Summary
TheMeta Quest 3Shas had another leak, and this one seems to reveal that the upcoming VR headset won’t have a headphone jack. This is a feature that theMeta Questline has had since it was still called the Oculus Quest.
Meta is likely on the verge of announcing the Meta Quest 3S during its upcoming Meta Connect event. However, in advance of an official reveal, numerous sources have been dropping one detail after another regarding the new headset. Outside of eagle-eyed fans spotting what appears to be theMeta Quest 3S behind the CTOin a video shot in his office, it hasn’t even been officially confirmed by Meta, but the number of leaks are impossible to ignore.
Now, a new series of images have leaked of the Meta Quest 3S onto a South Korean forum called Arcalive (viaUploadVR). The photos appear to picture the new headset, with some differences between it and its predecessors. The headset doesn’t look extremely different from the others, though the front of the device has a different array of cameras, which will be utilized in thepassthrough of the Meta Quest 3S. However, one notable difference is the lack of 3.5mm headphone jack.
Meta Quest 3S Lack of Headphone Jack Could be a Drawback
The reasoning behind removing the headphone jack is unknown. It’s possible that taking it out helped the company to bring down the price or improve the form factor in some way. However, getting rid of the headphone jack eliminates an easy and lag-free method of connecting headphones to the device. Presumably, users will need to either use the device’s built-in speakers,bluetooth headphones, or connect a set of headphones via a USB connection to the device. However, this would mean that users won’t be able to charge the device or physically tether it to a computer with their headphones plugged in, so that option may not be ideal.
As this is a leak, there’s no guarantee that what’s pictured is the final product. It’s possible that further changes may have been made after these images were taken. In any case, Meta will likely be revealing the real thing soon, so expectant fans will be able to learn more then. For those who consider a lack of headphone jack to be a dealbreaker, the Meta Quest 3 still has that option, so going for the higher-priced headset may be the best choice for those users. Those who want a less expensive option with the headphone jack may want to consider purchasing aMeta Quest 2soon, as rumors state that the Quest 3S will be replacing it once it’s released.
Meta Quest 3
The Meta Quest 3 is the latest and greatest mixed-reality headset that brings a host of improvements compared to the previous generation. The Quest 3 has higher resolution displays per eye with support for 90Hz and 120Hz refresh rates.It uses a more powerful 2nd generation Snapdragon XR2 processor that is capable of running games like Asgard’s Wrath 2 natively. It comes with a full-color passthrough, improved controllers, and a slimmer form factor.
