Quest 3S Is Official: XR2 Gen 2 Chipset, Mixed Reality And Fresnel Lenses For $300

Meta just officially announced and opened preorders for Quest 3S.

The reveal today at Meta Connect 2024 comes after many months of leaks revealing the headset's design, specs, and price in advance.

Quest 3S is available in two storage models, 128GB for $300 or 256GB for $400. Both models come with the same Touch Plus controllers included with Quest 3.

Alternatively, people in the US can get a Quest 3S from $20/month for 128GB ($25/month for 256GB) over two years, which includes the Meta Quest+ games subscription service and Meta Warranty Plus.

All Quest 3S purchases until May come with Batman: Arkham Shadow for free, normally $50, as well as three free months of the Meta Quest+.

Quest 3S has the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset and color passthrough mixed reality capabilities as Quest 3, but uses the old fresnel lenses and fixed single panel from Quest 2 to achieve its lower price.

The use of fresnel lenses means Quest 3S has inferior lens clarity compared to Quest 3 and a thicker design.

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There are other more minor differences between Quest 3S and Quest 3.

Quest 3S doesn't have a 3.5mm headphone jack, but it does have a new Action Button that toggles between passthrough and immersive VR, replacing the double tap gesture from previous Meta Quest headsets.

Quest 3S also doesn't have a depth projector, which Quest 3 uses to improve the quality of its room meshing capabilities used during mixed reality setup. But it does have two IR flood illuminators, which Meta says provides "Illumination and more reliable hand interactions across environments and lighting conditions".

Quest 3S is compatible with most official Quest 3 accessories, including both Elite Straps and carrying cases. But it lacks pogo pins, so it isn't compatible with the Quest 3 Charging Dock. Meta is releasing a new Compact Charging Dock with wireless charging for the Touch Plus controllers and an extended USB-C cable for the Quest 3S headset.

Since it uses the same lenses as Quest 2, Quest 3S is compatible with Quest 2 prescription lens inserts. Zenni is again the official Meta partner for prescription lens inserts. If you want to use your glasses instead, Quest 3S includes a glasses spacer, as Quest 2 did.

Additionally, Quest 3S is getting an exclusive "Breathable" Facial Interface, which makes the tradeoff of not being fully opaque to "help you keep cool while working out or playing intense games".

Effectively, Quest 3S is cheaper Quest 3 with a bulkier design, inferior lens clarity, and lower resolution. A lower quality device, but with the same content, features, and capabilities. It should let more people enjoy Quest 3 VR graphics, and vastly expand the room-aware mixed reality market too.

You can preorder Quest 3S now in all 23 countries Meta sells its headsets in, and it will start shipping on October 15, just under three weeks from now.

Quest 3S Hands-On: No Surprises, Except How Many Meta Sells

We went hands-on with Quest 3S, finding it to be exactly what we expected.

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