Meta caused quite a stir earlier this year when it made the Quest 3 announcement during the Quest Gaming Showcase. That made the hype and excitement for Meta Connect even more real. We all expected a big, flashy presentation to pump the audience up for Quest 3 but that didn’t happen. In fact, the event wasn’t precisely Meta’s best. Thanks to media and influencers getting some early hands-on time, interest was saved. All of which indicated that Quest 3 could be Meta’s best headset yet.
Meta has been in the VR game for a while, starting with the Oculus Rift, then the Rift S and Oculus Go. Then came the Oculus Quest, followed by the excellent Quest 2 and last but not least Quest Pro. Quest 2 has undoubtedly been the most successful, both in terms of gaming and tech advancements. But while its era isn’t over yet, if all initial accounts are accurate, Quest 3 is that good you’d be daft buying its predecessor.
The power of 3
The third time is a charm as they say, so could Meta Quest 3 be the mainstream headset the company has been craving for? That’s a little too early to tell, especially considering its $499.99 starting price, $200 more than Quest 2. Even so, the new mixed reality packs some nifty features, more horsepower, better screens, new pancake lenses and more.
A lot of the hands-on previews highlighted a demo of Red Matter 2, one of the best-looking VR titles on Quest 2. A demo app was created where players could switch between the Quest 2 and Quest 3 editions. As Road to VR put it: “The difference is staggering.” Mike over at Virtual Reality Oasis said: “Red Matter 2 was always a fantastic looking game but the Quest 3 version had much better textures, way better lighting and everything looked so much sharper.”
Mo mixed reality…
So we know that VR games are going to look even better on Quest 3, but that’s not all it has to offer. This is a mixed-reality (MR) headset after all, with full-colour passthrough improving upon Quest 2’s black and white visuals. Some people see MR as a gimmick whilst others see it as the future of XR in general. Either way, Quest 3’s should be Meta’s best representation yet thanks to a dedicated depth sensor. Games like Yuki, Espire 2 and Wallace & Gromit are adding MR components whilst titles such as Laser Dance are going all-in on mixed reality.
As Mark Gurman notes for Bloomberg: “the Quest 3’s video pass-through performance… is a night-and-day improvement over the Quest 2.”
“Quest 3 presented colors more accurately and offered an almost lifelike rendering of the real world. I was even able to use my phone while wearing the headset, something that often feels impossible on a Quest 2,” he adds.
Team this up with a thinner design, new controllers and refined facial interfaces, it’s easy to see why VR fans are hyped about the product.
Meta Quest 3 launches on 10th October 2023 with prices starting from $499.99. Pre-orders are available now with a free copy of Asgard’s Wrath 2.
What’s your take on the launch? Think Quest 3 will be Meta’s best headset? Let us know in the comments below.