I first dived into VR in 2020. As an escape from the bland walls of my apartment during the pandemic, I’d throw on my Quest 2 and spend 30 minutes playing as Darth Vader, slicing robots with my lightsaber and using the Force to toss boulders around. Eventually, though, the novelty wore off and I drifted back to my trusty PlayStation 4 and staples like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Stardew Valley, neither of which were available on the Quest. I’ve since sold that headset, as I couldn’t justify the cost compared to how often I played it. But Meta recently released the new budget-friendly Quest 3S, which I got to try out. It’s cheaper and faster than the Quest 2, and I can’t stop playing it.
The Quest 3S has a lot in common with the old Quest 2: Their screen resolutions are the same, and both use fresnel lenses that aren’t quite as crisp as the pancake lenses on the much more expensive Quest 3, which also has a significantly higher screen resolution. Everything else about the Quest 3S is an upgrade to the 2, and it’s worth making the upgrade if you don’t want to splurge for the Quest 3. The materials feel nicer and the headset is more comfortable to wear, thanks to nicer straps and cushions, which also make it easier to play for long periods of time. Of all the upgrades, though, the Quest 3S’s more powerful processor and upgraded RAM make the biggest difference, as they allow for much snappier performance and support for more graphics-heavy games.
The controls are also more elegant than the ones on older Quest models. For instance, they don’t have that ring around the top panel like the Quest 2’s controllers, and the plastic feels more durable. Hand tracking on the Quest 3S is significantly more accurate than on the Quest 2. For things like navigating menus and typing on the virtual keyboard, it’s fine. The gestures are a little funky for my taste, but they work. That said, I still wouldn’t use it while playing games. While playing poker in Vegas Infinite, even simple things like picking up my cards became frustrating. It didn’t take long for me to miss my controllers and strap them back around my wrists.
Like other Quest headsets, the 3S has a passthrough mode (allowing you to be more aware of your surroundings), but it’s much better than the version found on the Quest 2. For starters, the mode is now in color, just like on the Quest 3. It’s also less blurry (though you still can’t read text messages or even see the keys on your laptop’s keyboard), which makes it slightly easier to walk across your room without taking your headset off. Improvements aside, I wish that the Quest 3S’s cameras could provide a more clear view of the world that’s less disorienting than the fuzzy picture it produces now, which feels like looking at the world just as you’re waking up.
Although the Quest 3S has features like remote desktop — which lets you work on your computer while wearing the headset — it’s still primarily a gaming device. Graphics-heavy games like Ghosts of Tabor and Batman: Arkham Shadow look great and perform well without any lag or stuttering — gliding around Gotham City in the latter was particularly fun. In both cases, the Quest 3S’s battery managed to last just under two hours, which may not feel like much, but my eyes always needed a break after such long gaming sessions. If you’re prone to motion sickness, you won’t want to play for much longer anyways. On that note, Meta thankfully allows you to return any games that cause motion sickness.
Beyond these games and some other classics like Superhot and Beatsaber — both of which have been available since at least 2020 — Meta’s library of games isn’t anywhere near as robust as Sony’s, Microsoft’s, or Steam’s. There’s still plenty to choose from, but I wish there were more solid games available. You can play console-level games through services like Xbox Cloud Gaming, but that won’t be a fully immersive VR experience. Instead, you’ll see a large screen pop up in front of you to display the game, sort of like being at a movie theater. You can also plug the headset into a PC to play games like Half Life: Alyx that aren’t available on Meta’s platform.
On paper, the Quest 3S may not seem like a noteworthy improvement over the Quest 2. They have the same display and lenses, which may be a dealbreaker for pixel density enthusiasts, but for someone less picky, the graphics are totally fine. Aside from that, everything about the Quest 3S is a significant upgrade over the previous generation. More importantly, though, is the fact that the Quest 3S is able to provide an impressively high-quality VR experience for a significantly lower price than the flagship Quest 3.
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