MobileSyrup recommends the Meta Quest 3S for affordable VR

I’ve been wearing Ray-Ban Meta glasses for more than a year. I use their different AI capabilities, take photos occasionally, and they sport my prescription lenses so that I can see the world around me. But moving on from these regular-looking glasses, I want to explore the augmented and virtual reality worlds, so I asked to check out the Qualcomm-powered Meta Quest 3S.

The Meta Quest 3S offers mixed-reality gaming, fitness, and entertainment; it works with apps like Facebook and Instagram. I mostly used the Meta Quest 3S to better experience games and watch TV. For instance, I downloaded apps like Netflix and Crunchyroll and played games through Xbox Game Pass via the Cloud with an Xbox controller connected to the Meta Quest 3S.

The Meta Quest 3S offers a lot, starting at $399.99 CAD. Let’s explore how I used it and why I think this is an excellent purchase.

Wearing a VR headset

I wasn’t sure I’d like wearing the Meta Quest 3S for extended periods; the device seems quite heavy. However, the 514g Quest 3S isn’t too bad on your head for long periods (about three hours). It weighs your head down, but you can get accustomed to the headset. The foam facial interface feels nice against your face. Unlike Apple’s Vision Pro, you can remove the facial interface from the headset, place a glasses spacer, and attach it to the device. Afterwards, you can re-insert the facial interface and have your glasses on while wearing the Meta Quest 3S. You can purchase prescription lenses for the Meta Quest 3S from Zenni Optical, but this is free and comes with your Meta Quest 3S.

The Meta Quest 3S design is slim, and the adjustable straps make it comfortable. The customizable headset also allows you to adjust the lenses and push them away or closer for a better experience. I liked how the Quest 3S fit. I found it pretty comfortable, and I’ve even fallen asleep several times wearing the headset.

The headset isn’t too heavy but it’s big enough that I find it awkward to travel with. And you can’t really do a lot with the headset without a connection to Wi-Fi. If you want to use your headset offline on a commute or a flight, there is an overly technical way to get content on the device, according to Reddit, but I haven’t been able to figure it out. The YouTube app is supposed to allow people to download content offline if they have premium, but I’ve been having trouble getting offline videos to download.

The headset is very easy to control. You can use either the two controllers that come with it or even your hands to pinch your thumb and index finger. I like that there are options to use the controllers or your hands, unlike the Vision Pro, which doesn’t have controllers. Of course, you can also connect a Bluetooth keyboard, mouse, and headset. I’ve even connected my Xbox gamepad to play Xbox titles.

It’s worth mentioning that the headset only has about two-three hours of battery life. I’ve completely killed the battery life in one three-ish hour sitting.

Complete immersion

Speaking of playing Xbox titles, I downloaded the Cloud Gaming app to play Hollow Knight and The Callisto Protocol. It’s not that I’m playing these games in a virtual world or that they’re any better, but I like the experience and find it more immersive. Having your screen right in front of your eyes offers excellent immersion, and while it doesn’t improve how I play the games, I think it’s an incredibly fun experience.

Aside from gaming, I’ve enjoyed watching shows on the Quest 3S. Animated shows look excellent in this immersive experience. I’ve watched the Pantheon series alongside episodes of Jujutsu Kaisen, Tokyo Overdrive, and Delicious in Dungeon on the headset. That is hours of TV, and it’s delightful. The Meta Quest 3S lacks 4K resolution like its more expensive counterpart, the Meta Quest 3, but it sports an 1832 x 1920 pixel resolution per eye. It can show content incredibly well thanks to its 96-degree by 90-degree field of view, offering 773 pixels per inch (ppi), higher than any of your smartphones.

A higher pixel density packs more into each square inch of your screen – or that is your virtual screen. A higher pixel density provides better-looking images, for instance, a 720p resolution with a higher pixel density will look better than a 720p resolution with a lower resolution meaning you’re looking at a great picture right in front of your eyes. Live-action series also looked good with the Meta Quest 3S, but animated series, on the other hand, look super crisp.

You can stretch out the virtual screen more than what your eyes are capable of seeing at a glimpse. If you make the screen too large, you’ll have to move your head around to see all of it, like if you’re too close to the screen at the theatres. You can also choose to have the display flat or curved and go into an immersive mode, which will darken all around the window and give you that full movie theatre effect.

The YouTube app uses this immersive experience the best as you can only use it in the metaverse environment, forcing users into a VR experience. Then, everything darkens around you and starts to offer a first-class watching experience. I wish I could get it to save videos offline because I’d be using this on every flight.

I’m Batman

I didn’t play a lot of VR titles on the Quest 3S, but I played Batman: Arkham Shadows and that alone was worth it. You play as Batman in the game but in a first-person perspective. You’re trying to stop the Rat King from causing havoc in Gotham. You can sneak around, stun enemies, counter and use your cape. The title is similar to Arkham Asylum, but instead of just using the controllers to fight, you actually punch your enemies. I liked this; playing is a bit of a workout, as you’re swinging at each of the enemies with left and right jabs, straights and using your fist to counter enemies from your sides. Like the other Arkham games, you build combos the more you fight and don’t get hit. I’ve never seen the worth of virtual reality games. I’ve played titles like SuperHot VR and Beat Saber, but Batman: Arkham Shadows sold me. The experience is immersive: punching your foes, raising your hands to pull out your cape and having to grab to climb stairs and pick up objects. Having the virtual screen so close to your face makes me not want to stop playing.

The Meta Quest 3S is a stellar device, and for $399, I would definitely recommend it. I don’t even use the metaverse components, but I would still say that this is a device worth your coin.

Playing games and watching content more immersively is such a fun experience. The Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2, alongside the 8GB of RAM, keeps the device running smoothly. I wish the device was smaller and more glasses-like to offer both VR and AR experiences. There are options, such as the TCL RayNeo and the XReal One, if you want to connect it to your phone and look at your screen. However, the Meta Quest 3S is so much more than that and is more affordable than those other options.

I don’t see myself replacing my Ray-Ban Meta glasses, but the Meta Quest 3S definitely has a place in my heart.

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