TL;DR: Meta has announced its latest VR headset, the Quest 3S. It will go on sale starting October 15 for $299.99, making it the company's most affordable VR headset to date. Additionally, Meta announced that it will be discontinuing the Quest 2 and Quest Pro.
The Quest 3S shares some hardware components with the Quest 3, but it also features a few notable downgrades. Like the Quest 3, it is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 platform and comes with 8 GB of RAM, running on Meta's Horizon OS. One significant upgrade is the addition of a dedicated Action button that activates the full-color passthrough mode, allowing users to see the world around them without removing the headset.
Downgrades include a 1,832 × 1,920 resolution (per eye) display, which is similar to that of the Quest 2 but less sharp than the Quest 3's 2,064 × 2,208 setup. The horizontal field of view (96 degrees) and vertical field of view (90 degrees) are also the same as those of the Quest 2 but lower than the Quest 3's 110H/96V. The 3S comes with Fresnel lenses with three-position interaxial adjustment distances (IAD), a departure from the Quest 3, which features Pancake lenses with continuous IAD.
The Quest 3S sports a 4,324 mAh battery that the company claims can run for up to 2.5 hours on a single charge. Meta is offering the 3S in two configurations: a base model with 128 GB of storage for $299.99 and a 256 GB version for $399.99. The device is already available for pre-order and will start shipping on October 15. Meta is bundling the upcoming Batman: Arkham Shadow with all Quest 3 and Quest 3S units purchased before April 2025.
Meta states that the Quest 3S is designed for newcomers to the virtual and mixed reality scene and will help many people experience the technology for the first time. According to the company, the device is perfect for watching TV shows "on a cinema-sized screen" right in the living room, while its multitasking capabilities and gaming features ensure that it has something to offer all users.
Following the Quest 3S announcement, Meta is discontinuing the Quest 2 and Quest Pro. While the new headset serves as a proper replacement for the four-year-old Quest 2, the Quest Pro was an overall disappointment for Meta, largely due to its exorbitant launch price of $1,499. As for the Quest 3, only the 512 GB model will remain on sale, with the price for that device dropping from $650 to $500.