Virtual reality remains an alluring experience, built, as it is, upon the celluloid dreams of Lawnmower Man, Tron and Ready Player One. The actual reality of virtual reality is yet to match any of those visions, but it’s certainly getting closer. After Sony’s powerhouse PSVR 2 snatched the consumer VR trophy earlier this year, the Meta Quest 3 is now entering the arena with the singular hope of taking it back home to Mr Zuckerberg. While it’s a hard-fought battle, it looks as though the Quest 3 is set to edge it, though it’s coming down to points rather than a knockout blow.
The Meta Quest 3 continues to push the wire-free vision of VR that all manufacturers aspire to, building on the innovative design of its two predecessors to excellent effect. This remains the most telling point of difference between the headsets from Sony and Meta – and the wider market which includes Valve and HTC – as being free of a tether and being able to move around and interact in a more naturalistic way is a night and day difference as far as VR goes.
The PSVR 2 is incredible, but needing to hook it up to the power of the PS5 means play is tethered to our living room, which is not the most substantial space in our home. Alternatively, I can take the Quest 3 into the kitchen, push a few chairs back, and have an expanse of playing space to move around in. It’s hard to compare the two once you’ve experienced it and given the choice, multiformat games are likely to get the nod on Meta’s headset.
The Quest 3 arrives in a troublingly small box. So small in fact, that I was certain that it couldn’t be the VR headset that had arrived. I was genuinely amazed to find that it was in fact the Quest 3, and that they’d managed to fit it, two controllers, and a power block and cable into such a diminutive package. Some of that comes down to the reduction in size of the headset itself. The Quest 3 is 40% slimmer than the Quest 2, and that plays out when you compare the two visually. It is also lighter, albeit marginally so, and while different figures have been bounced around, the Quest 3 is lighter without a strap than the Quest 2 is. Of course, all of that weight in now more densely packed, giving the headset more heft in the hand.
I did find that I needed to switch over to the Oculus Quest 2’s Elite Strap in order to find a more balanced and long-lasting fit, adding more weight to the bargain, albeit in a more evenly distributed way. The Quest 3’s slimmer build means that the unit doesn’t protrude as far from your face, and in turn the weight is easier to deal with. The included strap of the Quest 3 is also more adjustable, and I feel no need to opt for a different fastening to keep it where it needs to be, playing comfortably for hours and hours.
The most obvious external addition is the new pair of RGB colour cameras that sit on the face of the Quest 3. It gives it a less sleek look than its predecessor, but in turn it brings a sense of other-worldliness and intrigue – fitting for a virtual reality device. It’s also well worth it for the addition of its colour passthrough that lets you truly see the world around you while wearing the headset.
This is its party trick, and a clear upgrade over the grainy black and white of the Quest 2. It’s still not perfect, the graininess returning if you’re playing in lower light, and some curving and bloom to the image at times, but it allows you to clearly see people and objects around you, even going so far as to let you read the screen on your mobile phone.
You can see why Apple has made a big deal about this aspect of their forthcoming headset; the Quest 3’s accurate passthrough means that you’re no longer locked out from the real world. For all that VR is about creating an alternate reality, one of the main reasons it’s harder to use in a family setting is that you’re cut off from everyone else. While that’s sometimes a good thing, the Quest 3 envisions a future where you can continue wearing your headset and still be part of the world around you. And they’ve done it without any terrifying digital eyes staring out at your loved ones.
What it also allows you to do is use mixed reality, where games escape into the real world, boardgames appear on your real-world kitchen table, or productivity tools floating in your room in mid-air. The Quest 3 comes with the excellent First Encounters which gives you a short taste of the possibilities as walls crumble around you, though the best is yet to come with titles like Lego Brick Tales launching in the coming months.
First Encounters is a real blast, and a great showcase for the new headset, but I’ve been playing a lot of Cubism for both its wonderfully zen gameplay, and as a showcase for interacting with mixed reality, keeping you in your living space while adding something that feels genuinely tangible. It’s impressive just how natural it all feels.
