Meta's $300 Quest 3S Headset Significantly Lowers VR's Buy-In Price

The Quest 3S, Meta’s newest mixed world headset, volition beryllium retired successful the satellite soon. If you’re acquainted with the features Meta’s VR headsets presently offer, past the lone happening astir the caller hardware that volition truly astonishment you is the price. But it’s reverse sticker shock; the caller Meta Quest 3S is simply a $300 headset that has astir each the capabilities of the $500 Meta Quest 3. This overmuch much modestly priced introduction into the metaverse is disposable for preorder today, and Meta says it volition beryllium retired connected October 15.

The Meta Quest 3S was announced contiguous astatine Meta Connect, the company’s large yearly developer fete wherever it typically besides announces caller products. In the keynote address, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg laid retired his imaginativeness for the company’s latest AR and VR devices and the many, galore updates to the artificial quality features being built into its platforms.

Like the Quest 3, the Quest 3S is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 platform. It has afloat colour passthrough vision, truthful you tin tube successful a presumption of your contiguous situation (and navigate astir your java table) without taking the goggles off. There’s adjacent a caller dedicated fastener connected the bottommost of the headset for this; property it whenever you privation to spot your existent beingness surroundings. The headset is compatible with astir Quest 3 accessories, but not each of them. The Quest 3S besides features Meta’s Horizon OS, which allows for a desktop-like acquisition wherever you tin rhythm done 2D apps and browser tabs and past seamlessly power to watching a movie oregon playing a game. And yes, you tin play Wordle successful it.

The basal configuration of the Quest 3S comes with 128 GB of storage, and for an other $100 you tin adhd up to 256 GB (bringing the terms to $400). The lone mentation of the older Quest 3 you'll beryllium capable to bargain is the 512 GB version, and the terms connected that exemplary is dropping from $650 down to $450. Meta volition upwind down accumulation of its different headsets, too. The institution says it volition soon halt selling the Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro.

These cheaper prices, on with a diminished accent connected the premium models, are meant to entice a broader swath of the VR curious. Meta is apt to denote Quest headsets with beefier specs successful the future, though for present that higher people of instrumentality faces an uncertain fate. Meta is intelligibly taking guidance from the underwhelming reception of Apple’s Vision Pro headset, and choosing to absorption connected devices that are cheaper and much accessible.

The time earlier the announcement, Meta offered a 40-minute demo of the Meta Quest 3S astatine its office successful Silicon Valley. I played a demo of the VR crippled Batman: Arkham Shadow, which comes installed connected the Quest 3S if you bargain it earlier April 2025. (If you’ve ever wanted to consciousness what it’s similar to crouch astir successful a sewer portion dressed arsenic Batman, this is simply a crippled for you.)

But ultimately, the Meta mixed world acquisition felt similar astir different immersive headset experiences. Sprawling, ambitious, blurry, and occasionally disorienting. The headset is airy and casual to wear, but inactive makes you sweat if you support it connected your caput excessively long. The apps it offers are fun, but tin beryllium experienced much comfortably connected much accepted devices. (I volition play Wordle connected my phone, convey you.) Horizon Worlds, Meta’s virtual gathering and hangout space, could beryllium a neat spot to watercourse a concert, but each the antithetic realms inactive consciousness disconnected and strangely thrown together, similar if you could shove your caput straight into a random subreddit.

That said, the weirdness besides makes for immoderate of the much absorbing moments. At 1 constituent during my Quest 3S demo, I navigated, to the chagrin of my Meta property handlers, to a user-created realm successful Horizon Worlds called MetDonalds. This turned retired to beryllium a VR rendering of a McDonalds edifice that was exclusively operated by children. Nearly each idiosyncratic determination was connected mic, and each 1 of them sounded similar a child. I tried to bid a integer Happy Meal, and was instantly called out. They asked maine however aged I was, and erstwhile I told them my property determination was a large chorus of laughter.

“You're 34?” One of them shouted, her code a operation of teasing and astonishment. “What are you adjacent doing here?”

Good question, kid. Good question.

Ultimately, the Meta Quest 3S is present to service up the aforesaid kinds of VR features that its VR headsets person offered for a while. The metaverse isn’t afloat present yet, and Horizon Worlds inactive feels janky and disorienting. But hey, if these untamed experiences are your happening past astatine slightest the Quest 3S volition little the outgo of entry. The toddlers moving the VR McDonalds successful Horizon Worlds are having a blast, truthful possibly this is truly conscionable their satellite now.