The Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones came out almost exactly a year ago and now Amazon is selling the Lunar Blue colorway for $329, which is $100 off the MSRP (other hues are full price). We saw this price last week for all four colors during Amazon's fall sale. Lunar Blue looks to be a limited edition, which could account for the discount, or it could just be Amazon's way of keeping the deals engines burning after the end of October Prime Day.
Engadget's Billy Steele reviewed these when they came out last October, awarding them a respectable 86. The difference between this Ultra version and Bose's standard QuietComfort headphones is the integration of Bose's version of spatial audio.
The design saw some changes too, with a single multifunction control instead of the three buttons to handle playback and mode functions. There's also a touch strip to adjust the volume. Some of the plastic was swapped out in favor of metal, and we found the comfort to be the same high level as with previous Bose cans — particularly for long listening sessions. And, of course, the active noise cancellation is still among the best you can get.
As for the Immersive Audio (the marquee feature) it's good sometimes. It works with all content — not just content created to support it, such as Dolby Atmos in Apple Music or Sony's 360 Reality Audio. But since it's relying on signal processing instead of specially engineered sounds, the results vary. Sometimes it sounds great, other times not so much. But thankfully, Bose has improved the audio all around, so even without the new feature, the sound is warmer and clearer than on the standard QCs.
In our guide to the best wireless headphones, we mention QuietComfort Ultra but point out that the $100 price jump from the standard QCs (our current ANC pick) isn't quite worth it, since the success of the spatial audio isn't consistent. But with this discount, the blue QC Ultra headphones are currently $20 cheaper than the originals. Could be a good day to go for the pricer/not pricier version.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-bose-quietcomfort-ultra-headphones-are-back-on-sale-at-their-lowest-price-yet-173728366.html?src=rss
The head of Xbox Game Studios Alan Hartman is set to retire at the end of November, marking an end to 30 years working at Microsoft. Appointed to succeed him is Craig Duncan, the studio head of Rare, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2002. To fill in for Duncan’s eventual departure from the studio, Joe Neate and Jim Horth will take over as co-leads of Rare, as seen in an internal memo seen by The Verge:
In his new role, Craig will continue to focus on helping our studios deliver high-quality, differentiated game experiences that can grow into successful franchises and reach more players by investing in new IP. Craig will report to me and join the Game Content and Studios leadership team, working closely with Alan during the transition. The existing XGS leadership team Alan established will remain intact and report to Craig.
I am also pleased to announce that Joe Neate and Jim Horth will take over as co-leads of Rare. Their leadership has played a crucial role in Rare’s growth, and I am confident they will elevate the studio and its games to even greater heights.
Interestingly, Hartman had only had his job as head of Xbox Game Studios for less than a year. Hartman led Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 for almost two decades before being pulled in to replace former Xbox Games Studio head Matt Booty last year. His retirement is somewhat surprising, but since it’s not due to any controversies in the company, it’s likely just a case of him wanting to retire from 30 years at Microsoft.
This change of heads comes about a month after Microsoft laid off 650 employees. These layoffs are related to its decision in 2022 to acquire Activision Blizzard. While no games are canceled, this change of heads may signify a shift in Xbox Game Studios' future plans.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/craig-duncan-to-succeed-alan-hartman-as-xbox-game-studios-head-170254040.html?src=rss
Adobe is joining several other players in the generative AI (GAI) space by rolling out its own model. The Firefly Video Model is powering a number of features across the company's wide array of apps. At Adobe MAX, the company announced that some of those are available in beta today.
Generative Extend is a Premiere Pro feature that Adobe previewed earlier this year. It enables editors to add generated footage and audio to the start or end of a clip. This can help cover a transition or edit if the required shot isn't available. All editors need to do is drag out the beginning or end of a clip. Adobe says the tool can also correct eyelines and actions that change unexpectedly in the middle of a shot.
Adobe said it worked with professional video editors over the last year to better understand how GAI could help resolve some issues in their workflow. While Generative Extend might give them the footage they need, other creatives may be less enthused. It may mean that reshoots are no longer required, taking days of work (and income) away from the cast and crew.
That said, Generative Extend is only intended for small tweaks. The feature is also limited to a maximum resolution of 1080p for now, so it's not exactly cinema quality.
