- Meta raises the prices of its Quest 3 and Quest 3S virtual reality headsets
- The company attributed the price increase to “significantly” higher costs
- Users are disappointed but say the products are still good value for money.
The Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S are phenomenally good virtual reality (VR) headsets; In fact, they are some of the best virtual reality headsets money can buy. Part of that lies in the solid value for money they represent, but that simply hit a roadblock, as Meta announced it will increase the price of both devices starting April 19, just two days away.
According to a post on Meta’s website, the price increases will affect both the Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S in many markets around the world. Meta said the changes were made because “the cost of building high-performance VR hardware has increased significantly,” with the very high cost of memory modules almost certainly being the main culprit.
The 128GB model of the Meta Quest 3S will now cost $349.99 / £319.99 / AU$569, while the price of the 256GB edition will rise to $449.99 / £409.99 / AU$729. Meanwhile, the 512GB Meta Quest 3 will soon set you back $599.99 / £549.99 / AU$969.
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That’s a significant price escalation across the board. For comparison, buy one of the headphones above today and you’ll pay the following:
- Meta Quest 3S 128GB: $299.99 / £289.99 / AU$499.99
- Meta Quest 3S 256GB: $399.99 / £379.99 / AU$669.99
- Meta Quest 3 512GB: $499.99 / £469.99 / AU$799.99
The Meta Quest 3 is more negatively affected than its cheaper Quest 3S sibling, with the former’s price increasing by up to 20% in US dollars.
That will be an unwelcome change for VR fans, and with Meta barely giving notice, there isn’t much time left to pull the trigger if you want to avoid the price hike.
Is it still a good deal?
As expected, many people are not happy with the news. On Reddit, for example, one user lamented: “That’s a shame, price increases are making it harder to get started with VR. Hopefully things get better, but I wouldn’t hold my breath if the Quest 4 launches soon and/or is as good a deal as the Quest 3 was.”
Meanwhile, another sarcastically added that the move will “definitely boost the adoption of virtual reality along with the elimination of its first-party studios.” Other readers expressed little surprise at the change, with user Alarikun saying, “this was inevitable. They were heavily subsidizing hardware costs to try to get more people into VR.”
That said, several users argued that even with the price increase, the Meta Quest series still represents a good deal. One Redditor maintained that “while the price increase isn’t fun, it’s still the best value headset.” This was reflected in another post, which argued that while the Quest 3 series “remains the best value in VR,” its price change could lead Valve to “release the Frame at a higher cost than expected.”
If you’ve been on the fence about purchasing a Meta Quest VR headset, now might be the time to make a move. With the RAM crisis still causing misery, current prices could be the cheapest you’ll pay in quite some time.
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