Apple’s Vision Pro costs seven times the price of Meta’s VR headset, but we’ll explain why the Quest 3 is still better in many ways.
Meta’s Quest 3 VR headset costs a fraction of Apple’s Vision Pro, and while it didn’t grab as many headlines, a humble Quest 3 quietly does several things better than Apple’s ultra-premium spatial computer.
It’s a topic that’s been a source of contention in social media lately as Vision Pro fans fend off feisty Quest 3 owners who claim Meta’s popular, low-cost device is still the best VR headset at one-seventh the price.
Here are three ways the Quest 3 is better than Apple’s Vision Pro.VR gaming
There’s really no comparison when it comes to VR gaming. Meta has been making the bestselling VR headsets for several years and the primary purpose has been gaming. The metaverse company has also pumped a ton of money into the VR industry, inspiring developers to build games for the Quest platform despite the relatively small user base.
Every Quest headset is backward compatible. That means the Quest 3 can run games made for the Quest 2 and the original Quest headset, unlocking a library that’s been growing since 2019. With hundreds of games made specifically for VR, you’ll have plenty of variety available, all in 360-degree immersive environments with surround sound.
By comparison, the Vision Pro has only a handful of VR games, or spatial games, in Apple’s parlance. Vision Pro owners can play iPad games in large flat windows and Apple Arcade has a deep library for interactive fun as consolation.
Even the Vision Pro’s spatial games have limitations that will make it difficult to port many VR games to Apple’s headset. For example, how do you aim and pull a trigger without a VR controller? How do you move further than your physical walls without a thumbstick?
I predict that some big game studio will design a Vision Pro VR controller to accompany a compelling spatial game since both are desperately needed. It might take several months to arrive, though.
The Vision Pro has enough processing power and graphics quality to shame the Quest 3, but only when the problems mentioned above are solved.
