Meta Quest 3 announced alongside Quest 2 price cuts
The next-gen virtual and mixed reality headset launches this fall
Meta has announced Quest 3, its next-generation virtual and mixed reality headset.
It will launch this fall with prices starting at $499.99 for a 128GB headset, with an additional storage option also planned.
Meta Quest 3 “features higher resolution, stronger performance, breakthrough Meta Reality technology, and a slimmer, more comfortable headset”, it said.
Meta also announced that starting on June 4, it will cut the Quest 2 price to $299.99 for the 128GB version, meaning it will cost the same as it did prior to a $100 price increase in August 2022. The price of the 256GB version will also be reduced to $349.99.
Meta said Quest 3 is the first headset to feature a next-gen Snapdragon chipset developed in collaboration with Qualcomm, which delivers over twice the graphical performance as the GPU in Quest 2.
The headset features a 40% slimmer optic profile than Quest 2 and redesigned Touch Plus controllers “with a more streamlined and ergonomic form factor”.
Meta also said “hand tracking will be supported out of the box, so you can explore without controllers, thanks to Direct Touch that lets you use just your hands to interact with virtual objects”.
Quest 3 will be compatible with Quest 2’s library of over 500 VR games, apps and experiences. A Meta Quest Gaming Showcase will be held later on Thursday, providing a look at new games coming to Meta’s headsets, including a sneak peek at Quest 3’s “AAA flagship adventure”.
“On Quest 3, our best-in-class Meta Reality technology lets you seamlessly blend your physical world with the virtual one,” Meta claimed. “These new experiences go beyond today’s mixed reality by intelligently understanding and responding to objects in your physical space and allowing you to navigate that space in natural, intuitive ways that were nearly impossible before.
“High-fidelity color Passthrough, innovative machine learning, and spatial understanding let you interact with virtual content and the physical world simultaneously, creating limitless possibilities to explore. Now you can play a virtual board game on your kitchen table with Demeo, decorate your living room with virtual art courtesy of Painting VR, or dive into a fully immersive world to do things that are simply not possible otherwise.”
Meta plans to share further details about the headset during its annual Meta Connect conference on September 27.
