Virtual reality headsets have always suffered from one major barrier: the price tag scares away curious buyers who want to try VR but can\u2019t justify the investment. Meta\u2019s Quest 3S launched as the more accessible alternative to the flagship Quest 3, yet even this budget-friendly option stayed firmly at full retail price since release.<\/p>\n
The company occasionally sweetened the deal with a free game or a trial subscription, but actual cash discounts? Never happened. Until now. Amazon\u2019s Prime Big Deal Day marks the first time the Quest 3S has seen a genuine price cut, and you\u2019re still getting the bundled games and Meta Horizon+ subscription on top: The 256GB model with Batman: Arkham Shadow drops from $399 to $329<\/a>, while the 128GB version with the Gorilla Tag bundle falls to $249 from $299<\/a>.<\/p>\n See Quest 3S 256GB + Batman at Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n See Quest 3S 128GB at Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n Why Quest 3S Matters for New VR Users<\/p>\n Mixed reality integrates virtual aspects with your real world<\/strong> so you can position virtual objects on your couch or play games that react to your furniture. The Quest 3S does it by way of passthrough cameras which display your real world but also display virtual information on it. You\u2019re sitting at your workspace and virtual monitors are orbiting around you, yet switch VR mode on and extraterrestrials are scaling your real walls. It\u2019s less lonely for VR compared to older headsets, which shut everything else off.<\/p>\n This 256GB model is justified based on how quickly your storage becomes full. Batman: Arkham Shadow merely uses about 30GB<\/strong> and recent titles like Asgard\u2019s Wrath 2 or Red Matter 2 each require about 15GB to 20GB. A few of your fitness titles like Supernatural or Beat Saber, and some of your social titles, and you\u2019re rapidly at almost 100GB of used space. Having a spare 128GB of storage on this model affords having a selection of games to be kept installed without having to continually uninstall games to make room for new titles.<\/p>\n Batman: Arkham Shadow transitions the franchise into VR by including full locomotion and hand-tracking combat<\/strong>. You are literally dodging blows, tossing batarangs by actually tossing your arms, and examining crime scenes by walking up to crouch down and investigate. The game runs natively off of Meta Quest 3S hardware, which means there\u2019s not a PC involved and no cord to keep you attached to a PC<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The Meta Horizon+ subscription service offered for both headsets entitles subscribers to access over 30 games for three months<\/strong>. A library of rotating games, it also offers known games such as Demeo, Walkabout Mini Golf and Pistol Whip. New games are added monthly and it\u2019s your chance to try genres that may not be purchased outright. It\u2019s $7.99 per month for a subscription service after three months, but those first three free months mean VR\u2019s depth is available to try without additional cost.<\/p>\n Performance, for its part, utilizes a similar Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor found on the Quest 3<\/strong> for smooth frame rates and rapid load times. The display\u2019s refresh rate is also a 90Hz, 1832 x 1920 pixels per eye for less motion blur during sharp movements. Adjustable IPD is available to fit a variety of face shapes with a choice of settings of 58mm, 63mm, and 68mm to correspond to your eye spacing for best-in-class clarity.<\/p>\n Setup only takes about five minutes: You define your play space boundary by pointing at the floor, your headset surveys your room and it\u2019s ready to roll. Your controllers are properly tracked by inside-out tracking, so no external sensors ruin your space. Now, at sale prices like these for Prime Big Deal Day on Amazon, you\u2019re finally seeing a price reduction by Meta on hardware actually capable of bringing some really awesome mixed reality experiences.<\/p>\n