detailedReviews: detailedReviews 1: content: The Meta Quest 3 is the third iteration of the Oculus Quest, which was the first standalone VR headset untethering you from a PC. With Meta at the reins, the VR space has grown as has their product improvements and refinements.
Having owned the original Oculus Quest and the successor the Meta Quest 2, I have spent countless hours playing various standalone virtual reality games and experiences. While I enjoyed those headsets, the novel experience wained and I found myself picking them up less and less. The Quest 3, originally released in 2023, iterated on the successful design, and on paper it didn’t seem like enough of an improvement for me to pick up at the increased price. Now a year later, Meta has reduced the starting price of the Quest 3 and introduced a cheaper alternative the Quest 3S.
With the Quest 3 being a year old, it may seem dated, but now is the time to buy what is currently the best value in VR.
To start, the optical stack of the Quest 3 is far superior to the previously used fresnel lens. The clarity was immediately noticeable as was the greatly improved sweet spot that lenses provide. The IPD adjustment is smooth, and can be easily adjusted between 58-70 with a dial on the bottom. This fine tuning combined with the pancake lenses of the Quest 3 is night and day compared to my Quest 2, though I may be overly sensitive to blur. I may have been drawn to the Quest 3 over the 3S due to the pancake lenses but after using the headset I realize I underestimated the benefit mixed reality (MR) brings to the table. Though the passthrough cameras are a little grainy, especially in low light, the quality improvement and addition of color makes it far more useable coming from the Quest 2. I find myself leaving passthrough on as my preferred environment as I feel it is a more comfortable experience and makes it feel more natural. It is still enjoyable to jump into an immersive VR game or experience, but I also now like using the browser or watching youtube in a passthrough environment over a virtual one.
Hand tracking is much improved and is now quite useable for navigating the device and using first party applications like the browser or applications that have been updated to support hand tracking. Naturally there are limitations and it will never replace controllers but I am pleasantly surprised the progress that they have maid so far. The included touch plus controllers are a better design now that Meta has integrated the tracking into the face of the controllers instead of relying on tracking rings. They still operate on a single AA battery each and have excellent battery life, unfortunately the headset itself still only manages a little over 2 hours depending on use. Fortunately the accessory market for the Quest 3 is flush with options now that the device is fairly mature, and there are numerous battery strap options. The included head strap is actually better than previous designs and fairly comfortable for short usage. I actually prefer the ease of slipping it on for a quick session and the soft strap design allows the Quest 3 to be fairly compact for storage. The facial interface now has four depth adjustments to accommodate different faces or glasses wearers and is also removable as well. Meta sells a variety of facial interfaces including a new open facial interface that improves the mixed reality experiences and offers better breathability.
Compared to my previous experience with Quest devices, the Quest 3 is by far the best so far. Meta has done a great job and improved upon their design while also branching more into MR which is an interesting look into the future. Even looking just at the VR segment, the Quest 3 is the most popular headset on the market. Though the hardware isn’t capable of PCVR yet, the overall experience Meta has fostered with the Quest is hard to deny.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: The Meta Quest 3 is the third iteration...
detailedReviews 2: content: There are several Meta Quest models now, and version 3 is one of the top choices. This particular model offers a higher resolution LCD display of 2064 x 2208 pixels and 120Hz, as well as a lot more storage at 512 gigs, compared to lesser models. It also offers more sophisticated cameras on the front to track your hands/controllers as well as the environment around you when you are moving around while wearing the headset.
Setup is ok, but a little fiddly. The head strap “harness” has a few ways to adjust it on the top and back, and it can take a while to find the right fit to make the Quest 3 as comfortable as possible on your head. There’s a foam insert surrounding the face area that also has tiny buttons on each side of the inside with 4 levels you can use to pull it out a bit, and there are very fiddly to use – it’s easy to accidentally pull out the whole face insert! Though you can pop it back in easy enough. This is allegedly to allow you to be able to wear glasses while using the headset, but in my case, this didn’t work. More on that later.
If you have an existing Facebook account, you can sign in with that once you charge up the Quest 3 via the USB-C port on the left side, or create a new account in the phone app you’ll download as a companion to the device. It does take a bit and mine came almost completely drained, so charge it first before setting it up. The Quest 3 has to go through initial setup routines, download a software update, and connect the two hand controllers to it’s system, so expect to make an evening of it to get it all done. There were a couple of glitches in the app during setup where it couldn’t find a hand controller, but then it did, then not the other, then it did, lost the WiFi connection, then found it, etc. You get the idea – patience is a virtue during setup.
