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Meta Quest 3 owners check the phone app as 12 free games might be waiting for you
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If you own a Meta Quest 3 you should check your Meta Quest smartphone app as you might have a six-month free trial of Meta Quest Plus waiting for you.

Previously this offer was an exclusive order incentive for people who bought the 512GB Meta Quest 3 model, but Quest 3 owners on Reddit have noticed that the 6-month trial is available to them even if they bought the 128GB version. This means rather than saving only $ 7.99 / £7.99 from a one-month trial everyone can get $ 47.94 / £47.94 worth of subscription value for no cost.

Meta Quest Plus is like a Netflix for Quest VR games. Each month you’ll get 2 free VR titles that you can add to your Quest library, and for as long as you are subscribed you can play them. If you unsubscribe, you’ll lose access to your free games until you rejoin Meta Quest Plus.  So with this trial that’s 12 free games, which is a pretty excellent deal that rivals this year’s best Black Friday deals.

To see if you can get this free six-month trial you’ll need to open open the Meta Quest app on your smartphone. Use Search to look for Meta Quest Plus, then on the Quest Plus store page tap the blue button at the bottom of your screen that says “Start your six-month trial.”

Meta Quest Plus advert showing Pistol Whip and Pixel Ripper 1995

(Image credit: Meta)

This offer doesn’t appear to be exclusive to new subscribers either. Comments on the original Reddit post suggest that people can get the six-month trial if they’ve tried the one-month trial before, and even if they’re subscribed – with the six free months being added on top of the subscription they already have.

It also appears to be available in every region, though some users have reported they can only see the one-month trial; that said it’s not clear if they’re Meta Quest 3 or Oculus Quest 2 owners.

If you’re looking to expand your VR library then Meta Quest Plus is a good way to do it, as the two games you get are worth more than the monthly $ 7.99 / £7.99 fee. However, you don’t get to pick which games you get so you might prefer to spend more but get the games you actually want.

The two free titles at the time of writing are NFL Pro Era and Angry Birds: Isle of Pigs. We've not tried either but both titles have been fairly well received with a four and four-and-a-half star rating, respectively, on the Quest Store.

If you don’t have a Meta Quest 3, or an Oculus Quest 2, then you can check out our Black Friday Oculus Quest 2 deals guide to see the latest and greatest offers. If it’s still available you might want to go after Amazon’s incredible Quest 2 deal as it gets you $ 50 / £50 off the headset and free $ 50 / £50 Amazon credit too.

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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
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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

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I review VR headsets for a living, and I’ve never seen a better Oculus Quest 2 deal
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Amazon is offering a fantastic Oculus Quest 2 deal that not only scores you the impressive VR headset for $ 51 off, but you’ll also get a $ 50 gift card. It’s one of the best Black Friday deals I’ve seen.

Right now the Meta’s Quest 2 (128GB) model is down to $ 249 at Amazon – instead of its MSRP of £299. But if you act fast the holiday bundle will score you the discount and a free $ 50 Amazon voucher; effectively, this will save you $ 100 on the popular VR headset which we gave four–and–a–half stars in our Oculus Quest 2 review. 

I say you should act fast, because an identical deal was available in the UK for a few days – but it has now sold out. If history repeats itself in the US you don’t have long left to nab yourself one of the best Oculus Quest 2 Black Friday deals this year. 

I've been writing about VR for years and I haven't seen a better deal; so there's no point waiting for something better to come around this Black Friday if you're after a VR headset.

Get the best ever Oculus Quest 2 deal here:

Meta Quest 2 + Amazon Gift Card: was $ 349.99 now $ 249.00 at Amazon
Right now you can save $ 51 on the Meta Quest 2 (128GB) and get a free $ 50 Amazon gift card as well as part of this holiday bundle. I’ve never seen a better Meta Quest 2 deal, and I expect this may sell out before Black Friday, so act fast.View Deal

The only VR headset deal I think you should consider instead of this Oculus Quest 2 offer is the Meta Quest 3 deal that's available everywhere. That is you get the Meta Quest 3 for $ 499 and a free copy of Asgard's Wrath 2.  Alongside Amazon, you can find the same deal at  Walmart, Best Buy, and Target among others.

While this isn't the best deal (the headset is full price) I think the Meta Quest 3 is a massive step up over the Quest 2; that's why I awarded it five stars in our Meta Quest 3 review. Yes, it's pricier, but it's worth the extra cost if you can afford it.

