On Wednesday at its annual Connect event, Meta announced its latest mainstream VR/AR headset in the Quest 3. It starts at $499 and features a bunch of upgrades across the board that make it a worthy successor to the best-selling headset on the market.
On the inside, the headset is the first retail device powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chip, which Meta says provides double the performance compared to the Quest 2. You also get new pancake lenses similar to the ones used in last year’s Quest Pro, along with displays that offer 30 percent more resolution . All told, it’s a pretty significant jump in horsepower, with its default 90Hz refresh rate being the only spec that’s staying unchanged .
Meta didn’t forget about the Quest 3’s controllers either. That’s because while they’re still the same basic shape and size, the tracking ring around the top is gone. The company says that the new sensors on the headset can track the controllers without needing the rings and, when the controllers move outside the camera’s visible range, Meta is using AI and machine learning to better predict your hand movements.
Now all these upgrades look great on a spec sheet, but after testing the headset out myself, they make an even better impression in person. Right away, everything just looks sharper, hand movements feel more precise and even audio sounds more immersive. You can also feel that increased performance, most noticeably when switching between VR and the pass-through cameras.
But of course, without solid software, a new headset isn’t all that exciting. Thankfully, the Quest 3 is backward compatible with all of the 500+ apps in the Oculus Store, with Meta claiming that there are another 100 new apps or titles with updated features on the way designed specifically for its latest headset, some of which I got to try out during my demo., which is a tutorial that’s kind of like an MR-version of Space Invaders that also introduces users to the Quest 3’s features.
I’m not sure this headset is doing much to entice people who aren’t already interested in VR and AR. But, it feels like Meta has done a thorough job of improving almost every spec and feature. It’s got everything you need without any unnecessary frills or add-ons.
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