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Meta Quest 3S vs Meta Quest 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 · Entry level
Meta · Entry level
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 3S
- Meta Quest 2
Resolution per eye
Panels at true pixel scale, one inside the other.
The sharpest panel here has 0% more pixels per eye than the softest — that is what you gain on small text inside a scene.
Weight
On the whole catalogue’s scale, from 30 g to 830 g.
Meta Quest 3S514 g
Meta Quest 2503 g*
30 g830 g
Launch price
On the whole catalogue’s scale, from $199 to $38500.
Meta Quest 3S$299
Meta Quest 2$299
$199$38500
Brightness
On a non-linear scale, so a 200-nit and a 5000-nit device both stay readable on it.
Meta Quest 3S100 nits
Meta Quest 2100 nits
- Office lighting300 nits
- Overcast daylight1000 nits
- Direct sunlight5000 nits
Brightness only decides anything on see-through optics: it is what the image has to compete with. The reference levels below are approximate conditions, not product figures.
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 3S on sale since 2024 · support until 2029
Meta Quest 2 sold 2020–2024 · support until 2027
available newmanufacturer support after the last sale
20192030
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.
Performance
- Meta Quest 3S
- 4 / 5 — current flagship
- Meta Quest 2
- 2 / 5 — older generation
Field of view
- Meta Quest 3S
- 96° horizontal
- Meta Quest 2
- —
Refresh rate
- Meta Quest 3S
- 72/90/120 Hz
- Meta Quest 2
- 60/72/80/90/120 Hz
Weight
- Meta Quest 3S
- 514 g
- Meta Quest 2
- 503 g
Battery
- Meta Quest 3S
- 150 min
- Meta Quest 2
- —
Availability
- Meta Quest 3S
- On sale
- Meta Quest 2
- Discontinued in 2024
Announced
- Meta Quest 3S
- 2024-09-25
- Meta Quest 2
- 2020-09-16
Released
- Meta Quest 3S
- 2024
- Meta Quest 2
- 2020
Support ends
- Meta Quest 3S
- 2029-10-15
- Meta Quest 2
- 2027-12-31
Suitable for training
- Meta Quest 3S
- Yes
- Meta Quest 2
- No
Swappable facial interface
- Meta Quest 3S
- Yes
- Meta Quest 2
- No
Processor
- Meta Quest 3S
- Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2
- Meta Quest 2
- Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1
They match on 44 further specifications.
Our verdict
Quest 3S, without hesitation, for anything bought new. If you already own Quest 2 headsets, they remain usable for fully virtual scenarios — a fire simulation or a hazard-spotting module does not care about passthrough — so run them until the replacement cycle catches up rather than retiring working hardware early.
Full specification, row by row
32 of 90 rows differ.
| Specification | Meta Quest 3S Meta | Meta Quest 2 Meta |
|---|---|---|
| ManufacturerWho makes it — and who you buy support from. | Meta | Meta |
| CategoryWhich kind of product this is. It decides which rows below make sense at all. | VR — standalone | VR — standalone |
| Device typeWhere the computing happens, and therefore what you need to run it. | Standalone VR, also PC-powered | Standalone VR, also PC-powered |
| AnnouncedThe day it was shown, which is not the day it shipped. | 2024-09-25 | 2020-09-16 |
| ReleasedYear the model went on sale. Older is not automatically worse in this category. | 2024 | 2020 |
| 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. | 2029-10-15 | 2027-12-31 |
| PanelThe screen type. micro-OLED gives deeper blacks and higher contrast; LCD is brighter and cheaper. | LCD | LCD |
| 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. | Fresnel lenses | Fresnel lenses |
| Eyes coveredOne eye or both. Over a full shift this is a real difference in fatigue. | Both eyes | Eyes covered: not published by the manufacturer |
| Resolution per eyePixels delivered to each eye. Higher means small text and labels stay readable. | 1832x1920 | 1832x1920 |
| Refresh rateImages per second. Higher feels smoother and helps people prone to motion discomfort. | 72/90/120 Hz | 60/72/80/90/120 Hz |
| Field of viewHow much of your view the image covers. Bigger is more immersive, not automatically better for work. | 96° horizontal | Field of view: not published by the manufacturer |
| 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*VRcompare | ≈100 nits*UploadVR (Meta Display Week 2022 talk) |
| WeightThe device alone. Anything above roughly 150 g is felt within an hour. | 514 g | ≈503 g*Wikipedia (mirror of the retired Oculus spec page) |
| Visible field of viewWhat the eye actually sees through the optics, by axis. | 97° horizontal · 93° vertical | 97° horizontal · 93° vertical |
| Rendered field of viewWhat the device draws. Never smaller than what you see. | 104° horizontal · 98° vertical · 113.46° diagonal | 104° horizontal · 98° vertical · 113.46° diagonal |
| Binocular overlapWhere both eyes see the same thing — this is where depth happens. | 90° | 90° |
| Average pixel densityPixels per degree across the image. More is sharper. | 18.9 PPD horizontal · 20.6 PPD vertical (computed) | 18.9 PPD horizontal · 20.6 PPD vertical (computed) |
| Peak pixel densityThe sharpest point, usually the centre of the lens. | 20 PPD | 20 PPD |
| Subpixel layoutHow the coloured dots sit in a pixel. A stripe looks cleaner on text than PenTile. | RGB stripe · 3 subpixels per pixel | RGB stripe · 3 subpixels per pixel |
| 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 | Grayscale |
| Passthrough camerasResolution, density and frame rate of that camera feed. | Passthrough cameras: not published by the manufacturer | Passthrough cameras: not published by the manufacturer |
| IPD adjustmentMatching lens spacing to the eyes. Motorised is fastest when one headset passes between people. | Manual | IPD adjustment: not published by the manufacturer |
| 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. | IPD range: not published by the manufacturer | IPD range: not published by the manufacturer |
| Works with glassesWhether people who wear glasses can use it — fits over them, or takes prescription lens inserts. | Yes | Yes |
| Vision correctionHow somebody who wears glasses uses it, and in what dioptre range. | Official lens inserts | Fits over glasses |