Adobe says that, like with other Firefly generative models, both the Firefly Video Model and the features it powers are designed to be safe for commercial use. Its Content Credentials watermarks are applied to whatever the video model outputs.
Elsewhere, Photoshop is gaining some features Adobe showed off earlier this year, with Generative Fill and Generative Expand now running on the latest Firefly Image Model (the company says this can generate images four times faster than previous versions). The Generate Similar tool is fairly self-explanatory — it can generate variants of an object in the image until you find one you prefer. Adobe released those features today.
In addition, Adobe is adding a neat feature to the Remove tool, which lets you delete people and objects from an image with ease, like Google's Magic Eraser. With Distraction Removal, you can remove certain common elements with a single click. For instance, it can scrub unwanted wires and cables, and remove tourists from your travel photos.
Meanwhile, Frame.io V4, said to be the biggest update to the collaborative photo and video production platform since it debuted nine years ago, is available to all users. Adobe has entirely redesigned it to, for instance, improve workflows and upgrade the video player. It also emerged that Canon, Nikon and Leica will support its Camera to Cloud (C2C) feature, which allows for direct uploads of photos and videos to Frame.io. Adobe says that means most major manufacturers are now supporting C2C.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/adobe-starts-rolling-out-generative-ai-video-tools-in-beta-163703601.html?src=rss
Bungie seems to have set its sights on the mobile games market, as Destiny: Rising, a new mobile sci-fi RPG shooter title, is coming to Android and iOS. This spinoff is being developed by NetEase Games, the same company that developed the free-to-play Diablo: Immortal. Destiny: Rising will also be free to download and play when it launches.
Destiny: Rising is set in a different timeline from Destiny and Destiny 2, but NetEase promises players they’ll meet some familiar faces and new ones. The narrative is focused on a time after the Dark Age. Players will get to explore Earth after “The Collapse” and see how humanity tries to recover from a loss of civilization.
Bungie/NetEase Games
Besides playing in a first-person perspective, NetEase Games is introducing a new third-person viewpoint, previously only limited to specific weapons and equipment. The game also supports smartphone-compatible controllers if you own them.
As a Destiny 2 spinoff, Destiny: Rising will have both PvE and PvP modes, both familiar and new. Players are able to create clans and make friends, both fighting alongside or against them in challenges.
Bungie/NetEase Games
Some of you may realize that since NetEase Games is developing and publishing Destiny: Rising, the game is likely to have many microtransactions. Sadly, there’s no concrete info about this right now, but if we can take Diablo: Immortal as an example, these worries may come true.
It’s worth noting that Bungie had just laid off 220 employees this past August despite the success of its latest expansion, the Final Shape. Many Destiny 2 players may also recall that the company recently released a roadmap detailing future plans in the wake of those layoffs.
NetEase Games is opening sign-ups right now for a closed alpha test taking place next month. Those interested can visit the official website to learn more. There’s no official release date at this time.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/destiny-rising-is-bungies-new-mobile-game-published-by-netease-games-163054704.html?src=rss
Amazon isn’t a stranger to acquiring various companies and services, but it’s finally taking steps to streamline its many acquisitions, as reported by The Information. PillPack, bought by Amazon in 2018, and Amazon Pharmacy, launched in 2020, are slowly being combined into one service. Amazon is also attempting to combine the online components of Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh, albeit in a different manner.
PillPack is a service that sends customers medication packs containing the required pills for a single day’s consumption, while Amazon Pharmacy is geared towards general purchases. One of the planned changes is to allow PillPack users to handle their orders using Amazon Pharmacy accounts. They can also use coupons and Prime discounts on their PillPack purchases. Additionally, Amazon Pharmacy will accept Medicare through PillPack in January.
Although Amazon has plans to expand Amazon Pharmacy to the UK, Canada and Australia, this hasn’t happened yet. The service remains US-only.
Right now, both pharmacy services already ship orders from the same facilities, which is a change from the previous arrangement. PillPack previously had its own facilities, and the change will make same-day deliveries in 20 new cities possible, bringing the total available locations close to 30 from less than 10 right now.
