The Meta Quest 3 looks like the significant upgrade it needs to be
Meta Quest 3 was just teased yesterday, but one thing is for sure: Meta is going all in again.
Its predecessor is the world's best-selling VR headset. And with good reason: Meta Quest 2 still offers the best value for its price.
When it was unveiled in 2020, many were surprised: Quest 2 offered 50 percent more pixels than the original, a brand-new chip that was twice as fast, and it cost $100 less. Although there were some downgrades, the overall package was compelling. Meta sold many millions of units in the years that followed.
The teaser of Meta Quest 3 holds a great promise: that the next generation of the consumer-oriented headset will be a similarly big, if not even bigger technical leap forward than Meta Quest 2, although something is very different this time around.
A lot of technology for a relatively low price
Meta Quest 3 has been improved in almost every way: the headset will be much thinner and more comfortable to wear, with a higher resolution display and new lenses that provide a sharper edge-to-edge clarity, a better IPD adjustment system, a chip that more than doubles the performance, ringless controllers with improved haptics, as well as dedicated RGB passthrough cameras and a depth sensor that will enable true mixed reality experiences.
We don't know the exact specs yet, but the list of improvements is long. Quest Pro disappointed, but Quest 3 could make up for it. Meta knew they couldn't afford to make any mistakes or compromises if they wanted to continue the groundwork laid by Quest 2.
On paper, at least, the Quest 3 already looks like the extraordinary device that could shape the industry for the next three to four years. Despite the influence of Apple, which will most likely occupy the very high end of the market with its mixed reality devices.
We'll see three price segments in the fall
Meta is taking a different pricing strategy this time around, and that brings us to the aforementioned drawback.
Meta Quest 3 will be more expensive (starting at $499) than Meta Quest 2, which was released in 2020 for $299. For this reason, Meta Quest 2 will not be replaced by Meta Quest 3 for the time being, and after a temporary price increase, it will return to its launch price of $299 on June 4, 2023.
In the fall, when Quest 3 is released, Meta's headset portfolio will thus comprise three price segments:
- Meta Quest 2 starting at $299
- Meta Quest 3 starting at $499
- Meta Quest Pro for $999
According to a leaked hardware roadmap, Meta plans to release a more affordable headset codenamed Ventura next year. It will likely be a "Meta Quest 3 Lite" with technical compromises compared to the more expensive model, but with the same mixed reality focus.
Anyway, yesterday's teaser of the Quest 3 got me excited about the future of the headset, and here's hoping Meta hits the right notes again. The question is: Will Pico follow suit this fall with a similar offering?
The full unveiling of the Meta Quest 3 will take place on September 27th at Meta Connect 2023.
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