Meta Quest 3 Review – I Can See Clearer Now

For any frustrations and confusion related to Meta (formerly Facebook) and whatever the Metaverse is, one consistent and more straightforward element of the company’s VR push is that from the beginning, its hardware has been pretty solid. While the Rift headsets had their share of growing pains and iterations, they were generally smooth. Meta Quest 3 continues along that path to deliver what is, by a large margin, my favorite VR headset, but it doesn’t fix all the problems the medium continues to face.

Comfort and Visuals

Comfort and Visuals

Meta Quest 3 headsets are comfortable to wear. It is easy to adjust the straps and you can make it tighter against your face. This is good for blocking out light and moving your head quickly without needing to adjust, but if you’re not careful the tension can lead to headaches. It is great to have the option of wearing the headset tight, because the positioning around your eyes can be crucial. The headset should be able to fit snugly over my eyes. This would cause a new and more severe type of nausea.

It was surprisingly easy to wear the headset with my glasses. PlayStation VR2 is still the most agreeable headset for glasses wearers like myself, but I’m happy with the amount of room inside the Quest 3 for my admittedly large (but undeniably stylish) frames.

The display inside the headset is an improvement to Quest 2. Quest 2 was also an improvement to the original Quest. Quest 3’s screens are comparable to the impressive in-headset screens of the PlayStation VR2. VR struggles with the issue of the screen being inches away from the player’s eyes. Compared to Meta’s prior headsets, Quest 3 is undoubtedly the sharpest it has ever looked. It is still unsettling to see the difference between a headset game and a standard game played on a TV.

Mixed Reality

Mixed Reality

The most worthwhile improvement, beyond the added resolution to the in-headset screens, is Quest 3’s approach to mixed reality. Quest has crucially featured the ability to use passthrough cameras to actually see your environment without taking off the headset since the beginning, but Quest 3’s pass-through cameras are full color and high resolution. This makes it easier to see the world outside. As a compliment to Quest 3, I was surprised I could look at my phone and, for the most part, see what was on the screen – a particularly practical feature when you need to quickly check a text or other alert.

The implementation of mixed reality into videogames is not yet clear, but the game that is included is a simple and fun technical demonstration. While sitting in my desk, I saw the walls falling away to reveal a planet of aliens as cute creatures came towards me. It’s simple to shoot the tiny creatures in order to collect them, and it is also charming that the office appears on an alien globe. It will be interesting to see what games do with this technology in the future.

Controls and Interface

Controls and Interface

Unlike the headset itself, the controllers do not represent a significant hardware upgrade, but that’s okay. Quest’s controllers have always been comfortable with excellent motion tracking. The rounded circles that covered your hands for tracking were a nuisance, and I was worried I’d miss them. But their removal allows you to bring your fingers closer, leading to a smoother gaming experience.

The hand-tracking feature allows users to play games, navigate menus or control the game without having to use a console. Quest has experimented with the use of your hands for some time. Quest 3’s improved cameras make the hand-tracking function more accurate, but it still isn’t optimal. It’s a cool idea to physically push menu buttons using your finger (which feels better because of the cameras that pass through), but the method is inconsistant and complicates menu navigation. It’s a cool trick to use your hands, but after a couple of minutes I switched back to the controller.

The Games

Runner

The Games

Quest 3 has backwards compatibility, so your library will move forward. Unfortunately, some games have not been optimized to work with the new headset. Resident Evil 4 looks better, but has some visual problems that can cause nausea. Beat Saber is my favourite VR game and it runs like a charm on Quest 3 Pistol Whip is another VR title that’s excellent. It was impressive that my saved data continued to work without any changes. Drop Dead: The Cabin – a online wave-based shooter – and Runner – an arcade game involving running — were also enjoyable. AkiraIt was the first arcade racer/shooter that I experienced with PlayStation VR2. Runner plays comparably on PlayStation VR2 and Quest 3, but it’s more enjoyable on the latter mainly because I vastly prefer the smoother usability and no-wires of the Quest 3. The Quest 3 update to Resist (another previously released Quest title) also impressed me. Its fun, first-person swinging was reminiscent of Spider-Man in an open, large city.

The Verdict