Amazon previously acquired Whole Foods in 2017, but it wasn’t connected to Amazon’s regular grocery deliveries or Amazon Fresh at all. Now, Amazon is placing popular items at Whole Foods and Amazon in Fresh centers in the US, UK, Italy and Spain. Shoppers can now stick to using only Amazon Fresh more often instead of buying from multiple stores at once. One driver can also deliver everything in a single order, which helps Amazon reduce costs.
Additionally, Amazon is testing a mini-warehouse located in a Whole Foods store that lets customers pick up orders. This warehouse stores products like Coca-Cola and Oreos, which aren’t allowed in Whole Foods stores due to policies. Amazon intends to help shoppers avoid visiting multiple stores due to a lack of products, a problem Whole Foods suffers from due to it stocking fewer brands.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/amazon-will-reportedly-merge-its-pharmacy-operations-and-some-grocery-delivery-services-160914672.html?src=rss
I have absolutely nothing negative to say about Neva. As a story, Neva is a living fairy tale that plays out in dreamlike scenes of natural beauty, starring two creatures bonded by tragedy and propelled by an intense need to protect each other — and save the world in the process. As a game, Neva offers exquisite swordplay and intuitive platforming action, with a contained suite of abilities that evolves purposefully with each new stage. As a piece of art, every frame of Neva is breathtaking.
This is what a faultless game looks like. This is how it feels to play something perfect.
Alba is the protagonist in Neva and she’s badass. When we meet her, she’s a seasoned warrior and nomad with a cloud of silver hair, dancer’s limbs, and a billowing red cape that hides a slender sword. Her wolf companion, Neva, is just a cub at first, easily distracted and still learning how to navigate the forests and fields of their world. In the beginning, Neva needs Alba. By the end of the game, after seasons of growth and vicious battles, Alba also needs Neva.
Nomada Studio
None of these descriptors are spelled out in words, but the characters’ actions and a few beautifully animated vignettes make their backstories clear, and the entire story unspools in a similar fashion. The only speech in the game comes from Alba as she calls out, “Neva?” or, “Neva!” or, “Nevaaa,” with each press of the interaction button. Her tone and level of panic shifts dynamically with Neva’s position in the environment — Alba’s voice is strained with worry when she and the wolf are separated, and it’s soothing or playful when they’re near each other. Standing next to Neva and pressing to interact lets Alba pet her (and yes, there are achievements for doing so). In a million small ways, the game’s mechanics forge a deep emotional connection between Alba and Neva, until it eventually feels like they’re a singular entity, fighting the darkness as one.
Alba and Neva’s world is stunning. It’s composed of lush forests, sun-drenched valleys, soaring mountains and twisting cave systems — and all of it is being consumed by an oozing, ink-black decay spread by swarms of bulbous monsters with stark white faces. The decay acts like cordyceps, suffusing the bodies of massive animals and transforming them into zombie-like murder machines. In other areas, it takes the form of spiky brambles and skeletal vines that deal damage if you touch them. The monsters — round bodies, screaming faces and spidery limbs — appear consistently with a variety of ranged, melee, airborne and rushing attacks. It’s Alba and Neva’s mission to destroy the decay and the monsters, and reclaim their land. For the completionists among us, there are also glowing white flowers hidden among the levels, and finding them all unlocks something special.
Nomada Studio
The game is divided into four seasons, and as Neva grows, so do her abilities. Alba, meanwhile, is always strong and she only becomes more powerful as she and Neva learn how to fight together. To start, Alba can jump, double jump and dodge, and she has a basic sword attack and a downward thrust that can strike enemies and burst through weak floors from above. In the back half of the game, Neva is able to leap on invisible platforms and essentially teleport to any area she pleases, watching from high ridges as Alba climbs walls of white flowers to reach her.
This is a distinct contrast to the early stages, when Alba had to coax cub-Neva to jump across small gaps, and it drives home the game’s core theme of parental love. Eventually, Alba is able to throw Neva into battle like an aimed projectile, and she’ll ferociously attack whatever enemy she hits. This ability is a little silly at times — like when you’re trying to reach a hidden flower and you end up hurling Neva into a wall repeatedly until the angle is just right — but it quickly feels like a natural, necessary extension of Alba’s arsenal. Besides, Neva doesn’t seem to mind.