Once set up initially, the Quest 3 will want to create a map of the room you’re in so you won’t walk into things while using it. This can take a few minutes, and you turn your head in all direction to map things out (you can redo it whenever you want or to reorient things). Virtual screens hover in the air in front of you so you can adjust settings, create an Avatar that represents you when in the virtual world, shop the app store to download apps to use in the store, or use a browser to surf, or even watch shows on Youtube or Netflix. When needed, a keyboard can also pop up so you can enter your info. Now, you are supposed to be able to see virtual hands when you hold your hands out that you can use in place of the controllers for certain activities, but mine, so far, has been a bit buggy… mine will appear and begin to work, then disappear, causing me to fall back on the controllers. In a couple of cases, the controllers stop working, only to be replace by the hands. Ugh.
My big complaint is that even though they say you can use the Quest 3 if you wear glasses, this is not always the case. I use reading type glasses for various things, that can vary from 1.25 to 2.50 strengths depending on what I’m doing. I have those and a few other variations, and I tried EVERY one of them, and even fiddling with all 4 levels of adjustments and a wheel on the bottom of the headset that adults the “IPD (Interpupillary Distance) adjustment wheel”, that adjusts the width of the two inner lenses. It’s NOT a “focus” adjustment – it just varies the width, and did little good. In every case with every pair of glasses, everything ranges from bad to really bad in terms of clarity. I found that really, just not wearing glasses at all helped some, but as of the time of this writing, I still haven’t been able to get what I would call “sharp” clarity from the headset regardless of settings, controls, or apps. If you wear prescription lenses, you can order a set from Meta to replace what comes with the headset, at an additional cost, that may work depending on your eyesight circumstances.
Games and apps can vary from fully submersible, in which all you see is the activity in the app, to a pass-through where you can somewhat see the room you are in through the front cameras while a virtual environment plays on top of it, such as an initial game where you shoot fuzzy aliens as they seem to bust through your ceiling and walls. More elaborate games make you a part of them, such as the included (with mine) Batman Arkham Shadow game, which allows you to take on the roll of Batman as though you’re looking through his eyes, maneuvering around Gotham and battling villains. It can be disorienting until you get used to VR, and caution is needed when standing to play these games, but you do get the hang of it. You can of course seek out other things like tourism or nature apps that simply allow you to be someplace else. Search for free ones online because a lot of them via the store are pay apps and range in prices from as little as $1.99 each all the way to $49.99 and higher.
When fully charged, the battery indicator shows about 2 hours and 30 minutes charge (give or take). The more elaborate the app, the quicker it can drain the battery, though. The included charger takes a couple of hours or so to recharge the Quest 3. I wish they could have put a bigger battery in the device, being honest. Time runs out quickly when you get into it. I tried to use an extended cable and charge while I used it, but it seems to drain the battery faster than it can charge it that way.
The controllers are powered by AA batteries, and you can use rechargeable batteries if you prefer. They’re comfortable to hold and have wrist straps so you don’t sling them around the room when using them. You can do some tasks using just one, but many times both are required unless you enable hand tracking in the settings area, in which case you can use your virtual hands to control things (kind of hit and miss in my use). A charging dock (sold separately) will allow you to charge your Quest via 4 small pin connections, as well as the controllers if you use rechargeable batteries in them.
I can only speak about my experience with the Quest 3, as it has a huge following of people who love it. However, due to the incompatibility of my being able to use my reader type glasses with it and not being able to get a sharp viewing experience, I’m a bit disappointed with the performance of it. It still has it’s neat moments with some apps, and it can be entertaining, but much less so if you’re not able to get that sharp image you need. I think it would not be hard to put a TRUE dioptric type of focusing mechanism in a future version of this and not just a IPD wheel, so even people with glasses of any type could forego having to use them at all.
I would say if you have good vision and don’t mind a lot of pay apps to fully enjoy the Quest 3, you will find it entertaining. If you wear glasses, be aware of possible complications and incompatibility issues out of the box, or having to order prescription inserts at an additional cost, and perhaps wait for a more refined future model with better adjustment controls. So I would say that in my case, I’m a bit disappointed with the Quest 3 as my expectations were perhaps higher than the device, but your mileage may vary depending on your circumstances. I would recommend this, with reservations talked about above.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 3
title: There are several Meta Quest models now, and...
detailedReviews 3: content: Last generation, when it was a choice between wired PCVR and wireless standalone VR, I went with wired. I was curious to know how far things have come since then. The second I turned on the Quest 3 and strapped it to my face, I knew that this was a whole new level.
