As rumored, Meta is launching a lower-priced Quest 3S headset starting at $300, and stepping away from competing against Apple Vision Pro in the high-end market.
The Quest 3S offers a more affordable entry into the 'metaverse', starting at $300 for 128GB of storage and $400 for 256GB. It will be available starting October 15 alongside the regular Quest 3, now starting at $500 with 512GB of storage.
Meta Quest 3S (left) and Meta Quest 3 (right). Photo: Meta
To reduce the price, Meta has equipped the Quest 3S with a lower-resolution LCD panel at 1832x1920 pixels per eye, down from 2064x2208 pixels on Quest 3. It also uses fresnel lenses instead of pancake lenses, resulting in a significantly reduced field of view.
However, it features the same Qualcomm Snapdragon XR Gen 2 chip.
Meta abandons high-end VR
Last month, a report from The Information claimed that Meta had canceled plans for a new high-end headset with micro-OLED to compete with Apple Vision Pro.
At Meta's Connect conference, the company confirmed its exit from the high-end segment by discontinuing the Quest Pro just two years after its release, with no successor announced.
The Quest Pro was widely considered a failure, due to its subpar LCD displays. The price dropped from $1500 to $1000 shortly after launch, but it still failed to gain traction with buyers.
Meta is also discontinuing its Quest 2 as the Quest 3S takes its place.