Nomada Studio
Mechanically, Neva is an incredibly light and responsive platformer. Playing on PlayStation 5, inputs never lag; Alba is able to jump, double jump and dodge with ease, and this trio of abilities resets with the lightest of touches to the terrain. Enemy hitboxes are tight, encouraging players to fight up close and dodge through dangers in between swings of Alba’s sword. Health regenerates as Alba lands hits without taking damage herself, and healing cairns are sprinkled generously throughout the scenes. Mid-air levels, where Alba leaps between cliff sides and bounces off floating enemy blobs, cultivate a brilliant sense of precision, daring players to push Alba’s maneuvers to their absolute limits. Neva offers subtle yet clear direction through environmental cues alone, and I never once felt lost in its platforming sauce. The levels shift with the seasons: complex navigation puzzles and delightfully tricky mirror levels are steadily added to the sidescrolling action, constantly testing Alba and Neva’s capacity to work together.
Alba and Neva are connected in every scene, but their bond is tangible during battles, particularly once the wolf throw becomes a reliable part of Alba’s attack-dodge rhythm. This only makes it more distressing when, in some stages, Alba has to battle on her own. Neva’s presence brings a fullness to Alba’s abilities, and especially in the game’s last few hours, my controller felt distinctly empty any time she didn’t fight alongside me.
Nomada Studio
I don’t want to say too much about the final stages of Neva. The game builds to an inevitable, emotionally intense conclusion, with pockets of deep longing and sublime reconciliation sprinkled throughout the rising action. Yes, Neva will make you cry. I definitely did, with big, ugly tears.
Neva is infused with magical realism, blending the familiar with the impossible in a format that looks like a living children’s book. Otherworldly terror creeps around the edges of each landscape, foreboding and exquisite, and the game’s animations are anime-smooth. Neva looks incredible and it plays just as beautifully — a rare and powerful combination. Just like Alba and Neva.
Neva comes out on October 15 on PC, macOS, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch, developed by Nomada Studio and published by Devolver Digital.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/neva-review-a-platformer-thats-so-perfect-it-made-me-cry-160037311.html?src=rss
The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine is back online in a read-only state, after DDoS attacks took the entire platform offline on October 9. Founder Brewster Kahle posted on Monday (viaThe Verge) that the service is “resumed in a provisional, read-only manner” without the ability to save new pages.
Security researcher Troy Hunt said last week’s attacks coincided with the Internet Archive’s plan to disclose a previous breach that led to the theft of over 31 million records. Hunt, who runs the Have I Been Pwned? service, believed the timing of the two attacks was likely “entirely coincidental,” citing the involvement of “multiple parties.”
The hacking group Blackmeta claimed responsibility for the attacks, posting that the Internet Archive “belongs to the USA.” The nonprofit, founded in the early days of the web in 1996, is headquartered in San Francisco.
Kahle says it’s “safe to resume” using the Wayback Machine, so you can resume your nostalgic trip to your favorite Geocities post-grunge tribute sites. However, the founder warns that the service may need further maintenance, so don’t be shocked if it goes down again.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/internet-archives-wayback-machine-is-back-online-after-last-weeks-ddos-attacks-155820797.html?src=rss
Fujifilm has released its first sub-$1,000 camera in a long while and resurrected the 11-year old "M" branding with the $799 X-M5. With that price, it's primarily aimed at photographers on a budget or vloggers looking to step up from a smartphone. Fujifilm cut a few features like a viewfinder (EVF) to get to that price point, but it does have the company's latest 26-megapixel X-Trans 4 CMOS sensor and decent video specs.
For a camera without a viewfinder, the X-M5 should handle pretty well. It has front and back control dials, along with a top setting dial that includes a new "Vlog" mode. It also comes with the same film simulation dial found on the X-T50, to help social media users and creators create cool photos straight out of the camera.
Fujifilm
When in vlog mode, you get a full GUI interface on the touchscreen for easy access. That includes things like a "portrait enhancer," background defocus and product priority, much as we've seen on Sony's vlogging products.
