I review VR headsets for a living and trust me, get a Meta Quest 3 this Black Friday

This year’s Black Friday deals include some truly amazing Oculus Quest 2 discounts that offer major savings on the already budget-friendly VR headset but trust me – you want to get a Meta Quest 3 this Black Friday.

Yes, in the US Amazon is selling Meta’s Quest 2 for $ 249 and giving you $ 50 Amazon credit for free (saving you $ 100), and in the UK Very has the Quest 2 for £249 and is giving you £50 cashback with code VKEXL (a £100 total saving). But if you have the funds to spare, please get a Meta Quest 3.

It is about twice as expensive but in my opinion, it’s worth the extra cost if you plan to use your VR headset plenty – that’s why it got five stars in our Meta Quest 3 review.

Today's best Meta Quest 3 deals

Meta Quest 3: $ 499 & get a free game at Amazon
The Meta Quest 3 isn’t currently discounted, and likely won’t be for Black Friday as it’s so new, but you can get a free digital copy of Asgard’s Wrath 2 when it launches later this year.
If you’d rather not shop at Amazon the same offer is available from Walmart, Best Buy, and Target as well as others. View Deal

Meta Quest 3: £479.99 & get a free game at Amazon
The Meta Quest 3 only just launched so it was extremely unlikely it would see much of a discount for Black Friday. There is still a deal on though; if you order the headset before January 27, 2024, and activate it before February 9, 2024, you’ll get Asgard’s Wrath 2 for free when the game releases.
If you’d rather shop elsewhere the same deal is available at Very, Currys, and Game among others. View Deal

There are reasons to get an Oculus Quest 2 instead. If your budget is tight, then the cheaper headset is the one to go for – even over three years after its launch the Quest 2 offers some excellent bang for your buck. I’d also recommend it if you’re not sure you’ll actually use VR all that much or if it’s a gift for someone who’s a little rough with their toys. If it starts gathering dust or gets broken, it’ll sting a lot less than if it was the more expensive Meta Quest 3.

But if you are planning to use the headset a lot, have the budget, and want a superior VR experience (that doesn’t require a PC), then the Meta Quest 3 is the VR headset you need. The graphics are a massive improvement over what the Oculus Quest 2 is capable of, the comfort is slightly improved, and the Quest 3’s mixed-reality features are finally worth using.

If you've been convinced to buy a Meta Quest 3, I'd recommend just getting the 128GB version. You might have to do some digital library management (deleting and redownloading games as necessary) if you decide to pick up lots of games, but for most people, 128GB should be more than enough given the file size of VR software.

If you decide to pick one up, check out this guide to the Meta Quest 3 games and apps you should download first. There’s some great software for the system but these are my personal favorites.

More US Black Friday deals

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You’ve all missed the best Oculus Quest 2 deal of the year, but please don’t buy a different one until Black Friday

Sorry folks, you’ve all missed out on Amazon’s best Oculus Quest 2 Black Friday deal – possibly the one of best Black Friday deals in general – that would have got you $ 50/£50 off the 128GB model and a free $ 50/£50 gift card to spend on anything at Amazon. But please don’t panic buy a different Quest 2 deal yet.

The gift card deal is currently sold out at both Amazon US and Amazon UK, but there’s a chance it may rematerialize on Black Friday itself – which is November 24 this year.  It’s not uncommon for deals to appear, disappear then return in the build-up to the biggest sales event of the year; I’m hoping this incredible Quest 2 will continue this trend and show up on Friday.

If it does reappear then you’re in the money; you’ll get a great bargain on Meta’s budget VR headset. If it doesn’t then you’ll still be able to grab one of the other excellent (but not quite as excellent) Quest 2 deals out there. In the US you can get the Oculus Quest 2 (128GB) for $ 249 at Walmart instead of $ 299, while in the UK you can get the Quest 2 (128GB), Elite Strap and case for £249 at Currys, saving you £140. So unless you are absolutely desperate to get a VR headset as soon as possible hold out a few days longer as you might be able to save big.

