Meta Quest 3S vs. Quest 2: New brain and eyes, old tricks

We're comparing the Meta Quest 3S vs. Quest 2 for anyone with the 2020 headset considering an upgrade. The Quest 3S will feel the same to Quest 2 owners at first glance, but its hardware upgrades are far more significant than you might think.

The Quest 2 sold over 20 million units because of its affordability and wire-free design; that holds true with the Quest 3S, which costs the same ($299), weighs about the same, still lacks any tethers, and brings back the same gaming library — now with enhanced graphics.

Having used the Quest 2 for years and more recently reviewed the Meta Quest 3S, we can break down every key similarity and difference to help you decide whether or not to upgrade!

Meta Quest 3S vs. Quest 2: What's the same?

In order to keep the Quest 3S at an affordable price, Meta held back some of the Quest 3 upgrades over the Quest 2. Because of that, the Quest 3S and Quest 2 share many traits:

Fresnel lenses: While the Quest 3 upgraded to pancake lenses that make the headset 30% slimmer, the Quest 3S uses the same Fresnel lens, which requires more empty space between lens and display. It also creates a noticeable "sweet spot" when using either headset; you're more likely to turn your head to look around a VR world because the periphery appears blurrier than it does with pancake lenses.

As our reviewer put it, "if you've only ever used a Quest 1 or Quest 2, you probably won't be particularly disappointed in the Quest 3S's display or lenses." It's only the Quest 3 that delivered a real upgrade.

IPD lens adjustment: You can adjust the lenses to any of three interpupillary distances (IPD): 58mm, 63mm, or 68mm. We have a guide on how to adjust your lens distance to match your IPD; it explains that you can slide the lenses between these presets — around 60.5mm or 65.5mm — if your IPD doesn't perfectly match them. Or you can look for a 3D-printed IPD expander if your eyes are wider than 68mm.

LCD resolution: Meta uses the same LCD in the Quest 2 and Quest 3S, both sharing 1,832 x 1,920 pixels per eye, which equals 773 pixels per inch or about 20 pixels per degree. If you compare the Quest 3 vs. Quest 2 for visuals, the newer headset hits 2,064 x 2,208, or about 25 PPD, giving a significant boost.

Field of view: Both the Quest 3S and Quest 2 have a 96º horizontal view and 90º vertical view; they fall short of the Quest 3 (110º horizontal; 96º vertical).

Wireless, modular design: This is stating the obvious, but it's fair to point out that both the Quest 3S and Quest 2 work entirely on battery power, unlike most other VR headsets like the Valve Index, PSVR 2, or Apple Vision Pro. Also, Meta designs the Quest so that you can detach the strap or facial interface without needing to unscrew anything or void your warranty. This allows you to install a better accessory with very little difficulty.

Meta Quest 3S vs. Quest 2: Design differences

Even though both headsets use Fresnel lenses, Meta found a way to make the Quest 3S 20% slimmer than the Quest 2, or about 19mm / 0.75in. thinner. Meta also made the Quest 3S look flatter, with a harder line along the front edge where the Quest 2 is more curved.

In terms of weight, the Quest 2 weighs 11 grams less, or about 0.4 ounces. You're not going to notice the difference; either way, most people will want to buy an Elite Strap to balance the weight better. Among the best Quest 3S accessories, the BoboVR M3 Pro, KIWI design H4 Boost, and YOGES Y13 are all recommended strap upgrades that won't cost too much.

The most obvious design difference is the camera array; we'll talk about mixed reality next, but strictly from an aesthetic perspective, the Quest 3S puts its cameras front and center in a fun triangular pattern, whereas the Quest 2 camera sensors are smaller, isolated recesses, making the front look quite plain.

Frustratingly, Meta chose to drop the 3.5mm headphone jack from the Quest 2 and 3 in the 3S; your only options are to use the built-in speakers or wireless earbuds with a USB-C receiver that allows for charging passthrough in case you have a battery pack. And on that note, the Quest 3S has its USB-C charging port in the right arm, whereas the Quest 2 port is directly on the headset body.

Both headsets have a default cloth strap, and our Quest 3S tester said that it "felt identical" to the Quest 2 in terms of comfort and support. That said, there is one difference: the Quest 2 strap had a single broad top strap with velcro, while the Quest 3S top strap branches off in a Y shape to cup both sides of your head, theoretically preventing it from sliding to one side as easily.

Either headset nets you about 2.5 hours of battery life in ideal conditions (according to Meta), but we expect your Quest 2 capacity has dipped naturally over the last four years. The older headset has 684mAh less capacity, but the Quest 3S uses more battery life because of things like the new cameras, LEDs, and extra RAM.

