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Meta Quest 3 vs HoloLens 2
Both devices below are described from their manufacturers’ own specification pages. Where a row does not apply to one of them, it says so rather than showing a dash — that is a different statement from “the maker does not publish it”.
Meta · Mid range
Microsoft · Enterprise
Differences you can see
Pictures first, table second. Every chart is computed from the same published fields you can read below it — nothing here is an illustration.
- Meta Quest 3
- HoloLens 2
Resolution per eye
Panels at true pixel scale, one inside the other.
The sharpest panel here has 238% more pixels per eye than the softest — that is what you gain on small text inside a scene.
Field of view
Seen from above. The grey area is roughly the human binocular field (~200°).
- Meta Quest 3110° horizontal
- HoloLens 252° diagonal
One of these manufacturers publishes an angle without saying which axis it is measured on. Reviewers usually read those figures as diagonal, which would make the real horizontal field narrower than the wedge suggests — so treat the shapes as an impression, not as a ranking.
These angles are NOT measured the same way, so the wedges cannot be read as “this one is wider”. A pair of human eyes covers about 200° for reference.
Weight
On the whole catalogue’s scale, from 30 g to 830 g.
Meta Quest 3515 g
HoloLens 2566 g
30 g830 g
Battery
On the whole catalogue’s scale, from 45 min to 2880 min.
Meta Quest 3132 min
HoloLens 2180 min
45 min2880 min
Launch price
On the whole catalogue’s scale, from $199 to $38500.
Meta Quest 3$499
HoloLens 2$3500
$199$38500
On sale, and supported
Two different questions: how long you can still buy it new, and how long the manufacturer keeps updating it. The dashed line is the end of a three-year training programme (2029).
Meta Quest 3 on sale since 2023 · support until 2028
HoloLens 2 sold 2019–2024 · support until 2027
available newmanufacturer support after the last sale
20182030
Sold and supported are not the same thing. A model can leave the shelves while its maker keeps shipping software to the units you already own — and it can stay on the shelves with no published support commitment at all.
What actually differs
Computed from the two records, most decisive first.
Device type
- Meta Quest 3
- Standalone VR, also PC-powered
- HoloLens 2
- Standalone AR
Category
- Meta Quest 3
- VR — standalone
- HoloLens 2
- AR — spatial
Runs Skillsive apps
- Meta Quest 3
- Yes
- HoloLens 2
- No
Third-party apps
- Meta Quest 3
- does not apply
- HoloLens 2
- Vendor SDK only
This row does not exist for one of the two — they are different kinds of product.
Price band
- Meta Quest 3
- Mid range
- HoloLens 2
- Enterprise
Launch price
- Meta Quest 3
- $499
- HoloLens 2
- $3500
Performance
- Meta Quest 3
- 4 / 5 — current flagship
- HoloLens 2
- does not apply
This row does not exist for one of the two — they are different kinds of product.
Resolution per eye
- Meta Quest 3
- 2064x2208
- HoloLens 2
- 1440x936
Field of view
- Meta Quest 3
- 110° horizontal
- HoloLens 2
- 52° diagonal
Brightness
- Meta Quest 3
- 100 nits
- HoloLens 2
- —
Refresh rate
- Meta Quest 3
- 72/90/120 Hz
- HoloLens 2
- 60 Hz
Weight
- Meta Quest 3
- 515 g
- HoloLens 2
- 566 g
They match on 9 further specifications.
Full specification, row by row
79 of 94 rows differ.