If you are on a tight budget then Meta's Oculus Quest 2 is still fine, and the above deal is a fantastic offer to take advantage of. But if you can afford to splash out on a Meta Quest 3 then I'd strongly suggest doing so.

For more on this topic, check out my guide to whether you should buy an Oculus Quest 2 or Meta Quest 3 this Black Friday.

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Meta Quest 3 teardown video shows lower price doesn’t mean low-quality
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We just got a good look at the guts inside a Quest 3 headset. iFixit tore down the VR gear into its individual parts to find out if the device offers good performance for its price point. Short answer: Yes, it does although there are some design flaws that make it difficult to repair.

What’s notable about the Quest 3 is that it has better “mixed-reality capabilities” than the Quest Pro. It's able to automatically map out a room as well as accurately keep track of the distance between objects without needing a “safe space”. The former is made possible by a depth sensor while the latter is thanks to the “time of flight sensor”. iFixit makes the interesting observation that the time of flight components could fit perfectly in the Quest Pro. 

It’s worth mentioning Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s Chief Technology Officer, once stated the sensors were removed from the pro model because it added extra “cost and weight” without providing enough benefits.” The Quest 3 is much slimmer, clocking at 512g. 

Meta Quest 3 breakdown

(Image credit: iFixit)

Hardware improvements

Digging deeper into the headset, iFixit offered a zoomed-in look at the LCD panels through a powerful microscope. The screens output a resolution of 2,064 x 2,208 pixels per eye with a refresh rate of 120Hz. This is greater than the Quest Pro’s peak resolution of 1,920 x 1,800 pixels. The video explains that the Quest 3 can manipulate the intensity of color clusters, mixing everything into the high-quality visuals we see. Combining the LCD panels with the time of flight sensor results in a “much better [full-color] passthrough experience” than before.

Additionally, the headset has greater power behind it since it houses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 XR2 Gen 2 chipset.

Of course, iFixit took the time to judge the Quest 3 on its repairability and Meta did a good job on that front – for the most part. The controllers are easy to repair as their construction is relatively simple. They’re held together by a few screws, a magnet, and a series of ribbon cables at the top. Replacing the battery is also pretty easy as each half takes a single AA battery.

Awkward repairs

On the headset, it's a slightly different story. The battery on the main unit is replaceable, too. However, it’s located at the center of the device behind 50 screws, multiple coax cables, various connectors, a heatsink, and the mainboard. If you like to do your own repairs on your electronics, it may take you a while to fix the Quest 3.

Funnily enough, iFixit really makes a good case for why and how the Quest 3 is a better headset than the Quest Pro. Granted, it lacks face and eye tracking, but when you have a more immersive mixed reality, are people really going to miss them? Plus, it's half the price. If the Quest 3 is the new standard moving forward, it makes you wonder how Meta is going to improve on the Quest Pro 2 (assuming it’s in the works).

While we have you check out TechRadar’s list of the best VR headsets for 2023. 

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Oculus Quest 2 owners beware: the Meta Quest 3 launch is bad news for your storage
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As highlighted in our Meta Quest 3 review, the new VR headset is bringing a lot of improvements to the VR world, but for Oculus Quest 2 owners it’s also bringing one major downside – your headset’s storage space might soon feel a lot smaller than it did before.

To take advantage of the Quest 3’s improved Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset, its 8GB of RAM, and its full-color mixed reality, VR app developers will be releasing updates to their software (Meta said it’s coming to over 50 during Meta Connect 2023). However, as reported by UploadVR, these updated files won’t be exclusive to Quest 3 owners. 

People using a Quest 2 will also be forced to download the new, larger file sizes, but here’s the kicker: they won't be able to benefit from any of the improvements stored in those bigger files. And the size increases aren’t insignificant – for example, Red Matter 2 is jumping from 5.6GB to 9.1GB. 

Just under 3.5GB might not seem like a lot, but if you’ve been a long-running Oculus Quest 2 user and have an original 64GB model (as this writer does) then 3.5GB is 5.5% of your total storage space – or 6.2% of the available space after you factor in the 7.5GB taken up by the Quest 2 OS.

Thankfully this might not be an issue forever. While developers currently don’t have the option to release distinct Quest 2 and Quest 3 versions of their VR experiences, they can release a separate, simplified version for the Quest 1. 