The first thing you see when you turn on the Quest 3 is the actual world around you in full color. The AR experience is incredible, being able to open up menus and browser windows and place them wherever. Last gen, the pass-through was limited to black and white, and only there as a fail-safe to keep you from bumping into things. While wearing the Quest 3, the passthrough was so good that I was regularly checking my phone, amazed at being able to read the text on the screen, even if it was a little wobbly and rainbow shimmery.
I grabbed a highly rated table tennis game off of the store, and after a quick install I was holding a ping pong racket and relearning how to navigate in this virtual space. The physics were pretty incredible, and the hand tracking didn't skip a beat. I saw in the screenshots that there was an AR mode, so I turned that on and turned my dining table into a full sized ping pong table. That got a little too weird, and my daughter sitting at the table kept distracting me, so I went back into living room and the virtual world and practiced serving, since the game enforces actual rules like keeping the ball behind the table and hitting it on the descent after tossing at least 16cm. It took me a while to get the timing right, but once I did, everything felt real, down to the slight impact of the ball thanks to the rumble motors in the controllers. When my daughter asked to have a turn, I was about to set the controllers on the nonexistent table until the "this not reality" warning bells went off.
I plugged my gaming PC into a wifi 7 router that I have designated strictly for communication between it and my Quest 3. and set up Meta Link, which basically thrusts you into the older "Home" environment of last generation, but allows access to the PC. The clarity and sharpness of the screen was so good that I had no problem reading text in web browsers, word processing documents, and spreadsheets. I was even able to play a few PC games that I had installed that support VR without any perceptible lag. This is everything that I wanted out of VR, and surpasses even the lofty ambitions I had, which were originally set back when I was a kid watching Lawnmower Man on cable over and over again.
The onboard speakers work well to immerse you, and anyone else around you, in your virtual surroundings. There is also a headphone jack, so you can plug in your favorite headphones and enjoy some privacy without disturbing anyone. Bluetooth is also an option.
That being said, the included strap was finicky and puts all the weight at the front of the face. The facial interface (the liner between the actual housing that holds the electronics and your face) is also coarsely textured, presumably to prevent slipping, but with the unintended effect of being slightly abrasive especially to sensitive skin. The strap is upgradable, and the facial interface is removable, which also allows better vision of your surroundings for AR usage, at the cost of immersion. I also wish that there was some sort of bumper around the lenses included to keep my eyeglasses from potentially scratching them.
At the new price point, and without requiring a beefy gaming PC, the Quest 3 is a remarkable product. The out of the box experience is very beginner friendly, especially as it places you in AR first to help get you used to moving around with basically a bucket on your head. And if you do happen to have a PC and a newer Wifi router to hardwire it to, well, the wireless PCVR dream is now and I’m here for it. I've especially enjoyed watching movies from my PC in a virtual private movie theater with a 20' screen while also sitting on my living room sofa instead of my PC chair. While I wish that the battery lasted longer, the experience that gets packed into such a tiny device is incredible.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: Last generation, when it was a choice between...
detailedReviews 4: content: As a user for the past year of the Meta Quest 2, I was excited to upgrade to the Meta Quest 3 and check out all the new features!
I have to say, as soon as I put the headset on, I could tell a difference. It was a lot more comfortable to wear, the way the headband works is confusing at first and it felt way to loose, but once you pull those two straps outwards towards your ears, the headset sat nice and snug on my head. The Quest 2 would almost pull my forehead back, making me have my eyes open wider than I wanted, but this Quest 3 is so much more comfortable. And it's not as heavy on your head either. It wasn't cumbersome at all.
When you power it on - man - what a difference! The visuals are so crystal clear, so sharp! And one of the other things you notice is the full color passthrough to your environment. That in itself makes a massive different to your experience of wearing the headset. The menus are so sharp and crisp, they look phenomenal.
Now one thing I noticed right away is that the menus are controlled slightly differently with the controllers to the previous Quest 2 which took a little getting used to, but you also have the ability to control the on screen actions with just your hands now, which is wild! You can point and touch and the headset tracks your hands and allows you to point and click and scroll with your hands! You can pinch and grab the menus, it's absolutely fantastic technology.
