If you are a fan of VR, you should be rooting for the Meta Quest 3S to be a hit.
This is not about hoping for solid revenues for Meta. The important part is proving the Meta Quest 2 was not a one-off, that millions of normal people still like and care about virtual reality.
The Quest 3S is more of a true successor to the Quest 2 than the Quest 3 was. It’s not too expensive, it’s made to be approachable, fit for the person who may only be starting out with VR.
Should you buy one? If you’re a Quest 2 owner who doesn’t want to be left out of future experiences, a Quest 3S will let you carry on the hobby in style. There’s one key missing feature it’s a crying shame that Meta couldn’t squeeze into the Quest 3S budget, though.
Here are the highs and lows of the Quest 3S experience.
Pro: It’s Primed For Future VR And AR
The Meta Quest 3S’s job is to let the Quest 2 gradually slink into obsolescence. It’s a cheaper alternative to the Quest 3 that nevertheless has all of its core features.
There’s no obvious reason a Quest 3S won’t be able to run, to let you experience, everything that comes to the Quest 3 in the future. They have the same processor, they use comparable colour passthrough cameras to let you see the world around you properly.
If anything the Quest 3S may even be able to perform a little better than the Quest 3 in some titles. It has the same processor and graphics chipset, but also has a lower-resolution display to fill.
Spending more on a Quest 3 won’t buy you a headset that lasts longer, as spending more on a PC might.
Pros: It Comes With One Of The Better (And Most Expensive) VR Games
Meta is no stranger to a good sweetener. The Quest 3S includes Batman: Arkham Shadow, which can be claimed up until the end of April 2025.
This game feels a lot a VR adaptation of one of the classic Rocksteady Batman: Arkham games, and is worth $50, according to its retail price.
That’s a sixth of the cost of the base Quest 3S. And, sure, maybe this means few people will actually pay the full retail price for Batman: Arkham Shadows. But it’s an impressive project, and a better pack-in title than you get with bottom-rung console bundles.
Pro: Even The Lowest-End Storage Model Is Viable
More storage is always better in a device like the Quest 3S, but the entry-level version is entirely viable. It starts with 128GB, which would be an uncomfortably small amount for a laptop.
It is enough for a Quest 3S, though. Sure, you will end up having to juggle install before too long, but not instantly. For example, Batman: Arkham Shadows takes up 25GB, Asgard’s Wrath 2 around 21.5GB. These are some of the largest games available for Quest, with most taking up far less space.
Cons: The Lenses Are A Weak Point
If there’s one part that really separates the Quest 3 and Quest 3S, it’s not the difference in resolution or field of view. It’s the lenses.
The Quest 3S has Fresnel lenses, just like the Quest 2. These are efficient but do not have nearly the sharpness of the Quest 3’s pancake lenses.
Putting on the Quest 3S for the first time was much like using the Quest 2 in this respect. The fairly narrow cone of sharpness means your peripheral vision doesn’t appear sharp, and if the headset sags a bit on your head, the image may well become soft.
With a Quest 3 you can actually look to the side, by moving your eyes instead of your head, but that’s not really a viable option with the Quest 3S. As such, the 3S is a less immersive headset in general.
For my money, this is the best reason to spend more on a Quest 3. Is that enough to justify the upgrade? It all depends on how much you’re likely to use the headset.
Is The Meta Quest 3S Worth It?
The Quest 3S is the polar opposite of the Apple Vision Pro in one important sense. It’s a headset designed to be relatively affordable, to capture the most mass-market audience it can.
This is smart, and is what made the Quest 2 so successful in part. But it does mean the Quest 3S can only be so ambitious, and may disappoint a few tech fans.
It gets a major power upgrade but no huge optical advantage over the Quest 2, making the Quest 3 clearly a more desirable headset for the serious VR fan.
