What you need to know
- A leaked internal Meta presentation suggests that the Meta Quest 3 Lite will be called the Meta Quest 3s.
- The budget headset features a unique front-facing camera array and a design similar to the Oculus Go.
- It's rumored the headset will launch this year for $299 and use older Quest 2 lenses but the more powerful Quest 3 chipset.
We got our first look at a potential Meta Quest 3 Lite in a now-deleted Reddit thread (reposted on X), revealing that Meta may call its new budget-priced VR headset the Meta Quest 3s.
The naming convention is a bit strange, as many products have used "s" after a number to denote a supercharged version of an existing product. This headset, however, is rumored to cost just $299 when it launches later this year, helping to fully replace the Meta Quest 2 as the budget VR headset to buy.
The leak shows a headset design that's thicker than the Meta Quest 3 — something we expected given that Meta is likely still using older Fresnel lenses from the Quest 2 to save money — and the flatter design feels like it's borrowed from the classic Oculus Go headset from several years back.
Android Central has contacted Meta about the potential Quest 3s, but they did not get back to us in time for publication. We will update the article once we have more information.
Notably, the underside of the headset appears to feature just a power button and a volume rocker. No lens spacing adjustment slider or wheel can be seen, further suggesting that Meta could be using older lenses for this design.
Some have questioned the authenticity of this leak, citing that the original post was suspiciously deleted from Reddit and that the leaker "forgot" to remove their own face from the leaked presentation slides. The VR community has been duped recently with a fake Valve Prism announcement, posted on a website that looked authentic but turned out to be an elaborate hoax of the standalone headset Valve has been rumored to be working on.
Regardless of whether this design is authentic, we're very confident that Meta is launching a budget-minded Quest 3 headset this year. The original China-only launch was allegedly scrapped after plans to partner with Tencent fell through, leaving Meta to launch the headset elsewhere throughout the world to replace the aging Quest 2 in the price bracket.
Meta is said to be using the same powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 headset in the Meta Quest 3s as it uses in the more expensive Meta Quest 3. It's also said the headset will continue to use color mixed reality instead of the fuzzy black and white video from the Quest 2's cameras.
The Meta Quest 3 is the VR headset to get, with a powerful Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor, crystal clear pancake lenses, gorgeous mixed reality gameplay, and thousands of VR games waiting to be experienced.
