Quest 3S (especially at 128GB) represents the best value for money you’ll find in standalone VR, offering the latest gaming experiences, entertainment features, and productivity assistance in VR for the most reasonable price out there.

This isn’t accessible, and money worries are real right now, so this viewpoint is entirely understandable. VR and MR in their current, more feature-rich forms haven’t been very accessible.

Due to the Quest 3S using the same fresnel lenses as Quest 2, there won’t be any upgrade in terms of visual fidelity due to hardware—though the more powerful processor does help to create a smoother experience. However, the 3S is launching at the same $299 price tag as Quest 2 back in 2020, with more power, better passthrough, and better controllers—all of which contribute to a better user experience, however you want to use it!

Finally, let’s talk about the versatility of Quest headsets in general—beyond standalone gaming, entertainment, and productivity enhancements.

But why have they dropped the Quest 3 price alongside the 3S launch? Well, we can only speculate—but it seems Meta has a grand plan…

Quest 2 was originally priced at $299 and shipped more than 1 million units in its debut quarter, followed by over 20 million units worldwide up to the time of writing—that’s a vast number. One of the main reasons for this incredible sales record is the Quest 2’s aforementioned value proposition —something that the Quest 3S also has in spades. People are clearly ready to spend $299 on a VR headset… Will they spend it on a headset that does more?

Sure, purists will say the Quest 3 is better… And it certainly is. But honestly, you’re getting almost all of the best Quest 3 features for $299 (the same price as Quest 2 when it launched in 2020—we’ll come back to this later). And that’s a freakin’ bargain! Quest 3 is great, but Quest 3S 100% competes.

This is easily the biggest disappointment of Quest 3S. We know they’ve done it to keep costs down, but the Quest 3S is shipping with the same fresnel lenses used by the Quest 2—and this device is now 4 years old! And in VR-tech terms… Yeah, that’s OLD.

So, we’re here to weigh up the Quest 3S pros and cons, take a closer look at some of the more polarizing features, and discuss why it could be the most important VR headset to launch this year, actually.

According to the Steam Hardware and Software Survey, the Quest 2 and Quest 3 are (respectively) the two most-used VR headsets to play PCVR games through SteamVR.

If the VR industry is going to grow and thrive, we need to bring the very best of what we have to a broader audience—and Quest 3S might just be the best way to do that right now.

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Quest 3S takes the best parts of Quest 3, drives down that cost, and makes VR more accessible to the widest audience. Sure, we have to compromise on some things (we really wish those fresnel lenses were pancakes!), but visual fidelity aside, new and upgrading users now have access to the latest and greatest VR features and games at a cost that doesn’t make you want to vomit.

However, while this is bad news for their competition, it’s pretty good news for standalone VR fans, new and old, and Meta themselves as they seek to accomplish their goals.

Meta’s endgame is mass VR adoption. And the 3S is a key part of their plan to reach that goal. While we’re not expecting it to pull off the same sales figures as Quest 2 in its debut quarter, it’s only a matter of time because people will need to upgrade! Quest 2 isn’t being discontinued yet, but it will be soon—the original Quest is now officially unsupported by Meta, after all—and that means the Quest 3 line is poised to be the biggest in the industry.

Additionally, and speaking of extra accessories, almost every third-party—and first-party—accessories that are compatible with Quest 3 will also be compatible with Quest 3S. This is good to

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Whether we like it or not, the VR industry is plagued with naysayers and people who think it’s just a gimmick—a niche experience that’s ‘pretty cool’ for folks who can afford it, but not truly meaningful for the future. After all, until now, the best way to experience what VR can really do is by spending either $3,500 on a Vision Pro or $600 on a Quest 3.

Since they share the same Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor and 8GB RAM, the Quest 3S can handle all the same apps, games, tasks, and more just as well as Quest 3.

While the Quest 3S fresnel lenses offer lower visual fidelity than Quest 3’s pancakes, you’ll still get superior image quality on Quest 3S over Quest 2 due to that extra processing power allowing for improved performance—and thus, an improved gaming experience. Early reviewers have praised the 3S for a smoother and less jagged visual experience than Quest 2 despite those ancient lenses. Additionally, loads of older games, including Hubris, Red Matter 2, The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners, and Pistol Whip all got substantial Quest 3 performance and graphical updates—and these updates will carry over to Quest 3S, too!

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Finally, Quest 3 has seen a whole slew of updates this summer that have added incredible new features to the device, such as Theater Mode, pinnable windows, AI integration, performance boosts, and much more. So, Quest 3S will ship with all of these recent Quest 3 updates baked in—you won’t miss any of the latest and greatest productivity, entertainment, or gaming features!

Which one you pick doesn’t matter—on a content basis, they both provide the same. However, if you have the money to spend, we’d recommend the premium Quest 3 simply due to the clarity and fidelity benefits of pancake lenses over fresnel lenses. However, if you’re on more of a budget but itching to get into VR—or introduce a younger family member—then you won’t be missing out by choosing Quest 3S.