Regardless, anyone who bought a Quest 2 battery pack will probably want one for the Quest 3S. Even if it lasts the full 2.5 hours in normal conditions, our reviewer found its battery life is closer to two hours playing graphically demanding titles like Batman: Arkham Shadow.

One of our favorite new Quest 3S features is a dedicated passthrough button on the bottom, below the volume strip. Press it to immediately switch to mixed-reality view, in case you need to talk with someone or check your phone. The Quest 2 lets you double-tap the side to enable XR mode, but it's less reliable.

As for controller design, the Quest 3S uses the same next-gen Touch Plus controllers as the Quest 3. They're not that different from the Quest 2 in terms of tracking accuracy, but they no longer need the giant tracking rings and they have improved TruTouch Haptics for games.

Meta Quest 3S vs. Quest 2: Hardware and camera differences

The biggest Meta Quest 3S upgrade is in performance. It uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2, while the Quest 2 uses the XR2 Gen 1. It also has 8GB of RAM instead of 6GB. It's the new chipset that enables better cameras, 2.5X graphical boost, improved foveated rendering, and other perks.

Practically speaking, the Quest 2 and Quest 3S share most of the same hundreds of Quest games. However, on the Quest 3S, many of your old Quest 2 titles get graphical enhancements; developers can patch games to add 4K textures, higher refresh rates, dynamic lighting and shadows, and reduced fog, as well as other changes at the developer's discretion.

Not all Quest 2 games get Quest 3 and 3S patches — we know of about 100 games with them — but even without a specific patch, you'll see reduced loading times for games and apps.

Also, some recent and upcoming Quest games are exclusive to the Quest 3S & 3 because the Quest 2's CPU can't handle them. AAA titles like Alien: Rogue Incursion and Batman: Arkham Shadow will give Quest 2 owners FOMO unless they upgrade, and we could see more Quest 3 exclusives as the Quest 2's chip becomes increasingly obsolete and more users swap to newer headsets.

More commonly, you'll see Quest 3 games that don't work on Quest 2 because they require full color mixed reality, such as Laser Dance, Hello Dot, Living Room, and Starship Home. This also applies to software features like Meta AI with Vision, since it requires high-res passthrough.

On that topic, the Quest 2 and Quest 3S share the same number of standard VGA sensors for inside-out tracking, but when it comes to passthrough the Quest 2 uses a black-and-white camera with less than 1MP resolution, showing just 4 PPD in ugly, blurry gray when you're checking out your surroundings.

The Meta Quest 3S received the same 4MP cameras as the Quest 3, delivering 18 pixels per degree in full color. While mixed reality mode had some issues in the year since the Quest 3 launched, the v64 update improved color and resolution and the v66 update removed warping around hands and objects. The Quest 3S benefits from all these tweaks straight out of the gate, so you don't need to take off the headset as often as the Quest 2 to check in with family or walk around the house.

The Quest 3S' mixed reality is held back slightly by its lower resolution, so "it's a bit harder to read text on a phone" than with the Quest 3. Still, you could never read anything clearly on the Quest 2, so you'll appreciate the upgrade nonetheless.

Meta enables Quest 3S depth tracking of your hands, controllers, and mapped surroundings via software and the 4MP cameras, while the Quest 2 wasn't designed to track depth the same way. Our reviewer found that even though the Quest 3 has a hardware depth sensor, the Quest 3S relying on software "doesn't seem to affect its mixed reality performance," and it's perfectly reliable.

Another interesting Quest 3S addition is two flood LEDs "for illumination and more reliable hand interactions across environments and lighting conditions." Our reviewer found that "as long as the Quest 3S can see walls, it will be able to track spatial movement in the dark," but they don't work as well in larger rooms. He also praised how well the Quest 3S handles low-light hand tracking.

Meta Quest 3S vs. Quest 2: Should you upgrade?

The Meta Quest 3S is objectively better than the Quest 2; the only question is whether the upgrades are enough for you to spend another $299 (or $399 for doubled storage).

Meta doesn't sell the Quest 2 anymore; you may be able to find one used for cheap, but the lack of mixed-reality hardware is a major negative in our books. It makes using a Quest 3S headset much less isolating, so you're not constantly taking it on and off if you're a parent or pet owner having to put out fires.

While the Quest 2 still has new games coming in every day, their versions look dated, run at a lower refresh rate, and take longer to load. The Quest 3S still has the same resolution and lenses, true, but even if you're only seeing a sweet spot, it'll still look and run better than before. And perks like low-light gaming and mixed-reality experiences are hard to pass up.

If you're uncertain whether the Quest 3S does enough for you as a Quest 2 owner, you may want to read our Quest 3S vs. Quest 3 guide instead and choose whether it's worth the extra cost for a higher-res, crisper, and wider view.