For vloggers, it has a 3-inch, 1.04-million dot fully articulating rear display that's hopefully bright enough to use in sunlight (because, again, no EVF). There are both headphone and microphone ports for vloggers, but they're not located on the left as usual. Instead, Fujifilm placed the 3.5mm mic input on the rear (where the EVF would usually go) and the headphone port on the right side. That's to avoid having the display hit the mic or headphone cable when it flips out, as can happen on other cameras.
You'll never mistake it for a sports camera, but the X-M5 can shoot 8 fps bursts with the mechanical shutter, or an outstanding 20 fps in electronic mode (both with continuous autofocus). It can capture a decent 82/60 compressed RAW frames in those modes before the buffer fills, again very respectable for such a small camera.
Video is also pretty strong, with 6.2K open gate 3:2 capture, 4K 60p and Full HD at up to 240 fps (these specs match the X-T50 as you may have noticed). There's a bit of crop for 4K 60p (1.18x) and FHD past 120fps (1.29x) but otherwise everything is one-to-one.
Another thing missing is in-body stabilization so the X-M5 is limited to what the lens provides or electronic stabilization. In the latter mode, there's a minimum 1.32x crop for 4K 30fps video and a significant 1.44x when shooting 4K 60p. The small body also has overheating limitations when using LP (long play) recording, but those can be reduced with a $200 fan attachment.
Fujifilm
Other features including three internal microphones that allow for surround sound-like capture, a 9:16 short movie mode for TikTok creators, high-speed movie transfer, up to 440 frames of battery life and a single UHS-I card slot.
I couldn't understand what Fujifilm was thinking when it released the X-T50 for $500 more than the X-T30 II. Now we know — it's hoping budget buyers will gravitate toward the X-M5 instead. It goes on pre-sale today for $799 and Fujifilm also unveiled the 16-55mm f/2.8 (24-70mm full-frame equivalent) lens selling for $1,199 and XF500mm f/5.6 super telephoto (750mm equivalent) now on pre-order for $2,999.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/fujifilms-x-m5-is-its-first-sub-1000-camera-in-years-140715888.html?src=rss
The next Tron game is a follow-up to Tron: Identity, but it’s also something completely new. Where Tron: Identity was a visual novel, Tron: Catalyst is an isometric action game with a looping narrative, and it’s coming to PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch in 2025. Tron: Catalyst is in development at Bithell Games, the award-winning studio behind Tron: Identity, John Wick Hex and Thomas Was Alone.
In Tron: Catalyst, players return to the Arq Grid, a virtual world that’s evolved without human input, creating a siloed, Galapagos Islands type of space populated by sentient computer programs. The protagonist is Exo, a program who’s able to relive segments of time by exploiting a system-level glitch that no one else can sense. She’s on a mission to uncover and stop the unsavory goals of the Arq Grid’s overlords, sniffing out secrets and bypassing enemies with each new loop.
Combat includes melee and ranged attacks, and Exo will collect data shards that grant her new abilities as the game progresses. Exo’s identity disc is a crucial tool in her fight to stabilize the Arq Grid, and one thing players will do with it is customize their upgrade paths.
“As you're playing through, all combat flows from your identity disc, but you're going to be able to upgrade that disc in order to satisfy the kind of action you'd like,” Bithell Games founder Mike Bithell said during a media preview of Tron: Catalyst. He showed off a disc kick, a ranged move that (fittingly) let Exo kick her disc back at the enemies encircling her, in between close-combat slices and standard throws. On top of parkour traversal, players will also be able to ride light cycles.
Tron: Catalyst will make complete sense even if you haven't played Identity, but anyone who played the first installment will encounter a few familiar faces and locales. The new game is a narrative-driven experience where players’ choices have a small but noticeable impact on the world around them. The game has voice acting for major characters and in pivotal scenes.
Bithell Games
“We have a text-based dialogue system here,” Bithell said. “This is at times linear in that way. The player also gets to make dialogue choices. The game is very straight ahead with its action, so there's not an enormous amount of branching, but it does let you be expressive. So as a player, you can decide if you want to be snarky with people, polite with people, and kind of make some choices — for example, choosing if you want to lie or not to this character, and you'll see the echoes of that in your character interactions.”
