Is Quest 3 actually better?

plantninja

There are lots of technological improvements in the Quest 3 that look great on a spreadsheet: pancake lenses, (slightly) higher res displays, better fit, more processing power, wider FOV.

But - correct me if I'm wrong - the main thing we look for in a VR headset is not numbers on a spreadsheet, but the quality of the display, which despite those many upgrades does not look substantially different than the Q2. It is, indeed, incrementally sharper, but the cost of that sharpness is the real deal breaker: the return of screen door effect at a magnitude that hasn't been seen since the original Quest ... and the latter at least had OLEDs.

The Q3 suffers from the same inherent shortcomings as the Q2: lack of true blacks and mediocre contrast. I guess we are stuck with those compromises as long as Meta sticks with LCD displays. In that case, I will stick with my trusty Q2.

The Q3 may be better for gaming, but for videos it's not worth the extra money, especially since the screen door effect is so pronounced and a big step backwards. My headset is going back to the factory floor.

mebejoe

I don't know which headset is BEST, but I know that I must reluctantly admit that Quest 3 seems better than all my other headsets (Original Oculus, whatever that was called, Oculus Rift S, Pico 4, Samsung Odyessy, HP Reverb 2 Plus).

I'm no big fan of Meta/Zuckeberg, so I really didn't like them making a headset so good, but here it is.

That said, admittedly, there are a lot of headsets I haven't tried, including Quest 2, so I can't make a direct comparison.

I've read reviews mentioning the screen door effect, but I can't notice it. The Pass Through on Quest 3 is amazing. What I don't like is that I haven't figured out how to do the PT when I use the link system to hook up through Steam -- still have to use the old Oculus interface/app, so I'm guessing that's why.

But Quest 3 is the only headset I've used since unboxing it almost two weeks ago.

Ssiebert204

I have a question to the screen door effect. I checked if it is realy that bad and all I read is that it is way less then with Quest 2, some say that it is gone with Quest 3. Then I saw a post on Meta Forum with a guy asking, if the screen door effect in his Quest 3 is normal with no Kudos and no answers. So everything I hear about the Quest 3 is, that it is great and way better then Quest 3 in every regard. Are there maybe different displays?

BigMac1200

plantninja

plantninja Quest 3 passthrough is a game changer. I haven’t gasped at a VR spectacle like this in years and I owned the original development kit RIFT. If you are using for SLR it’s a no contest purchase!

loulou206

The screen door effect bothers me a lot on this quest 3, I can say that it is much less present on the quest 2, as you say it's a step backwards, I'm really disappointed by the headset at this level there, it totally breaks the immersion in the videos to see this screen door effect, despite everything the image is sharper but this grid effect spoils everything, apart from that the headset is rather good but for VR videos the quest 2 does the job very well.

PieInSky

Obviously it's Quest 3 for passthrough and VR180 films. However, GearVR or any device with OLED remains better for television and classic cinema. While Quest 3 has better graphics and lenses than Quest 2, there are significant godrays and the contrast ratio is poor.

theHobbit

I had a dead pixel on mine, sent it back. Received a new one today which is perfect. My initial impressions that the headset is more comfortable than the Q2 with the image being sharper still stands and hence why I reordered as after experiencing it, I just knew that the Q2 was a step backwards. PT is great in colour ( I fucked Nia Bleu for the 5th time as soon as I got it 😃) and the whole experience of using the headset, YouTube, Netflix, games etc is significantly a much nicer experience.

The sound from the speakers is a much better experience than the Q2 with a nice more expensive sounding speaker response. This is very noticeable to me as I produce a lot of music and my ears are very attuned to rubbish audio. The Q2 had tinny audio and would distort at higher volumes. The Q3 is massive upgrade in sound by comparison.

loulou206 screen door effect

This is not present on my new unit and it wasn't something I noticed on my previous one. Maybe you have a dodgy unit?

Wendigo the passthrough isn't better

would take this comment with a pinch of salt. Most reviewers have stated that vs the quest pro the PT is significantly better.

