: If you’re facing difficulties charging Quest 2 via the power bank, re-plug the USB cable and turn OFF and ON your headset.

Important: Oculus Quest Battery Optimization Profiles!

Your Oculus Quest 2 may not be charging currently due to the battery optimization profile, which is an in-built feature of your headset.

In practice, this feature regulates the amount of electrical charge the unit receives based on variables such as temperature, battery, and HW utilization.

There are 3 general factors that you must know about Oculus Quest 2 charging:

• The battery charges the fastest whenever below 50%
• The battery charge is reduced between 50% and 80%
• The battery charges very slow or stops when above 80%

The primary purpose of the battery optimization feature of the Oculus Quest 2 is to prolong the battery’s life by preventing stress.

Hence, the reason why your Oculus Quest 2 is not charging could be because the battery is over 80%, so you must use up some charge to start receiving.

This phenomenon can also occur when your Oculus is in the 50% to 80% battery charge, and the voltage received is reduced due to HW utilization and higher temperature.

To be confident whether your Oculus is charging when gaming or not, test when the unit is below 50% charge.

Degraded Oculus Quest 2 Battery?

If you’ve had your Oculus Quest 2 for a while now, after months of intensive usage, the battery may start degrading over time.

This is inevitable, but it’s a very slow process that bulbs up and eventually leads to faster battery consumption, especially when playing the Quest 2 VR games.

When the situation is bad, and the battery of your Oculus is no longer holding as much charge as before, you may be unable to charge the battery while gaming.

However, when plugged in, your Oculus 2 will charge and at least reduce the time before your battery reaches 0 percent.

Note: For a battery replacement, contact Meta Customer Support!

More Oculus Quest 2 Errors:

Q: Why won’t my Oculus Quest 2 right controller turn on?
A: Replace the batteries, ensure they are correctly inserted, or try re-pairing the controller.

Q: What should I do if ShellEnv keeps stopping on my Oculus Quest 2?
A: Clear the cache of the Oculus app, ensure your software is up-to-date, and restart the device.