Meta has finally officially announced the much leaked Quest 3S VR headset. Meta offers many of the features you can find in the Quest 3 in a much more affordable VR headset.
Meta has officially unveiled its new budget-friendly virtual reality (VR) headset, the Quest 3S. The announcement was made during the company's annual Connect main event. With a starting price of $300, this latest model is a more affordable version of its predecessor, the Quest 3, which sold for $500.
Despite the lower price point, the Quest 3S shares many features with the original headset, including a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen2 processor and 8GB of RAM. Quest 3S will be equipped to run exclusive games designed for the Quest 3 platform.
It also supports full colour switching for mixed reality applications and games. The new model comes with the same controllers as its predecessor, providing a familiar user experience, and the external sensors/cameras on the Quest 3S are very similar to those on the standard Quest 3.
Quest 3S has two RGB cameras for stereoscopic colour grading and four VGA cameras for hand and controller tracking. These cameras also help to determine the user's three-dimensional movements and position. There are also two flood LEDs for illumination. Quest 3S does not compromise on basic VR features despite its budget-friendly price.
To offer the Quest 3S at a lower price, Meta has made some changes. The new model does not feature pancake lenses or support 4K content. Instead, it uses Fresnel lenses similar to those in the Meta Quest 2, and offers a resolution per eye (1,832 x 1,920 pixels) and 20 PPD (pixels per degree). The field of view is slightly more restricted compared to the standard Quest 3 headset.
The base model of the Quest 3S comes with 128 GB of storage. The 256 GB version is available for $400. Although the Quest 3S has a smaller battery than its predecessor, it offers slightly improved battery life.
Meta claims that it should offer around 2.5 hours of usage time per charge, compared to the 2.2 hours of usage time offered by the Quest 3. This improvement could be an important factor for potential buyers considering long VR sessions. Pre-orders for the new VR headset are now open, with shipments scheduled to begin on 15 October.