| Specification | Meta Quest 3 Meta | HoloLens 2 Microsoft |
|---|---|---|
| ManufacturerWho makes it — and who you buy support from. | Meta | Microsoft |
| CategoryWhich kind of product this is. It decides which rows below make sense at all. | VR — standalone | AR — spatial |
| Device typeWhere the computing happens, and therefore what you need to run it. | Standalone VR, also PC-powered | Standalone AR |
| AnnouncedThe day it was shown, which is not the day it shipped. | 2023-06-01 | 2019-05-02 |
| ReleasedYear the model went on sale. Older is not automatically worse in this category. | 2023 | 2019 |
| AvailabilityWhether you can still order it new today. | On sale | Discontinued in 2024 |
| Support endsThe date the manufacturer stops supporting it. Decisive for a fleet you are about to buy. | 2028-10-10 | 2027-12-31 |
| DisplayHow the image is produced. "No display" is a real answer in this category, not a gap. | does not apply to this class | Waveguide |
| PanelThe screen type. micro-OLED gives deeper blacks and higher contrast; LCD is brighter and cheaper. | LCD | does not apply to this class |
| OpticsThe lenses in front of the panel. Pancake stays sharp closer to the edges than older Fresnel, which decides how much a trainee has to aim their head to read something. | Pancake lenses | does not apply to this class |
| Eyes coveredOne eye or both. Over a full shift this is a real difference in fatigue. | Both eyes | Both eyes |
| Resolution per eyePixels delivered to each eye. Higher means small text and labels stay readable. | 2064x2208 | ≈1440x936*VRcompare |
| Refresh rateImages per second. Higher feels smoother and helps people prone to motion discomfort. | 72/90/120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Field of viewHow much of your view the image covers. Bigger is more immersive, not automatically better for work. | 110° horizontal | ≈52° diagonal*VRcompare |
| Pixel densityPixels per degree of view — the honest way to compare sharpness between a headset and a pair of glasses. Higher is sharper. Only shown where somebody published it; we never compute it ourselves. | Pixel density: not published by the manufacturer | Pixel density: not published by the manufacturer |
| BrightnessIn a plant or outdoors, brightness decides legibility more than resolution does. | 100 nits | Brightness: not published by the manufacturer |
| WeightThe device alone. Anything above roughly 150 g is felt within an hour. | 515 g | 566 g |
| Visible field of viewWhat the eye actually sees through the optics, by axis. | Visible field of view: not published by the manufacturer | 43° horizontal · 29° vertical |
| Rendered field of viewWhat the device draws. Never smaller than what you see. | 108° horizontal · 98.25° vertical · 113.3° diagonal | Rendered field of view: not published by the manufacturer |
| Binocular overlapWhere both eyes see the same thing — this is where depth happens. | 80° | Binocular overlap: not published by the manufacturer |
| Average pixel densityPixels per degree across the image. More is sharper. | 18.8 PPD horizontal (computed) | Average pixel density: not published by the manufacturer |
| Peak pixel densityThe sharpest point, usually the centre of the lens. | 25 PPD | Peak pixel density: not published by the manufacturer |
| Subpixel layoutHow the coloured dots sit in a pixel. A stripe looks cleaner on text than PenTile. | RGB stripe · 3 subpixels per pixel | Subpixel layout: not published by the manufacturer |
| Foveated renderingWhether detail is dropped outside where you look, to save performance. | Fixed | Foveated rendering: not published by the manufacturer |
| PassthroughWhat the front cameras give you: colour, grayscale, or nothing. | Colour | does not apply to this class |
| Passthrough camerasResolution, density and frame rate of that camera feed. | 18 PPD | does not apply to this class |
| IPD adjustmentMatching lens spacing to the eyes. Motorised is fastest when one headset passes between people. | Manual | does not apply to this class |
| IPD rangeHow far the lenses travel to match eye spacing. A narrow range excludes part of any group of adults, which matters when one headset is shared. | 53–75 mm | does not apply to this class |
| Works with glassesWhether people who wear glasses can use it — fits over them, or takes prescription lens inserts. | Yes | does not apply to this class |
| Vision correctionHow somebody who wears glasses uses it, and in what dioptre range. | Official lens inserts · -10 to 6 D | Fits over glasses |
| DimensionsWidth, height and depth of the device itself. | Dimensions: not published by the manufacturer | Dimensions: not published by the manufacturer |
| Weight with strapWith the strap it ships with — the weight you actually wear. | Weight with strap: not published by the manufacturer | Weight with strap: not published by the manufacturer |
