Refurbished Meta Quest 3 Now Costs $380
If you don’t mind purchasing a refurbished headset, you might want to grab the 128GB Meta Quest 3 (Premium Refurbished) for $379.99 (down from $449.99) from the updated Amazon store. It has an adjustable headband that offers decent comfort and a quad-camera system that is said to do a good job of tracking your surroundings for AR content and clearly identifying your play area. Plus, the controllers are comfortable and functional, despite the lack of rubberized handles.
Additionally, its color pass-through cameras are a noticeable improvement over the Quest 2’s black-and-white camera; It has a screen resolution (2064 by 2208 pixels) that is considered bright and immersive, with good contrast and deep blacks, making the overall visual experience quite excellent for a headset in this price range. However, the Quest 3’s lack of eye tracking technology is something of a drawback, especially since it helps improve performance and control in higher-end headsets like the Quest Pro .
One drawback is battery life, a common issue with standalone VR headsets. According to PCMag’s review , Meta claims the Quest 3 lasts about 2.9 hours for multimedia, but that actually drops to 2.4 hours for games and 1.5 hours for productivity apps. And the charging time of 2.3 hours may seem long if you need quick gaming sessions.
If you’re considering alternatives, the PlayStation VR2 features eye-tracking technology and costs around $549, which may make more sense for PS5 owners. The HTC Vive Pro 2 is a beast at $1,199, but that price isn’t for everyone.