Pros and cons on working in an industrial research lab without a PhD
For many research positions in industry, a PhD is a requirement to apply for the job. With just an M.S., you simply cannot be considered for these positions. Some research jobs I have seen in industrial labs are available to candidates with either a PhD or an M.S. with several years of industry experience, but I don't see as many of these.

Industrial research labs often also have non-research positions (e.g., staff programmer) that do not require a PhD. However, these positions tend to not be on the research "track": you cannot easily be promoted from "staff programmer" to "junior member of technical staff" in many companies. If you are interested in doing creative research, staff programmer jobs are not a direct path to research scientist jobs.

Smaller companies tend to be more flexible, so that it may be easier to get a research job without a PhD in a tiny company than a large global one.

Of course, this can vary by industry and geographic region. (My experience is in the field of telecommunications and computer networks, in the United States.)
You can find out more about your particular field of interest by going to the "Careers" page of the labs you are considering, and looking up the requirements for the jobs that you would like to do.

However, as a rule, if you are interested in doing creative research (and not just working in a support position in a research lab), you will have more opportunities available to you with a PhD than without one.