Meta Quest 3S review: Might be the one we've been waiting for
Meta's best decision for the Quest 3S? it comes with Batman: Shadow of Arkham.
Yes, the Quest 3S is Meta's Quest 3 buck headset, but it can play all the same games. Meta has mostly made the right trade-offs with its newer and cheaper headset, so being Batman ends up feeling very similar on both devices. To be clear, the Quest 3 is a better headset. The price is also $499.99. At $299.99, the 3S is a better deal.
So if you don't have a Quest 3 yet but want to try VR, save $200, buy a Quest 3S, and play Gotham. Then check out everything else you can play. There's more to do than you think.
The Quest 3S itself is more or less the body of the Quest 2 and the core of the Quest 3, including the same Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor, the same full-color pass-through camera, and the same Touch Plus controller. Like other Quests, it's a standalone device that doesn't need to be plugged into anything to work, which I think gives it an advantage over the PSVR 2.
The Quest 3S weighs 514 grams, which is roughly the same weight as the Quest 3 at 515 grams. But the Quest 3S is noticeably bulkier than the Quest 3, as Meta found there are two areas where it can save money: the lens and the display.
The Quest 3S uses a Fresnel lens like the Quest 2, while the Quest 3 uses a pancake lens. Not only are pancake lenses thinner, they also allow for better image quality and hold the headphones closer to your face, making them feel more balanced. The Quest 3S also has the same resolution (1832 x 1920 pixels per eye) and field of view as the Quest 2, which means you don't get a slightly wider view with the Quest 3's 2064 x 2208 resolution and field of view.
That said, I've always found the Quest 2's display to be great for gaming and general web browsing, and I think it's still acceptable for the 3S, especially at this price point. and has been good Shadow of Arkham. Sure, the graphics aren't nearly as good as on the PS5, but on the Quest 3S, everything looks good enough to make sneaking through sewers and pipes and mowing down waves of bad guys downright thrilling.
Of course, the Quest 3S's graphics aren't as good as the PS5's, and there's a lot of reasons besides the camera – one's a giant home console, the other's a face computer, you know? — but the Quest 3S is great to use. If you want your Quest games to look as good as possible, you should buy a Quest 3, no problem. But I don't think it's a huge loss to go with the 3S and save $200.
I should say here that if you have a Quest 2, the Quest 3 feels more like an upgrade. Yes, the Quest 3S's hardware is much improved, which means everything is faster and you can play better-looking games. But, at least for now, there are only a handful of games you can play. only Playing on Quest 3S and Quest 3 — one of which is Shadow of Arkham— The Quest 3's display and field of view are also noticeably better.
The best argument for the Quest 3S, and for VR as a whole right now, is Arkham Shadow, Can be used for free with headphones until the end of April. No matter which headset you play it on (it comes bundled with the Quest 3 and 3S), there's always something real It's cool to play Batman in virtual reality. Hiding in the rafters and pouncing on bad guys is what Batman is all about, and this game lets you do it from the first-person perspective of the Caped Crusader. Meta bundled this game for a reason: not just for Arkham bloodline, game is That OK We've been waiting a long time for a truly great VR game, one that sells the entire setup on its own. Shadow of Arkham It could be that game.
However, if the Caped Crusader isn't your thing, you can also access the vast library of Quest VR games, such as defeat saber and Resident Evil 4. i really like mastera recently launched music game in which you conduct an orchestra. Starting last year, you can also wirelessly stream VR games on Steam from your PC to the Quest headset.
VR apps on Quest are getting pretty good. But while Meta is also pushing hard on augmented reality and pass-through elements of the Quest 3 and Quest 3S headsets, I haven't seen any mixed reality games or apps that seem worthy of being played in fully immersive VR.
Passthrough – which lets you view the world around you while using the camera with your headphones on – is still a minor feature for me. While I like the Action Button on the Quest 3S, which lets you easily switch between passthrough and immersive modes, I only use it to type notes about the game I'm playing or to check Slack on my laptop , then press it again to return to VR. The ability to place windows anywhere in space is nice (other Quest headsets can do this, too), but I wouldn't do any serious work in the headset that requires this level of organization.
of course you Can Hang out and play games in Meta horizon world. But every game I've ever played horizon world It's too bad, so I wouldn't recommend it. If I can give Meta a pass here horizon world It's brand new. But Meta keeps pecking horizon world After all these years I still see no point in using it.
The Quest 3S doesn't solve some of the problems inherent in VR: You're still wearing a big headset that covers your eyes and largely isolates you from the world around you. Hand tracking is okay – you'll probably still want to use the controllers to actually interact with things while wearing the headset. After playing the game for about 45 minutes Shadow of ArkhamI started to feel the weight and needed to pull up the headphones to give my head and neck a rest. The Quest 3S at least comes with Meta's Y-shaped top strap, which is more comfortable and easier to configure than the Quest 2's standard strap.
I've also noticed that I pick up the Quest 3S largely just to write about it at work; after get off work or on the weekends, I prefer to play games on the Steam Deck or PS5. I think there are several reasons for this. One is that these other devices make it easier for me to chat with my wife while I play games, rather than shutting her out. We have a new baby that's crawling around, so by the time I have time to play games while the baby is asleep, I'm already tired, so I'm not looking for the physicality of VR anymore. For the most part, these games don't interest me as much as games I can play on non-VR gaming devices. (If you've read my article about regretting buying a PSVR 2, these arguments may sound familiar.)
The cheaper Quest 3S doesn't solve VR's inherent trade-offs and limitations. If you already own a Quest 2, you won't be missing out on much gameplay. But the Quest 3S costs $299.99 and has the same chipset as the Quest 3 but a slightly inferior display, making the Quest 3S the best headset to buy right now.
even if it's just one Shadow of Arkham machine, might be worth it.