Quest 3S starts arriving today, and it comes with the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset as Quest 3. Here’s a detailed rundown of Quest 3S’s specifications and features and how those compare to other headsets.
UploadVR received a Quest 3S review only yesterday, and while we’ve published an interesting initial observation, we’ll need to spend at least a few more days with Quest 3S before we can bring you a full review.
In the meantime, here’s an on-paper comparison of Quest 3S‘s specifications to other headsets. Just keep in mind that on-paper specs don’t tell the whole story.
For brevity, these charts will only show the differences between Quest 3S and each headset. If something important isn’t specified, you can assume it’s the same between the two.
Quest 3S Specs vs Quest 3
Quest 3S has the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset and color passthrough mixed reality capabilities as Quest 3, but uses the old fresnel lenses and fixed single panel from Quest 2 to achieve its lower price.
The use of fresnel lenses means Quest 3S has inferior lens clarity compared to Quest 3 and a thicker design. And there are other more minor differences between Quest 3S and Quest 3.
Quest 3S
Quest 3
Lens Type
Fresnel
Pancake
Field of View
89-96° × 96°
110° × 96°
Lens Separation
3-Step
58/63/68mm
Continuous
58–70mm
Supported IPDs
56-60mm
61-65mm
66-70mm
53–75mm
Glasses Support
Spacer
Eye Relief Adjust
Display Type
Single LCD
Dual LCD
Pixels Per Eye
~1680×1870 (est)
2064×2208
Angular Resolution
20 PPD
25 PPD
IR Emitters
2x Flood LEDs
Depth Projector
Visor Thickness
73.9mm
62.3mm
Total Weight
514 grams
515 grams
Headphone Jack
❌
✅
Battery Life
2.5 hours
(average)
2.2 hours
(average)
Proximity Sensor
❌
✅
Action Button
✅
❌
Pricing
$300 (128GB)
$400 (256GB)
$500 (512GB)
Quest 3S doesn’t have a 3.5mm headphone jack, but it does have a new Action Button that toggles between passthrough and immersive VR, replacing the double tap gesture from previous Meta Quest headsets.
Quest 3S also doesn’t have a depth projector, which Quest 3 uses to improve the quality of its room meshing capabilities used during mixed reality setup. But it does have two IR flood illuminators, and in our testing so far we’ve found this means it has better low-light head and hand tracking, including being able to track in the dark.
Quest 3S Specs vs Quest 2
While Quest 3S shares the display and lenses from Quest 2, it has the new Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset, 2GB extra RAM, color passthrough, infrared emitters, Wi-Fi 6E, and ringless Touch Plus controllers.
The XR2 Gen 2 means Quest 3S has more than twice the GPU power, a higher default rendering resolution, and supports inside-out body tracking and mixed reality scene meshing.
Quest 3S
Quest 2
Chipset
Snapdragon
XR2 Gen 2
(4nm)
Snapdragon
XR2 Gen 1
(7nm)
RAM
8GB
6GB
Default
Render Resolution
1680×1760
1440×1584
6GHz Wi-Fi 6E
✅
❌
Body Tracking
Upper Body
Head & Hands
Passthrough
True Color
18 PPD
Black & White
4 PPD
IR Emitters
2x Flood LEDs
❌
Scene Meshing
✅
❌
Visor Thickness
73.9mm
93.1mm
Total Weight
514 grams
503 grams
Headphone Jack
❌
✅
Battery Life
2.5 hours
(average)
1.5-2.5 hours
Proximity Sensor
❌
✅
Action Button
✅
❌
Controllers
Touch Plus
(Ringless)
TruTouch Haptics
Touch
(With Rings)
Basic Haptics
Pricing
$300 (128GB)
$400 (256GB)
$200 (128GB)
However, there are also a few minor regressions from Quest 2. Quest 3S doesn’t have a headphone jack, meaning you need to use USB-C for low-latency private audio. And it doesn’t have a proximity sensor, meaning you have to manually toggle standby, as it can’t sense when you’re wearing it.
