Meta’s new mixed-reality headset, the Quest 3S, is coming soon. If you’re familiar with the features currently offered by Meta’s VR headsets, the only surprising thing about the new hardware will be the price. But the price is the other way around: The new Meta Quest 3S is a $300 headset that has nearly all the capabilities of the $500 Meta Quest 3. This much more modestly priced entry into the metaverse is available for pre-order today; Meta says it’ll be out on October 15.
The Meta Quest 3S was announced today at Meta Connect, the company’s big annual developer party where it also typically announces new products. In the keynote address, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg laid out his vision for the company’s latest AR and VR devices and the many AI feature updates coming to its platforms.
Like the Quest 3, the Quest 3S is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 platform. It has full-color vision, so you can see your immediate surroundings (and navigate your coffee table) without taking off your headset. There’s even a new dedicated button on the bottom of the headset for this—press it when you want to see your actual surroundings. The headset is compatible with most, but not all, of the Quest 3’s accessories. The Quest 3S also features Meta’s Horizon OS, which enables a desktop-like experience where you can flick through 2D apps and browser tabs and then seamlessly switch to watching a movie or playing a game. And yes, you can play Wordle on it.
The base configuration of the Quest 3S comes with 128GB of storage, and for an additional $100 you can add up to 256GB (bringing the price to $400). The only version of the older Quest 3 you’ll be able to buy is the 512GB version, and that model’s price is dropping from $650 to $450. Meta is also scaling back production of its other headsets; the company says it will soon stop selling the Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro.
These lower prices, along with a reduced emphasis on premium models, are intended to appeal to a broader swath of VR-curious users. Meta will likely announce Quest headsets with more robust specs in the future, though for now that top class of device faces an uncertain fate. Meta is clearly taking a leaf out of the book by the disappointing reception to Apple’s Vision Pro headset and is choosing to focus on devices that are cheaper and more accessible.
Courtesy of Meta
Courtesy of Meta
The day before the announcement, Meta offered a 40-minute demo of the Meta Quest 3S at its Silicon Valley headquarters. I played a demo of the VR game Batman: Arkham Shadowwhich comes pre-installed on the Quest 3S if you buy it before April 2025. (If you’ve ever wanted to feel what it’s like to crouch in a sewer dressed as Batman, this is the game for you.)
But ultimately, Meta’s mixed-reality experience felt like most other immersive headset experiences: sprawling, ambitious, blurry, and occasionally disorienting. The headset is lightweight and easy to use, but it still makes you sweat if you keep it on for too long. The apps it offers are fun, but they can be more comfortably experienced on more traditional devices. (I’ll play Wordle on my phone, thanks.) Horizon Worlds, Meta’s virtual hangout and gathering space, might be a nice place to stream a concert, but all the different realms still feel disconnected and oddly blended together, like you could stick your head straight into a random subreddit.
Courtesy of Meta
Courtesy of Meta
That said, the weirdness also makes for some of the most interesting moments. At one point during my Quest 3S demo, I navigated, much to the chagrin of my Meta press handlers, to a user-created realm in Horizon Worlds called MetDonaldsIt turned out to be a virtual reality representation of a McDonald’s restaurant run entirely by children. Almost every person there had microphones on, and everyone was talking like a child. I tried to order a digital Happy Meal and was immediately called over. They asked me how old I was, and when I told them my age, there was a huge chorus of laughter.
“You’re 34?” one of them shouted, in a tone that combined joke and astonishment. “How old are you?” doing here?”
Good question, kid. Good question.
Ultimately, the Meta Quest 3S is here to offer the same kind of VR features that your VR headsets have offered for a while now. The Metaverse isn’t fully here yet, and Horizon Worlds still feels wonky and disorienting. But hey, if these wild experiences are your thing, then at least the Quest 3S will lower the cost of entry. The little kids running the VR McDonalds in Horizon Worlds are having a blast, so maybe this is just their world now.