It Might Be More Affordable, Yet It Still Made Me Uneasy

I hadn’t stepped into the realm of mixed reality headsets for a while until recently. I’ve got a Quest 2 at home, but it hasn’t seen much use lately since I’ve transitioned most of my tech usage to a foldable Android device. However, my experience with the Meta Quest 3S during Meta Connect made me wonder if there’s still room for these experiences in my routine. If only it didn’t make me feel queasy!

Meta has unveiled the Quest 3S, starting at a more wallet-friendly $300. It’s a tad cheaper than the standard Quest 3, running on the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 platform. But, the trade-off comes in terms of resolution, as the Quest 3S doesn’t offer quite the expansive field of view. Yet, it surpasses what the Quest and Quest 2 offered. Meta seems to be targeting folks like myself who haven’t donned their headsets in some time and might be enticed by an upgrade. It features full-color mixed reality passthrough, allowing me to easily maneuver during my demo just by switching to that mode.

Initially, while using the Meta Quest 3S, I felt like I had missed out on this kind of immersive experience. But soon, I was reminded of why these devices often gather dust. They make me nauseous. Whether it was because I hadn’t eaten or the heat was getting to me, about half an hour into my demo, I had to politely take a step back to catch my breath in the real world.

The tipping point for me was the Horizon World’s Music Valley Experience. Featuring Sabrina Carpenter, who I remember from her Disney Channel days, the simulation made it seem like she was performing right in front of me, which was a bit too up close and personal. At one point, an avatar joined me, and we ended up dancing together. This person kindly showed me around, and we moved over to an alien spaceship that was handing out musical notes. Trying to catch these notes with the joysticks as claws turned my stomach.

That said, there were high points with the Quest 3S. I caught the beginning of a Celine Dion special on Amazon Prime, and she sounded spectacular. I enjoyed a serene session sitting in a field of daisies in a stunning 8K, 3D YouTube video. I even shuffled some virtual windows around just for fun. Attempting to play an Xbox game didn’t go so well due to a faulty controller, and I did jump into Just Dance, but my stamina for VR was waning by then.

The queasiness peaked in Horizon Worlds, which lacked a consistent horizon line to stabilize my view – a typical trick to ease seasickness. Oddly, I didn’t anticipate feeling nauseous while seated. That’s probably the only position I’ll stick to for future headset adventures. Meta might have cracked the code on reducing the cost of the Quest, but they still need to tackle how to make it gentler on sensitive stomachs in virtual and mixed reality settings.

The new Meta Quest 3S starts at a reasonable $300 for the 128GB model, with the 256GB version priced at $400. You can preorder it now, and it officially hits the shelves on October 15.