In the demo, Exo was on a mission to edit her identity disc — in the first loop, she fought her way through stages of enemies in order to access a club and talk to the proper character, who then sent her on an escort mission in order to prove her worth. She completed it, got her disc wiped, and restarted the loop. The second time around, she didn’t need to fight anyone because her identity disc scanned clean. From that point on, the city was open to Exo in a new way.
Bithell Games
Tron: Catalyst isn’t an open-world game, but it’s composed of multiple “big levels,” as Bithell called them.
He added, “We probably need to come up with a better term.”
Essentially, Tron: Catalyst is composed of multiple large hubs that take players from the city streets to rooftop penthouses, providing plenty of points of interest, even after multiple loops. As players explore, they’ll be able to add shortcut codes to Exo’s disc, removing some of the tedium from the playthroughs.
“When you travel somewhere, you may get a taxi to the hotel, but then once you start to get comfortable, you might go to a coffee shop nearby,” Bithell said. “Slowly, in ever-increasing concentric circles, a kind of iterative exploration. That's something we've really tried to pull in here. So as you're playing the game, you're building up that knowledge of the space and how to use it.”
Characters in the world of Tron: Catalyst don’t shift cycle to cycle — at the start of each loop, everyone returns to their original place, doing what they were originally doing. Still, Exo’s perception of each situation changes with every refreshed loop, revealing new paths, and the world reacts according to the edits in her identity disc.
Bithell Games
“It's meant to be a game about playing with those relationships and exploring how characters can kind of be influenced and have their minds changed,” Bithell said. “There's lots going on there, but it’s different to Hades, definitely. It's not a 100-loop roguelite. It's not that kind of game. It's much more story-driven.”
Bithell Games has a team of about 20 developers working on Tron: Catalyst, and it’s being published by Devolver Digital’s new hub for licensed indie games, Big Fan. Of course Disney is also involved — technically the new game’s full name is Disney Tron: Catalyst, so don’t be alarmed if it appears higher up in your alphabetized library than expected once it lands in 2025.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-next-tron-game-is-an-isometric-action-adventure-due-out-in-2025-130050360.html?src=rss
You can think of the $300 Meta Quest 3S as a basic Honda Accord of VR headsets. It doesn't have the same high-quality optics as the $500 Quest 3, which is more like a Touring-grade Honda for enthusiasts, but they both get you to the same place: Truly immersive virtual reality. After testing the Quest 3S for the past week, I see it less as a step down and more like an upgrade over the Quest 2. That headset also launched at $300 four years ago, but its price fluctuated up and down depending on supply chain issues, and, over time, it was hampered by aging hardware.
But now Meta has a $300 VR entry that's powered by a much more capable processor, offers better hand and controller tracking, and lets you dip your toes into mixed reality (overlaying digital objects atop a camera feed of real life). While the Quest 3S might just appear to be a less capable Quest 3, it has the potential to be one of the most significant VR products Meta has made yet.
Hardware
As I mentioned in my initial hands-on, the Quest 3S doesn't look very different compared to the Quest 3, aside from its triangular sensor array. It still has a sturdy plastic case, a healthy dose of cushioning around your eyes, and an adjustable Y-shaped strap. You'll have a genuinely hard time telling the headsets apart while they're facing each other, I found myself peeking at their front sensors often while testing them on the same workbench.
Look a bit closer, though, and you'll notice some key differences. For one, you can easily see the telltale concentric circles of Fresnel lenses on the Quest 3S. Meta also used them on the Quest 2, and they've historically been common among cheaper VR headsets. The Quest 3, on the other hand, uses pancake lenses, which have a smooth surface. (More on the technical differences between those two lens types below.)
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
One way Meta was able to drive down the cost of the Quest 3S was by re-using the 1,830 by 1,920 pixel per eye screen from the Quest 2. The Quest 3's screen offers 30 percent more pixels (2,264 by 2,208 pixels per eye), to deliver a sharper and more realistic image.
The Quest 3S doesn't have a headphone jack, either, so you'll have to plug in a USB-C adapter to get better sound, or connect to wireless headphones. While I'll go to my grave as a defender of 3.5mm audio jacks, but I suppose it makes sense to lose it here. Most Quest 3S users will likely be just fine with its built-in speakers, and anyone who demands the fidelity of a wired connection likely wouldn't mind paying more for the Quest 3 (or shelling out for a $10 USB-C to 3.5mm adapter).
