Meta and Xbox have partnered up to bring us the Meta Quest 3S Xbox edition – a beautiful limited edition black and green Quest 3S which comes bundled with an Xbox controller and three months of Game Pass Ultimate so you can stream the service’s catalog to its VR app. Oh, and it’s one of the best Meta Quest 3S deals I’ve ever seen.
Right now, you can pick it up from Meta’s own store, Best Buyor Argos for $399.99 / £379.99, which is $94.86 / £84.86 less than you’d spend if you bought each item in this bundle separately.
That’s because this bundle nets you a 128GB Meta Quest 3s (which usually costs $299.99 / £289.99), the aforementioned Xbox wireless controller ($64.99 / £59.99) and 3-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription ($59.97 / £44.97 at $19.99 / £14.99 per month), plus you’ll get an official Elite strap ($69.99 / £69.99). Combined, that’s $494.85 / £464.94, and that’s before you factor in the three months of free Meta Horizon+ which comes with all new Quest 3S purchases (worth $23.97 / £23.97 at $7.99 / £7.99 per month).
What’s more, those are prices you’d pay for standard versions of each item, not the unique Xboxified color scheme you’re getting here. Just remember to act fast, as Meta has warned that when “it’s gone, it’s gone” – meaning you’ll have missed out on both the unique VR headset and this great bundle deal.
Close to perfection
I’ve previously made it clear that I think the Meta Quest 3S comes in a close but definite second place to its sibling, the Meta Quest 3 proper, and so a part of me does wish this bundle were for that better headset.
Purely because the upgraded model nets you higher quality displays – it has a 2064 x 2208 pixels per eye dual-display setup instead of the 1832 x 1920 per eye single display setup, the 3S repurposes from the Meta Quest 2.
The Quest 3S also reuses the Quest 2’s bulky Fresnel lens system, which can result in additional visual deficiencies that the Quest 3’s pancake lenses generally avoid.
Otherwise the Meta Quest 3S is a delight as it boasts a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2, a respectable 8GB of RAM, and at least 128GB of storage which are all plenty to download and play the best VR games the Quest ecosystem has to offer – including exclusives like Batman: Arkham Shadow, and the incoming Deadpool VR title.
As for the Xbox side, your experience will depend on the quality of your internet connection.
At home, I have lightning-fast fibre so I can easily boot up the Xbox app on the Quest 3S, load into the likes of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Clear obscure: Expedition 33, or Oblivion Remasteredand game on a gigantic virtual screen (up to 312-inch) without any trouble.
Sure it doesn’t have quite the same graphical fidelity as a wired console outputting to a 4K TV – but you can’t lie back in bed with your 4K TV floating above you, or have the image fill your vision unless you’re willing to move your sofa much closer to your home entertainment setup. So, this VR game streaming experience is less of a step down and more of a step to the side.
And with this bundle including the Game Pass Ultimate subscription and Xbox wireless controller you require, it has made the barrier to entry significantly lower, which is awesome, as the Xbox experience on Quest is a delight, easily one of the headset’s best features.