The Meta Quest 3 just got unveiled, but you know what? We're not remotely surprised. One suspicious occurrence had the Laptop Mag staff speculating that Meta's next-gen Quest series headset was fast approaching, and as it turns out, we were spot on!
What was it that gave us the hint? Well, UploadVR revealed that the "Quest 3" was showing under "supported headsets" for every game listed in the in-VR Meta Quest Store. However, UploadVR dismissed it as a "mistake," and that the Quest 3 was bound for an October release. Even Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman (who got hands-on experience with the Quest 3) didn't give us the heads up that the Quest 3 reveal is imminent. But guess what? Laptop Mag did!
Let's dive into the best new features coming to the Meta Quest 3 headset.
1. It's 40% slimmer than the Quest 2
The Meta Quest 3 got a 40% reduction in heft compared to the Quest 2, which sounds like a dream. The Quest 2 doesn't necessarily feel heavy, but while playing high-energy, sweat-inducing games, it does start to feel quite awkward on your head.
Even Gurman, who boasted about testing the Quest 3 headset, mentioned that the Meta Quest 3 feels significantly lighter than its predecessor, so we've got another source to corroborate Meta's claims.
2. It's got twice the graphics performance
The Meta Quest 3 is packed with a brand spankin' new Qualcomm Snapdragon chip, which means consumers should expect graphics to jump two-fold.
When Gurman tested the Quest 3 headset, he noticed zippier, faster performance. "The speed of navigating through the device's interface, launching apps and playing games also felt much improved over the Quest 2."
According to Gurman, the Quest 3 sports the second-generation variant of the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chip.
However, it's important to note that Gurman didn't notice a significant change in the visual fidelity of the Meta Quest 3 headset over its predecessor. We hope this isn't true, though, because Meta claims that the "higher resolution displays" on the Quest 3 deliver "clearer and sharper visuals."
3. It should be capable of awesome AR experience
Unlike the Quest 2, which has a hideous, black-and-white passthrough mode that makes it difficult to see your surroundings clearly, the Quest 3 has full-color passthrough. This means that AR experiences will now be a highlight of the new-generation Quest 3.
With color passthrough mode, the Quest 3 should have the ability to overlay virtual artifacts onto your real-world surroundings, allowing you to have a mixed-reality experience that the Quest 2 can't offer.
According to Gurman, the color passthrough mode is a significant step up from the Quest 2. "I was even able to use my phone while wearing the headset, something that feels impossible on Quest 2."
Bottom line
The Quest 3, packed with 128GB of storage, has a starting price of $499 and is expected to officially hit store shelves later this year, with more details coming at Meta Connect on September 27. There will be an option for more storage, but it will be slightly more expensive.
If you're still interested in the Quest 2, which is still our pick for the best VR headset, Meta is slashing its price down to $299.99 on June 4.