The experience with the headset on really transforms you to another world, be it a virtual world where you are standing on top of a skyscraper, challenging your vertigo, or if you are fully immersed in the Batman Arkham Shadow world, you are really transported to that environment! With 512GB of onboard storage as well, not only can you download the game that's included in this version of the Meta Quest 3, but you have the option to store and download so many other titles from the vast array available. My previous Quest 2 only had 128GB of onboard storage, so this expands on that greatly.
The color pass through really helps you have an truly interactive experience with your environment. You can play games that have monsters and zombies actually coming at you in your living room from a 'hole' in your living room wall. Something the Quest 2 couldn't do as the passthrough was very grainy and black and white. However, while the color passthrough on the Quest 3 is a giant leap forward, I still found that if my eyes were moving around a lot, the passthrough was still somewhat grainy or blurry, but if my eyes stopped and focused on one area, that it would look great.
Talking of the opticals, they are a complete step above the previous generation. They are so comfortable to look through, the focus is easy with the buttons on the bottom of the headset, and you can adjust them totally to your liking. However, I did notice that you do NOT get a cover for the optics at all, unlike the previous generation that did come with a cover to protect them.
There are plenty of aftermarket options for charging the headset, but you do get a charging cable and a power brick included to get you up and running.
There is also the Meta Quest app, that you can use to communicate and stream to your TV which works really well, stay up to date on the latest games and experiences available to you as well, so you never miss out.
Another experience that you may not have considered is the ability to watch a movie inside a movie theater, while sat on your couch. The experience is phenomenal, projecting an extremely large screen in front of you, with crystal clear visuals!
The overall upgrade from the Meta Quest 2 to the Meta Quest 3 is totally worth it! The controllers have been redesigned, they are slightly smaller and don't have the hoop that goes over your hand making them more convenient to hold and control. The fact that the headset is lighter and more comfortable is great too.
Battery life - you are more than likely going to want to get a battery extender. I played for a little over a hour straight right out of the box after charging it and it was at about 37% battery life left, so if you want to play for a couple of hours or more, then you will want a battery extender.
Overall, extremely happy with this upgrade, it's nice to unwind at the end of the day and be transported to another world, be it full of mayhem in the Batman game, or in the tranquility of an art studio, creating a 3D sculpture in front of you!
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: As a user for the past year of...
detailedReviews 5: content: I bought this headset because I tried a friend’s 3S and enjoyed the experience, but wanted the extra visual quality of the 3. In my opinion, the better resolution, additional storage, and better ergonomics and weight distribution were worth the premium. However, don’t expect 4k like your TV but it is a bump in image quality over the 3S. Overall I found the 3 to be a better experience than the 3S if the extra $200 isn’t a concern. I primarily used it to workout on an app called Supernatural which was a great experience. Sorry I had to give that up when ultimately I had to give up on the Quest all together, it was fun.
That’s where the fun stopped though. In the end, I gave up on this product because I purchased and had to return 5 units within a three month period due to malfunctions that I was unable to resolve through online research, trial and error, and Meta customer support (useless). I found instances online of people experiencing the exact same issue without any resolution, so this is not isolated. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t give any product more than three strikes, but I enjoyed the user experience when it worked as it was intended enough to keep trying (to a point). I had a couple of different issues, but it went like this: it would be fine for a few uses in a one to two week period, then randomly it would display a message onscreen that it had lost its ability to track in space with an option to continue without tracking or power off, but it also lost connection with the controllers so there was no way to interact. This left the only options being to either sleep or hard reset. Neither of which solved the issue. It would simply turn into Groundhog Day, the controllers were also inoperable and would vibrate every few seconds. At that point, restarting and/or doing a factory reset would solve nothing and ultimately end up bricking the headset. This happened with 5 headsets over a 10-12 week period purchased from two different Best Buy’s. I just lost faith in the quality control, the reliability of the product, and Meta’s willingness to address its shortcomings.
Let me also say that this does not at all reflect on Best Buy. I couldn’t be happier with their service and policies. This was a trying process and everyone I dealt with at both the Concord and Portsmouth stores in New Hampshire made it as easy as possible aided by the policies they maintain for their customers and members.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 1
title: I bought this headset because I tried a...
detailedReviews 6: content: Meta Quest 3 512GB — The Most Powerful Quest — Ultimate Mixed Reality Experiences — Get Batman: Arkham Shadow – White
The Meta Quest 3 512GB is a significant upgrade to the Meta Quest line of VR / Mixed Reality headsets. At 18.2 ounces, the Quest 3 is just slightly heavier than the Quest 2, at 17.7 ounces, but it is noticeably less bulky and, in comparison, seems more slim and trim. I was surprised it was heavier because, sensually, it feels lighter and slimmer on my head/face. Contributing to this feel are the sides, which are more rounded than the flat-walled Quest 2, making it seem even smaller. Wrapping horizontally and vertically over the back of your head is a three-point adjustable headband. By pushing the Y broader or narrower, you can quickly tighten or loosen the head strap. Additionally, you can separately adjust the top strap to stabilize the headset further.