Meta didn’t provide an exact timeline, but it did reportedly tell UploadVR that it has plans to “extend this [facility to release distinct versions of apps] to Quest Pro and Quest 3 in the future.” So hopefully Quest 2 owners will soon be able to reclaim any storage space that has been snatched away from them.

In the meantime, be prepared to have to delete some apps from your Quest 2’s digital library. Alternatively, you could check out the Meta Quest 3 and see if it’s worth upgrading too – if you have to download the bigger files, you might at least take advantage of the benefits they bring.

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The Meta Quest 3 will get a much-needed body-tracking update soon
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If you’ve ever found yourself pulled out of a VR experience because your virtual arms and upper body don’t match up well with your real body, Meta has some good news: the Meta Quest 3 will soon have proper body tracking thanks to an incoming update.

Currently, a lot of guesswork goes into VR avatars. Unless you’re wearing some kind of tracking suit, the headset has to guess where your arms and body should be based on your head and hand movements, as well as any height data you provide. Sometimes it's okay, but generally this system is a little off, and rather than helping with immersion it can serve as a constant reminder that the virtual world is just that.

The Meta Quest 3 has an answer – or at least it will come December, when Meta rolls out an update (via UploadVR). The new VR headset’s downward-facing side cameras are able to see and track your torso, shoulders, elbows, and wrists, and using these data points, and some new algorithms, VR experiences can create avatars that more closely mimic your actual movements through a system called inside-out upper-body tracking.

In a demo video Meta, has shown how this system can not only more accurately copy your movements, but translate body movements that Quest hardware couldn’t follow well before – such as elbow strikes, and bending forward or to the side (movements which could be great for guided workouts in VR, for example).

Unfortunately, not every app will support inside-out upper-body tracking right away. A few, like Supernatural and Drunken Bar Fight, will, but you’ll have to wait for developers of other VR experiences to implement the SDK update into their software before you can enjoy the improved avatars.

Legs at last 

This SDK update will also bring some improvements to VR legs.

VR legs have been a sore spot for Meta. It received some ridicule during Meta Connect 2022 when one of its biggest announcements was that Meta’s avatars would soon get legs – ridicule that was amplified when it was discovered that the demo it showed off was staged using motion-captured animation.

Virtual legs did actually start rolling out in September, but only for VR beta testers, and only in the Quest home app. It appears that this upcoming Meta Quest 3 update will bring the appendages to more users and a wider variety of apps – that is, if developers enable it.

A VR Mark Zuckerberg jumping with his legs tucked during a staged demo at Meta Connect 2022

(Image credit: Meta)

It’s worth noting, however, that your VR legs will be AI-generated rather than actually being tracked. Based on demo videos, the AI seems to get the leg movements mostly correct – it knows when you’re squatting, jumping, or doing a movement like a boxer bounce – but it won’t know when, say, you lift up a knee. So copying the jump-knee tuck movement Zuckerberg showed off during the Meta Connect 2022 demo won’t be possible in VR yet.

With the advancements Meta is making in tracking and AI it’s possible its legs will evolve in the coming year but for now, we’ll have to make do with what we have.

Want to know more about the new VR headset? Check out our hands-on Meta Quest 3 review.

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The Meta Quest 3 is here, and I think it’s the best VR headset yet
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At Meta Connect 2023 we finally got a full look at the new Meta headset the Meta Quest 3 – a headset the company has called its most powerful yet. Best of all it’s available to preorder right now starting at $ 499.99 / £479.99 (Australian pricing to be confirmed by Meta), with the headset set to ship on October 10

While this Oculus Quest 2 successor costs slightly more than Quest 2 did at launch – it was just £299 / $ 299 / AU$ 479 for its cheapest 64GB model and was later the same price for a 128GB headset – the Quest 3 comes with a whole host of upgrades to help justify its price.

The star of the show is the new Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset, which offers a two-and-a-half times better graphical performance compared to the Quest 2’s XR2 Gen 1 chip. Plus with its now 8GB of RAM this means VR experiences can offer more realistic physics and lighting, as well as fuller environments for you to explore and interact with.

These improved graphics will be shown on a new and improved pair of LCD displays which now boast 2,064 x 2,208 pixels per eye (up from the Quest 2’s 1,920 x 1,832 pixels per eye). Best of all this display has a variable refresh rate that can get as high as 120Hz.

