I finally got my hands on the Meta Quest 3S VR headset to test it out for our in-depth Meta Quest 3S review, and using the headset has given me flashbacks of using the Oculus Quest 2 – and made me realize how rubbish its visuals were this whole time.
The Meta Quest 3S uses the same chipset and has the same RAM as the Meta Quest 3, meaning it can play all the same VR games and apps as its sibling like the upcoming Batman: Arkham Shadow (it even comes with a free copy of the game). But its most noticeable downgrade is its displays. Instead of the crisp 2064 x 2208 pixels per eye dual-display setup of the Quest 3 you have to make do with the Quest 2’s 1832 x 1920 per eye single display setup, which the Quest 3S is repurposing.
The Meta Quest 3S also relies on the Quest 2’s fresnel lens system instead of the pancake lenses used by the Quest 3. I won’t get into the weeds of how these lenses differ technically, but know that fresnel lenses are bulkier and cause blurriness at the fringes of your field of view.
The Quest 3 is worth upgrading to
Back when I was regularly using my Oculus Quest 2 – which was later rebranded as a Meta Quest 2 – I definitely noticed that the visuals weren’t as crisp as watching a show on my phone or playing a game with my PS5 on a 4K TV. But I’d also often feel that people who were overly critical of the resolution or screen door effect were being too harsh (the screen door effect is when you see black lines over the display because you can see the gaps between pixels).
I had a fantastic time using it and felt (and still feel) it was hands-down the best VR headset for most people at its peak thanks to its solid performance for its super-low price.