| Head strapSoft band or a rigid one. Decides how the weight sits over an hour. | Soft strap | Rigid strap with a dial |
| MaterialsShell and facial interface, in the vendor’s words. | Plastic · foam facial interface | Plastic · foam |
| ColoursColours the manufacturer sells it in. | White | Grey |
| Haptics in the headsetVibration in the headset itself, not in the controllers. | No | No |
| TrackingWhether content stays put in the room (6DoF), follows head rotation (3DoF) or is simply fixed. | inside-out 6DoF | 6DoF (position in space) |
| Base stationsWhether boxes have to be mounted on the walls before it works. | Not needed | does not apply to this class |
| Tracking camerasHow many cameras it uses to know where it is. | 4 | 4 |
| Tracking rateHow often position is recalculated. Higher is steadier. | Tracking rate: not published by the manufacturer | Tracking rate: not published by the manufacturer |
| Depth sensorA dedicated sensor for distance, on top of the cameras. | Yes | Yes |
| Hand trackingWhether bare hands can operate the interface, without a controller or the phone. | Yes | Yes |
| Eye trackingThe headset knows where the trainee is looking. Enables sharper rendering where they look, and attention analytics. | No | does not apply to this class |
| Face trackingTracks facial expression — for avatars, not for training scenarios. | No | No |
| Body trackingHow much of the body the device knows about. Estimated legs are not tracked legs. | Upper body, legs estimated | None |
| Controllers includedWhether motion controllers come in the box, or are bought separately — or the device is hands-only. | Yes | No |
| Controller modelThe manufacturer's own name for the controller. | Meta Quest Touch Plus Controllers | does not apply to this class |
| Controller tracking6DoF controllers track position and rotation, so a hand reaches in space; 3DoF only point. “None” means hands only. | 6DoF | None (hands only) |
| Finger tracking on the controllerWhether the controller senses individual fingers, and how. | Capacitive (partial) | does not apply to this class |
| Controller inputsButtons, sticks and triggers the controller offers. | Capacitive face buttons · capacitive joystick · capacitive touch pad · capacitive index trigger · middle finger trigger | does not apply to this class |
| Controller hapticsVibration feedback in the hand. | Yes | does not apply to this class |
| Controller powerDisposable cells or a built-in rechargeable — a fleet question. | AA batteries | does not apply to this class |
| Controller weightOne controller, as the vendor weighs it. | Controller weight: not published by the manufacturer | does not apply to this class |
| Other input methodsWays in beyond controllers and bare hands. | Other input methods: not published by the manufacturer | Voice · Look and pinch |
| PerformanceHow much the headset can run — sharper scenes, more objects, smoother mixed reality. Higher is better. | Very good | does not apply to this class |
| Where it computesWhether the device computes on its own or depends on a phone, PC or belt-worn puck. | does not apply to this class | Standalone (own computer) |
| ProcessorThe processor and memory inside. This is what the performance grade above is derived from. | Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 Compute Platform |
| CPUCores and clocks, where the manufacturer publishes them. | Octa-core Kryo (1 x 3.19 GHz, 4 x 2.8 GHz, 3 x 2.0 GHz) | Octa-core Kryo 385 (4x 2.96 GHz, 4 x 1.8 GHz) |
| GPUThe graphics part of the chip. | Adreno 740 | Adreno 630 |
| MemoryRAM on the device. Together with the chipset it sets how complex a scene can be. | 8 GB | 4 GB |
| PlatformThe platform an application is built against — and what an MDM has to speak. | Meta Horizon OS | Windows Holographic |
| StorageOn-board space for downloaded courses. More matters for an offline library in several languages. | 512 GB | Storage: not published by the manufacturer |
| SD card slotWhether storage can be added with a card. | No | No |
| BatteryRuntime as the manufacturer states it. A hot-swappable pack matters more than the figure. | 132 min | 180 min |
| Battery capacity (Wh)Energy in the cell. Bigger is longer, given the same power draw. | ≈19.44 Wh*iFixit teardown, reported by UploadVR | Battery capacity (Wh): not published by the manufacturer |
| Battery capacity (mAh)The same fact in the other unit vendors use. We never convert between the two. | 5060 mAh | Battery capacity (mAh): not published by the manufacturer |
| Charge timeFrom empty to full. Rarely stated by the manufacturer, so it usually comes from whoever timed it. | 138 min | Charge time: not published by the manufacturer |
| ChargerPower of the supplied charger — it decides the charge time above. | 18 W | 18 W |
| External batteryBattery on a cable or a puck instead of on the head. | No | External battery: not published by the manufacturer |
