The Meta Quest 3 VR headset, the successor to the popular Quest 2 is now available and is the subject of my latest review. You can find a Quest 3 headset here (compensated affiliate link).
In terms of design, the Quest 3 is notably more compact than its predecessor. The balance of the device has been improved, which could potentially offer users a more comfortable experience during extended use. The display quality has seen significant enhancements, with 30% more resolution than the prior edition. Each eye now gets a 2064×2208 image.
The device comes in two storage variants: 128 GB and 512 GB. The choice between the two will largely depend on the user’s app library. Most games at the moment max out around 10 gigabytes or so with many much smaller than that. Unfortunately Meta does not include an SD card slot so if you want more storage you’re going to pay a much higher price tag.
One of the standout features of the Quest 3 is its mixed reality capabilities. When I first donned the headset I was presented not with a virtual image but a 3D camera view of my environment. Although it was not at the same resolution of my actual eyes, I did not experience any disorientation and was able to walk around the room naturally.
The Quest 3’s Mixed Reality sensors can map out the user’s environment, identify potential obstacles, and set boundaries for safer use when using virtual reality games.
There are also games and apps that run in a mixed environment. Meta includes a pack-in title called “First Encounters” where the player’s environment is blended with a virtual one as little creatures invade the room and portions of it get destroyed to reveal a virtual scene of an alien planet.
But there’s not much yet that supports the Meta Quest 3 directly. Although the headset has a more powerful processor along with these new mixed reality features, the Quest 3 launched without many games enhanced for it. In fact Meta doesn’t even offer a means of filtering their store by Quest 3-only titles.
The controllers for the Quest 3 have been redesigned and are now smaller and more ergonomic. The also lack the plastic ring found on the prior iterations which should make them less prone to damage. Additionally, the Quest 3, like its predecessors, offers hand tracking, allowing users to interact with the virtual environment without the need for physical controllers at all. But not all apps and games support this feature.
For media consumption, the Quest 3 offers various environments, from virtual theaters to computer desktop replications. YouTube and Netflix have their own apps for consuming content on their platforms. But with battery life a short 2 hours or so, it may be hard to get through an entire movie.
The Quest 3 can also connect to a more powerful PC via a USB-C cable or over its Wi-Fi “Airlink” feature and run more robust PC titles. In my initial testing this feature was not working properly, but after I published my video it began working after a software update. The added resolution makes a big difference. Half Life Alyx, a real VR masterpiece, looks spectacular on the Quest’s new display.
The Meta Quest 3 is an amazingly engineered piece of technology, especially considering the hardware limitations its designers have to work with. Unfortunately consumers have yet to adopt VR tech at the levels they have with game consoles like the Playstation and Xbox. While the new Quest brings several enhancements over its predecessor Meta has longed struggled getting consumers to actually use the headsets after purchasing them.
Still when people are looking for a fun VR headset the Quest line are the only ones I recommend. They’re simple to use, completely self contained, but also have the capacity to work well with a PC too.