The Meta Quest 3 and controllers on their charging station which is itself on a wooden desk next to a lamp

The Meta Quest 3 and its charging station (which is sold separately)  (Image credit: Meta)

You’ll also find the design has been given a few upgrades. Not only is the headset 40% slimmer which should help to make it more comfortable to wear but it’s easier to adjust the headset to suit your needs. There’s a lens adjustment scroll wheel that you can turn while wearing the headset so you can set the lens to perfect spacing apart and a built-in adjustable spacer that makes room for glasses if you’re wearing a pair.

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, the Meta Quest 3 is a mixed reality-focused device with new full-color passthrough capabilities and a depth sensor to make it better than Meta’s previous headsets at mapping out your real-world space. Mixed reality has always felt a little gimmicky, but with its improved capabilities and new features like Augments – these sort of mixed reality widgets – the Meta Quest 3 might finally make us care about MR as much as VR.

As I mentioned above, preorders are live now with the new Meta headset set to ship on October 10, 2023. You can pick up the base 128GB version for $ 499.99 / £479.99 (Australian pricing to be confirmed by Meta), or you can buy the 512GB Quest 3 for $ 649.99 / £619.99 (Australian pricing to be confirmed by Meta). You can also pick up a range of accessories including a Quest 3 Elite Strap, and the one I’m most excited about, the charging dock (as the Quest Pro charging station was a massive help).

To help incentivize you to make a preorder, Meta will give anyone who orders a Meta Quest 3 before January 27 a free copy of Asgard’s Wrath 2. If you order the 512GB model you’ll also get a six-month subscription to Meta Quest Plus – a service that gives you new free VR games and apps every month that you can play as long as you’re subscribed.

What I thought of the Meta Quest 3 

You can read my full hands on Meta Quest 3 review for a more in-depth rundown of my initial Quest 3 reaction, but the TL;DR is this device seems like a major step forward compared to what Meta has produced before and I think it could be the best VR headset out there.

Hamish striking a disco dance pose while wearing the Meta Quest 3 headset

Samba de Amigo on the Quest 3 is silly fun (Image credit: Meta)

Visually, the Quest 3’s graphics look almost night and day compared to the Oculus Quest 2. The most obvious improvement is for text – it’s actually really easy to read words on documents you find in-game now – but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Shadows and reflections behave much more realistically, and objects have a crisper look to them that helps the world feel significantly more real than they did on Quest 2.

Mixed reality has received a massive bump up too. Passthrough footage of the real world is more color-accurate and less grainy than with the Meta Quest Pro. It’s still not life-like but it's a leap in the right direction. This higher quality makes mixed reality feel less gimmicky – I loved the mixed reality experiences I tried for Stranger Things VR and First Encounters, and I’ll definitely be trying out more MR content when I get my hands on the Quest 3 again.

The performance also feels solid. While booting up Assassin’s Creed Nexus did take a while, once the game had loaded the Italian city I explored as Ezio felt alive with characters and interactable props without any noticeable stuttering to break my immersion.

As for the design and comfort, again the Quest 3 excels. The headset has an IPD wheel so you can gradually adjust the lens spacing while wearing the headset – saving a lot of hassle compared to the Quest 2, since you no longer have to keep taking the headset on and off to make changes. The slim design also seems to help with comfort. Generally, the Meta Quest 3 feels less bulky compared to the Quest 2, though I wasn’t using it for a super long time and didn’t get a true sense of how easy it would be to wear it for a long stretch of time.

Hamish wearing the Meta Quest 3 as he stands in front of a plant. He's looking at something in VR with wonder.

Mixed reality is a blast on the Quest 3 (Image credit: Meta)

I’ll need to spend longer than a roughly 30-minute demo with the headset to know how impressive the Meta Quest 3 really is, but there is certainly a lot to love about the headset.

Previously I’ve always recommended people buy Meta’s Quest 2 because of the value for money it offers – and it is still a solid value option. But if you can afford to splash out a little more (or are happy to wait longer to save up) the Meta Quest 3 looks like a worthy successor and a VR gadget that more than justifies its higher cost. I can’t wait to try it out again.

