The successor to Quest 2 promises, logically enough, to capitalize on the predecessor's successes to further enhance its potential.
From October 10, you'll be able to get your hands on the Quest 3, a new augmented reality/virtual reality headset from Meta, formerly known as Facebook. Before going into detail, the Quest 3 is already available for pre-order through exclusive partners in each country. In France, for example, Meta has signed a deal with FNAC/Darty, and the two retailers are now offering it at 549 euros, although the product is still "forthcoming", as its release date is set for October 10.
The Quest 3 is the logical follow-up to the Quest 2, which benefited from an unbeatable price when it was linked to the requirement to have a Facebook account. With this constraint removed, the price was revised upwards, and it's in this context that we find the Quest 3 at 549 euros for the 128 GB version. It's important to remember that the headset is a stand-alone product and therefore needs its own storage space. A second version, with 512 GB of space, is also announced by Meta. It will still cost 699 euros.
The stand-alone Quest 3 is built around Qualcomm's XR2 Gen 2 SoC. Of course, it's still possible to connect it to a PC to use it as a conventional peripheral, but this autonomy was a major factor in the Quest 2's success and should benefit the Quest 3 even more, as Meta releases a video to show the graphical improvements we can expect on all compatible games: the XR2 Gen 2 is effectively backed by 8 GB of RAM and should be capable of doubling the headset's total processing power.
Each eye is also entitled to a little preferential treatment, with both screens boasting an enhanced definition of 2,064 x 2,208 pixels per eye. A minor disappointment, however, is that refresh rate remains stuck at 90 Hz, even though Meta is making us salivate with a 120 Hz mode currently undergoing testing. The field of view is 110° horizontal and 96° vertical. One small regret is that Meta has not integrated eye tracking, contenting itself with hand tracking in space.
These numerous improvements have the good taste of not weighing down the helmet too much, since the Quest 2 weighs 503 grams, while the Quest 3 weighs 515 grams. Nothing dramatic. What's more, it's interesting to note that the release of the Quest 3 doesn't seem to herald the immediate demise of the Quest 2: the latter is still in Meta's catalog, distributed at 349.99 euros in its 128 GB version and 399.99 euros in the 256 GB variant.
