I tested the $300 Meta Quest 3S, and it’s almost too good of a VR headset deal to ignore

All by what has been a busy fall season in tech, I’ve been tough myself to utilize the Meta Quest 3S for not lower than an hour day by day. Whether or not or not it’s punching my stress away in The Thrill of the Battle or sitting front-row of NBA video video games — albeit, replays from ultimate season — in preparation for opening night time time, the latest VR headset from Meta has been a shiny spot all month prolonged.

Moreover: Meta’s new $299 Quest 3S is the VR headset most people should buy this holiday season

At $300, the Meta Quest 3S may be one among many greatest gaming consoles — to not point out VR headsets — for me to advocate. It’s priced the an identical as its now four-year-old predecessor, the Quest 2, however offers essential enhancements in effectivity, capabilities, and client experience. In some methods, it’s equal to its further superior sibling, the Quest 3. Nevertheless for $200 a lot much less, you might also ought to settle with the drawbacks, most of which I’ve constructed a tolerance for with each passing day.

The Quest 3S’s design could also be very so much a hybrid of the Quest 2 and Quest 3; it’s sculpted with exhausting plastic and material, weighs equally at 514 grams, and comes with a flexible, Y-shaped head strap that hangs on merely enough for further expressive actions. It’s a variety subject that merely…works — and opens up quite a few strategies with the intention to extra customise the match and finish. 

As a result of the default match is simply too front-heavy for me, I’ve connected a Kiwi Comfort Head Strap, which has made bodily experiences like Supernatural and Eleven Table Tennis so much a lot much less burdening. The scarcity of redness on my forehead on the end of my VR lessons is the large inform proper right here.

I’m moreover throughout the camp of VR clients who placed on glasses, so the glasses spacer that’s included throughout the discipline is essential to my Quest 3S experience. In some other case, the extent of imaginative and prescient adjustment begins and ends on the three IPD (interpupillary distance) presets: 58mm, 63mm, and 68mm. 

Perhaps basically probably the most notable design side of the Quest 3S is its reveals, which are fresnel lenses that problem at 1832 x 1920 per eye. That may be a downgrade from the Quest 3’s 4K pancake lenses, nonetheless further forgivable everytime you perceive it’s the an identical configuration as a result of the Quest 2. You’ll not see every pore or panorama texture when using the Quest 3S, nonetheless for a lot of video video games and experiences, the output is satisfactory. 

Moreover: Meta’s new 512GB Quest 3 deal is one of the best VR deals right now

It helps that the model new sensors scattered all by the doorway and sides of the Quest 3S permit full-color passthrough, a operate championed by the Quest 3 and completely absent on the Quest 2. With the headset on and a press of the Movement Button, which switches between digital and mixed actuality (MR), I was surprised to have the flexibility to make out incoming textual content material messages on my cellphone show. 

The larger upside proper right here is spatial consciousness, always understanding the place you’re inside your real-world environment, and subsequently lowering the probabilities of knocking into points.

The Quest 3S audio experience is one different house the place costs have been reduce. Notably, there isn’t any 3.5mm headphone jack for wired listening, though the USB-C port does assist audio output. As dated as a result of the know-how is, eradicating such a popular methodology for lossless playback — essential for rhythm- and action-based video video games — is a step backward for the Quest 3S.

Moreover: Meta Quest 3 review: The best VR headset in 2024

On the extraordinary side, you’ve made it through most of my qualms regarding the Quest 3S! Because of — for $300 — almost each factor else with the headset leans positively, from the precise Contact Plus controllers that conform to my fingers to the graphics power of the tried-and-tested Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 (the an identical chipset that powers the $500 Quest 3) to the battery life.

Whereas testing the Quest 3S, I cycled between quite a few VR and MR experiences, most of which loaded noticeably before they did on my Quest 2. I moreover ran some further graphics-intensive titles like Asgard’s Wrath and was pleasantly surprised to see physique fees principally stabilize at 60 frames per second, if not elevated. 

Moreover: I tried Meta’s Horizon Hyperscape demo: Welcome to the metaverse’s first holodeck

Sure, the headset acquired so much hotter 10 minutes into the play session, nonetheless under no circumstances to the aim of discomfort. Did I miss the crispness and vibrancy of the Quest 3’s pancake lenses? Fully. Nevertheless for $200 a lot much less, I cannot complain regarding the Quest 3S’ effectivity.

All points considered, I’ve been averaging two hours and 20 minutes of utilization sooner than needing to recharge the Quest 3S, which is about what I anticipated from the 16.7-watt-hour battery.

ZDNET’s purchasing for advice

In case you occur to’ve used any Quest headset thus far, nearly all of the Meta Quest 3S experience will in all probability be very acquainted. Nonetheless, its most interesting choices, such as a result of the mixed actuality capabilities, flagship-tier effectivity, and intensely intuitive controllers, will in all probability be enormously appreciated by clients upgrading from the Quest 2 or purchasing for a VR headset for the first time. 

At $300 for the 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage variant and a free copy of Batman: Arkham Shadow ($50 price) included with the acquisition, there isn’t any greater VR headset deal out there available on the market correct now.

In case you occur to’re looking out for one factor with even elevated seen fidelity and graphical effectivity, take note of the $500 Quest 3. Now that it has been a 12 months given that flagship headset launched, Meta has reduce the worth of the 512GB variant right down to solely $499 ($150 off).