Also gone is the nifty dial for adjusting lens spacing from the Quest 3, instead you have to manually push the lenses into three positions to approximate the best pupillary distance. This involves putting the headset on and taking it off several times (exactly the sort of friction that could easily turn off VR newcomers), but at least it's something you only have to sort once. It could be a bigger problem if you're sharing the headset with your household, though.
Meta added an action button for quickly swapping between mixed reality mode, which shows a camera feed of your room, and a completely immersive VR view. This is something the Quest 3 doesn't have at all — instead, you have to tap its right front corner to jump into mixed reality. Having a dedicated button is simply better for usability, especially for new VR users, so I don't mind that it slightly disrupts the curves of the Quest 3S's design.
The Quest 3S also uses the same Touch Controllers as its more expensive sibling, and they're once again excellent. They've lost the clunky motion tracking ring from the earlier models, now they're simply light controllers that fit your hand like a glove. The joysticks feel smooth and accurate, and the buttons deliver some wonderfully responsive feedback. That's nothing new, though: I've been impressed by Facebook's gamepads since the first Oculus Touch controllers were released in 2016.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
What's most important about the Quest 3S is the hardware Meta brought over from its more expensive headset. There's the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor, which the company claims offers double the graphics performance as the Quest 2, as well as 8GB of RAM. That's only a slight leap from the Quest 2's 6GB of memory, but it's essential for storing more detailed textures.
Now instead of worrying about how a game would perform on the slower Quest 2, developers can simply build for a single hardware specification. Less headaches for devs, ideally, should mean more software on the Meta Quest store. And the hope is that a wealth of new apps will lead to people buying more headsets. Which leads to more apps sold. It's a virtuous cycle that could potentially help Meta out of the death spiral the consumer VR market has been circling for years.
Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
In use: Snappy and functional VR
The first thing I noticed after donning the Quest 3S: Wow, it sure feels fast. Stepping through the headset onboarding process, downloading a few apps and navigating around the Meta home environment was simply snappy and responsive. That's something I remembered from the Quest 3, as well, but it feels like even more of a revelation on a $300 headset. There was none of the lag or occasional slowdowns I grew used to on the Quest 2.
The actual VR experience looked detailed and immersive, as well. I didn't notice the resolution loss from the Quest 3 much, but it was easily apparent that the cheaper Fresnel lenses led to more artifacts. Edges looked a bit fuzzier, I'd occasionally see haloing around objects, and God rays from extra bright objects often appeared in games like Pistol Whip. There's no doubt the Quest 3's pancake lenses, which aren't as susceptible to the same visual issues, look far sharper.
But here's the thing: I don't think the Fresnel lenses will make much of a difference for VR newcomers. I enjoyed VR headsets for years while living with those same artifacts. And if going with cheaper lenses helped Meta drive the cost of the Quest 3S down to $300, it was worth it. The biggest barrier to the world of VR isn't fidelity, it's cost.
Once I started spending significant time inside the Quest 3S, I also noticed the visual issues less. I was far more interested in trying to conduct the perfect symphony in Maestro, which did a fantastic job of simulating the live orchestral experience thanks to the headset's accurate hand tracking and immersive audio. It was also fun to pick up a random pen from my desk and transform it into a virtual baton. The game certainly looks a bit clearer in the Quest 3, but I would wager many people won't be directly comparing the two headsets.
I also spent an hour playing Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom — which is less a game and more of an interactive anime film, but it was engrossing enough that I started to ignore the Quest 3S's artifacts. If you're immersed in a genuinely great VR experience, they simply don't matter. Naturally, I also checked out classics like Pistol Whip and Superhot, which are still a blast to play after all these years.
Sadly, the Quest 3S doesn't solve the problem of looking like an absolute buffoon while using VR. That was particularly noticeable while playing I Am Cat, a game that had me climbing up walls, digging up a litter box and absolutely terrorizing the old woman in my virtual house. I was having a blast, but my six year old daughter started to wonder if I was going mad.