The best Black Friday Quest 2 deals

Oculus Quest 2 + Amazon Gift Card: was $ 349.99 now $ 249.00 at Amazon
This incredible Black Friday deal on Meta’s Oculus Quest 2 is currently sold out, but it might reappear on November 24 (Black Friday itself). Check this link every so often and worst case you can pick up one of the other great Quest 2 deals on this page.View Deal

Oculus Quest 2 (128GB): was $ 299 now $ 249 at Walmart
Meta’s Oculus Quest 2 was, until recently, our favorite VR headset and this Black Friday you can get it for its lowest-ever price of just $ 249. You’ll then be able to jump into an incredible selection of VR games and apps available on the Quest platform and finally see how much fun VR can be.
You can also find the same deal at Amazon and Best Buy if you’d rather shop somewhere else.View Deal

Meta Quest 2 and £50 gift card: was £349.99 now £249 at Amazon
This deal is sold out at the time of writing but there’s a chance it may return on Black Friday. When November 24 comes around follow this link and see if Amazon has put it live again because this sale hasn’t been beat.View Deal

Oculus Quest 2 (128GB), Elite Strap and case: was £389 now £249 at Currys
Currys’ bundle deal has just got better. Now you’re saving £50 on Meta’s Oculus Quest 2 VR headset and getting the official Elite Strap and a carry case for free. This is one of the best deals we’ve seen this Black Friday, and one you definitely don’t want to miss out on.

Preferred partner (What does this mean?)View Deal

Admittedly, I think you should just ignore all of the Oculus Quest 2 deals, no matter how good they are. 

I love my Quest 2, it’s a super solid VR gadget that doesn’t break the bank. But the Meta Quest 3 is the new kid on the block, and it’s more than worth the added cost. It’s more powerful, offers better graphics, and has full-color mixed reality. If you’re looking for a VR headset, get this one – for the vast, vast majority of people, you don’t need anything else.

Though at $ 499 / £479 it’s twice (or almost twice) as pricey as a Quest 2 while it’s on sale for Black Friday. If you’re on a tight budget the Quest 2 will definitely serve you well, but those of you who can stretch to the Quest 3 should splash out.

Meta Quest 3: $ 499 & get a free game at Amazon
The Meta Quest 3 isn’t currently discounted, and likely won’t be for Black Friday as it’s so new, but you can get a free digital copy of Asgard’s Wrath 2 when it launches later this year.
If you’d rather not shop at Amazon the same offer is available from Walmart, Best Buy, and Target as well as others. View Deal

Meta Quest 3: £479.99 & get a free game at Amazon
The Meta Quest 3 only just launched so it was extremely unlikely it would see much of a discount for Black Friday. There is still a deal on though; if you order the headset before January 27, 2024, and activate it before February 9, 2024, you’ll get Asgard’s Wrath 2 for free when the game releases.
If you’d rather shop elsewhere the same deal is available at Very, Currys, and Game among others. View Deal

Follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings, and hot Black Friday deals!

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Quordle today – hints and answers for Friday, June 16 (game #508)

It's time for your daily dose of Quordle hints, plus the answers for both the main game and the Daily Sequence spin off. 

Quordle is the only one of the many Wordle clones that I'm still playing now, around 18 months after the daily-word-game craze hit the internet, and with good reason: it's good fun, but also difficult.

What's more, its makers (now the online dictionary Merriam-Webster) are also keeping it fresh in the form of a new variant called the Daily Sequence, which sees you complete four puzzles consecutively, rather than concurrently. 

But Quordle is tough, so if you already find yourself searching for Wordle hints, you'll probably need some for this game too. 

I'm a Quordle and Wordle fanatic who's been playing since December 2021, so I can definitely help you solve Quordle today and improve your game for tomorrow. Read on for my Quordle hints to game #508 and the answers to the main game and Daily Sequence. 

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #508) – hint #1 – Vowels

How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too). 

Quordle today (game #508) – hint #2 – total vowels

What is the total number of vowels in Quordle today?

The total number of vowels across today’s Quordle answers is 7.