The new motion controllers are what would have been the Pro controllers minus the cameras and rubberized grips. However, they are light and comfortable and a big improvement over the Quest 2 Controllers. Each one uses an AA battery, which is included in the box. Hand tracking has been majorly improved. Tapping the two joysticks together enables the hands-free feature, which took me a few attempts to get the hang of it. But when activated, it’s like experiencing VR anew. You can tap objects with a finger and swipe through the menus.
Powered by a Snapdragon XR2 Gen2 processor (with an Adreno GPU) that Qualcomm states is 2.5 times faster than the Quest 2’s Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1 processor. Internal memory is 8 gigabytes with 512 gigabytes of storage. This unit is noticeably faster and smoother than prior Quest headsets.
For the display - It displays a 4K resolution 2,064-by-2,208-pixel picture to each eye, higher than the Quest 2's 1,832 by 1,920 and the Quest Pro's 1,920 by 1,800 (giving you 30% more pixels). The horizontal field of view increased from 96° to 110°. The pancake lenses provide a sharper image, clear and crisp from edge to edge. The continuous IAD is an improvement over the older Quest version, which used pupillary distance and only had three settings. The continuous IAD can adjust this distance within 1 millimeter. The combination of higher resolution and continuous IAD provides much sharper text, vibrant colors, and exciting experiences while gaming. If needed prescription lenses can be purchased from a 3rd party.
The software interface of the Meta Quest 3 (512) uses the same tutorials for set up and menu navigation as the earlier versions of the Meta Quest headsets, this brings the user into the VR world with ease of navigation and user interface.
The boundary setup of the Meta Quest 3 (512) has really improved – it quickly establishes your boundary area and is more accurate and easier to use.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 4
title: Meta Quest 3 512GB — The Most Powerful...
detailedReviews 7: content: The Meta Quest 3. Is it worth upgrading to it from the Quest 2? Well I've owned the Quest 2 for a couple of years now and I can say that, for me, the upgrade is worth it.
If you don't own a VR or haven't owned one before, you may choose to go with the Quest 2 since you can get it for a really good price now. Not a bad idea to make sure you will enjoy the experience before spending more on the Quest 3, especially if you are (or even if you aren't) prone to motion sickness. I'm not typically bothered by it, but something about being in VR and moving around when you are physically standing still does something to your mind that feels wrong. Maybe it's because I'm getting older because my 11 year old doesn't seem to have any issues with it. However there are plenty of enjoyable ways to experience and use VR that don't cause any issues for me.
Watching movies, for example, is one thing that I feel the Quest 3 is much better for than the 2. With the increased resolution and the "pancake" style lenses, it's much closer to looking like it does in a theater. It's still not to the point of replacing your 4K Micro Mini QLED OLED UHD whatever whatever TV, but it's getting a lot closer. And as with anything else, some apps, games and content will look better than others. You will still see pixels in some things and others you probably won't. And the new lens fix a big problem I had with the Quest 2,which was the edges of the "screen" being blurry. You may still notice it a little bit at the far extremes of the image edges but it's way better than before. Being able to watch Netflix, Disney+, or any service you can access via a web browser without disturbing others or them having to watch too is fantastic. And I highly recommend checking out the Xstadium app. This is a really great concept where you can watch live sports courtside, from the 50 yard line or the endzone (on the field), and other locations inside of the stadium or arena.
Another big plus with the Quest 3 is the increased storage. I admit my 11 year old uses the Quest 2 way more than I do and has filled it up to the point he has to uninstall games to add new ones. If you're a console gamer the 512gb storage may not seem like much, but the apps and games for this are nowhere near the 100gb+ size of some of the console games (at least not for the time being). But they will add up as you find more and more apps and games you want to try out, and that library is steadily increasing.
