Meta Quest 3 128GB— Breakthrough Mixed Reality Headset — Powerful Performance

UPDATE: 18 Months Later (Updated on Apr 06, 2025)COMFORTThe Quest 2 was so unbearably painful and uncomfortable for me, no matter what I did, that I ended up returning it a day later.I was actually afraid that the Quest 3 wasn't worth getting because it weighs the same as the Quest 2, even 12 grams more.But the Quest 3, with its default strap, is wonderful to wear. It doesn't feel heavy at all. I like how the facial interface, headset weight, and straps feel. I can wear the Quest 3 for countless hours without feeling any discomfort. If a person is experiencing discomfort, it is because they didn't adjust the straps properly.TIP - ADJUSTING STRAPSWhen adjusting the headset for the first time, the top middle strap should be adjusted first. It determines how high or low the headset will be on your head. And the most important adjustment is the headset arms because the angle of them will determine how clear your vision will be. The back straps will determine how snug the headset will be on your head. I recommend making it loose and not at all snug, so long as the headset won't slide around your face. For those who ever experience discomfort, it's because the headset arms are not at a good angle which causes the pressure of the headset to be solely on the forehead which will go numb due to a lack of blood flow.PASSTHROUGH IS AWESOMEI originally didn't care about passthrough and foolishly wished that they didn't upgrade it. I thought that Meta could make the headset lighter if they didn't add extra passthrough cameras. But the Quest 3 is not at all heavy and is very comfortable. Passthrough is great feature that I wish more games and apps would take advantage of.The Quest 3 passthrough isn't crystal clear, but it is definitely pretty clear and leaps and bounds better than Quest 2's. I have no complaints whatsoever and am really happy with it.LIGHT LEAKAGE ISN'T A PROBLEMThere is a small opening around the nose area. It's very small and not at all noticeable. I have spent countless hours on the Quest 3 using all sorts of apps and games, and that small opening has never been noticeable to me. In fact, it has been immensely useful. I can tilt my head towards the ceiling to peek through that opening at my computer screen if I need click on something but don't want to lift the headset off of my face. Having that small opening lets me keep track of my surroundings so I don't bump into furniture or stub my toe. If people seriously think that the small opening takes away from the immersion, they can get a cheap nose cap on Amazon.SMART GUARDIANAnother thing that I like about the Quest 3 is that there is a smart guardian AKA Roomscale Boundary. On the Quest 2, if you step outside a small circle, you get kicked out of the app that you were using and get told to create a new boundary which is very time consuming. On the Quest 3, I have my entire house as my boundary. Well, to be specific, I only drew the boundary in the rooms that I needed. So for me, the boundary included my living room, kitchen, bathroom, and hallways in between. It's so great to be able to walk around the entire apartment and be able to continue using VR and AR with no interruptions.MEMORY SPACEI am very disappointed that the Quest 3 did not come out with a 256 GB version. And I am even more disappointed that one year later, the 512 GB version is now $150 cheaper and is the same price as the 128 GB version was a year ago. On the 128 GB version, around 30 GB is being used for System apps and some other apps like Meta Horizon Worlds. A lot of games only take up 4 GB or less, so it is possible to install a lot of games and apps on the headset. But there are some games that take up a lot more space, like Asgard's Wrath 2 takes up 36 GB. When the Quest 3 came out in 2023, I did not want to spend an extra $150 for the 512 GB version. I was able to manage well with only 128 GB since it is very easy and fast to uninstall and reinstall apps. But now the 128 GB version has been phased out and the 512 GB is $150 cheaper, so I recommend getting the 512 GB version. I would not get the Quest 3S or a Quest 2. Those headsets are far inferior to the Quest 3.PRODUCTIVITYI loved using Virtual Desktop. It lets me have three virtual monitors that I can resize and place anywhere I want. And there is a great headlock feature that makes it so that the monitors follow your head. I even used it to read comics while walking around the house.Another similar app is Immersed. You can get a fourth virtual desktop screen for free, if you don't mind being forced to log in every few days, which I find tedious and annoying. Immersed's two strengths are that you can be around other Meta avatar users and the rooms are spacious and nice looking. At one time, Immersed completely abandoned support for physical monitors, forcing you to unplug HDMI cables for the app to work. Luckily, physical monitors work again, in most cases. The number one flaw with Immersed is that it is incredibly difficult to move and