The strangest thing about the Quest 3’s launch is what’s happening on the software front; here’s a brand-new headset packing the latest technology, including the first outing for the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset, and it has clear potential as both the best untethered VR headset and the best consumer implementation of MR so far. And yet, there’s no software launching with it other than Meta’s own taster session. Everything else, including headline titles like Stranger Things VR, Asgard’s Wrath 2, and Assassin’s Creed Nexus, isn’t here yet. Instead, you can play everything you’ve been playing on your Quest 2. This is Meta stretching Microsoft’s multi-generational strategy to the Nth degree.
That isn’t to say there’s nothing to see here. Several titles have received free updates to take advantage of all that extra power, with many more to come. The Quest library is already stuffed with a host of great VR titles, and returning to some of them with a fresh lick of paint lets you see just how much better the Quest 3 is than its older sibling. Without any new releases, Red Matter 2 is currently the headline act, and the enhancements to one of the best VR titles out there make it essential for early adopters.
Gazzlers isn’t the most visually intensive VR game, but it gets a good step up in quality from Quest 2 to Quest 3.
The mobile chipsets of the original Quest and the Quest 2 meant accepting a certain reduction in visual quality in exchange for their wire-free experience. Red Matter 2 on Quest 3 shows that this is almost certainly coming to an end, with an obvious leap in visual quality that includes enhanced shadows, lighting and textures. Gazzlers, one of the first games I played on the Quest 3, is now basically identical to the PSVR 2 version, but… it’s a better experience on Quest 3 thanks to the lighter, unwired headset. Admittedly, this isn’t the most graphic-intensive experience, but there’s both clarity and comfort to playing on Quest 3 over its rival.
The new Quest 3 controllers add to the experience, though they’ve actually had something taken away. Meta have dispensed with the tracking rings, instead placing everything within the central body, and with the reduced form factor the controllers are both smaller and lighter. Through extended play that means you shouldn’t feel any fatigue, and you can also bring your hands closer together without accidentally knocking them, meaning that actions feel just that bit more natural.
While comfort is king, the Quest 3’s defining factor is actually its lenses. The two enormous ‘pancake’ lenses basically ensure that the Quest 3 has the widest viewing position of any VR system – other than the Quest Pro which preceded it – and it also avoids any of the visible concentric rings that other lenses have. The ‘sweet-spot’ for viewing is huge, and made even easier by the return of the lens adjustment dial rather than the Quest 2’s limited notch system.
They give you a clear window to look at the 2064×2208 pixels per eye that the Quest 3 is packing, a 30% jump over its predecessor, and outpacing even the premium Quest Pro. In fact, other than the nicer build quality of the Pro and the omission of eye-tracking on Quest 3, the cheaper headset is pretty much better in every way and for considerably fewer pounds. If you’re looking at affordable VR, and for the current cutting edge in MR and untethered VR, the Quest 3 is a perfect fit.
Of course, there have to be a few caveats, and the biggest one is the battery life. If you play a graphically intensive game like Red Matter 2 you’re going to get around two hours of life out of the Quest 3. Lighter tasks and games extend this, but you’ll still find yourself reaching straight for the charger after every session. Then again, regular breaks are probably good for you.
The Quest 2’s chief annoyance was not just running out of power quickly, but it running out while idle, and that does at least seem to affect the Quest 3 less; I’ve happily returned after a couple of days to find it has practically the same charge as when I left it. Even if it has run out it’s easily charged by the USB-C port, and thankfully only takes around two hours to fill up, letting you get back on with living your best VR life.
Though the Quest 3’s power is impressive, it’s still not equal to the visuals you’ll find on PSVR2 or a high-powered PC-based VR setup. You’re not going to see anything as impressive as Horizon: Call of the Wild or Half Life: Alyx, but being untethered is, at least from a personal point of view, worth the drop in visual fidelity. You can definitely still have ‘wow’ moments though, and that’s only going to be truer with the release of games like Asgard’s Wrath 2 at the end of the year.
The gap is smaller than it’s ever been, and once again, that’s even more remarkable given the Quest 3’s slim profile. With that said, if you have a suitable PC you can play all of those amazing SteamVR games via the Quest 3 anyway – either wired or via Virtual Desktop – meaning that you’re getting the best of both worlds. That’s not a cheap thing to do though, especially if you’ve opted for the 512GB Quest 3 which comes in at a whopping £619.99. The cheaper 128GB model is £479.99, but while that’s a considerable saving you’re going to fill it up in no time at all, and there’s no SD card to pick up any slack.