Another big plus for the Quest 3 is the full color passthrough mode, or "mixed reality". There's passthrough on the Quest 2 (where you can see what's going on around you outside of the headset), but honestly it's pretty useless other allowing you to draw your boundaries. I liken it to old fuzzy black and white TV. You can can't see a lot of detail, and forget about checking your watch or phone. While the clarity of the Quest 3's full color passthrough isn't like looking through your phone camera or anything, it's leaps and bounds better than before, and you can actually use your phone and reply to messages, etc. And it's pretty cool to have a web browser, for example floating in front of you while you can still watch the kids or whatever else you might be doing. And I don't know how it does this, but looking at a light, like a lamp maybe and moving the browser or whatever other window in front of the light, completely blocks it as if you put a solid object in front of it. So it's not that things you see in VR while in passthrough mode are translucent, they are overlaid onto your real view of the world. There are also some pretty cool games and apps that take advantage of this better, full color passthrough mode, which to me makes this that much more useful, whether it's an app or game or even a virtual desktop.
Another change is that the controllers no longer have the big halo at the end of them, make them a little lighter and more useful in some situations, as well as the hand tracking being improved. You won't be spinning, flicking, and moving things around like your Tony Stark, but it is nice to be able to use the device without having to have a controller in your hand. However not all apps and games work with hand tracking. It's just not quite there yet. And it does work better when you have plenty of light as opposed to low light. But here's the thing, the light doesn't have to be visible. It can be infrared light. So if you want to lay in bed and use the thing while someone is sleeping, just get an infrared light and "light" up the room.
While the original versions of the Quest were not appealing to me yet, and though the Quest 2 was, but I found it underwhelming in areas enough that I ended up not using it much, I feel like the Quest 3 is now a usable, enjoyable device for me. It's not perfect, but it's a big step in the right direction, and what we'll be able to do in the next few iterations of these is going to be pretty crazy and fun. So I would recommend getting one of these and unless your expectations are not realistic, there are plenty of ways to enjoy this thing.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: The Meta Quest 3. Is it worth upgrading...
detailedReviews 8: content: THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
The Meta Quest 3 is the first AR/VR headset I owned, and as someone who has always been a bit skeptical of VR, I have to say I have been more than impressed with the Meta Quest 3. Described as a Mixed Reality VR Headset, the Meta Quest 3 does a bit of everything. It is a PC, a gaming console, a VR headset, an augmented reality headset, a social networking device, and more. The Meta Quest 3 is a bit of a jack of all trades device, and if you are at all curious about VR or AR, it is definitely worth your time and investment, as it does it all so well, and is really a ton of value for the money. The fact that it comes bundled with a genuinely must-play game (VR or otherwise) in Batman Arkham Shadow, only makes the product even better. Highly recommended.
SET-UP
Setting-up the Meta Quest 3 is a bit of effort if you don’t already have a previous Meta Quest or aren’t already in the Meta ecosystem. You have to set-up your account, download the Meta Horizon app, and then configure your profile. The actual headset itself is easy to set-up for your face shape. All of the straps are easily adjustable by hand while it is on your head (vertical and horizontal tightness), and the headset comes with a built-in spacer for those with glasses. I particularly like that the spacer is included as a device feature with 4 levels of spacing, which makes it easy to adjust for your glasses and face type. It took a bit of playing around, but now it is easy to take on/off with minimal adjustment. Once on, you can also adjust the distance of the lenses to match your eye spacing, and once complete, you're good to go. Despite wearing my glasses in the headset at all times, I quickly got comfortable with it, although I do think if you can wear contact lenses you should, as you can still feel the extra pressure on your face from the glasses and lenses.
On the software side, once you have your account configured, you can link other accounts as needed, and then it is basically a PC with a lot of native software for AR & VR. You can shop for games & apps in the built-in store, download VR worlds for interacting with others, or just browse the internet like you would with a normal PC. The included controllers make it very easy and natural to navigate, move screens around, and otherwise get around the virtual environment. If you want, you can also use your hands as controllers, with specific actions like pinching which can allow you to interact with the environment. Personally, I found the controllers to be more natural and faster to use, but having a controller-less option is also nice, especially if using the Quest 3 on the go.
Overall, it takes a bit of headset on/off time, account set-ups, agreements, login screens, etc., to get it all set-up, but once up and moving, you shouldn’t need to worry about much, and the built-in tutorials work really well for taking you through everything, even for a novice like me.
