While More Affordable, It Still Left Me Feeling Uneasy

It’s been quite some time since I’ve strapped on a virtual—or should I say, mixed reality—headset. I do have the Quest 2 sitting at home, but it hasn’t seen much use recently, mainly because my foldable Android device handles most of my computing needs these days. However, my recent experience with the Meta Quest 3S at Meta Connect made me reconsider whether this kind of immersive tech might still have a place in my life. Just one catch: it left me feeling a bit queasy.

Meta unveiled the Quest 3S with a starting price of $300. It’s a bit more wallet-friendly than the standard Quest 3, running on the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 platform. Of course, you trade resolution for savings, as the Quest 3S doesn’t offer quite as broad a field of view. Even so, it’s an improvement over the Quest/Quest 2 models. It seems Meta’s aiming this new release at folks like me who haven’t dusted off their headsets in some time and might be tempted by an upgrade. The mixed reality passthrough is in full color, and it was effortless to toggle during my demo, allowing me to navigate without much fuss.

At the outset, diving back into the Meta Quest 3S experience felt like I’d been missing out. Yet, by the end of the session, I was starkly reminded why these headsets often collect dust: motion sickness. Whether it was hunger or the sweltering heat amplifying the effect, roughly 32 minutes in, I found myself asking to step out to catch a breath of fresh reality.

The tipping point came with Horizon World’s Music Valley Experience. Sabrina Carpenter was the virtual star, singing away, a nostalgic nod that reminded me of the Disney Channel days. As I got closer to her virtual “stage,” it began to feel a tad too real, like infringing on a personal zone. It was a little too intimate for my comfort.

During the demo, another avatar strolled in and struck up a dance with me. This virtual guide was kind enough to show me the ropes of the digital playground. We wandered over to a hovering alien spaceship dishing out musical notes. Using the joysticks as makeshift claws to grab those notes proved tricky, and it wasn’t long before I felt my stomach doing somersaults.

Even with that, I did find some successes with the Quest 3S’s features. I kicked off Celine Dion’s special on Amazon Prime, her voice as impeccable as ever. I also found myself amid daisies in a stunning 8K, 3D YouTube video—talk about peaceful. Played around with some floating windows, albeit poorly stacking them out of sheer curiosity. Tried jumping into an Xbox game, but the demonstration controller decided not to cooperate. I did squeeze in a game of Just Dance, but by then, my patience—and stability—was wearing thin.

The bulk of my queasiness hit during Horizon Worlds, mainly due to its lack of a steady horizon. It’s like being on a boat without a focal point to stabilize yourself. Initially, I didn’t anticipate feeling this way while sitting in a chair. So, next time, I might just stick to staying seated when using a headset. While Meta’s managed to bring down the Quest’s price, they still need to figure out how to pitch this tech to folks with sensitive constitutions.

The Meta Quest 3S is priced starting at $300 for the 128GB model, going up to $400 for the 256GB version. Preorders are open now, though you can officially snag one come October 15.