Hands-on: Meta Quest 3 is the Apple Vision Pro for the Rest of Us

I ’ve try them both , and the newMeta Quest 3is noApple Vision Pro . At least as far as presenting a hyper - realistic motley realness experience that cover virtual objects and experiences into the real world while keep you from bump into the furniture . And for $ 500 , versus $ 3,500 for Apple ’s still - unreleased headset , that ’s utterly fine .

The fact is that the Quest 3 ’s biggest selling full point , its colour passthrough tv camera , are more than well enough to wow even jaded VR veterans . No , you wo n’t block you ’re wearing a headset , as I sometimes did with my ( highly curated ) Apple Vision Pro demonstration , but I could take the air around easily , read the time on my spotter , mostly read text on my sound , and otherwise interact with the substantial world .

See more : Meta Quest 3 in impression

Photo: Dan Ackerman

It ’s too uncollectible there are only a handful of Quest apps that take vantage of this new lineament . That could be because the Quest ecosystem , like Apple ’s app store , is a walled garden filled with for - leverage games and productiveness apps . At least there are a good figure of free demos and experiments , which moderately makes up for the fact that so many Quest apps experience expensive at $ 40 - 50 .

The star right now isFirst Encounters , a gratis secret plan that scans your room and send niggling fuzzy invader into it through the wall and roof . It ’s not reinventing the wheel , but the whole thing comes together in a very telling manner , including mapping not only the walls and ceiling in your room but the article of furniture , too .

The Quest 3 itself is more expensive than its forerunner , starting at $ 500 and going up once you add extras like more onboard storehouse ( $ 150 ) and a better headstrap ( $ 70 ) . The default headstrap , just a duet of textile shoulder strap with velcro , is sticky .

Nobody looks cool wearing one of these things.

Nobody looks cool wearing one of these things.Photo: Dan Ackerman

The Quest 2 launched at $ 300 back in 2020 , so this is a sizable startle , but you could also look at it as cost the same as a PS5 . Since this is primarily go to be used as a game equipment , no matter what metaverse advocates say , that ’s an disposed comparison , and it certainly feels like you ’re catch $ 500 worth of technology .

Besides being smaller and well balanced on your head than the Quest 2 , theQuest 3has a faster Snapdragon XR2 C.P.U. and 8 GB of RAM ( up from 6 GB ) , and the per - eye resolution jumps from 1,832 x 1,920 to 2,064 x 2,208 , which may not fathom like a hatful , but when all these updates are put together , it ’s a suave , quicker , well experience overall .

In fact , just as the persona foundation tool in games like Baldur ’s Gate 3 can wet-nurse you in for hour , I loved just going through the process of scanning various rooms to set up the Quest ’s limit . It ’s a immense advance over the drag - it - yourself version on most previous VR ironware , and the power to recognize objects in the world around you – again , not specifically newfangled to the Quest 3 – is what really deal a lot of people on the magic of mixed reality .

The Quest 1, Quest 2 , and Quest 3.

The Quest 1, Quest 2 , and Quest 3.Photo: Dan Ackerman

The control get an rise as well , losing the hefty ring that surrounded your brass knuckles on previous versions . The future of VR is undoubtedly hand - recognition controls , something the Quest 3 does quite well , so I suspect we wo n’t see a lot of further improvement in these .

senior games , like my son ’s current dearie , Gorilla Tag , and my farsighted - time favorite , Star warfare : narration from the Galaxy ’s sharpness , look a little crisper and go a little smoother , but it ’ll take time to get games specifically build for the new hardware . One of those games , Asgard ’s ira 2 , is included with your purchase , but the biz itself wo n’t be available until mid - December .

If you have a Quest 2 , I would n’t say this is a must - have upgrade , at least not until more Quest 3 only computer software is liberate . If you have an erstwhile Quest 1 or the sure-enough Oculus Rift , you ’ll be amazed at what this little standalone headset can do . And finally , if you ’re looking for the perfect gaming computer hardware vacation gift , with no new Nintendo Switch coming soon , in a portion of way theQuest 3is the only game in town .

Photo: Dan Ackerman