Meta will prepare a more affordable alternative to it. Mission 3exactly one year after the latter’s launch. It will simply be called the Quest 3S, a name that has already been confirmed multiple times, not by anyone but Meta itself. Of course, it wasn’t intentional, it seems. Back in May, the Quest Store listed the Quest 3S as a supported device for some games. In June, the Quest 3S appeared to be hanging out in the background of a video posted by Meta’s CTO, and last week, an official render of the headset was found in Meta’s Quest Link PC files (below).
Finally, just two weeks before the event. Meta Connect (During which Quest 3 is officially launched in 2023), the following are only references to Meta Quest 3S It appeared very briefly on Meta’s support site. The document was likely posted by mistake after being reviewed internally, and it notably revealed a new feature for the headset, a new action button located on the bottom right of the headset, next to the volume rocker. The purpose of the button would be to allow you to more quickly switch from VR cameras to pass-through cameras, in other words, from reality to the virtual world. On the Quest 3, this operation requires double-pressing one of the side bars of the headset. The button should certainly be more practical to use and should not fail to please those who prefer more traditional controls. Finally, the document also claimed that most Quest 3 accessories will be compatible with the Quest 3S.
Meta's support pages now confirm the “action button” on the Meta Quest 3S that I previously leaked: https://t.co/vaCWeoksnv pic.twitter.com/uKuhluk4nC
– Luna (@Lunayian) September 13, 2024
While it’s nothing more than an open secret at this point, the exact location of the Quest 3S is not yet known. However, common speculation suggests that this won’t be a major evolution of the Quest 3, but rather a new and possibly cheaper version of the Quest 3. Virtual reality headset Meta Beacon. After all, there has to be a replacement for the Quest 2 that has already started disappearing from shelves. And that’s what the leaked 2023 meta roadmap suggested, too.
Hardware-wise, the Quest 3S is said to use the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 The Quest 3 will also have most of the mixed reality capabilities. However, it will use the same Fresnel lenses and single panel (one panel for both eyes) as the Quest 2. As such, it could be offered in the $300 to $400 range. For the Quest 3, the MSRP is $499.99 for the 128GB version and $649.99 for the 512GB model. At the time, the Quest 2 was priced at $299 for the 64GB version and $399 for the 256GB version.
Meta Connect 2024 It's taking place on September 25. Naturally, CEO Mark Zuckerberg will be there. (Source: DownloadVR)
