Announced in March 2019 and released that May, it is a successor to the original Oculus Rift CV1 model, with noted changes including a new "inside-out" positional tracking system with cameras embedded inside the headset unit (similarly to its sister device, the Oculus Quest), a higher-resolution display, and a new "halo" head strap.

The Rift S received mixed reviews, with critics praising improvements in comfort and ease of setup due to the halo strap and new tracking system, but characterizing the Rift S as being only an incremental upgrade over the CV1, and noting regressions such as a lower refresh rate, and the lack of hardware adjustment for inter pupillary distance (IPD).

The headset features software-only inter pupillary distance (IPD) adjustment,[7] because it uses a single screen instead of dual displays.

[8] As opposed to earphones attached to the strap as on the CV1, built-in audio on the Rift S uses speakers embedded in the headset itself, positioned slightly above the user's ears.

[7][10][11] Passthrough+ is provided as a safety feature, which displays output from the cameras in monoscopic black and white when the player exits their designated boundaries.

[12] On April 12, 2019, Nate Mitchell, co-founder of Oculus VR and head of VR product at Facebook, explained via Twitter that "some 'easter egg' labels meant for prototypes accidentally made it onto the internal hardware for tens of thousands of [Oculus Quest and Rift S] Touch controllers."

The messages on final production hardware say 'This Space For Rent' and 'The Masons Were Here,' while a few development kits contained 'Big Brother is Watching' and 'Hi iFixit!

[7][12][13] On September 16, 2020, Facebook announced the upcoming discontinuation of the Rift S in favor of the Oculus Quest 2, with sales ending in spring 2021.

Coming from a CV1, the reviewer also noted that the Rift S was also the first headset to make them feel nauseous, although citing possible factors such as the lower refresh rate or Fallout 4 VR being a SteamVR game that was not fully optimized for the Oculus platform.