Quest 3 review: Best value for money VR headset on market

Meta’s new mixed reality headset, the Quest 3, is the closest thing we have to the famed holodeck from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Sci-fi has been foreshadowing the arrival of new technology for years, from warp drive to transporters.

Sadly, most of that tech is yet to be developed, but it is getting closer.

Meta’s new mixed reality headset Quest 3 is the nearest thing we have to a holodeck - the holographic environment simulator made famous by Star Trek: The Next Generation.

It allows users to blend the physical and digital worlds together.

The upgraded Quest 3, complete with higher resolution and an improved design, is even better at transforming the ordinary living room into the realms of imagination than previous iterations.

I was in Menlo Park for Meta Connect 2023 in September to witness Mark Zuckerberg unveil the Quest 3, Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses and the latest on artificial intelligence.

Meta sent me over a Quest 3 to review as soon as the units arrived in Australia - and this is my take.

Quest 3 provides a mixed reality experience.

You can play VR games and sport using the Quest 3.

Gaming and entertainment

Virtual reality action-adventure game Assassin’s Creed Nexus and RPG game Asgard’s Wrath are the headline video games for the device. They are really fun.

But I found myself most often drawn to a reimagined classic — The Climb 2.

It offers the chance to exercise and the improved graphics on the Quest 3 are clear with the environments on the rock-climbing platform game.

You need plenty of space in your living room as you launch yourself across a craggy rock face.

A rock face in The Climb 2 as seen in the Quest 3.

My wife spent a lot of time playing Les Mills Bodycombat XR, and swears the immersive fitness game is the best workout available. She definitely works up a sweat.

The headset is also a great way to consume video, with YouTube and Netflix both supported.

The Quest 3 is like a virtual projector and can make a huge screen in even the smallest room.

As a quick side-note, I used the Quest 3 for gaming and entertainment, but there are business applications as well being rolled out. 

The Quest 3 turns a living room into a theatre. Picture: Reddit

A preview of the YouTube VR app as displayed in my living room.

Design

The first thing that draws attention is the different design. It’s the most powerful headset ever shipped by Meta. It’s completely wireless which allows you to be immersed in the virtual world. 

Processing power has been ramped up on the Quest 3 and the graphics performance is about double that of the Quest 2.

A look at the components inside the Quest 3.

It’s more comfortable to wear as well, with a customisable head strap allowing for adjustments.

There are also new pancake lenses with a slimmer profile and the visuals are delivered through two displays (2064x2208 resolution per eye).

The audio is vastly improved, with volume about 40 per cent louder than the previous model, according to Meta.

The controllers have also been given a touch-up by Meta’s engineers, with new TruTouch haptics providing better sensations.

They’re also now ring-free and the sleek design seem to more naturally fit in my hands.

The new Depth API release.

Passthrough

The passthrough technology is a major improvement to the Quest series. The headset’s sensors provide you a “real-time view of your surroundings”, essentially giving you video footage of what your eyes would normally see.

This is key blending the physical and virtual environments and what Mark Zuckerberg means when he talks about mixed reality.

It’s activated when you’re adjusting the headset and through certain apps. 

Passthrough was recently made even better with a new update released by Meta, Depth API.

It supports occlusion through the headset’s depth sensor, meaning objects are rendered more appropriately — for example putting a virtual pet behind a table rather than in front of it.

Meta solution for rendering your legs is a “cutting-edge AI” model to estimate the movement of your lower body.

The change is generating a fair bit of hype in the VR space and there are high expectations it will be heavily utilised in new apps.

Also, upper inside out body tracking was also recently rolled out. This utlises the downward facing camera on the headset to track parts of your body including shoulders and wrists, which will vastly improve certain VR games.

My take

The work Meta put into the improved design for the Quest 3 — plus continuing updates — is paying and it’s better than the Quest 2 in almost every way.

If you loved the Quest 2 you’ll definitely want to upgrade to Quest 3.

And if you’ve never used virtual reality before, what are you waiting for? This is the best value for money headset on the market.

Meta Quest 3 is available now from the Meta Store starting at $AU799.

Quest 3 specs

● Product dimensions: 184mm x 160mm x 98 mm (L x W x H, including headset and facial interface with in-box soft strap at minimum adjustment)

● Product weight: 515g including headset, soft strap and facial interface, with slimmer re-designed headset shape to help better balance weight on the head

● Tracking/ Sensors: Meta Quest 3 has six advanced camera sensors to power high-resolution

colour mixed reality and wireless inside-out SLAM tracking with six degrees of freedom

● Storage: Available with 128GB or 512GB of storage space, enabling continued exploration of the vast library of titles without the need to delete your favourite apps and games.

● Processing Power (SoC): Advanced hardware stack and the first headset ever to be built with the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 platform for 2X faster graphics performance, delivering faster load times and more seamless gameplay compared with Meta Quest 2. This brings enough power to

support heavy applications like fast-action gaming, customisable avatars, 3D design and seamless full-colour, high-resolution Passthrough.

● Audio: Integrated stereo speakers and microphone. 3D spatial audio places you in your space with improved volume output (40% louder audio range than Quest 2), increased bass range and optimal L/R matching capabilities. Also compatible with 3.5mm headphones via a single headphone jack.

● RAM: 8GB adds 33% more memory compared with Meta Quest 2

Originally published as Quest 3 review: Best value for money VR headset on market