Now that the Oculus Quest 2 is out and selling well, there’s a good chance that a third-generation Quest is in the works. But Facebook, which owns the Oculus brand, isn’t likely to release the Oculus Quest 3 anytime soon.
However, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a recent earnings call that the company is “continuing to work on new hardware as well. The new hardware will kind of fit the same platform.” Zuckerberg added that Facebook wants “content that works on Quest 2 should be forward-compatible,” which would suggest that the social networking giant has plans to make more Quest headsets in the near future.
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Given the Oculus Quest 2 is our pick for the best VR headsets you can buy right now, we’d be keen to see an Oculus Quest 3. Information is thin on the ground here, so a lot of what’s ahead is speculation for the time being. But here’s what we know and want from the Oculus Quest 3 so far.
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Oculus Quest 3 release date
Given the Quest 2 came out in the fall of 2020, we’re not expecting the Oculus Quest 3 to arrive in 2021. At the earliest, 2022 could be the target year for its release. But we’d not be surprised if it arrived in 2023.
The Quest 2 has plenty of life left in it and looks set to get a form of 120Hz refresh rate upgrade. So it should have enough features to stay relevant for a year or two yet.
Oculus Quest 3 price
The Quest 2 costs $299 for a 64GB model and $399 for a 256GB model. Both have sold very well; check out our where to buy Oculus Quest 2 article for more. As such, we’d expect the Oculus Quest 3 to be a direct replacement for its predecessor, likely keeping the same price bands.
Ideally, we’d like to see it come in at a slightly lower price just to open up the world of virtual reality to others. But we suspect the Quest 3 isn’t likely to drop below the $250 mark.
Oculus Quest 3 specs and rumors
The most obvious spec the Oculus Quest 3 will have is a 120Hz display by default. The current Quest 2 can support a 120Hz refresh rate but it needs apps to upscale content to do so. A speedy refresh rate out of the box would be much appreciated, especially by those who can suffer from motion sickness when using VR headsets.
Aside from that, we can expect there to be an upgraded chipset, likely from Qualcomm. This could be custom silicon, rather than an off-the-shelf chipset.
Improved battery life would also be a boon. And a cable bundled into the box, rather than an expensive optional extra, to let you plug the Quest 3 into a gaming PC, would also be on our wishlist.
Oculus Quest 3: What we’d like to see
We were very impressed with the Oculus Quest 2, but there’s still room for the Quest 3 to deliver improvements. Here’s what we’d like to see.
Rechargeable controllers: The Quest 2’s controllers relied on a single AA battery each, which delivered around 30 hours of juice. That’s not bad, but we feel a USB-C rechargeable battery pack would be a boon, as well as more environmentally friendly.
Boosted hand-tracking controls: Improved hand-tracking would be appreciated in the Quest 3, as we found that in the Quest 2 it could be a little finickity and not hugely intuitive.
Even higher refresh rate: A 120Hz refresh rate is great, but a 144Hz or higher refresh rate for super-smooth VR games and experiences is on our wish list.
More Oculus apps: The Oculus Store is not short on VR apps and games, but we’re always keen to see more. Games that really deliver immersive VR experiences, rather than more arcade-like action, could help the Quest 3 stand apart from its predecessor.
Oculus Quest 3 outlook
The success of the Quest 2 means Facebook can simply refine the Oculus Quest 3 and be on to a winner. Ideally, we’d rather see it push things further on both the hardware and software sides.
By offering an all-in-one VR system that can deliver truly immersive virtual experiences, we could then see the still reasonably niche world of virtual reality become increasingly mainstream, leading to more apps and games to feed our greedy eyes and hands.
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