Quordle today (game #508) – hint #3 – repeated letters

Do any of today’s Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #508) – hint #4 – total letters

How many different letters are used in Quordle today?

The total number of different letters used in Quordle today is 14.

Quordle today (game #508) – hint #5 – uncommon letters

Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today’s Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #508) – hint #6 – starting letters (1)

Do any of today’s Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

The number of today’s Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #508) – hint #7 – starting letters (2)

What letters do today’s Quordle answers start with?

• P

• R

• U

• C

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #508) – the answers

Quordle answers for game 508 on a yellow background

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #508, are…

  • PASTA
  • RABID
  • UNFIT
  • CURLY

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.


Daily Sequence today (game #508) – the answers

Quordle Daily Sequence answers for game 508 on a yellow background

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #508, are…

  • GUISE
  • FOGGY
  • BASIS
  • SMOCK

Quordle answers: The past 20

  • Quordle #507, Thursday 15 June: COBRA, CORNY, MINCE, CHILI
  • Quordle #506, Wednesday 14 June: LIBEL, SAVVY, VAULT, TROLL
  • Quordle #505, Tuesday 13 June: LOWLY, CORAL, PLANK, AMISS
  • Quordle #504, Monday 12 June: STAMP, BONEY, TRACE, CLOVE
  • Quordle #503, Sunday 11 June: QUACK, SCALP, DRIER, FOLLY
  • Quordle #502, Saturday 10 June: WRUNG, TROLL, TAKER, ELATE
  • Quordle #501, Friday 9 June: HAZEL, REACT, SPOKE, CHART
  • Quordle #500, Thursday 8 June: TRAWL, CRUDE, BRAVE, FURRY
  • Quordle #499, Wednesday 7 June: QUELL, GUISE, UNDUE, PALER
  • Quordle #498, Tuesday 6 June: BRICK, TIGHT, SHOWY, ARDOR
  • Quordle #497, Monday 5 June: STUNG, SHAPE, QUAIL, BLURT
  • Quordle #496, Sunday 4 June: GUILT, BIRTH, QUOTH, EVADE
  • Quordle #495, Saturday 3 June: BOOZE, ASKEW, REUSE, PAYEE
  • Quordle #494, Friday 2 June: FLYER, CHIME, VALID, LUMEN
  • Quordle #493, Thursday 1 June: BLAST, SKULL, VAUNT, LIEGE
  • Quordle #492, Wednesday 31 May: APRON, UNDER, ALIKE, FRUIT
  • Quordle #491, Tuesday 30 May: CADET, RIPEN, BREAD, CREED
  • Quordle #490, Monday 29 May: ANNOY, ELECT, STALE, TURBO
  • Quordle #489, Sunday 28 May: GULLY, RISEN, CHAFE, CHEAT
  • Quordle #488, Saturday 27 May: GRASS, BELCH, CROWD, SHOWN
  • Quordle #487, Friday 26 May: LOATH, MEALY, BEGAN, REUSE
  • Quordle #486, Thursday 25 May: ALARM, PAUSE, COLON, BURLY

Quordle FAQs: Everything you need to know

What is Quordle?

Where Wordle challenges you to guess a new five-letter word each day, Quordle presents you with four puzzles to solve. And rather than complete them in turn, you do so simultaneously. You get nine guesses, rather than the six for Wordle, but the rules are otherwise very similar. 

It’s played online via the Quordle website and you can also get to it via the Merriam-Webster site, after the dictionary purchased Quordle last year

As with Wordle, the answers are the same for every player each day, meaning that you’re competing against the rest of the world. And also as with Wordle, the puzzle resets at midnight so you have a fresh challenge each day.

The website also includes a practice mode – which I definitely recommend using before attempting the game proper! – and there are daily stats including a streak count. You also get Quordle Achievements – specific badges for winning a game in a certain number of turns, playing lots of times, or guessing particularly hard words.

Oh, and it’s difficult. Really difficult.

What are the Quordle rules?

The rules of Quordle are almost identical to those of Wordle.

