Mark Zuckerberg announces Meta Quest 3S, a $300 VR headset that will mostly match Quest 3 and be available October 15.

Next month, a cheaper Quest 3 will be released. The Quest 3S has many of the same features, including the same processor. However, it is cheaper thanks to its cheaper lenses.

Both models will be available on October 15. The lowest priced model comes with 128GB of storage for $300, which is $200 off the regular Quest 3 price.

The 256 GB version will be available for $400.

Mark Zuckerberg's keynote at the Meta Connect show announced the new VR headset. Zuckerberg claims that the device has "the same defining features as Quest 3", including the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor. It's compatible with all the same apps, experiences and XR stuff as the Quest 3.

Zuckerberg explains that Meta brought down the price of the device by "optimising the entire system".

The main change is that the pancake lenses have been replaced by more traditional fresnels. This could affect the field of vision, the comfort of your headset, or the VR experience once it is on your head. If it's very similar to the standard Quest 3 look, it might not be such a bad compromise. We'll know for sure once we've tried them out.

During the keynote, Zuckerberg asked his friend Kenny to show off some new VR/XR experience. Unfortunately, the demo crashed and Zuckerberg was left to say "I don't even know where we are at this point in the demo."

It wasn't quite as awkward as it sounded. I've seen worse technical mishaps on YouTube in E3 fail compilations.

Zuckerberg demonstrated at the event that Meta's had partnered with Microsoft to display your Windows desktop in your headset. Quest devices and Windows PCs will be able to pair up and work more quickly.

"Quest will be a natural addition to your PC," Zuckerberg said.

In one month, we'll be able to get a slightly cheaper VR headset. It will replace the Quest 2 which is currently available, effectively killing off this headset as a budget option. This means that we may have to change our recommendation of the best budget headset in the near future. I hope so, provided the Quest 3S is also a great PC VR headset.