rotate screens. I wish that they WOULD FREAKING LISTEN and use Virtual Desktop and Reality Browser's method of pressing the controller grab button to grab the screen from the center. Oh, and get this. Immersed banned me from their Discord server even though I rarely posted in there. What a bunch of ... Immersed is often a buggy, unpleasant mess. For months, I will log in to see avatars sitting inside the floor, sitting too high, or are invisible altogether. There is no way in Immersed to move ALL the virtual screens up with you whenever you stand up. In Virtual Desktop, you simply just need to press the Oculus Button to reposition everything. Immersed assigned someone a couple of months ago to work on the virtual cursor bug, but I've heard nothing but crickets since then. I reported that Immersed doesn't start with Windows despite being set to do so, and yeah that's not fixed either. Anytime I lift my laptop lid, Immersed pops open on my screen instead of remaining minimized. This has happened billions of times so far, but of course it is trivial to them so they won't do anything about it.LYING DOWN MODEQuest 2 received the Lying Down mode in version 63.0. Quest 3 received it in version 64.0. At first, Lying Down mode was unusable for me because it would always force me into Stationary Boundary and it would delete my previously drawn Roomscale Boundary. But it no longer does that since around version 69.0, so Lying Down mode is really great now. Not only that, but before the Lying Down mode forced you to look directly at the ceiling and it would rotate the screen at an even 90 degrees. But now you can tilt the headset screen to any angle that you want, which is really good for me because my head never looks directly at the ceiling while it is resting on a pillow. I didn't like how it took nearly 10 months after I purchased my Quest 3 before they finally had a working Lying Down mode, but I guess better late than never.QUEST 3 - WORTH THE PURCHASE, NOT EXPENSIVE IF YOU DON'T BUY UNNECESSARY THINGSAlthough I mostly only use Quest 3 for Immersed now, I am really glad that I purchased it. Immersed can sometimes make me more active and productive and help cure my boredom, depression, and loneliness. The 512 GB version now costs $499 plus tax, which comes to $533. It used to cost $150 more. At the time that I purchased my headset, I didn't think that I would need any additional accessories, and that is still true for me. I still don't need or want a different headstrap or extra battery packs. I just use a 20 foot extension cord. The extension cord lets me move around the house freely while keeping the headset charged.I can't get over how great the Quest 3 is. I hated the Quest 2. I don't know what other VR headsets are like, but the fact that most of them at least 200 grams heavier than the Quest 3 doesn't appeal to me. But the Quest 3 is delightful.VR COVERSAlthough I am against and don't recommend getting a different headstrap or extra battery packs, the VR covers are a nice addition. The cover provides a slight improvement in comfort, absorbs sweat better, and keeps dead skin cells from getting on the default foam interface. I purchased them five months after I bought my headset. Two VR covers on the VR Cover website would have cost me $61.20 (after a 10% discount code and $9 shipping). On Amazon, it costs $38.46 for two VR covers (after $7 shipping and $2.50 taxes, with free returns). The VR covers are extremely well designed and fit the interface perfectly.BATTERY LIFEI use the Quest 3 while it is plugged into an extension cord. On some apps, the battery level stays around the same. On other apps, there is a small drain while the Quest 3 is plugged in but I can play a very long time. Some apps use a lot of battery, but I can play for a very long time and the battery will still have 20-40% left after I am exhausted. But I have never had the battery die on me before I finished my gaming session when the Quest 3 is plugged into an extension cord. I definitely do not suggest using the Quest 3 unplugged. Two hours goes by too fast, and that is two hours maximum. If you are using some demanding apps and games, especially with Passthrough, the battery will probably only last 45-55 minutes. I am using the default Quest 3 18W charger and charging cable. I tried the Anker 30w charger but the battery drain was actually a lot faster on it than the Quest 3 18w charger so I returned it.TIP - USE EXTENSION CORD INSTEAD OF BATTERY PACKSI just use a 20 ft extension cord in which I plug in the default Quest 3 charger and charging cable. The extension cable cost me $15. It lets me go into every room in the house without unplugging anything. I just tuck the heavy extension cord in the front of my pants which just leaves the default Quest 3 link cable between my waist and headset. That default Quest 3 charging cable is light and its 3.3 feet length is actually a bit long, so I usually wrap it around my neck once so my controllers won't get caught and snagged on the cord.APP - VIRTUAL DESKTOP (FOR WIRELESS)I prefer