Whereas the Meta Quest 3 may be the go-to VR and MR headset for many patrons proper now, with a beginning worth of £469.99/$499.99 there’s no denying that it’s an expensive piece of package. To treatment this, Meta simply launched the Meta Quest 3S, which makes some thought-about compromises to supply a current-gen expertise with a considerably smaller price ticket.
The obvious distinction is the Quest 3S’ revised optical stack, which helps knock round £200/$200 off the Quest 3’s present asking worth, whereas nonetheless aiming to ship a comparable consumer expertise, when it comes to software program and {hardware} efficiency.
Simply how properly does Meta’s newest headset realise this intent? Let’s examine Quest 3S and Quest 3 to search out out which is greatest for you.
Design & Construct
To assist separate the Quest collection from the Rift line of headsets that preceded it, Meta switched from black to a lightweight gray plastic end on the Quest 2, which has persevered with the Quest 3, and now the Quest 3S.
Past apparent dimensional variations (which we’ll get onto in a bit), the Quest 3S boasts cleaner aesthetics, with two small clusters of cameras and sensors on the entrance, rather than the Quest 3’s extra utilitarian triple pill-shaped digicam and sensor array.
You’ll discover bodily quantity controls beneath, capacitive contact controls on the facet, and built-in audio system, alongside a pre-installed material head strap and facial interface. Fortunately, the choice of extra head straps Meta sells – particularly the Elite Strap and the ‘Elite Strap with battery’ ought to match each programs, different facial interfaces, nonetheless, don’t.
Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd
Regardless of its thinner and extra rounded profile, the Quest 3 solely clocks in at a gram lighter than the newer Quest 3S, and weight distribution is comparable too. Each are front-heavy headsets out of the field (with the centre of gravity being barely additional ahead on the 3S), however in any other case, they provide a really comparable really feel and luxury stage in your face.
One good tweak that the 3S lords over the three is the addition of a devoted Motion button on its underside, which by means of a fast press, replaces any VR or MR components with a clear pass-through digicam feed of your environment.
It’s a notable enchancment on the facet touch-panel double-tap (that each headsets nonetheless help), which long-time Quest 3 house owners have repeatedly referred to as out for being unreliable.
This Quest 3S-only comfort is balanced out by the actual fact solely the Quest 3 boasts a bodily 3.5mm headphone jack; you’re restricted to the built-in audio system or Bluetooth audio with the 3S.
Display screen & Lenses
The Quest 3S’ notable worth distinction is pushed primarily by the change again to a near-identical optical stack to that of the earlier Quest 2, which can also be the rationale for the newer headset’s extra thickness, in comparison with the Quest 3.
The place the Quest 3 boasts a twin LCD setup, delivering a decision of 2064×2208 per-eye and 25 pixels per diploma (PPD), the 3S reverts again to a single LCD panel, which offers 1832×1920 per eye, with 20 pixels per diploma.
Brightness and refresh price (as much as 120Hz) is comparable throughout each, with the lens setup being the opposite apparent differentiator.
Pancake lenses are dear, however they grant the Meta Quest 3 a considerably bigger visible candy spot, that’s simpler to search out when adjusting the headset in your head; permitting for extra snug put on in the long term. That is additionally helped by the bigger FoV (area of view) and the broader IPD (inter-pupillary distance) vary, which is manually adjustable wherever between 58mm and 71mm, utilizing the dial on the underside of the Quest 3.
Not solely do the fresnel lenses want much more area to suit contained in the Quest 3S’ chassis (about 40% extra), however additionally they include a barely narrower FoV (as much as 97° horizontally and 93° vertically, versus 110° horizontally and 96° vertically on the Quest 3), in addition to a shorter IPD vary (58mm to 68mm), you could solely modify in three increments, by manually pushing or pulling the lenses nearer collectively or additional aside.
Excessive-contrast visuals are the best option to spotlight how gentle is affected passing by every lens kind, with extra distortion, bloom and chromatic aberration in the direction of the perimeters of the fresnel-based optics inside Meta’s latest headset.
All in all, this implies readability and immersion are collectively weaker on the 3S, which works to point out precisely the place the additional cash afforded to the usual Quest 3’s asking worth goes.
Efficiency & Storage
Fortunately, for as totally different because the viewing expertise between the Quest 3 and 3S is, Meta has made certain that efficiency throughout each programs is as near an identical as potential.
Each headsets pack 8GB of RAM and run on Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset; a notable enchancment over the Quest 2’s XR2 Gen 1 SoC. On paper it delivers 2.5x higher graphical efficiency, and is presently the silicon of alternative for standalone VR, serving up reliably clean visuals and facilitating extra demanding results, like dynamic lighting and particles, when gaming.
If the Quest 3 is already the benchmark for standalone VR, performance-wise the Quest 3S is simply as succesful, with the identical stage of smoothness and constancy on supply, and enough sources to carry minimized apps within the background and multitask.