Quest 3S Specs vs Quest Pro
Despite launching at a price five times lower than Quest Pro launched at two years ago, Quest 3S is actually superior in key aspects.
It has the new Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset with a twice as powerful GPU, much higher resolution true color passthrough, infrared emitters, and a higher maximum refresh rate.
Quest 3S
Quest Pro
Periphery
Closed
Open
Lens Type
Fresnel
Pancake
Field of View
89-96° × 96°
106° × 96°
Lens Separation
3-Step
58/63/68mm
Continuous
58–70mm
Supported IPDs
56-60mm
61-65mm
66-70mm
55–75mm
Glasses Support
Spacer
Eye Relief Adjust
Display Type
Single LCD
Dual QD-LCD
Local Dimming
❌
✅
Pixels Per Eye
~1680×1870 (est)
1800×1920
Angular Resolution
20 PPD
22 PPD
Max Refresh Rate
120Hz
90Hz
Chipset
Snapdragon
XR2 Gen 2
(4nm)
Snapdragon
XR2+ Gen 1
(7nm)
RAM
8GB
12GB
Default
Render Resolution
1680×1760
1440×1584
Body Tracking
Upper Body
Head & Hands
Eye Tracking
❌
✅
Face Tracking
❌
✅
Passthrough
True Color
18 PPD
Colorized Black & White
6 PPD
IR Emitters
2x Flood LEDs
❌
Scene Meshing
✅
❌
Visor Thickness
73.9mm
~60mm
Strap Type
Cloth
(Replaceable)
Rigid Plastic
Battery Location
Visor
Rear Padding
Total Weight
514 grams
722 grams
Headphone Jacks
❌
2x
Battery Life
2.5 hours
(average)
1-3 hours
Proximity Sensor
❌
✅
Controllers
Touch Plus
(Ringless)
TruTouch Haptics
Touch Pro
(Self-Tracking)
3-Point TruTouch Haptics
Pricing
$300 (128GB)
$400 (256GB)
$1000 (256GB)
However, Quest Pro is superior in other aspects. It has pancake lenses with precise separation adjustment, and its displays have quantum dots for richer colors as well as Mini LED local dimming for deeper contrast.
Quest Pro also has more RAM and included self-tracking controllers, and some people may prefer its open periphery design.
Quest 3S Specs vs Apple Vision Pro
Quest 3S costs almost twelve times less than Apple Vision Pro. Or put another way, it’s less than a tenth of the price.
Apple Vision Pro has pancake lenses, offering superior sharpness and a more compact design, significantly higher resolution micro-OLED displays with HDR, the M2 chipset with a 10-core GPU, twice the RAM, eye tracking, face tracking, higher resolution passthrough, and fully automatic IPD adjustment.
Quest 3S
Apple Vision Pro
Lens Type
Fresnel
Pancake
Field of View
Taller
Shorter
Lens Separation
Manual
3-Step
58/63/68mm
Automatic
Continuous
51–75mm
Glasses Support
Spacer
❌
Display Type
Single LCD
Micro-OLED
HDR
❌
✅
Pixels Per Eye
~1680×1870 (est)
3660×3200
Operating System
Horizon OS
visionOS
Chipset
Snapdragon
XR2 Gen 2 (4nm)
w/ 6-core GPU
Apple
M2 (5nm)
w/ 10-core GPU
RAM
8GB
16GB
Eye Tracking
❌
✅
Face Tracking
❌
✅
Passthrough
4MP
6.5MP
LiDAR
❌
✅
Visor Thickness
73.9mm
~40mm
Weight
514 grams
600-650 grams
Battery Location
Visor
Tethered External
Tracked Controllers
✅
❌
6GHz Wi-Fi 6E
✅
❌
Proximity Sensor
❌
✅
Action Button
✅
❌
Pricing
$300 (128GB)
$400 (256GB)
$3500 (256GB)
$3700 (512GB)
$3900 (1TB)
However, Quest 3S offers a taller field of view than Apple Vision Pro, and comes with precision tracked controllers.
