Meta Quest 3S: Budget XR headset's final design render revealed in latest leak
Even as the Apple Vision Pro witnesses waning customer interest and a marked slowdown in sales due to its inaccessible pricing, it seems Meta has been taking notes. Not content with resting on the success of the Quest 3 mixed reality headset (curr. starting at $465 on Amazon), it seemingly wants to drive wider adoption in the XR (extended reality) space with a more accessibly priced version to ease the entry into the world of VR gaming and entertainment for many buyers.
Rumours of such a device – the Meta Quest 3S or Quest 3 Lite – first emerged in March this year. Now, a purported final design render has surfaced thanks to Lunaiyan on X, to whom credit goes for much of the consistent information made available about the device so far.
The image (which conforms to prior leaks) reveals a design whose chief highlight is a pair of distinctive-looking triangular camera/sensor clusters. Based on prior leaks, these house two 4 MP RGB passthrough cameras, four infrared (IR) tracking cameras and two IR illuminators for depth sensing. Also clearly visible is an action button that can supposedly toggle visual passthrough or be remapped to other functions.
The Quest 3S is said to house the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor as its older sibling. The only (slight) downgrade is in the display modules, which are 1832 x 1920 (20 PPD or pixels per degree) fast-switching LCDs with a 90/120 Hz refresh rate. It also uses fresnel lenses with 3-position inter-pupillary distance adjustment, and spacers for glasses. The two Quest Touch Plus controllers remain unchanged.
Meta is not the only company trying to expand the market for XR devices by making them more affordable. ByteDance (which owns TikTok) has announced a launch event on August 20 for its new product, believed to be the Pico 4S mixed reality headset, photos of which have just leaked.
It’s not yet known when Meta plans to launch the Quest 3S, but with the category heating up, it would be better off doing it sooner rather than later. Pricing details are also scarce, but Lunayian has stated that it can be expected to fall below the $300 price point.
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