MIXED REALITY
The first thing you will experience with the headset is the augmented or mixed reality features, which are in many ways the most impressive of the many features the headset offers. The passthrough cameras on the headset are quite good, although still distinctly cameras. You get color, decent resolution, and can make out text on things like your phone when using the headset. You won’t be fooled into thinking that you aren’t wearing a headset just by the vision quality alone, it is still very clearly a camera feed, and in lower-light situations it is still easy to tell it is passing a video stream. However, given that it at least makes the headset usable in the “real world” without needing to take it off is a big win.
What is also nice is that you can always go back into the mixed reality mode by tapping the headset twice on the side, so even when in VR or a game, you can quickly get back to the mixed reality mode and see your surroundings in seconds. Once in mixed reality though, there are a number of apps and features you can take advantage of. In my time with the headset so far, I have played a few AR games, and browsed the internet like I would on my PC. From the PC perspective, it works really well as you can easily open multiple windows, and set-up your desktop in the mixed reality mode so it is like your own personal workstation. I don’t think I could personally ever see myself using this for work, as it feels more complicated than what I need, but for casual browsing/multitasking it works well. The gaming side was where things really opened up for me. The First Encounters game that comes with the headset was amazing in how it mapped my room and then seamlessly made a shooting gallery game using my room as the arena. Even beyond gaming, you can use the headset to do things like learn piano using a virtual or a real keyboard, with virtual directions. It is honestly a bit amazing this is where the technology is at, and I was very impressed.
VIRTUAL REALITY
On the VR side, with the double tap of the headset, you can go into the VR mode. You always have to create a room boundary, where the headset can automatically map your room and identify areas where you can or cannot go. Then, if you approach the boundary, a virtual barrier appears in your apps to warn you, and if you go past it then it will take you back into the mixed reality mode. If you want, you can also draw manual boundaries, or if you are stationary in a seat, you can tell it that. It takes only a few seconds and works extremely well, and I have had no issues with it failing to map my room or misidentify where I cannot go.
Once in the VR space, you can play games (more on that below), explore virtual social worlds, watch VR youtube videos, use VR apps, and more. The resolution on the headset is great, and given the Snapdragon XR2 Gen2 processor, you can run most VR apps you would expect to run on a PC VR headset without issue. You can even use the Meta Quest 3 with your PC wired or wirelessly if you want, although I personally have not been able to test this yet. One of my personal favorite features is casting, where I can cast the VR display to my phone, so I can watch or others can watch what the person in VR is doing. If I mirror my phone to my TV, then we can have it up on the TV while someone is using the headset, which makes the whole VR experience, which is typically more solo, a group endeavor and in my opinion a lot more fun.
GAMING
This to me, is still where the headset is at its absolute best. Meta Quest 3 has a ton of games and a lot of developers building for it, and many of the games are excellent. I played two quite a lot with it in my time so far; Walkabout Mini Golf and Batman Arkham Shadow. Walkabout Mini Golf looks incredible and runs very smooth, giving you a bit of an introductory VR game that isn’t too disorienting, feels natural to play, and is a fun party game to play.
Batman Arkham Shadow on the other hand is another level. I have played every Batman Arkham game, and I was shocked by how much this one felt like it belonged right with the others. It doesn’t feel like a VR game for the sake of being a VR game, but a strong video game that happens to work really well in VR. That being said, you can go full VR experience if you want, or dial it back if you are new. I personally dove in the deep-end and did the “immersive” mode, which allows you to freely move around the environment, jump, glide, grapple, fight, and otherwise do anything Batman would do. It took a bit of time to get my VR sealegs, but after a bit, I quickly adjusted and was playing the game without any issues. Honestly, while I don’t have a ton of benchmarks for VR games, I do have a lot of gaming experience, and if Batman Arkham Shadow is anything to go by, VR gaming has a bright future ahead of it. The immersion is next level, and it runs super smooth throughout on the Quest 3 while still somehow looking great. It really is a demo for what the Quest 3 can do, and works extremely well at it. It is a must play, and honestly should be your first stop after getting the headset.
SOCIAL NETWORKING
I admittedly didn’t use these features a ton, but I did play around with the horizon worlds and virtual environments a few folks had set-up, and they were very impressive. Personally, I don’t know many people with VR headsets, and so I don’t know how much i would use a lot of these features, but if you do have other friends with VR, they can be very cool ways to feel like you are closer with folks who aren’t actually in the room with you. It still feels a bit niche to me, compared to the other apps & features of the headset, but could be a main feature for a lot of folks who like virtual networking.
