Meta is expected to announce the Quest 3S headset during its Meta Connect event next week. The company aims to introduce a new headset with similar mixed reality capabilities to the Quest 3 but at a cheaper price point. An apparent leak suggests that the headset could be its most affordable yet.
According to Reddit user Vast_Front259, an Amazon ad seen on the Peacock streaming service shows the 128GB version of the Quest 3S selling for just $300. This comes before the headset has been officially announced, meaning the ad is being released ahead of schedule.
While the ad appears legitimate, the Reddit user in question doesn't have a strong account history. The video that plays before the price is a previously released ad that only shows the Quest 3 in the video itself. So we remain a bit skeptical, but nothing about this leak is fundamentally implausible.
If the Quest 3S is priced at $300, it will be the most affordable Quest headset yet.
The original Quest headset was released in 2019 for $400.
And while the Quest 2 originally launched at $300, the Quest 3S is expected to run on a newer processor and have mixed reality capabilities much closer to the Quest 3, and it needs to run upcoming Quest 3 'exclusive' content that the Quest 3 can't run. So Meta has never offered a headset with this kind of capability and performance at this price.
And let's not forget inflation. The Quest 2 launched at $300 in late 2020. If the Quest 3S is indeed priced at $300 in 2024, that would only be $250 in 2020.
The Quest 3 launches in late 2023 for $500. And while it's Meta's best Quest headset yet, its price tag and lack of great apps for its mixed reality capabilities have earned it less traction than it otherwise might have. As far as we know, the Quest 3 still hasn't quite managed to outshine the much more affordable Quest 2.
At $300, the Quest 3S finally hits the price point needed to bring the Meta's mixed reality features to the majority of Quest users, while giving developers more incentive to create rich mixed reality content.