The Oculus Quest 3, now officially known as Meta Quest 3, has been announced, and we won’t have to wait much longer to get our hands on the highly-anticipated VR headset.
Meta’s more budget-friendly Quest 3 headset, separate from the pricier, premium Meta Quest Pro, will be more expensive than the Oculus Quest 2. That is to be expected for a new 2023 headset, and to soften the blow Meta has lowered the price of the Quest 2 so you can at least try VR if you’re on a tighter budget even if it’s not the latest and greatest version of it. And the Quest 3 will be greatest, with Meta calling it its “most powerful headset” yet.
There’s plenty of new and official information on the Meta Quest 3 now, and it’s certainly shaping up to be a contender when it comes to topping our list of the best VR headsets you can buy. For now, read on to learn everything we know about the upcoming headset.
Meta Quest 3: What you need to know
- What is the Meta Quest 3? Meta’s follow-up VR headset to the Quest 2
- Meta Quest 3 release date: “Fall” 2023, but most likely September or October
- Meta Quest 3 specs: We don’t have all the details, but Meta says it’s its “most powerful headset” yet
- Meta Quest 3 design: Similar to the Quest 2 but slimmer and the controllers lack tracking rings
Meta Quest 3 price
So far, Meta has only confirmed the price of the Quest 3’s 128GB model, which will retail for $499 / £499. The official announcement page also makes mention of “an additional storage option for those who want some extra space.”
We’re not sure exactly as to how much extra storage will be provided by this upgraded model, but it’s very likely to be a total of 256GB there. No price for this model has been announced either, but expect something in the region of $599 / £599 or potentially up to $699 / £699.
Meta Quest 3 release date
The Quest 3 has been confirmed to launch in “Fall 2023,” which means, barring any delays, we should see it launch somewhere between the months of September and December 2023. Meta’s official page for the Quest 3 states that further details will be revealed at the Meta Connect event happening on September 27.
Given the release schedule of the Meta Quest Pro, which was detailed at Meta Connect 2022 and launched soon after, we expect that the Meta Quest 3 will launch shortly after the Connect in September or October. We’ll have to wait and see what Meta decides though.
Meta Quest 3 specs and features
We now have official information, straight from Meta’s mouth, about the specs and features we can expect for Meta Quest 3. It was always a safe bet that the headset would continue to be a standalone device, and that’s certainly remained true. You won’t need a PC or external device to play the best VR games out there.
The most immediate improvement for Quest 3 is a high-fidelity color passthrough feature, which should allow you to view your immediate surroundings via a high quality camera. Not only will this help you plan out your playing space, but should also aid augmented and mixed reality experiences become even more immersive.
Quest 3 has also been confirmed to sport a 40% slimmer optic profile over the last-gen Quest 2. That’ll reduce the weight of the device and should allow for comfier play sessions overall. Similarly, its Touch Plus controllers have been reworked with a more ergonomic design. Other improvements in this area include enhanced hand tracking and controller haptic feedback, similar to the DualSense wireless controller for PS5.
It’s been speculated that the Quest 3 will adopt uOLED displays (an upgraded version of OLED). Though, we’ve also seen conflicting reports that instead hint at OLED displays, and mini LED displays. What analysts seem to agree on is some kind of visual enhancement will come to the Quest 3 – so expect improved display quality and higher resolutions.
So far, Meta’s own details remain vague on this front. We know that Quest 3 will feature a higher resolution display than Quest 2, paired with pancake lenses for greater image clarity and an overall reduction in device weight. These lenses should also improve the display of motion, hopefully reducing motion sickness and the dreaded image ghosting effect that plagues many a VR headset, even the PSVR 2.
Lastly, Meta has confirmed that the Quest 3 will be powered by the latest Snapdragon chipset from Qualcomm. In Meta’s own words, the new chipset “delivers more than twice the graphical performance as the previous generation Snapdragon GPU in Quest 2.” We should expect a pretty significant leap in visual quality, then.
As the official launch date nears, an unboxing of the headset has appeared online, giving us a better look at the aesthetics and design of the Meta Quest 3.
Quest 3 leaked early again #metaquest #Quest3 pic.twitter.com/KfjXx5Qxi7August 23, 2023
Meta Quest 3 – what we’d like to see
In our Oculus Quest 2 review, it was hard to find fault with a VR headset that proved immersive, comfortable and easy to use. And yet, while it clearly leads the pack in the VR market, it still falls foul of some of the pitfalls that the technology as a whole suffers from. Here’s a list of updates we want to see on the Oculus Quest 3:
Improved motion sickness prevention
One of those technological pitfalls, and perhaps an unavoidable one, is the motion sickness that can often ensue when using any VR headset. Depending on your tolerance for whirring and blurring, the Quest 2 can be one helluva dizziness-inducer. While there isn’t yet a clear path to making any VR headset immune to user dizziness, it’s nonetheless something we’d like to see improved on the Oculus Quest 3.
A better fit
The same goes for the fit of the device. While the Quest 2 is indeed a comfortable weight when on the head, it can still be a little claustrophobic to achieve a good, tight fit. Again, it’s a problem encountered by almost all VR headsets, and a base-level issue that the next generation of hardware should at least attempt to better address. Those aforementioned design rumors suggest the new Oculus device could solve some of these issues.
Improved media sharing
Sharing screenshots and videos on Oculus devices has never been easy, and it’s an issue that the Quest 2 has tried to address with a few video updates. The process could still be more streamlined, so we’d like to see the Oculus 3 make the whole deal more accessible.
