Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition is real — and after months of cloud gaming, I'd choose it over an actual Xbox

(Image credit: Meta)

Is the Meta Quest 3S an Xbox? Well, now there’s an Xbox Edition, the answer is a resounding “yes,” and it’s on sale right now.

Priced at $399/£369, this is looking mean in its matte black finish with green highlights — plus there’s an Xbox controller included, alongside three months of Game Pass Ultimate, plus an Elite Strap for comfort during those marathon gaming sessions.

And by gaming, I of course mean Xbox Cloud Gaming. But before you laugh it off, allow me to tell you why this isn’t just the best VR headset for most of you reading this, but also one of the best ways to play.

Because I’ve been using a Meta Quest 3S since launch, and Cloud Gaming is one of my most used features here.

Gaming in a cinema

I’ll start this with a quick heads up. To make this work, you need a WiFi connection of at least 20 Mbps or higher. Got it? Good.

I live in a rather small apartment where space is extremely limited. Add on top of that a preference for gaming from my bed, and access to a big screen TV for my gameplay is a no-go. That’s why I’m so into the best AR glasses and VR headsets as a replacement for the traditional display.

And when it comes to cloud gaming options on Meta Quest 3/3S, two options are the best: Nvidia GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming — with the latter offering a library of free games to play and a dedicated app, whereas the former requires you own your games on PC beforehand.

So to focus in on the Xbox experience here, it makes for impressively low latency gaming, whether you’re in something more slower paced like A Plague Tale: Requiem, or titles that require speedy reactions like Forza Horizon 5.

And with this being an app, you have much more control over the screen size — with the option to expand it up to a massive 26 feet.

You can either play with the screen suspended in front of you in passthrough mode (my personal preference with it anchored on a wall in front of me), or you can turn on the Xbox-themed immersive space to take away any potential distractions in the room.

I was a doubter of this in the past, as I always fell into latency issues and poor resolution problems. But Microsoft has improved its cloud gaming dramatically to the point that this is my go-to for not just gaming on-the-fly in bed, but for long sessions at the hotel or my parents’ house.

The surprising best way to play

With everything you get in the box — the Quest 3S ($299), an Xbox controller ($69), 3 months of Game Pass Ultimate ($60) and 3 months of Meta Horizon+ ($24), this is a fantastic value-for-money bundle for those who have been on the edge about getting into VR gaming.

You get the best of Xbox Game Pass on a giant cinematic screen, and the huge library of Meta Quest games to sink your teeth into. And you get it all with a stylish black finish that many people are having to use dBrand skins to replicate!

And let’s not forget the many VR games you can play too, to really get a taste of real immersive gameplay. I’m always keeping tabs on the best Meta Quest games I play, and there’s the Quest Link cable to jump into Steam VR too.

It may be an Xbox, but it's so much more than that!

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Jason brings a decade of tech and gaming journalism experience to his role as a Managing Editor of Computing at Tom's Guide. He has previously written for Laptop Mag, Tom's Hardware, Kotaku, Stuff and BBC Science Focus. In his spare time, you'll find Jason looking for good dogs to pet or thinking about eating pizza if he isn't already.

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Gaming in a cinema

The surprising best way to play

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