I ended up streaming the game to the Meta app on my iPhone, and screen mirroring that to my Apple TV, to give her a live view of everything I was seeing. That, of course, led to her coming up with all sorts of ways for me to wreak kitty havoc in VR. (Pro tip: You can totally make the old lady eat a cat poop sandwich.)
Just like the previous Meta standalone headsets, the Quest 3S can also stream more intensive VR experiences from gaming PCs, either wirelessly or via a USB-C cable. I was able to connect to my rig over Wi-Fi and play 15 minutes of Half-Life: Alyx without any noticeable lag. Sure, it didn't look as great as it did on the Valve Index, but that whole setup still costs $1,000. And, of course, the Index doesn't give you the option of playing wirelessly without a PC. I was also able to stream some non-VR Xbox Cloud Gaming titles, including Halo Infinite and Fortnite, after pairing my Xbox controller. W2D gaming isn't the ideal thing to do in a VR headset, but being able to virtualize an enormous screen still makes it worthwhile, especially if you don't have a large TV.
While Meta positioned the Quest 3 as a mixed reality device, thanks to its color cameras and more capable room mapping, I never found it as useful as the Vision Pro. That's a headset I can wear for hours at a time while I move around my home. The Quest 3's cameras were simply too fuzzy to use for long, and the Quest 3S suffers from the same problem. It's fun to play Meta's First Encounters demo and have aliens invade your home, or jam out in Synth Riders, but the Quest 3 and 3S headsets need far better cameras to truly recreate reality.
That's also why I couldn't stomach using Meta's Remote Desktop app to replicate my PC for too long. The virtual display looked decently sharp, but I had a hard time focusing on that alongside a fuzzy view of my office. I'd much rather just take off the Quest 3S and look at my monitor to get some work done.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
As an entertainment device, the Quest 3S is a comfortable way to sit back and enjoy movies, TV and 360-degree videos. Home theater heads might notice that videos don't leak nearly as sharp as they do on the Quest 3, and the contrast and black levels are lightyears away from the Vision Pro's MicroLED displays, but for most people the Quest 3S is perfectly fine. It's certainly better than watching something on a laptop or tablet (or god forbid, a phone).
Throughout my week of testing, the Quest 3S would typically last around two hours and 20 minutes before needing a recharge. That's slightly better than what I saw on the Quest 3, which could drain its battery in just two hours. This is one area where the Quest 3S's lower resolution displays may be a benefit, since they're less demanding on the GPU. You could always plug in a 10,000 mAh external pack to extend the Quest 3S’s 4,324 mAh built-in battery, or just leave it plugged into a charger for extended play sessions.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
Pricing and the competition
The Quest 3S starts at $300 with 128GB of storage, but you can double that to 256GB with the $400 model. If you need 512GB of space, then the $500 Quest 3 is your only option. Given the optics advantage of the more expensive headset though, the $400 Quest 3S doesn't exactly seem like a smart buy. If you need more than 128GB of storage, you're better off saving up until you can snag a Quest 3.
Meta still doesn't have much competition in the world of inexpensive standalone VR headsets. HTC's Vive Focus 3 lineup, which now includes the new Focus 3 Vision, starts at $1,000 and is geared more towards enterprises and business customers. HTC Vive's storefront also has far fewer games and apps than Meta's, so their platform doesn't make much sense for average users.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
Wrap-up
The Meta Quest 3S is the best $300 standalone VR headset we've ever seen. It's comfortable to wear, and it delivers a snappy VR experience. It's so good, you likely won't notice that it's not as sharp as the Quest 3, or that it also has more visual artifacts. When you’re truly immersed in VR, those problems will fade away.
Alongside the company's Ray-Ban smart frames, its Orion augmented reality glasses, and the billions it's already spent on VR, Meta clearly believes the future of computing rests on your face. But even light smart glasses are still glasses, something that many people avoid wearing by shoving contact lenses onto their eyeballs instead. We don't know how, exactly, the public will respond to true AR glasses. But really, that's a problem for the future. For now, we can just enjoy the Quest 3S for what it is: Great VR at a relatively inexpensive price.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/meta-quest-3s-review-impressive-vr-for-300-130013596.html?src=rss