1. Letters that are in the answer and in the right place turn green.

2. Letters that are in the answer but in the wrong place turn yellow. 

3. Letters that are not in the answer turn gray…

4. …BUT the word you guess appears in all quadrants of the puzzle at the same time, so an A could turn green in one square, yellow in another and gray in the final two. 

5. Answers are never plural.

6. Letters can appear more than once. So if your guess includes two of one letter, they may both turn yellow, both turn green, or one could be yellow and the other green.

7. Each guess must be a valid word in Quordle’s dictionary. You can’t guess ABCDE, for instance.

8. You do not have to include correct letters in subsequent guesses and there is no equivalent of Wordle’s Hard mode.

9. You have nine guesses to find the Quordle answers.

10. You must complete the daily Quordle before midnight in your timezone.

What is a good Quordle strategy?

Quordle needs to be approached in a different way to Wordle. With four puzzles to solve in nine guesses, you can’t blindly throw letters at it and expect to win – you’ll stand a far better chance if you think strategically.

That’s the case in Wordle too, of course, but it’s even more important in Quordle.

There are two key things to remember. 

1. Use several starting words

Firstly, you won’t want just a single starting word, but almost certainly two or three starting words. 

The first of these should probably be one of the best Wordle starting words, because the same things that make them work well will apply here too. But after that, you should select another word or possibly two that use up lots more of the most common consonants and that include any remaining vowels.

For instance, I currently use STARE > DOILY > PUNCH. Between them, these three words use 15 of the 26 letters in the alphabet including all five vowels, Y, and nine of the most common consonants (S, T, R, D, L, P, N, C and H). There are plenty of other options – you might want to get an M, B, F or G in there instead of the H, maybe – but something like that should do the trick.

If all goes well, that will give you a good lead on what one or sometimes two of the answers might be. If not, well good luck!

2. Narrow things down

Secondly, if you’re faced with a word where the answer might easily be one of several options – for instance -ATCH, where it could be MATCH, BATCH, LATCH, CATCH, WATCH, HATCH or PATCH – you’ll definitely want to guess a word that would narrow down those options. 

In Wordle, you can instead try several of those in succession and hope one is right, assuming you have enough guesses left. It’s risky, but will sometimes work. Plus, it’s the only option in Hard mode. But in Quordle, this will almost certainly result in a failure – you simply don’t have enough guesses.

In the scenario above, CLAMP would be a great guess, as it could point the way to four of the seven words in one go.

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Amazon was the big winner from 2021’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales

If you bought something on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, maybe a little Christmas present, you definitely weren't alone in 2021. Millions of people took advantage of the sales bonanza this year, receiving big deals on loads of things in return. 

To help make sense of how huge the occasions are, TechRadar Pro commissioned a survey one OnePulse, which asked 500 respondents some questions about the festivities. 

Amazon is the winner and it's not even close

According to our survey, carried out by OnePulse, of the 500 respondents a whopping 34.6% bought items from Amazon, the largest group, followed by those who did not participate (33.4%), bought from a high street retailer (14.6%), or bought from Wish, Aliexpress, Shein, or elsewhere (17.4%). 

In terms of sourcing the deals, respondents were more divided: 29% went straight to the store (on or offline); 22.6% used Google; 11% used promotional emails; 8.4% used WhatsApp; 6.4% used Facebook and/or Twitter; and the remaining 22.4% did something else entirely. 

But were all of the deals worth it? 30.6% were either very or somewhat happy; 30.4% were ambivalent; 22.4% were either very or somewhat unhappy; and 16.6% had no opinion at all. 

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Which Adobe Black Friday deal should I get in 2021?

When it comes to Adobe, Black Friday is a great time to look for a deal if you want to finally try out Photoshop or another of the Creative Cloud apps.

With a push from the company this year to make sure all of its apps work with Apple’s M1 Macs, there’s no better moment to see what offers Adobe may bring out.

In previous years, there’s been deals up to 40% off the Creative Cloud subscription. When you factor in $ 599 / £508 / AU$ 871 for a yearly subscription, it could be a significant discount for Cyber Monday as well, especially if you’re looking to use the suite for a project or a student assignment.

