Meta Quest 3S: Mark Zuckerberg Introduces a Mixed Reality Headset for $300

At Wednesday’s Meta Connect 2024, the company’s annual developer conference, Meta announced Meta Quest 3S. The new mixed reality headset is quite promising and has a starting price of $299.99, making it much cheaper than Meta Quest 3, which was presented exactly one year ago and was priced at $499.99.

Meta claims that Meta Quest 3S offers the same performance in mixed reality as Meta Quest 3. This is because both devices are equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chip, so there are no changes in this department. Additionally, both headsets use the Touch Plus controllers.

Meta Quest 3S Specs

Meta Quest 3S: Mixed Reality at an Affordable Price

Having the same processor also means that both devices can run the same games and apps, although the experience won’t be identical. The new headset is slightly bulkier and features a unique arrangement of sensors, but it doesn’t include a depth sensor.

With Meta Quest 3S, the company has downgraded the display. The new headset shares the same resolution per eye (1832 x 1920) as Oculus/Meta Quest 2 released in 2020. Additionally, there are differences in the field of view. Meta’s latest product offers a 96° horizontal and 90° vertical field of view, while the Quest 3 has a 110° horizontal and 96° vertical FoV.

Meta has also introduced an Action Button that allows users to activate the passthrough mode for quick and easy awareness of their surroundings. Surprisingly, the company claims that the device will have an average battery life of 2.5 hours on a single charge, a slight improvement from the 2.2 hours of Meta Quest 3.

Meta Quest 3S Price and Availability

Meta Quest 3S is now available for pre-order on Meta’s official site. Shipments will begin in October.

The new headset is available in two versions:

• Meta Quest 3S with 128 GB: $299.99
• Meta Quest 3S with 256 GB: $399.99

Image | Meta

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