Meta Connect 2024 is officially rolling. Mark Zuckerberg stepped in front of the crowd (both at the event and on the live stream) and showed off the latest and greatest from Meta, including a brand new Quest 3S virtual reality headset.
As expected, the Quest 3S is a more affordable version of the Quest 3 and is available for pre-order today — sitting pretty between the Meta Quest 2 and Quest 3 as an excellent alternative for those not quite ready to drop $499 on a headset. It's $299 and is shipping on October 15.
Meta is launching the headset at the $299 price with 128GB of storage. There's also a $399 256GB version for those needing more storage.
The Quest 3S has slightly lower resolution displays for each eye than the more expensive model. You get 1,832 x 1,920 per eye. While not the highest resolution headset on the market, the same number of pixels offered on the Quest 2 has served VR users well since 2020. The rumored pancake lenses didn't come to the headset, which is great news.
I used the Quest 2 for about six months and found the images looked more than adequate, so I'm not concerned about the picture quality with the Quest 3S based on the specs. Of course, I'll need to get my eyes on the headset, but I'm confident games and other experiences will look great.
Also, following the rumors, Meta announced that the headset would include the controllers and a copy of Batman: Arkham Shadow (it's also included with the more expensive Quest 3 headset).
This is a great added value for the already budget-friendly device and should serve as a fantastic gateway into other VR experiences for people who haven't experienced the technology much. Be sure to check out our best VR games list for even more.
Will everything Meta announced be enough to secure the Quest 3S a spot on our best virtual reality headset list? We'll find out once we review it ourselves, but based on value alone, it might just make the cut.
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