Despite making you look a bit like Eris Morn from Destiny, the Meta Quest 3 doesn’t promise infinite eldritch knowledge about worms, but to take you into a plethora of other worlds through the magic of not just virtual reality, but also mixed reality. The latter is something that feels as though it’s still in its infancy, but the demos that come with the headset make a solid early case for it.
Shooting aliens as they knock their way through the walls of your home, playing with toy cars, and even being able to learn piano are all only possible because of the new dual-RGB cameras on the face of the Quest 3. It’s not the first full-colour passthrough, but it is undoubtedly one of the highest-quality offerings on the market, even from more expensive headsets.
I can’t tell you how useful that is when you live with kids, because they simply love putting things on the floor that weren’t there a second ago, and I didn’t step on anything because I could actually see what’s going on. There’s definitely a slight grain to the cameras, but it’s still incredible, and is one of the biggest selling points, according to Meta.
It’s certainly fancy, but there really needs to be a few more world-changing apps in that category until it’s the most important factor for me. For me, the best part about the Quest 3 is that it is an impressive upgrade to the Meta Quest 2 in just about every way going. The only areas where that’s not true are the battery life, which remains somewhere in the region of 2.5 hours, and the comfort.
Both battery life and comfort can be fixed by accessories, which isn’t ideal, but it was also true of the Quest 2. Those are literally my only complaints with the headset though, which I’m sort of astounded by. In terms of resolution, FOV, speed, and eye comfort, this thing is a true titan of the VR realm.
It helps a lot that the Quest 3 isn’t launching into an abyss with no games, but has access to the entire library of the best Meta Quest games, with a fair few of the Quest 2 titles having been given upgrades to better make use of the general upgrade provided by this headset. It’s not universal across the board, but even with games where that’s not the case, the resolution and FOV will both make you feel as though the games look better.
The controllers take a bit of getting used to, purely because the tracking band has been removed. They track better than the previous Meta controllers despite that, but if you’re also someone who’s coming from a Quest 2, you’ll notice it as well. That’s not the only change to the controllers though, as they also have better haptic feedback, making games feel that much more immersive.
You’ll feel the same level of upgraded polish when using the headset to play PC VR games as well. You can still use AirLink, but Virtual Desktop remains the most comfortable and customisable way to do this. I’ve got a relatively powerful rig, and while things looked okay before, they look truly incredible on the Quest 3.
Every game I played has more detail, you can take in more of the world with ease, and the tracking feels sublime, even if you’re playing in a different room. It means that if most of your VR games are tied to your PC, rather than anything else, that the Quest 3 will still feel like a notable boost in power, speed, and looks.
While it may seem odd for this review to mostly talk about how it’s an upgrade to the Quest 2, that’s the headset that most people are familiar with, and also likely the group of people who’ll be most tempted by this new headset.
It’s worth noting that I genuinely believe the price point, the performance, and the wire-free nature of the Quest 3 makes it likely the best headset on the market. While others may have it beat in terms of raw power or looks, they cost substantially more, or lack the ease of use. So, if you’ve been waiting to try out VR and just didn’t know when to jump in, the Meta Quest 3 is most definitely the time to do so.