| Charging caseExtra runtime carried in the case the glasses ship with. | Charging case: not published by the manufacturer | Charging case: not published by the manufacturer |
| Hot-swap batteryWhether a charged battery can replace the empty one without ending the session. This is what decides if a headset can hold an all-day training station. | No | Hot-swap battery: not published by the manufacturer |
| Third-party appsHow a third party's application reaches the device: an ordinary Android package, a vendor-only SDK, or not at all. | does not apply to this class | Vendor SDK only |
| Runs Skillsive appsOur own statement about whether Skillsive training applications run on it today. | Yes | No |
| Suitable for trainingOur judgement on whether it survives real deployment: comfort, hygiene, fleet management. | Yes | Suitable for training: not published by the manufacturer |
| Kiosk mode / MDMVendor tooling to enrol devices, push an app and lock the headset to it. Practically required above ten devices. | No | Yes |
| Business tierAn official business tier, so devices belong to the company rather than to employees’ personal accounts. | No | Business tier: not published by the manufacturer |
| Swappable facial interfaceRemovable, wipeable face padding. A consumable, and the difference between shared use and complaints. | Yes | does not apply to this class |
| CertificationsIndustrial certifications stated on the manufacturer's own page. Empty means unconfirmed, never "probably fine". | CE | ANSI Z87.1 · CSA Z94.3 · EN 166 · IP50 |
| PortsPhysical sockets and charging contacts. | USB Type-C · charging contacts | USB Type-C |
| Wi-FiThe Wi-Fi generation — it decides how well wireless streaming holds up. | 6E | 5 (802.11ac 2x2) |
| BluetoothFor controllers, headphones and accessories. | 5.2 | 5.0 |
| Video from a computerWhether a computer can drive it, over a cable or wirelessly. | Over a cable · Wireless (Oculus Link) | Video from a computer: not published by the manufacturer |
| AudioBuilt-in sound. Matters most where somebody has to hear a remote expert while working. | Built-in speakers · Headphone jack | Built-in speakers |
| MicrophoneBuilt-in microphone — the other half of talking to a remote expert. | Yes | Yes |
| MicrophonesHow many. An array picks a voice out of a noisy hall; one does not. | Microphones: not published by the manufacturer | 5 |
| CameraA camera is what makes a remote expert call and photo documentation possible. | does not apply to this class | Yes |
| Price bandThe band it sits in, rather than a price that goes stale. | Mid range | Enterprise |
| Launch priceThe manufacturer's launch price. Fixed history, so it never goes stale. | $499 | $3500 |
| Price by configurationWhat each configuration cost at launch. | Price by configuration: not published by the manufacturer | Price by configuration: not published by the manufacturer |
| Price todayApproximate current net price in USD — a general figure, since these barely differ between regions once tax is stripped out. A snapshot from the date shown, not an offer. | $599.99 | Price today: not published by the manufacturer |
| Comfort (from reviews)How it wears over a full session. Scored from agreement between independent reviewers, not from our own testing. | 3 / 5Reviewers agree the centre of mass sits closer to the face than on Quest 2, so it feels lighter than its 515 g suggests. They split on the bundled soft strap: UploadVR found it fine for about an hour, Road to VR called it as poor as Quest 2's. For shared training, budget for a rigid strap.Road to VR review,UploadVR review | does not apply to this class |
| Edge clarity (from reviews)Sharpness away from the centre of the lens. Scored from agreement between independent reviewers. | Edge clarity (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer | does not apply to this class |
| Tracking reliability (from reviews)How tracking holds up in poor light and fast movement. Scored from agreement between independent reviewers. | Tracking reliability (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer | does not apply to this class |
| Hand tracking quality (from reviews)How usable controller-free hand tracking is in a training scenario. Scored from agreement between reviewers. | 4 / 5Rated on agreement rather than our own testing: UploadVR finds less jitter, better accuracy and better handling of overlapping hands than PSVR2, and Road to VR reports Meta still shipping measurable improvements. Not a 5 because fast motion and low light still cost tracking.UploadVR, Quest 3 vs PSVR2 hand tracking,Road to VR, hand-tracking upgrade | does not apply to this class |
“—” means the manufacturer does not publish that figure. “≈” with an asterisk means it was measured by somebody else — follow the asterisk for who. Prices are an indicative net figure in USD, a snapshot from the date on each model page, not an offer.
Other comparisons with Meta Quest 3
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