Virtual Desktop over the Oculus Link. If you decide to use Virtual Desktop, you only need to buy the Quest version (don't buy the Steam version), and then go to the computer browser Virtual Desktop website and download the free Virtual Desktop Streamer App for your PC. The free Virtual Desktop Streamer App is what streams your PCVR games to your Quest headset so you can play them on your headset wirelessly. By the way, wireless does not seem to have any lag or loss of performance that I am aware of, so don't think that you need a cable to connect your Quest 3 to your computer for PCVR gaming. I think that it is better to use a wireless connection. It has been advised to have a good WIFI router and to use an Ethernet Cable to connect your WIFI router to your PC. I did use an Ethernet Cable, but my router is a very year old ARRIS SURFboard SBG6900AC Docsis 3.0 16x4 Cable Modem/ Wi-Fi AC1900 Router that I bought for $106 and it worked well, so maybe you don't need the best WIFI routers since my router isn't that great.TIP - WIRELESS VS WIRED. SAVING MONEY.If you use Virtual Desktop, you won't be using a link cable. And I absolutely loathe Oculus Link (Wired or Wireless), so there hasn't been any need for me to use a link cable at all. I just use an extension cord to keep my battery charged and I use a wireless connection for virtual desktop apps like Virtual Desktop and PCVR games. An extension cord is probably better at keeping the Quest 3 charged than a link cable connected to a computer. The extension cord I bought only cost $15, but the 16 ft Quest Link cable costs $80.TIP - OCULUS LINK PROBLEMSOne thing about Oculus Link (Wireless) and Oculus Link (Wired) is that they might not work right unless you go to Go to Oculus Desktop App > Settings > Beta > and enable Public Test Channel and let the app update. I don't use Oculus Link, but that is important to know so please make note of it. Some apps only work with Oculus Link, but I have only encountered one or two apps that only worked with Oculus Link and they were both games that I did not care for and uninstalled.TIP - USB-C WATER/DEBRIS ISSUEThere is a "serious" issue with Quest 3 headsets known as the water debris error. "USB-C charging port disabled... Liquid or debris has been detected..." Most people experienced this since v62, around the time the Quest 3 headsets were first released. I was lucky to never have experienced it until 10 months later on Aug 2024. For me, it prevented me from charging my headset and probably from transferring data too. Meta sent me a replacement charging cable and that fixed the problem. My advice to you is to have some backup Anker charging cables in case you run into this problem. It only costs $10 for two Anker charging cables ($5 each). Also, I think that backup charging cables should be brand new and never been used before. If you have some cables that seem to be in good condition, they might still be worn out enough to cause the water/debris error. That's why I recommend having NEW charging cables as backups. I think that the reason why I might have gotten the water debris error in the first place is maybe because I accidentally got some spittle or other liquid on the USB cable.RECOMMENDED GAMES AND APPSI had some fun trying out different VR games, but for some reason I got bored with them and quit playing them. I decided to uninstall most of my games and only use Immersed for productivity. I also like the AI Roommate app a lot.I completed Red Matter 1 and 2 and mostly enjoyed them. If you are into zombie type games, some of the ones that I tried are Survival Nation, Propagation: Paradise Hotel, The Living Remain, Project Terminus, Resident Evil 4 (VR), Arizona Sunshine, The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners, and Doom 3 (not really a zombie game, but close enough). I didn't complete any of these games, but I did get pretty far in a couple of them.I also paid $10 for Quest Games Optimizer (QGO). It lets you increase the resolution of headset games (not PCVR games). It does make a huge difference and is worth getting. Increasing the resolution and CPU/GPU usage will cause a faster battery drain, but I keep my headset plugged into an extension cord so it isn't a problem for me. I once used Lighting Launcher, which is free, but I quit using it because QGO does the same thing and more.GAMES - PCVR GAMESI have a laptop with GTX 1650 and i5-9300H. It doesn't handle PCVR games well at all. Most PCVR games are unbearably laggy on it and pretty much impossible to play. But there are some games that are somewhat playable despite the severe lag. If you are into PCVR, I recommend having at least a RTX 3070 (mobile or desktop).COMPLAINTSThere needs to be a shortcut on the Oculus Tray or Quick Settings menu to toggle between seated and standing up mode.The Oculus Tray allows us to have five pinned apps, but three of them are Meta apps that can't be unpinned. I also think that they should let us have more than five pinned aps.I hate how Meta installs bloatware apps but prevent us from uninstalling them.