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Meta Connect 2023 live blog: Meta Quest 3, VR and AI announcements
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Welcome to the TechRadar live blog for Meta Connect 2023. We'll be keeping you updated with everything that’s announced at this year’s Meta event as it happens, as well as giving you our expert thoughts on all the hardware and software that’s announced.

This year we know the headline item will be the Meta Quest 3, a new VR headset set to replace the Oculus Quest 2 (the most popular VR headset ever made). Meta has called the Quest 3 its “most powerful headset” yet, but beyond this, its price and that it’ll have full-color mixed reality like the Meta Quest Pro there’s a lot we still don’t know – chiefly when it will release.

Alongside the Quest 3, Meta will likely show off other VR and AR tech it's working on (though expect a lot of the stuff to still be in fairly early development stages, based on previous years’ keynotes), as well as AI advancements it's developing. 

Meta Connect 2023 is here! I'm Hamish and I'll be with you for the next hour or so as Meta takes us through all of its VR and AI announcements. The biggest of which will be the Meta Quest 3 VR headset.

I'm super excited to see this new device, especially its mixed reality capabilities, as this seems to be a major focus for Meta. The Meta Quest Pro left a lot to be desired in this department, though, so the Quest 3 needs to be a big improvement if it wants to convince us that mixed reality is the future of XR tech.

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How to watch Meta Connect 2023: tune in for the Meta Quest 3, AI updates, and more
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Meta is due to host Meta Connect 2023, its annual hardware and software event, live from its headquarters in Menlo Park, California on September 27-28. The event's keynote kicks off on September 27 at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST, or 3am AEST on September 28 for Australia.

The highlight of this year’s two-day showcase will be the official unveiling of the Meta Quest 3 headset, and we also anticipate a host of announcements around the company’s various AI and software developments.

Meta Quest 3 with the front face and parts exploding upwards

(Image credit: Meta )

Meta Connect 2023 will be the company’s first in-person showcase since the pandemic, with most of the big announcements likely to happen during that keynote presented by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. This will be followed by the Developer State of the Union presentation, which will feature the latest updates from Reality Labs for developers working on software for Meta's XR ecosystem

The Meta Quest 3's full unveiling will follow a brief teaser at last year’s Connect 2022, which was followed by an announcement from Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook and Instagram in June. This major hardware reveal aside, it seems as though the 2023 event will largely focus on software innovation, including details of enhancements coming to Meta’s hardware as well as its expanding developments in AI and the Metaverse. 

You’ll be able to follow the pre-show news, and all the big announcements as they happen, at our Meta Connect live blog – here's everything you need to know to get prepped.  

How to watch Meta Connect 2023

Meta Connect's keynote kicks off 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST on Wednesday September 27, which is 3am AEST on Thursday September 28 for Australia.

You can watch the event through Meta’s livestream on Facebook or, alternatively, you can sign up to attend Meta Connect 2023 virtually and receive news and updates directly to your inbox.

If you already have a Meta Quest headset, you can also watch the event inside the Horizon Worlds app, with the keynote being streamed in 3D.

A laptop screen on a blue background showing the Meta Connect 2023 homescreen

(Image credit: Meta)

We’ll be live-blogging the event, so you’ll also be able to follow the pre-show news, and all the big announcements as they happen, with us. 

What to expect at Meta Connect 2023

We already know that the hardware highlight of Meta Connect 2023 is likely to be the official unveiling of the Meta Quest 3, the VR headset that’s the successor to the Meta Quest 2.

While this announcement is confirmed, we don’t have many details about the Quest 3, and what upgrades it will bring over the current model – but we do have some thoughts on what we’d like to see. We also don’t know if new software will be announced to support what we expect will be the Quest 3’s improved specs, although we expect new VR games and software will be released that take advantage of the Quest 3’s enhanced performance.

Meta Quest 3 floating next to its two controllers, they're all facing towards us, and are clad in white plastic

(Image credit: Meta )

In the last two years, Meta has revealed that it's been working on developing AR (augmented reality) tech, although it’s yet to announce a dedicated AR device. This year’s Connect might be when that changes, and it's likely that we’ll get an announcement about some type of augmented reality hardware. We imagine that augmented reality glasses are next on Meta’s to-do list, although Meta hasn’t confirmed this, and we’ve seen little in the way of rumors about possible specs and features.