But there could be a bunch of deals that you may be interested in but not sure which one to go for. With this in mind, here’s a few deals we’ve come across in recent years, and which ones to look out for, just in case.

Which deals usually appear?

Adobe Photoshop running on MacBook Pro 2021

(Image credit: TechRadar)

Being able to save on the following plans can make a big difference in the long run, especially if you’ve decided to add Photoshop, Lightroom, or other Adobe apps into your workflow.

With Adobe’s improvements to Apple’s new MacBooks, alongside Photoshop coming to the web, it looks to make that subscription more justified if you’re still wavering.

Adobe Student Plan

While there’s a Student deal that saves users over 65% for a Creative Cloud subscription, in the past there’s been Black Friday deals that have offered monthly discounts of up to 30%, and yearly discounts of up to 45%.

The yearly subscription of $ 599 / £508 / AU$ 871 could be a big dent in your bank account, while a monthly charge of $ 52.88 / £49.99 / AU$ 76.88 can be as much as an iPhone 13 Pro contract for three years.

Adobe Photography Plan

This plan offers Photoshop, Lightroom and 20GB of cloud storage for $ 9.99 / £9.99 / AU$ 9.99 a month.

If you want to only edit photos and only photos, it's an ideal plan for this.

Last year for Black Friday, this plan was 16% off the above pricing, so we may see something similar appear in the coming weeks from Adobe.

Adobe Creative Cloud Plan

The most common plan that many go for, where every essential app from Adobe is included in the plan.

Priced at $ 52.99 / £49.99 / AU$ 76.99 a month, you'll be able to use the apps on your Mac, your PC, and your iPad if you wish.

All of the apps can be downloaded and updated from the main Creative Cloud app, so you can pick and choose which apps you want to install at certain times.


Are subscription plans the new normal?

There was a time where you could buy Photoshop for a one-off fee, and you could use it as many times as you wanted for that specific version before a new one would be announced.

However, as devices became more powerful and the alluring choice of having more than one device, there was a reason for Adobe to replace one-off payments with subscriptions.

Microsoft was one of the first to do this with Office 365, and now it’s a common trait. Apple with iCloud and other services, alongside Microsoft and Game Pass, and much more.

But Adobe doesn't just offer one plan, several are offered to better help your needs. Some that you’ll most likely go for may be the Photography plan that offers Photoshop, Lightroom and 20GB of cloud storage for $ 9.99 / £9.99 / AU$ 9.99, to the Dreamweaver plan for $ 19.99 / £19.99 / AU$ 19.99.

We aren’t far from seeing what Adobe will offer for Black Friday weekend. But if you’ve recently upgraded your PC or Mac, and you want to get the best out of Adobe’s apps, you’re going to be in a great position once the deals are announced to help save you a significant chunk of change.

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EE’s Black Friday SIM only deal returns – 60GB of data for just £20 a month

Is it a coincidence that EE brought back one of its best ever SIM only deals on Valentine's Day…? No. No it's not and we cannot stress this enough…SIM plans aren't romantic.

However, while this doesn't scream love, it does at least quietly chant bargain as this marks the return of one of EE's best SIM plans. Offering up 60GB of data for just £20 a month, the last time we saw this promotion from EE was over Black Friday.

Considering EE isn't exactly the cheapest network around, usually costing more than its three main competitors – Three, Vodafone and O2 – anytime we spot the big name retailer going big on its deals, it's always worth jumping on.

For you or for a gift for your partner – you can't say we didn't try and deter you – we've listed everything you need to know about this EE SIM only deal down below. You'll also find details of the closest competing offers.

EE's big data SIM only deal:

What other SIM only deals are available right now?

One deal EE will have difficulty beating comes from Three. Offering an unlimited data cap for just £18 a month, Three currently has the market beat. 

Or, on the cheaper side, Smarty Mobile is rocking a 50GB data plan at a price of just £15 a month. And with this deal, you'll be on a 1-month rolling contract meaning you can stay for as long as you want and leave when you like.

Just want something cheap and cheerful? iD Mobile's 2GB of data for £6 option could be ideal.

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