So, I started with the original Oculus Developer Kit 1, then on to 2, then the consumer Rift, Rift S, Quest 2, and temporarily had a Quest Pro (a great piece of tech, but too expensive..returned in 1 week). We've come a long way with Quest 3....- The clarity of the new "pancake" lenses are a marvel after dealing for years with the now primitive, Fresnel lenses. No more having to reposition the flipping headset around, over and over just to find that one tiny spot of clarity while their outer area remains blurry. These flat pancake lenses are just super clear all around, from edge to edge.- The resolution bump from the Q2 is another nice welcome. The blacks are not jet black like you would find on an OLED screen (like the PlayStation VR2), but that would bring the cost up. When you're playing games or experiences, you won't even be thinking about it. Would you rather have fresnel lenses like PS2VR? I don't think so. In addition to these new features, the fieild of view has widened on Quest 3, another upgrade that makes a difference.- The sound is beefier and louder. No more tin can alley like the Q2, and the fantastic spatial sound adds more to the immersion. I went back and played some older games, finding sounds that I've never quite heard on Quest 2, which really surprised me. The haptics are also very much improved over the Q2, though not as potent as I would have liked. The Pro controllers are more advanced in this department, as is the PSVR2.- The controller wrap around rings over the hands are a thing of the past, and good riddance. These controllers feel great, and track without a hitch. I'm super glad that they are sticking to regular AAA batteries for the controllers. They last a sick amount of time, as opposed to the Quest Pro controllers which are rechargeable. Some people prefer that style, but I prefer having to simply replace batteries and continue playing, rather than waiting for yet another device to recharge Plus, I remember getting overheating warnings with the Pro Controllers, and they never felt warm. If you didn't put the controllers down for a bit, the warning would not go away. There's a number of complaints about this odd issue in the Oculus forums. Not sure if they fixed this by now, but I do remember the Oculus mods being dumbfounded by this ordeal.The Mixed Reality / PassthroughAs someone who's been around the tech industry for over 35 years, this is a new level of entertainment. Mixed Reality puts virtual objects right in your real space. Imagine sitting on your couch, viewing your entire room, while watching a spaceship break through your ceiling and land on your couch. Following that, you'll view in amazement as alien fuzzballs start breaking apart the walls to your surroundings, trying to get in, while revealing a complete alien landscape as you race to catch those critters with the supplied blaster as they pop in and land on your floor, and furniture! You have to see it to believe it. You're still in your room, but now all the walls have been blown out. This all works convincingly thanks to the new room scanning feature, which is something right out of the Matrix. You simply walk and look around your room(s) as it automatically detects walls and obstacles during setup.How about playing a dungeon crawling board game ON YOUR ACTUAL TABLE, or break into a sweat as zombies smash through your doorways, and climb in from the windows. If that's too much, then why not set up a giant TV screen that would dwarf the real TV in your room. Dozens of games and apps already have been updated to support mixed reality, so there's already many things to try out. Every day seems to bring more.The beauty of Mixed Reality is that you're not fully engulfed in Virtual Reality. You're still seeing all of your real world, but the virtual stuff comes to you! This is a wonderful way to introduce newcomers to VR who may not feel comfortable completely cut off from their surroundings. So, now you can exercise with a virtual trainer, box against a computer opponent in your own living room, or explore your house which can be haunted with ghosts. All this can be done without worrying about kicking your dog, watching if your baby wanders away or smashing your skull into a real TV set. One other advantage, it cuts down the possibility of motion sickness which can be a problem for certain people. The one big complaint about mixed reality - the passthrough is kind of fuzzy, so your real world has kind of a grainy film over it, and when combined with the stunning virtual objects, there's a stark difference. Good lighting helps the situation, but ultimately, it becomes a non-issue because once your play area is combined with the virtual world, you won't even be much concerned about the quality; your room becomes the backdrop as your eyes are mainly focused on the virtual parts, leaving the whole mix to be quite convincing, and for this price point, to have this feature? Are you kidding me? It's amazing!Of course, you can alway play in total virtual reality, because that's still the popular choice for hardcore VR enthusiasts. Speaking of which, I've seen many comments on various forums where VR veterans were knocking mixed reality, saying things like "who wants this? I don't need mixed reality, I will only play in complete Virtual". After a few days, I already saw a change of heart. Now it's, "oh wow, I never thought I'd get into this, now I want more!". Yeah, mixed reality is here to stay and grow.The comfortWell, here's where I personally find a negative. The default strap provided with the Meta Quest 3 is similar to the strap on the Quest 2, however, this has a bit more stability, with its adjustable Y-shaped back. It's one of those things, you try on, and think - oh, this isn't bad at all, only to find shortly after, either your forehead, cheeks or both feel a bit too much pressure. It's not as bad as the Quest 2, as the Quest 3, doesn't protrude as much, due to its new design, but it's no way good for long play sessions. I simply purchased a 3rd Party Elite-style strap on Amazon.. so mission accomplished there as it's a very comfortable, halo-style ($37.00) which is the way to go.Battery life...is still short - around two hours, though some complained it's even shorter. I tend to use an ultra-long C cable plugged into an Anker power supply and I can go all day, and only take it off if I'm playing something like Beat Saber, or anything else that requires a lot of crazy hand movements.PCVRLike its predecessor, the Q3 will work with your PC Oculus and Steam VR games, providing you have a powerful PC. With the new resolution, wider FOV and lenses, PCVR games look better than ever!Overall - I absolutely love the Quest 3, even my spouse who had no interest in VR was amazed by the mixed reality and now wants one as well.