Anyone that’s picked up a Meta Quest 3 recently may be disappointed to hear that sales of the Elite Strap with Battery have been paused. Which means you won’t be able to buy one for the immediate future. It’s disappointing, but there’s a very good reason for it — some kind of charging fault.
Road to VR reports that the issue in question has affected the version of the Elite Strap that comes with a battery. It comes after numerous reports of a charging fault that renders the battery completely useless.
According to reports, the external battery will start straight-up refusing to recharge. Considering the strap is supposed to add an extra 2 hours of battery life to the Meta Quest 3, and costs an extra $129, that’s got to be a very irritating situation.
Meta has said that the issue is due to a problem with the Elite Strap’s firmware, and that simply replacing affected units might not solve the issue. New units, which are reportedly free of this problem, are being manufactured now and will be stocked at retailers “as soon as possible."
Retailers appear to have all pulled the Elite Strap with Battery from shelves, which is definitely a good start. On the off chance that you are able to buy the Strap before the new units are shipped to retailers, we recommend that you don’t. No matter the cause, it’s always helpful to be cautious when electricity and batteries are involved.
Sadly, there’s no indication when this new stock might actually be available, and Meta claims that it won’t be issuing a recall on Elite Strap batteries that are already in user hands. Instead, replacement units will be issued “on a case-by-case basis”.
Meta did extend the warranty on Quest 2 Elite Strap variants when it was discovered a design flaw was causing the plastic struts to break. Here’s hoping that the company does something similar this time.
If you do have an issue with the Quest 3’s Elite Strap with Battery now, or in the future, the company recommends reaching out to Meta Support.
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