Meta Quest 3S preorder guide: Price, release date, and availability

Meta is launching a new entry-level version of its flagship virtual reality headset ahead of the holidays, and preorders begin today (Sept. 25).

Unveiled at the company’s Connect developer conference Wednesday, the upcoming Meta Quest 3S is nearly identical to the Meta Quest 3, save for a couple of small downgrades — and a $200 cheaper price tag.

• The Quest 3S has a 1832 x 1920 resolution display with 773 pixels per inch (ppi) and 20 pixels per degree (ppd), as opposed to the 2064 x 2208 resolution display with 1218ppi and 25ppd on the Quest 3.

• The Quest 3S uses Fresnel lenses instead of pancake lenses.

• The Quest 3S has a smaller field of view (FOV) of 96 degrees horizontal/90 degrees vertical instead of 110 degrees horizontal/96 degrees vertical.

The Quest 3S is available for preorder on Meta’s website ahead of its formal launch on Tuesday, Oct. 15. It starts at $299.99 for 128GB of storage — you can bump that to 256GB for $399.99 — and it comes bundled with two freebies: a three-month trial of Meta Quest+ and a copy of Batman: Arkham Shadow.

“Quest 3S is the best headset for those new to mixed reality and immersive experiences, or who might have been waiting for a low-cost upgrade from Quest and Quest 2,” Meta said in a press release.

Meta also announced a price adjustment for the standard Quest 3 as part of its presentation. The 512GB model now starts at $499.99, down $150 from its original launch price. (The 128GB base configuration was no longer available on the Meta website at the time of writing.)

The arrival of the Quest 3S also marks the discontinuation of Meta’s Quest 2 from 2020 and Quest Pro from 2022, TechCrunch reported.

This story is evolving.