Meta’s highly anticipated virtual and mixed reality headset, Meta Quest 3S, has been announced. The headset has mixed features of Meta’s previous headsets. While it’s not entirely similar to Quest 3, it still has some features.
But, is it an upgrade from Quest 3, or just a more affordable version of it? We’ll find out here.
What’s The ‘New’ With Meta Quest 3S?
Meta has made many shifts from Quest 3, realizing it wasn’t any better than its predecessor. In 2024, they focused on improving the Quest ecosystem. Thus, the Quest 3S comes to picture.
Meta has rebuilt the Meta Horizon OS for spatial computing. Hence, providing better support for 2D apps like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. The spatial audio has been improved, in addition to a more realistic Passthrough’s contrast and color.
With the Travel Mode, users can now enjoy Quest while traveling. However, Meta plans to extend this feature for trains in the future.
What Can Users Do In The Quest 3S?
The Quest 3S brings many new features to life — for everyone! Whether you’re a music enthusiast, an artist, or a fitness coach. This mixed reality headset is for anyone who likes to indulge into a new world.
For instance, you can catch the front-row seats at your favorite artist’s concert. Or, you can turn up your creativity with tools like Painting VR and Gravity Sketch.
Spend the long weekend binge-watching a show on apps like YouTube, Prime Video, Twitch, and Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta). Meta’s new Theater View also lets you stream Netflix with HD in Browser.
Gamers can also enjoy Meta’s extensive library, full of thousands of games and apps. Upcoming exclusives like ‘Batman: Arkham Shadow’ will be available soon on both Quest 3 and 3S. All of this will include upgraded visuals, similar to Quest 3.
There’s a whole immersive sound experience with Dolby Atmos. If you are a workout enthusiast, enjoy it with your friends now with Meta’s new group workout mode on ‘Supernatural.’
Quest 3 vs. Quest 3S: Which One Is Better?
Quest 3S isn’t as smooth as Quest 3 in various aspects. However, we cannot rule this out without going through the details.
Starting with the lenses, Quest 3S uses fresnel lenses, unlike Quest 3 that uses pancake lenses. Think of it as a downgrade because pancake lenses offer a much sharper image. Additionally, it feels more immersive than fresnel lenses.
The Quest 3S also has a narrower field of view, which is 96 horizontal, 90 vertical. To compare, the Quest 3’s view is 110 horizontal, 96 vertical. Therefore, the Quest 3S feels less immersive than the latter.
Quest 3 has a better resolution than Meta’s newly launched headset. For comparison, Quest 3 holds a per-eye resolution of 2064 x 2208 pixels, while the Quest 3S has a slightly lower per-eye resolution of 1832 x 1920 pixels.
However, the Quest 3S wins on the battery life aspect. In addition, the headset also has upgraded color passthrough cameras.
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A Quick Wrap
In conclusion, the Quest 3S will still deliver high-quality graphics and an immersive movie-watching experience. The headset is a good choice for those who want to step into virtual reality without losing much.
At $299.99, the Quest 3S offers extremely good features and visuals. Moreover, the announcement of the headset has led to a drop in the Quest 3’s prices. The 128 GB version now costs $429.99, and the 512 GB version costs $499.99.
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