The Meta Quest 3S is coming! And wow, it looks awesome. We heard rumors at BaDoinkVR that it was coming out later this year to present a more affordable option for VR enthusiasts, and to give an option for those customers looking to spend around $300 on a new VR headset. However, nothing was reliably confirmed by the rumor mill until a photo was accidentally added to Meta’s own app environment only 24 hours ago. Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are not resting on their laurels and waiting for Apple to make the first move. The Apple Vision Pro is a vision-ary (haha) product that’s in its early days, and there could be many iterations to come from the Californian tech giants. You can see our guide on how to watch porn on the Apple Vision Pro for more information. This new headset may represent Meta keeping the heat on the competition and working to corner new users to VR as the technology progresses and becomes more accessible.
How much will the Meta Quest 3S Cost?
Let's get the big question on everyone's lips out of the way first - we believe that the Meta Quest 3S is going to retail for between $299 and $399. We expect that the higher price would be with extras, or for the version with more storage, and that the cheaper version would be the standard edition. That would make it almost half the price of the Meta Quest 3.
When Is The Meta Quest 3S Coming Out? What Do We Know About It?
In terms of release date, we believe the Quest 3S will be coming out by the end of this year, in November 2024, before Christmas. We have a strong suspicion that Meta may even try to beat the Black Friday rush and get their device on the market within the next 2 months. Maybe that's an optimistic timeframe, but they're known for getting things done quickly when they set their minds to it. Don't forget we'll have our Black Friday sale at the end of November too!
What do we know about the 3S? Well, we know it’s likely that it will have the same processing power, as Meta wants all of its devices to be capable of playing and using their new games, software and features. That means a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset from Qualcomm is likely which is great news. There’s a rumor that they’ll also be using the same sensors and cameras for the passthrough, which means it will feature all of the cool, groundbreaking features and full colour high definition passthrough that the Quest 3 has. Meta have made it clear that they see the future in AR, so it makes sense that these two elements would remain high-end. They’ll want something that can handle Inside-Out Body Tracking, Multimodal Tracking, and Automated Space Setup. So where are cuts going to come? A device like this can’t retail at $200 less than its premium counterpart without some changes, so let’s analyze where and why we might see some lighter features on the Quest 3S. If you’d like to check out our full breakdown of the Meta Quest 3, check out our Meta Quest 3 release post, which gives a full explanation of its hardware and exactly what each key piece does for the headset.
What Features Will Change From The Meta Quest 3?
Firstly, its controllers may be the older ring technology, which could keep costs down. There are even rumors that Meta will do away with controllers altogether and sell the device as a hand-gesture operated headset like the Apple Vision Pro. This seems unlikely and bit of a leap to us here at BaDoink Studios because of the many Meta apps & games that rely on a controller, but they could be sold separately. What seems much more probable is a change to the lenses. They’re one of the most expensive parts of any new headset, as Apple will tell you. The lenses in the Vision Pro cost $500 per set at manufacturing price! The Meta Quest 3 contains sleek pancake lenses that were one of the highlights of the headset for discerning and experienced users. It looks like those might be replaced by something similar to those used in the Meta Quest 2, the Fresnel lenses. We also may see less RAM and less storage space - neither of which can’t be mitigated by streaming and external storage. We believe that Meta will bet heavily on creating the best possible passthrough experience they can for the lowest possible price - but time will tell!
Meta Quest 3S Summary And Meta's Expected Announcement
Those changes would make for a great entry-level experience for any new users to VR and we’re extremely excited to see what Meta delivers at their Connect Conference in 2 weeks. For many people new to VR, $500-plus was a little steep for a first time foray into VR. Last year’s Quest 3 release saw many existing users upgrading from the Quest 2, and it didn’t attract a huge volume of new users. A considerably cheaper but good quality headset like this could be just what’s needed to attract a fresh audience to the market. If the leaked photo is accurate, we’d be delighted to have that device lying around too. It’s another sleek addition to the collection that stays within the framework of the historic Oculus designs that we know and love. Whatever comes, we're confident this will be a great device to enjoy our highest quality 8K VR porn on. It’s time for the next Quest!