Meta Quest 2 VR headset has been on the market for nearly three years and was originally launched as Oculus Quest 2. While Meta launched Quest Pro last year, It’s not a true successor to Quest 2, but rather a $1,499.99 mixed reality headset aimed at high-end VR users and workplace collaboration. Meta is reportedly working on Quest 3, and someone has already claimed to have hands-on experience with a prototype.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that he got his hands on an early version of Meta Quest 3. Physically, he said, the prototype “feels much thinner and lighter than Quest 2.” The design of the headset has also changed: instead of a drab gray front, there are three vertical, pill-shaped sensor areas. The left and right pills contain a color video perspective camera, which allows users to see the world around them, and a regular camera. That means it has two color cameras, while Quest 2 has only non-color cameras. The middle pill contains a depth sensor, also a first for the Quest series.
The Quest 3 prototype’s video perspective hardware also brings a big boost to the device’s AR mode. Gurman reports that it “presents more accurate colors and provides an almost realistic rendering of the real world”. Overall performance is also better, most likely due to a custom chip Qualcomm first announced in 2022.
Meta Quest 2 currently starts at $399, and Gurman says Meta could sell Quest 3 for much more. But if it doesn’t go up too much, Gurman thinks it “could make some noise this holiday season.”
Meta is reportedly set to release Quest 3 in October, and we may get to see a teaser for the debut later this week at the company’s annual Meta Quest Gaming Showcase event. The live event, which will showcase a number of new and unannounced Quest VR games, kicks off on June 1 at 10am Pacific time.