To the surprise of everyone present, Mark Zuckerberg announced the next standalone VR glasses, the Meta Quest 3. Probably not without ulterior motives, because next Monday we are expecting the first reality headset from Cupertino at Apple WWDC 2023. The Meta Quest 3 is a mixed and virtual reality headset from the former Facebook and Oculus company that will be available later this year priced at 569.99 euros.
- Mark Zuckerberg introduced the Meta Quest 3 at the Gaming Showcase.
- The new Meta Quest 3 features full color passthrough for enhanced mixed reality.
- It will cost 569.99 euros and will be available in autumn 2023.
- Meta will permanently reduce Quest 2 to $349.99 starting June 4th.
Mark Zuckerberg surprisingly introduces the Meta Quest 3
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook), unveiled the Meta Quest 3 at last night’s “Meta Quest Gaming Showcase”. The new VR headset is said to offer full-color passthrough thanks to the additional front-facing 4 MP cameras and additional sensor. This feature allows the physical environment to be incorporated into the virtual experience, making it similar to the high quality Meta Quest Pro (review). Among other things, you can use tables to set up games or to decorate a room virtually. A first “heads-on” of the Meta Quest 3 even confirmed that the VR glasses had a better passthrough quality than the Pro model.
Meta Quest 3 has twice the graphics performance
The Meta Quest 3 runs on the next-generation Snapdragon platform. Meta stated that this is twice the graphics performance of the Snapdragon chipset in the Meta Quest 2 (test). However, the company confirmed that it plans to improve the CPU and GPU of the Quest 2 and Quest Pro via a future software update.Simultaneously, the Pro model offers support for dynamic resolution upscaling, leading to improved details and smoother gameplay when observing the flattened perspective.
As for the profile of the device, it is 40 percent slimmer than the previous model. This ensures a more comfortable fit over longer periods of use. Meta has redesigned the Touch Plus controllers for the Quest 3 by eliminating the guard ring, while enhancing compatibility with the Quest Pro controllers. More importantly, hand tracking is supported from the start, so you can navigate without a controller.
The Meta Quest 3 will be available in stores this fall for €569.99 and is compatible with over 500 games and apps on the second generation of the Quest headset. Meanwhile, Meta will also make Meta Quest 2 accessible to everyone by lowering its price to $349.99 (128GB) starting June 4th. The former Facebook group thus undercuts the Bytedance Pico 4 we tested, which was previously the cheapest standalone VR glasses at 429 euros.