Meta unveils $299 Quest 3S VR headset, Orion AR glasses prototype

Meta announced the Quest 3S, the latest virtual reality headset to come out of the company's Reality Labs division and a cheaper offering than its predecessor.

The device will go on sale on Oct. 15, and it'll retail starting at $299, down from the $499 starting price for 2023's Quest 3. The device can be used to watch movies, as well as run VR fitness apps and gaming, Meta said Wednesday at its Connect event in Menlo Park, California. The company positioned the headset as a multitasking computer, putting it in competition with Apple's $3,499 Vision Pro headset that launched in February.

In addition to the Quest 3S, Meta on Wednesday also showcased its latest prototype of augmented-reality smart glasses and announced a flurry of new features for its Meta AI chatbot.

Meta's previous Quest devices are the bestselling VR headsets, with millions shipped thanks to heavy marketing and a lower price than many competitors, but those efforts have yet to spark a cultural phenomenon or a mainstream software ecosystem around VR. Including its acquisition of Oculus in 2014, Meta has poured more than $65 billion in expenses into its hardware efforts.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has defended the company's spending as a strategic initiative to prevent Apple from controlling future hardware platforms.

Although there was hope among VR developers that Apple's entry into the market would spur a wave of new apps and users, Apple hasn't revealed sales for its headset and reports suggest that sales have been in small volumes, under 1 million units, partially due to its high price.

A Meta representative said the "S" in Quest 3S stands for "start" — as in getting started with VR.

Many of the new Meta features that the company discussed for the $299 Quest