With the arrival of the Meta Quest 3S we learned that three Quest headsets are being discontinued, including the 128GB Meta Quest 3, to make room for the new and more affordable model. Less than a day after this announcement Meta has already sold out of the 128GB Quest 3 in the US and Australia – at the time of writing it’s still on sale at Meta.com in the UK.
A quick glance at third-party retailers shows the 128GB Quest 3 – which now costs just $429.99 / £409.99 / AU$799.99 – isn’t yet completely unavailable, but given that Meta.com has started to run dry I expect it won’t be long until the headset is gone for good.
So take this as your final prompt to grab one while you can. Right now the Meta Quest 3 is the VR headset I’d buy if I didn’t already own one, thanks to its combination of a fairly low price, great specs, and comfortable design. Also, for VR gaming 128GB goes a long way as app sizes are fairly small, so more storage isn’t a necessity.
The only negative is that you won’t get a free copy of Batman: Arkham Shadow, but you can buy it separately if you’re desperate to play the VR superhero game when it launches in October.
It’s sold out, what do I do now?
If you’re reading this after the Meta Quest 3 128GB model has completely sold out in your country, what would I suggest you buy instead? Well either the 512GB Quest 3 model or the new 128GB Meta Quest 3S.
The Quest 3S isn’t a significant downgrade, but there are a few factors to consider when weighing up your options.
The chipset and RAM are the same, but you’ll have to make do with a less crisp 1832 x 1920 per-eye screen rather than the Quest 3’s 2064 x 2208 pixels per-eye displays. And while it is a 1g lighter the Meta Quest 3S is bigger as Meta says it’s only 20% slimmer than the Quest 2 compared with 40% for the Quest 3 proper, which will impact comfort.
The 3S also loses out on the Quest 3’s depth sensor, which will mean mixed reality experiences are little less accurate, as the headset only has cameras and software to rely on.
But at just $299.99 / £289.99 / AU$499.99 the Quest 3S is a very tempting prospect despite its downsides. For more in-depth info on both the Quest 3 and Quest 3S check out our Meta Quest 3 review and our hands-on Meta Quest 3S review.