Quest 3S Specs vs Pico 4 Ultra
Quest 3S and Pico 4 Ultra use the same XR2 Gen 2 chipset, the same also used in Quest 3.
But Pico 4 Ultra has pancake lenses with wider & taller field of view, higher resolution displays and passthrough, more RAM, better weight distribution, faster charging speed, Wi-Fi 7, and a proximity sensor.
Quest 3S
Pico 4 Ultra
Lens Type
Fresnel
Pancake
Field of View
89-96° × 96°
105° × 105°
Lens Separation
3-Step
58/63/68mm
Continuous
58–70mm
Supported IPDs
56-60mm
61-65mm
66-70mm
53–75mm
Display Type
Single LCD
Dual LCD
Pixels Per Eye
~1680×1870 (est)
2160×2160
Angular Resolution
20 PPD
21 PPD
Max Refresh Rate
120Hz
90Hz
RAM
8GB
12GB
Body Tracking
Upper Body
Head & Hands
Passthrough
18 PPD
20.6 PPD
IR Emitters
✅
❌
Depth Sensor
❌
✅
Strap Type
Cloth
(Replaceable)
Semi-Rigid Plastic
(Not Replaceable)
Battery Location
Visor
Rear Padding
Charging Speed
18W
45W
Proximity Sensor
❌
✅
Action Button
✅
❌
Wi-Fi
6E
7
Pricing
€330 (128GB)
€440 (256GB)
€600 (256GB)
However, Quest 3S has inside-out upper body tracking, infrared emitters for better hand tracking, and is hundreds of euros less expensive.
Of course, in reality the decision to buy Quest 3S or Pico 4 Ultra will more often come down to the software and content differences than anything to do with the hardware.
Quest 3S Specs vs Vive Focus Vision
Quest 3S and Vive Focus Vision both use pancake lenses, but the similarities pretty much end there.
Quest 3S has the new Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset with a twice as powerful GPU, inside-out upper body tracking, and a higher maximum refresh rate in standalone mode.
But Vive Focus Vision, on paper at least, is superior in many other ways.
Quest 3S
Vive Focus Vision
Field of View
89-96° × 96°
116° × 96°
Lens Separation
Manual
3-Step
58/63/68mm
Automatic
Continuous
57-72mm
Supported IPDs
56-60mm
61-65mm
66-70mm
57-72mm
Display Type
Single LCD
Dual LCD
Pixels Per Eye
~1680×1870 (est)
2448×2448
Max Refresh Rate
120Hz
Standalone: 90Hz
PC: 120Hz
Chipset
Snapdragon
XR2 Gen 2
(4nm)
Snapdragon
XR2 Gen 1
(7nm)
RAM
8GB
12GB
Wired PC VR
Compressed
via USB
Lossless
via DisplayPort
($150 Adapter)
Body Tracking
Upper Body
Head & Hands
Eye Tracking
❌
✅
Face Tracking
❌
$100 Addon
IR Emitters
✅
✅
Depth Sensor
❌
✅
Strap Type
Cloth
(Replaceable)
Semi-Rigid Plastic
(Not Replaceable)
Battery Location
Visor
Rear Padding
Battery Hotswap
❌
✅
Proximity Sensor
❌
✅
Action Button
✅
❌
Headphone Jack
❌
✅
MicroSD Card Slot
❌
✅
Pricing
$300 (128GB)
$400 (256GB)
$1000 (128GB)
Vive Focus Vision has precise lens separation adjustment, higher resolution displays, more RAM, eye tracking, a depth sensor, battery hotswap, a headphone jack, a microSD card slot, and support for lossless quality PC VR via a $150 DisplayPort adapter. You can also add face tracking to Vive Focus Vision via a $100 addon.
Of course, in reality the decision to buy Quest 3S or Vive Focus Vision will more often come down to the software and content differences than anything to do with the hardware.