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Developers (like us) are free to experiment on their journey to official stores, while players can safely explore thousands of apps across the wonderful world of VR — the biggest collection all in one place.

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Let that sink in. Standalone headsets are out-performing dedicated PCVR headsets as gaming platforms for the medium on Steam.

You know what? There’s a lot of good things to say about Quest 3S, so let’s get the bad outta the way first—and we’ve got one thing firmly in our sights:

In an unexpected, but brilliant, move alongside the Quest 3S announcement, Meta has also dropped the price of the Quest 3 to $499 for the 512GB model, scrapping the 128GB model in the process.

Quest 3's pancake lenses, while more expensive, are superior in practically every way and represent the current gold standard of standalone VR lenses. They also allow for a slimmer form factor and a more comfortable user experience. So, it’s a huge shame that Quest 3S does not have pancake lenses.

However, we sympathize with the frustrations of anyone who bought a Quest 3 shortly before Connect this year. Not only did they have to purchase at the higher original price, but they also wouldn’t have got their hands on that free copy of Batman: Arkham Shadow. While this is a case of poor timing, it is incredibly frustrating—so, as a PSA for the future, we’d always recommend waiting until after Connect to pick up a new headset from Meta to both see what new tech they reveal and avoid disappointment.

Quest 3S also ships with the same Touch Plus controllers as Quest 3, which are an awesome improvement over the bulky controllers shipped with Quest 2, offering better tracking and improved haptics—we’re big fans of these controllers! Indeed, the 3rd-party manufacturers behind the Surreal Touch controllers for Apple’s Vision Pro seem to have drawn inspiration from Meta here (at least in form factor).

If you still love your Quest 2 and haven’t been impressed enough by Quest 3 to upgrade yet—this could be the perfect chance! Plus, the re-sale market for Quest 2 is very much alive and well.

The Quest 3S launch and simultaneous price cut for Quest 3 means Meta is currently offering the best price-to-value ratio for standalone VR on the market—not just with individual headsets; we’re talking about the whole range! And this is a big deal for their competitors. If they can’t match or beat Meta’s prices—while offering similar technical specs and VR experiences—Meta could both retain the standalone VR crown and have something of a monopoly on it (at least in the US and Europe).

Quest 3S is packed with features, making its price-to-value ratio one of the very best—if not the best—in the industry right now.

Perhaps, a better name would have been Quest 3 ‘Lite’. It’s certainly more positive to think of it in this way, clearly outlining expectations for the device. It’s not as good as a Quest 3, but it still has the same powerful performance, full-color passthrough capabilities, and access to all the same apps and games Quest 3 does.

With that in mind—and the proportion of PCVR gamers using Quest headsets only growing over time—we’re keen to see how the Quest 3S changes these rankings over the next few months. It’s a more powerful headset than Quest 2, so will these users jump ship and upgrade to this new device for $299? Only time will tell.

It also has (albeit in a different—and arguably cooler—configuration) the same dual RGB camera system, allowing for full-color passthrough and unlocking amazing Mixed Reality experiences. The perfect game to put this to the test is the brand-new Starship Home, an amazing Mixed Reality experience built from the ground up for Quest 3, and now, the 3S.

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Another shame is that, as usual, Meta has opted to kit the base Quest 3S headset out with accessories that are just functional. The out-of-the-box head strap and facial interface designs of Quest 2, Quest 3, and now Quest 3S, have long been thorns in our side—and they still are! You’ll need to upgrade these if you want improved comfort from your VR experiences—fortunately, most of the upgrades available for Quest 3 will also be 3S compatible.

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Meta officially revealed the Quest 3S during the keynote address at Connect on September 25, 2024. Though leaks about the device have been rampant for a while now, it still caused quite a stir with many VR fans concerned about whether it presents good value for money.

This means the original Quest 3 is now cheaper than ever, but also firmly positioned as the premium device in the range, offering some better specs and greater storage capacity at a price point that feels much more attractive than its original cost.

Our very own Tetiana (aka DiscoVR) made it to Meta’s Connect event this year and was able to get hands-on time with the Quest 3S. You can catch her thoughts and a closer look at the device itself right here:

Circling back to our earlier point on price, Meta’s Quest 2 is the best-selling VR headset ever made—standalone, PCVR, or otherwise.

Moreover, (and coming FREE when you buy either a Quest 3S or Quest 3 right now) you’ll be able to play Batman: Arkham Shadow—and all other standalone VR games coming soon. Quest 2 will not be able to play these games at all—it lacks the processing power to handle it—so, Quest 3S and Quest 3 will be essential if you want to play the very latest games in VR.

It’s an excellent package that presents great value—especially at the 128GB price point. And in a still-emerging market, that could be what really counts.