Batman: Arkham Shadow
Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd
At launch, the Quest 3 arrived in 128- and 512GB storage configurations, nonetheless, the Quest 3S’ arrival a little bit over a 12 months on heralded a shift within the storage choices throughout your entire lineup.
The Quest 3S is available in 128- and 256GB flavours, whereas the Quest 3 now is available in a sole 512GB mannequin (now that inventory of the 128GB Quest 3 has been exhausted).
Meta did a minimum of knock a good chunk off the worth of the top-spec Quest 3 on the similar time although (£150, within the UK). For reference, 128GB is sufficient for as much as about 30 standalone video games – based on Meta, whereas 20 experiences occupied 100GB of storage within the items used on this function.
Cameras
One enormous enchancment made between the Quest 2 and Quest 3 was the improve given to the headset’s pass-through cameras.
Whereas each generations supported stereoscopic pass-through, the improved decision and the shift to RGB (moderately than monochrome) sensors granted the Quest 3 legit viability as a combined actuality system.
The Quest 3S boasts an analogous sensor array on its entrance, permitting for full-colour pass-through at a decision of 4Mp and the identical diploma of help and constancy for combined actuality experiences as on the Quest 3.
Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd
The ToF (time-of-flight)/IR sensors on the fronts of each headsets additionally permit for fast and painless room scale setup; scanning your setting and ‘remembering’ the place the boundaries are, making each programs considerably extra handy to make use of than the Quest 2, on this regards.
Battery Life & Charging
The Quest 3 homes a 4879mAh battery that’s rated for as much as 2.2 hours of use per cost, whereas the Quest 3S contains a smaller 4324mAh battery.
Regardless of this lesser capability, nonetheless, Meta’s newest headset truly runs for longer, at as much as 2.5 hours on a cost; that’s the concept, a minimum of. In my assessments, each headsets lasted an an identical period of time, a sliver over two hours on a cost, primarily based on combined utilization.
About 50% of a single cost was spent on VR gaming, 20% on combined actuality and 30% on immersive video. So whereas the Quest 3S ought to last more, there’s little in it in actual life, relying on the experiences you dive into.
Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd
Each headsets include an 18W energy adapter in-box, which Meta claims refills the Quest 3 in about 1.75 hours, whereas the Quest 3S is supposed to clock in at round 1.6 hours. Once more, testing reveals that charging is a little bit slower than promised, with the Quest 3 taking precisely 2 hours to recharge, whereas the Quest 3S was solely 5 minutes quicker.
The caveat to those figures is that it takes a very long time to succeed in that ultimate share, whereas the vast majority of each headsets’ batteries are topped up far sooner. After 90 minutes, the Quest 3’s battery sat at 93%, whereas the Quest 3S’s had reached 95%.
One different small {hardware} distinction that impacts energy administration is the absence of the Quest 3’s proximity sensor on the Quest 3S. Probably pushed by each price and a designed problem with the proximity sensor on the Quest 2 that allowed moisture to get behind the optics and trigger a brief, the shortage of this sensor signifies that you must manually faucet the ability button when taking the 3S off to place the system to sleep.
Should you overlook, it’ll stay absolutely powered up for some time longer, sapping valuable battery life within the course of. The Quest 3 doesn’t undergo from this problem, because the second the sensor detects that you just’ve eliminated the headset, it powers down the shows and initiates sleep mode all by itself.
Software program & Apps
The compromises Meta selected to actual on the Quest 3S imply that it isn’t any much less succesful than the Quest 3 at working standalone video games.
As such, you’ve full entry to the 600-odd video games and practically 3,000 whole apps on the Meta Horizon retailer, throughout each headsets.
The three and 3S are additionally appropriate with the Meta Quest Hyperlink Cable for wired PC VR experiences, in addition to a wi-fi different: Air Hyperlink, and because the Quest 3’s launch Steam Hyperlink can now run natively on each of Meta’s headsets, with included help for hand monitoring in addition.
Value & Availability
The Meta Quest 3 launched in 2023 and is now accessible direct from Meta in a single 512GB configuration for £469.99/$499.99, whereas the Meta Quest 3S went on sale October 15 2024, priced at £289.99/$299.99 for the 128GB mannequin and £379.99/$399.99 for the 256GB variant.
On the time of writing, a brand new buy of both headset additionally contains Batman: Arkham Shadow.
Third-party retailers should have inventory of the 128GB Meta Quest 3, if you happen to’re in search of Meta’s greatest, with out having to pay high greenback.
There aren’t actually any secrets and techniques as to why the Meta Quest 3S is the extra inexpensive headset right here, apart from the odd benefit – the devoted Motion button, to rapidly entry pass-through and marginally longer battery life – it resorts to a lesser optical stack, whereas in any other case delivering the identical efficiency as the usual Meta Quest 3.
The Quest 3 is the extra compact system, with extra forgiving lenses, extra storage and the comfort of wired audio, however you pay a minimum of £90 / $100 extra.
For most individuals, the cheaper Meta Quest 3S would be the higher worth VR headset buy.
See additionally: Samsung confirms Galaxy S25, XR headsets and cheaper foldables for 2025.