Meta Opens Pre-Orders for its $499.99 Quest 3 Mixed Reality Headset

Meta has now opened pre-orders for the Quest 3, the company’s new mixed reality headset that will start shipping on October 10. The Meta Quest 3 was announced back in June as a successor to the Quest 2, which saw its price drop to $299.99.

The Meta Quest 3 starts at $499.99 for the base model with 128GB of storage, and a 512GB version is also available at $649.99. Compared to the Quest 2, Meta promises faster loading times and double the GPU power thanks to the new Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chip.

The 4K displays have also been upgraded with a 30% resolution bump compared to the Meta Quest 2. The new headset is also thinner and offers better weight distribution than its predecessor.

On the software front, Meta promises a seamless transition between a traditional VR experience and a less isolating mixed reality experience that lets users interact with their environment. This is what Microsoft and now Apple have been pushing with their own mixed reality headsets, but at a much higher price point. Meta actually describes the Quest 3 as “the world’s first mass-market mixed reality headset.”

“Starting next year, we’ll also introduce augments: interactive, spatially aware digital objects that come to life all around you. Imagine hanging your favorite piece of art on an accent wall or a weather augment on your desk that alerts you before rain starts—and every time you put on your headset, these digital objects appear in the same places,” the company explained.

Meta also said that over 100 new and upgraded games will be available on the Quest 3 by the end of the year, in addition to 500+ backward-compatible games. The company also announced that Xbox Cloud Gaming will launch on Meta Quest headsets in December.