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

All through what has been a busy fall season in tech, I have been difficult myself to make use of the Meta Quest 3S for not less than an hour daily. Whether or not it is punching my stress away in The Thrill of the Battle or sitting front-row of NBA video games — albeit, replays from final season — in preparation for opening night time, the most recent VR headset from Meta has been a shiny spot all month lengthy.

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

At $300, the Meta Quest 3S could also be one of many best gaming consoles — not to mention VR headsets — for me to advocate. It is priced the identical as its now four-year-old predecessor, the Quest 2, but gives important enhancements in efficiency, capabilities, and consumer expertise. In some ways, it is equivalent to its extra superior sibling, the Quest 3. However for $200 much less, you may additionally should settle with the drawbacks, most of which I’ve constructed a tolerance for with every passing day.

The Quest 3S’s design may be very a lot a hybrid of the Quest 2 and Quest 3; it is sculpted with exhausting plastic and cloth, weighs equally at 514 grams, and comes with a versatile, Y-shaped head strap that hangs on simply sufficient for extra expressive actions. It is a kind issue that simply…works — and opens up a number of methods so that you can additional customise the match and end. 

Because the default match is just too front-heavy for me, I’ve hooked up a Kiwi Comfort Head Strap, which has made bodily experiences like Supernatural and Eleven Table Tennis a lot much less burdening. The shortage of redness on my brow on the finish of my VR classes is the massive inform right here.

I am additionally within the camp of VR customers who put on glasses, so the glasses spacer that is included within the field is crucial to my Quest 3S expertise. In any other case, the extent of imaginative and prescient adjustment begins and ends on the three IPD (interpupillary distance) presets: 58mm, 63mm, and 68mm. 

Maybe essentially the most notable design facet of the Quest 3S is its shows, that are fresnel lenses that challenge at 1832 x 1920 per eye. That is a downgrade from the Quest 3’s 4K pancake lenses, however extra forgivable whenever you understand it is the identical configuration because the Quest 2. You will not see each pore or panorama texture when utilizing the Quest 3S, however for many video games and experiences, the output is passable. 

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

It helps that the brand new sensors scattered all through the entrance and sides of the Quest 3S allow full-color passthrough, a function championed by the Quest 3 and utterly absent on the Quest 2. With the headset on and a press of the Motion Button, which switches between digital and combined actuality (MR), I used to be stunned to have the ability to make out incoming textual content messages on my cellphone display. 

The bigger upside right here is spatial consciousness, at all times understanding the place you’re inside your real-world surroundings, and subsequently decreasing the possibilities of knocking into issues.

The Quest 3S audio expertise is one other space the place prices have been minimize. Particularly, there isn’t any 3.5mm headphone jack for wired listening, although the USB-C port does help audio output. As dated because the know-how is, eradicating such a well-liked methodology for lossless playback — crucial for rhythm- and action-based video games — is a step backward for the Quest 3S.

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

On the intense aspect, you have made it via most of my qualms concerning the Quest 3S! As a result of — for $300 — nearly every thing else with the headset leans positively, from the exact Contact Plus controllers that conform to my fingers to the graphics energy of the tried-and-tested Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 (the identical chipset that powers the $500 Quest 3) to the battery life.

Whereas testing the Quest 3S, I cycled between numerous VR and MR experiences, most of which loaded noticeably sooner than they did on my Quest 2. I additionally ran some extra graphics-intensive titles like Asgard’s Wrath and was pleasantly stunned to see body charges principally stabilize at 60 frames per second, if not increased. 

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

Certain, the headset received a lot hotter 10 minutes into the play session, however by no means to the purpose of discomfort. Did I miss the crispness and vibrancy of the Quest 3’s pancake lenses? Completely. However for $200 much less, I can not complain concerning the Quest 3S’ efficiency.

All issues thought of, I have been averaging two hours and 20 minutes of utilization earlier than needing to recharge the Quest 3S, which is about what I anticipated from the 16.7-watt-hour battery.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

If you happen to’ve used any Quest headset up to now, the majority of the Meta Quest 3S expertise will probably be very acquainted. Nonetheless, its finest options, such because the combined actuality capabilities, flagship-tier efficiency, and extremely intuitive controllers, will probably be enormously appreciated by customers upgrading from the Quest 2 or shopping for a VR headset for the primary time. 

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

If you happen to’re on the lookout for one thing with even increased visible constancy and graphical efficiency, take into account the $500 Quest 3. Now that it has been a 12 months for the reason that flagship headset launched, Meta has minimize the value of the 512GB variant down to only $499 ($150 off).