Whereas the Meta Quest 3 is likely to be the go-to VR and MR headset for many consumers proper now, with a beginning worth of £469.99/$499.99 there’s no denying that it’s a dear piece of equipment. To treatment this, Meta simply launched the Meta Quest 3S, which makes some thought of 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 evaluate Quest 3S and Quest 3 to seek out out which is greatest for you.
Design & Construct
To assist separate the Quest sequence 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 endured 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, instead of 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 aspect, and built-in audio system, alongside a pre-installed material head strap and facial interface. Fortunately, the number of further head straps Meta sells – specifically the Elite Strap and the ‘Elite Strap with battery’ ought to match each techniques, various 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 aspect touch-panel double-tap (that each headsets nonetheless assist), which long-time Quest 3 house owners have repeatedly known as out for being unreliable.
This Quest 3S-only comfort is balanced out by the very 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 explanation for the newer headset’s further 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 fee (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 seek out when adjusting the headset in your head; permitting for extra comfy put on in the long term. That is additionally helped by the bigger FoV (discipline of view) and the broader IPD (inter-pupillary distance) vary, which is manually adjustable anyplace 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 in addition 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), that you would be able to solely alter in three increments, by manually pushing or pulling the lenses nearer collectively or additional aside.
Excessive-contrast visuals are the simplest strategy to spotlight how mild is affected passing via every lens sort, with extra distortion, bloom and chromatic aberration in 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 indicate 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 positive that efficiency throughout each techniques is as near similar as attainable.
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 selection 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 provide, and sufficient 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 bit over a yr on heralded a shift within the storage choices throughout the whole 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 at the very least knock an honest chunk off the value of the top-spec Quest 3 on the identical time although (£150, within the UK). For reference, 128GB is sufficient for as much as about 30 standalone video games – in accordance with Meta, whereas 20 experiences occupied 100GB of storage within the models used on this function.
Cameras
One large 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 (relatively than monochrome) sensors granted the Quest 3 reputable viability as a blended actuality system.
The Quest 3S boasts an identical sensor array on its entrance, permitting for full-colour pass-through at a decision of 4Mp and the identical diploma of assist and constancy for blended 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 atmosphere and ‘remembering’ the place the boundaries are, making each techniques 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 incorporates a smaller 4324mAh battery.
Regardless of this lesser capability, nonetheless, Meta’s newest headset really runs for longer, at as much as 2.5 hours on a cost; that’s the concept, at the very least. In my exams, each headsets lasted an similar period of time, a sliver over two hours on a cost, primarily based on blended utilization.
About 50% of a single cost was spent on VR gaming, 20% on blended 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 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 achieve that closing proportion, whereas nearly all 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. Doubtless pushed by each value and a designed challenge 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 it’s important to manually faucet the facility button when taking the 3S off to place the system to sleep.
If you happen to neglect, it’ll stay totally powered up for some time longer, sapping treasured battery life within the course of. The Quest 3 doesn’t endure from this challenge, 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 precise 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 will have full entry to the 600-odd video games and almost 3,000 whole apps on the Meta Horizon retailer, throughout each headsets.
The three and 3S are additionally suitable with the Meta Quest Hyperlink Cable for wired PC VR experiences, in addition to a wi-fi various: Air Hyperlink, and for the reason that Quest 3’s launch Steam Hyperlink can now run natively on each of Meta’s headsets, with included assist for hand monitoring in addition.
Worth & Availability
The Meta Quest 3 launched in 2023 and is now out there direct from Meta in a single 512GB configuration for £469.99/$499.99, while 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 consists of Batman: Arkham Shadow.
Third-party retailers should still have inventory of the 128GB Meta Quest 3, in case you’re on the lookout for Meta’s greatest, with out having to pay prime greenback.
There aren’t actually any secrets and techniques as to why the Meta Quest 3S is the extra reasonably priced headset right here, apart from the odd benefit – the devoted Motion button, to shortly 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 at the very least £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.
