Meta's new Quest 3S is the VR headset I wanted last year

The Quest 3’s $500 price wasn’t enough to dethrone the Quest 2. This more affordable variant should hit the spot.

- MICHAEL CRIDER

The Meta Quest 2 remains the most popular VR headset in the world, at least if we assume that Steam’s hardware survey (fave.co/3NjQe9V) is an accurate indicator of the VR headset market.

And it isn’t even a close contest: With 38 percent of the user base, it has more than double the market share of Valve’s own PC-focused Index HMD. So why is Meta’s newer and far more advanced Quest 3 headset so far behind its predecessor at just 17 percent in the same survey?

The answer is obviously its price. The Quest 2 is still the cheapest standalone VR headset you can find at most retailers, including crucial brick-and-mortar stores where VR headset demos are at least possible, if not commonplace. And it can be connected to a gaming PC with Steam, giving it more functionality than a PC-only headset (even if it’s using far less complex tech).

Originally sold at $250 and available at varying prices and bundles since its 2020 launch, the Quest 2 isn’t exactly an impulse purchase, but it is in the same ballpark as the Nintendo Switch, at least.