Microsoft 365 app logos including Teams, Word and Outlook surrounding the CoPilot hexagon

Maybe the AI Copilot will come to Quest as well (Image credit: Microsoft/GTS)

Meta’s innovative approach to improving software is another area where we expect some headline-grabbing announcements, starting with a long-awaited partnership with Microsoft. We could see Microsoft Office programs like Excel and Word optimized for the Quest hardware platform, with the two companies having announced the collaboration at Connect 2022.

In light of Microsoft Office coming to VR, it was hinted at last year’s Connect 2022 that Xbox gaming would be integrated into virtual reality through Meta, but this is only a possibility right now given the lack of details.

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The last Quest 2 update before the Meta Quest 3 launch is underwhelming
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Meta is rolling out update v57 to your Meta Quest Pro and Oculus Quest 2. This last patch before the Meta Quest 3 launch event later this month is underwhelming compared to previous ones, but it fixes a few snags that should make the Quest 3 feel super–smooth and intuitive on its release.

The biggest change coming in this update is to avatar customization, though Meta is only adding a few tweaks. After updating to v57 you’ll have greater control over your avatar’s skin tone, hair and eyebrow color, and the makeup they’re wearing. These changes should make it easier for your virtual representation to better match your IRL look and style. 

Meta’s avatars aren’t just used in its own suite of VR apps like its Horizon Worlds metaverse; they’re also used by a whole bunch of third-party experiences like ForeVR Bowl – a game this writer is a champion in. These new customization options will allow you to bring a more accurate representation of yourself to a wider range of VR activities – and these changes might encourage more devs to support Meta avatars in their software.

A large floating menu fills the screen. It shows a Meta avatar wearing a pop star outfit on the right, next to a massive range of color customization options for their hair and makeup.

(Image credit: Meta)

Another change is the ability to finally explore more of your Horizon Home – the VR space you first land into when you boot up your headset. Previously you’ve only been able to jump between preset hotspots in the VR space. While this fixed approach is accessible to new VR users, Meta admits that this restriction becomes more and more jarring as you explore other virtual reality experiences and get used to a high degree of freedom that isn’t present in your Horizon Home. 

With update v57, Meta is unlocking free-form locomotion, so you can teleport (almost) anywhere in the space. Just push the joystick forward on either controller and an arch will appear that shows you where you’ll travel to – release the joystick when the arch is white and you’ll teleport, but you won’t move if the arch is red.

Lastly, Meta is adding the ability to unsend image messages in VR and in the Meta Quest mobile app – at least for users in Australia, Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the US. To unsend a message you just have to hover over the image in VR (or tap on it in the Quest mobile app) and select Unsend to correct any mistakes you may have made by sending the wrong image to the wrong person. The only trace of the old message will be a notification that something was unsent, which the recipient will see instead of the image.

A conversation appears on a floating screen in a VR recreation of a home with chairs and rocky decorations. The user has highlighted an image and is hovering their cursor over the Unsend buton.

(Image credit: Meta)

More to come? 

This v57 update is a tad disappointing compared to some previous Quest updates that have brought direct touch for hand-tracking, vastly improved video settings, and major CPU and GPU performance upgrades. But with the Meta Quest 3 just around the corner, it makes a bit of sense. 

For one, Meta may be saving some big platform changes for an update that releases after the Quest 3 has launched, helping the new headset to feel fresh and exciting from both a hardware and software perspective.

Alternatively, by getting these minor annoyances fixed ahead of the Quest 3 announcement, Meta is leaving the Quest OS in a good spot for a few months while it works on developing any user-requested features that come in after launch.

Most Quest updates typically drop monthly, but the first Quest update after the Quest Pro launch (v47) was released roughly two months after the previous one. That’s likely due to Meta adding features like mixed reality capture and background audio playback that the Quest Pro community was clamoring for very vocally. But these kinds of reactive updates likely take a bit more time to develop, because Meta can’t start working on fixes until users tell it what they want changed.

The Meta Quest Pro on its charging pad on a desk, in front of a window with the curtain closed

The Meta Quest Pro got a major update two months after launch (Image credit: Meta)

Meta may be anticipating a similar update schedule for the Quest 3, and so it wants to get rid of some smaller snags now, so that it has the time and capacity to work on more major features that users request.

We won’t know exactly what Meta is up to until the Quest 3 release, however. To find out more about the new headset as soon as it’s announced, be sure to check back with us for our Meta Connect 2023 coverage when the event takes place on September 27.

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