| DimensionsWidth, height and depth of the device itself. | ≈191.5 × 102 × 142.5 mm*VRcompare | 191.5 × 102 × 142.5 mm |
| 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 | Soft strap |
| MaterialsShell and facial interface, in the vendor’s words. | Plastic · foam facial interface | Plastic · foam facial interface |
| ColoursColours the manufacturer sells it in. | White | White |
| 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 | inside-out 6DoF |
| Base stationsWhether boxes have to be mounted on the walls before it works. | Not needed | Not needed |
| 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. | Depth sensor: not published by the manufacturer | No |
| 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 | No |
| 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 | Yes |
| Controller modelThe manufacturer's own name for the controller. | Meta Quest Touch Plus Controllers | Oculus Touch (third generation) |
| Controller tracking6DoF controllers track position and rotation, so a hand reaches in space; 3DoF only point. “None” means hands only. | 6DoF | 6DoF |
| Finger tracking on the controllerWhether the controller senses individual fingers, and how. | Capacitive (partial) | Capacitive (partial) |
| Controller inputsButtons, sticks and triggers the controller offers. | Capacitive face buttons · capacitive joystick · capacitive touch pad · capacitive index trigger · middle finger trigger | Capacitive face buttons · capacitive joystick · capacitive touch pad · capacitive index trigger · middle finger trigger |
| Controller hapticsVibration feedback in the hand. | Yes | Yes |
| Controller powerDisposable cells or a built-in rechargeable — a fleet question. | AA batteries | AA batteries |
| Controller weightOne controller, as the vendor weighs it. | Controller weight: not published by the manufacturer | 126 g |
| Other input methodsWays in beyond controllers and bare hands. | Other input methods: not published by the manufacturer | Other input methods: not published by the manufacturer |
| PerformanceHow much the headset can run — sharper scenes, more objects, smoother mixed reality. Higher is better. | Very good | Basic |
| ProcessorThe processor and memory inside. This is what the performance grade above is derived from. | Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 | Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1 |
| 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 585 (1 x 2.84 GHz, 3 x 2.42 GHz, 4 x 1.8 GHz) |
| GPUThe graphics part of the chip. | Adreno 740 | Adreno 650 |
| MemoryRAM on the device. Together with the chipset it sets how complex a scene can be. | 8 GB | 6 GB |
| PlatformThe platform an application is built against — and what an MDM has to speak. | Meta Horizon OS | Meta Horizon OS |
| StorageOn-board space for downloaded courses. More matters for an offline library in several languages. | 128 GB · 256 GB | 128 GB · 256 GB |
| 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. | 150 min | Battery: not published by the manufacturer |
| Battery capacity (Wh)Energy in the cell. Bigger is longer, given the same power draw. | Battery capacity (Wh): not published by the manufacturer | 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. | 4324 mAh | 3640 mAh |
| Charge timeFrom empty to full. Rarely stated by the manufacturer, so it usually comes from whoever timed it. | 150 min | 150 min |
| ChargerPower of the supplied charger — it decides the charge time above. | 18 W | 10 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 | No |
| Runs Skillsive appsOur own statement about whether Skillsive training applications run on it today. | Yes | Yes |
| Suitable for trainingOur judgement on whether it survives real deployment: comfort, hygiene, fleet management. | Yes | No |
| Kiosk mode / MDMVendor tooling to enrol devices, push an app and lock the headset to it. Practically required above ten devices. | No | No |
| Business tierAn official business tier, so devices belong to the company rather than to employees’ personal accounts. | No | No |
| Swappable facial interfaceRemovable, wipeable face padding. A consumable, and the difference between shared use and complaints. | Yes | No |
| CertificationsIndustrial certifications stated on the manufacturer's own page. Empty means unconfirmed, never "probably fine". | CE | CE |
| PortsPhysical sockets and charging contacts. | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| Wi-FiThe Wi-Fi generation — it decides how well wireless streaming holds up. | 6E | 6 |
| BluetoothFor controllers, headphones and accessories. | 5.2 | 5.0 LE |
| Video from a computerWhether a computer can drive it, over a cable or wirelessly. | Over a cable · Wireless | Over a cable · Wireless (Oculus Link) |
| AudioBuilt-in sound. Matters most where somebody has to hear a remote expert while working. | Built-in speakers | Built-in speakers · Headphone jack |
| 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 | Microphones: not published by the manufacturer |
| Price bandThe band it sits in, rather than a price that goes stale. | Entry level | Entry level |
| Launch priceThe manufacturer's launch price. Fixed history, so it never goes stale. | $299 | $299 |
| 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. | $349.99 | 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. | Comfort (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer | Comfort (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer |
| 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 | Edge clarity (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer |
| 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 | Tracking reliability (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer |
| Hand tracking quality (from reviews)How usable controller-free hand tracking is in a training scenario. Scored from agreement between reviewers. | Hand tracking quality (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer | Hand tracking quality (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer |
“—” 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 3S
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