THE REST & WRAP-UP
Battery life on the headset is okay, but could definitely be better. I get about 1.5 - 2 hours depending on what I am doing, but not much more. The headset stays silent, and if you are playing any media, the built-in speakers do an above average job of placing you in virtual worlds. I still would recommend using your own earbuds or headphones to really immerse yourself, but if you just want to use the headset and go, you really don’t need anything else. And I think that is the biggest winner for this in my book, it just works, and does it all on its own. You get everything in the box you need to use the device, no extra cords, controllers, computer, battery, etc., it just is an end-to-end piece of tech, and does it all really well. You can tell Meta has put a lot of money and time into the product, and it feels like it. It is arguably the most polished piece of tech I have used in a long time, and for how much it is trying to do, that is saying a lot. Mixed reality and VR may not be for everyone, but if it is for you, this one is very much worth a look.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT The Meta...
detailedReviews 9: content: I've been an enjoyer of video games since the late 1970's (arcade, PC and console)....but only recently tried VR for the first time when purchasing a Meta Quest 3....and was blown away....
One of the downsides, however, was the discomfort and added light bleed when using my eyeglasses. I also have contacts, but rarely wear them anymore, and found it a hassle to put them on any time I wanted to use the VR headset..and also found my eyes would dry out when using them.
I happened to hear about numerous companies making prescription lens inserts and started checking them out....One of the companies that kept popping up as good quality for the price, and good customer service was Reloptix....so I decided to give them a try.
Uploaded my prescription and purchased one of their kits. (Would like to add...when investigating other companies, their price would often start lower than Reloptix, but increase with every little option until you were paying, in some cases, quite a bit more than the comparable Reloptix...who's listed price actually WAS the price you paid, regardless of prescription or options.)
Took a few weeks to receive (this was clearly stated at the time of order), and I did receive a couple of emails with updates.
Received tracking information when they shipped, and received them on time and in good condition.
They come in a very nice hardshell plastic case (overkill maybe, but still, impressive to see).
I watched a clear and concise installation video they had put on their website....everything went nice and easy during the install (You do need to remove the "facial interface", if that makes you nervous...but it shouldn't...it pops right out).
And using them for the first time...I, at first, thought the prescription might have been off a little bit, as some things didn't seem as clear as I'd have liked....but, I think that might have just been me needing to adjust to them.
Now, after a few days, they seem fine....and again, the comfort level of the headset, because of the inserts, has increased dramatically...and I have less light bleed than before (an unexpected and very welcome benefit), which has led to more enjoyment and a more immersive feeling, when using the headset.
If you wear glasses, I would definitely recommend getting prescription lens inserts ....and based on my experience, so far, with Reloptix, I would absolutely put them on your short list for vendors to investigate, and purchase from.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: I've been an enjoyer of video games since...
detailedReviews 10: content: We are upgrading from the original Meta Quest to the Quest 3 and what an upgrade! Our account easily loaded to the new Quest 3 and immediately we were downloading the games we already have to the new spacious 512 GB hard drive. The rest of the setup was simple as always with the creation of your boundaries.
The first thing we noticed playing even old games like Angry Birds was the picture quality with the upgraded resolution. The added sharpness to the picture adds even more to the virtual aspects, making you feel like you are in the game.
Now for the mind blowing new feature, the mixed reality. The first demo game of shooting little moving balls while also seeing your living room and blowing holes in your real/virtual wall was amazing. Seeing something drop down through your ceiling is pretty cool too. We only played the demo game but can't wait to see what else the mixed reality features can bring for games.
Another new feature that works well is using your virtual hands instead of the controllers. So far we have only used that feature with Batman but it really seems like the next advance for the future, using hands instead of a controller.
The headset for this model is easily adjustable and goes from my adult head to the kids with a few minor adjustments. The speakers are plenty loud and tapping the side of the headset to go from virtual to reality is a great feature to have instead of taking the headset off to see what's happening around you. Speaking of our kids, besides playing games, they continue to use the new model to run away to virtual reality by watching videos on Youtube.
I have seen the other reviews of people worrying about the lower battery life. Yes it uses the battery faster, but you are now running a more powerful device so its a fair tradeoff. The good news about charging is the connection to charge is USB-C so its a simple cord and not cumbersome.
Overall we are blown away by the upgrade and would suggest anyone else thinking about it to go for it.
marketplace: google
source: google
sourceLogo: https://i.flash.tech/a/rs:fill:300:400:0/g:sm/plain/s3://flash-creatives/images/merchants/google
starRating: 5
title: We are upgrading from the original Meta Quest...
