Meta Quest 3S
Half-upgraded, half-unchanged
To hit the same $299 price point as in 2020, Meta made its sort-of next-gen Quest 3S headset emulate the Quest 2's quirks, ignoring some of the pricier Quest 3 upgrades like pancake lenses. Despite looking and feeling like a Quest 2, the Quest 3S has some subtle (and not-so-subtle) perks for long-time VR fans.
For
- Full-color, high-resolution mixed reality
- Next-gen Snapdragon chip with 33% more RAM
- New cloth strap design
- Dual flood LEDs for low-light gaming
- Upgraded Touch Plus controllers
Against
- No upgrades to lenses, resolution, or FoV
- No more 3.5mm jack
- You'll have to pay for for comfort, battery upgrades
Meta Quest 2
Not dead yet
Even though Meta doesn't sell the Quest 2 anymore, most VR developers still code their games for the Quest 2 first — targeting its millions of users — before upscaling them to the Quest 3S and 3. Since the Quest 3S uses the Quest 2 as its template, you won't find changes to the resolution, lenses, and core design.
For
- Matches 3S lens, resolution, and field of view
- Has a 3.5mm jack for headphones
- Still supports nearly all the same games
- Wide array of accessories
Against
- Last-gen chipset can't handle Quest 3 exclusives & enhancements
- Slower loading times
- Low-res, B&W passthrough
- Older controller design
- Won't receive as many new software features
