My first day of ownership and what you can expect.
It has finally arrived; Quest 3 is now here and in the hands of consumers. Instant impressions on the packaging. It has taken huge inspiration from the Quest 2 packaging. The notable difference is the size difference by comparison, the Quest 3 box looks almost like a Quest 2 accessory!
The set-up process has been streamlined with an option to use a QR code generated in the mobile app now and scanned with the headset’s cameras. This connects to your app, account and WIFI and was a much more user-friendly approach which I really appreciated when setting up with 2 kids running around at the same time!
Following this, the home environment can now be your actual home environment! By default, the headset had set my environment in the MR mode. Being able to see what was happening and where the kids were while setting up was a huge help and made life much easier. This immersive mode can be turned off via a shortcut on the menu bar and the traditional home environments as shown instead.
Set-up done and dusted, games installed and the kids off to bed. It’s my time to shine as I finally don the Quest 3! First encounters. It comes preloaded onto the Quest. A Mixed Reality (MR) game that has small fluffy aliens crash into your play space that you shoot with a bubble gun and send back to the spaceship collector that crashed through my living room ceiling. While this might sound unimpressive and childish. I assure you I was absolutely blown away. My first MR experience and I loved it, I wasn’t sold on MR initially my upgrade to Quest 3 was solely for the better lenses and higher resolution but what a great time! MR is going to be something I follow much more closely now!
Next up I Jumped into some familiar VR games to see how they look now. First up, Drop Dead: The Cabin. A game bringing forward a MR experience soon which I am very much looking forward to checking out. Played around in the early game enjoying the beautiful high-quality visuals. The visuals instantly grabbed me, and everything seemed extremely clear.
Next up Espire 2. The team have already updated Espire to include a new MR update. Which I didn’t play, but I'll work my way around that. I loaded up and the game put me into the tutorial area and then worked into the main missions. Visually stunning, Clear and overall, a great experience. Such a great experience, that the next thing I know “battery low” warning. Initially, I thought this was because the battery was maybe not fully charged until I realised, I had gotten completely lost in the game and I had been playing for 3 hours. Headset back on charge and like an impatient child I sit and sulk while waiting. I use this time to recap my first experience.
In conclusion. My first experience with my Quest 3 was very, very happy. The new smaller form factor both looked and felt great. The face cushion wasn’t the best but it was also comfortable enough to not be noticeable for any negative reasons. MR was much more fun and enjoyable than I initially expected it to be as well.
My only negative is with the included head strap. It was awkward to adjust and uncomfortable. It was uncomfortable from start to finish and only got worse the longer I was in the headset. This will be the first change I make; I will be swapping to an alternative strap that has a higher focus on comfort.
Would I recommend the Quest 3? Initial impressions are a solid yes. But I will reevaluate this once I’ve managed to get more hands-on time to delve deeper and into more experiences. Check back for a more in-depth review at a later date.
Why not check out some of our other reviews such as GENOTYPE
Why not check out one of our other recent articles
@DropdeadVR
@EspireVr