Quest 3S Is Out Today, Beginning A New Phase For VR & Mixed Reality

Meta Quest 3S preorders are arriving in homes today, and the headset is now on general sale.

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 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.

XR2 Gen 2: Quest 3’s New GPU More Than Twice As Powerful

Quest 3 is the first headset to feature Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset, with up to 2.5x more GPU performance and 8x AI performance. More details here:

UploadVRDavid Heaney

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, and in our testing so far we've found this means it has better low-light head and hand tracking, including being able to track in the dark.

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 has 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 a cheaper Quest 3 with a bulkier design, inferior lens clarity, and lower resolution. A lower quality device, but with the same content, and mostly the same features and capabilities.

Quest 3S lets more people enjoy XR2 Gen 2 VR graphics and inside-out upper body tracking, as well as upcoming exclusives like Batman: Arkham Shadow, and should vastly expand the market for room-aware mixed reality games like Starship Home.

Quest 3S preorders are arriving today in all 23 countries Meta sells its headsets in, and is now on general sale, shipping immediately from Meta Store and official retailers in most countries.

UploadVR received a Quest 3S review less than 24 hours ago, and while we've published an interesting initial observation, we'll need to spend at least a few more days with Quest 3S before we can bring you a full review.

Quest 3S Has Better Low-Light Hand Tracking Than Quest 3

We confirmed: while Quest 3S has inferior lenses and display, it actually has better low-light head & hand tracking than Quest 3.

UploadVRDavid Heaney