Meta Quest 3 launches next month for £480 – Xbox Cloud Gaming to launch this year

In the current economic climate, an expensive VR headset won’t be a necessity for many people, but not only did Sony launch the PlayStation VR2 this year, we also know exactly when the successor to Meta Quest 2 will arrive. I did.

The product, which was supposed to be called Oculus Quest 3, has almost been shadowdropped and will go on sale on October 10th, priced at £480.

The main appeal of the Quest series is that it doesn’t need to be connected to a console or PC to work. All processing is done by the headset, so although it is expensive, it is a good value for money. So there are no wires that can be a tripping hazard.

Mehta had already said the headset would be released this year, but the sudden price announcement is likely an attempt to get in before Apple’s Vision Pro launches, considering it costs $3,499. , I don’t think they are direct competitors.

Meta likes to describe the Quest 3 as a mixed reality headset. This means running VR as well as AR, mixing real-world views with computer-generated images.

Graphics power is limited because it doesn’t have the power of a console or PC, but the new specs are still impressive, with the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor promising twice the graphics processing power of the Quest 2.

It also has 8GB of RAM and two 120Hz LCD displays, each with a resolution of 2064 x 2208, making it 30% sharper than the Quest 2. The horizontal field of view is 110°, and the vertical field of view is up to 96°.

The AR feature relies on two 18 PPD RGB color cameras on the front of the headset, as well as speakers with 40% louder volume and 1.5-3 hours of battery life.

Adding all this up, the headset weighs 515g. This may sound heavy, but all previous Quest headsets have been very comfortable, and the new ones are no different in that regard.

Finally, the new Touch Plus controller has improved haptic feedback and infrared tracking, rather than the familiar rings that are common in VR controllers, including the PlayStation VR2.

As usual there are two versions, the 128GB version costs £479.99 and the 512GB version costs £619.99. Both editions also include a copy of Asgard’s Wrath 2, at least until January 27 of next year.

As an added temptation, there’s also the promise of support for Xbox Cloud Gaming in December. Xbox doesn’t seem too interested in his VR and doesn’t have a headset of its own, so this seems like the next best thing.

It’s possible to connect Meta Quest 2 (and we’re assuming 3) to a PC and use it that way, but there’s no suggestion that you can do the same on Xbox Series X/S.

Instead, you’ll have to rely on cloud versions of games like Forza Motorsport, Starfield, and Halo Infinite, which seems like it would put a huge strain on your broadband.

But if it works, Microsoft could end up running more AAA first-party games in VR than Sony, which would be quite a turnaround.