Leak teases 'final' Meta Quest 3S ahead of its expected announcement next month

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Meta is almost certainly announcing a new VR headset at Meta Connect 2024, which, based on leaks from Meta itself will be called the Meta Quest 3S. Rumors from other sources suggest it’ll be a cheaper alternative to the Meta Quest 3, with a bulkier body and a lower-resolution display but a similar chipset, so you should be able to play Quest 3S exclusives on it, and now a new leak has teased what's said to be the headset’s final design.

This comes via @Lunayian, the source for the majority of Quest 3S leaks (besides Meta), and for those of you following along the headset shown looks a lot like what we've seen in previous leaks. It’s as bulky as the Meta Quest 2, but at least seems to have the Quest 3’s improved elastic strap, a flatter front, and two bundles of three sensors for mixed reality and tracking.

The most interesting addition is a button that sits just behind the volume bar on the headset’s underside. Back in July Luna shared rumors of this being an action button that in some Horizon OS versions is “used to toggle Passthrough/MR” as an alternative to the double-tap used on the Quest 3 proper – though in other OS versions users are instructed to double-tap, suggesting the button could have another purpose or, as Luna speculates, it “may be remappable at some point.”

I’ve previously admitted to my surprise that Meta would go for this design – even originally believing that the design would change dramatically from the leaks. Manufacturers seem hell-bent on making everything slimmer and lighter these days; Apple removed the Vision Pro’s battery pack to trim weight, the Meta Quest 3 adopted pancake lenses to cut bulk (among the other improvements that they bring), and lightweight smart glasses (with or without AR) seem to be a major focus for everyone, based on both official information and leaks from various tech giants’ R&D departments.

The Meta Quest 3S design shown in this leak would go against that trend, returning to the almost entirely phased-out fresnel lens system, and lowering the display quality too – apparently opting for the Quest 2’s dual 1832 x 1920 pixel LCD system. 

This would likely be one of the design choices Meta has made in order to keep the price of Quest 3S low (even if it's not one I was expecting), although exactly how much cheaper than the Quest 3 the Quest 3S will be is something we don't yet know – it's one detail that the leaks have been light on, though it’s been suggested that the Quest 3S price will match that of the Quest 2.

If the leaks turn out to be correct – which, while we generally advise that unofficial info should be taken with a pinch of salt, I’m feeling pretty certain they will – it’ll be interesting to see exactly how this Quest headset shapes up.

While I wholeheartedly love my Quest 3, a cheaper Quest 3S could encourage more people to try out VR (as the Quest 2 did); however, much will depend on how good the Quest 3S is, and we’ll likely have to wait until Meta Connect 2024, which takes place on September 25 and 26, to know for sure. 

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