Hairsational Glad I didn't pull the trigger

the grass will always be greener for some people who haven't experienced a headset that hasn't been released yet and won't be released for some years lol. For these type of people, when such a headset is released they will be waiting for 16k resolution 🙂

PieInSky While Quest 3 has better graphics and lenses than Quest 2, there are significant godrays and the contrast ratio is poor.

I don't notice this at all on the Q3. On my Q2 I did notice this if you are talking about the circular ring effect that you sometimes see. I'm not sure this would be a problem with Q3 as the design of the lenses are completely different. Maybe I misinterpreted your comment. In any case I don't have this issue at all or at the very least not noticed it at all.

Issues:

it's a bit noisier than my Q2, this is noticeable on two units now but the noise isn't so noisy that I think what a crap headset. It's just noticeable.

Scuba diver effect. I notice this much more than in the Q2. Again not a deal breaker but it's a different experience.

Wendigo

I have a Quest Pro and just got my Quest 3 today. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. I don't see any noticable difference in image quality, the passthrough isn't better, the headset is far less comfortable (yes, with the elite strap and add on silicone face thing) and the charging dock is glitchy and designed worse than the Pro's.

If they were counting on this thing to make PT the next big thing, I've got some bad news...

doublevr

Wendigo I got the same first impression before I started getting into it.

Give Quest 3 a week and try to get back on Pro. You will see

PieInSky

Wendigo If they were counting on this thing to make PT the next big thing, I've got some bad news...

I disagree. I've been using the PT daily, not for SLR but for practical purposes, like VR Workout (which is free!) and watching news.

Quest Pro has a quantum dot layer. Does it make much of a difference for films?

Hairsational

Glad I didn't pull the trigger. Going to wait for a decent micro-OLED headset based on XR2 Gen2 (or newer).

PieInSky

Hairsational a decent micro-OLED headset based on XR2 Gen2 (or newer).

Your option is Apple Vision Pro or a PC-based device. Expect to pay $3,500+ (I'd guess over $4,000 USD with accessories) for Vision Pro.

Bigscreen Beyond requires base stations and a high end gaming PC. But even if you have a good PC (I have one for HuggingFace) the software isn't there ... Meta's software is poor but better than all competitors, except perhaps Apple...
https://www.bigscreenvr.com/

sheldoncooper

After reading a lot of comments about quest3 l know pico must have paid a lot of money

Vrsumo2017

PieInSky godrays

Are the God rays noticeable while watching vr videos?

The Pico 4 has God rays, at first it was very noticeable at the menu, but I change it to a different background and that helped, also I turned on eye protection and lowered the bright ness because pico 4 kinda bright at max, but after a few days or weeks that God ray was less noticeable, but I never noticed it while watching vrp.

Hairsational

PieInSky I'm not considering any PC-only headsets or headsets where the software is an afterthought. Generally not interested in Apple products either, especially at those prices. It's going to be a long wait.

OliverDK

One of the things that bothers me about VR/AR headsets is the FOV as it (for me at least) is what truly disconnects me from a scene. The small FOV feels like I have a scuba-diving mask on. At least on this parameter Q3 is better than Q2 and while it's far from perfect it's still enough to bring me more immersion.

The color AR feature I find is obviously way superior to the greyscale of Q2. AR porn I think has the potential to be the next big thing but I still think it needs work to truly get there but there are moments when I get carry away to another place.... it's when you really get the model in the right place... it just 'hits harder' than any VR porn scene I've tried. Unfortunately there's still much work to get the model in the right place and with position change it feels like you have to start over.

I also play Demeo and Eleven VR and both have AR features and that's frankly awesome with AR in colors.

My biggest issue so far with the Q3 though is that it gets really uncomfortable after a while. It feels like it bores into my skull - particularly around the eyes. I can't loosen the grip as it then slides around. However it can of course be a issue that only I have but I never had this issue with the Q2. Hopefully I can solve it when more 3rd party products comes out.

I've seen others complain about battery life. I haven't really noticed much difference with the Q2 so far.

In regards to image fidelity I think games and menus are sharper and more crisp but in porn scenes I see no real different. That said I'm that kind of person that isn't as affected by imperfections here. I can't remember when I last noticed the SDE on either Q2 or Q3 for example. For me again the FOV is a much more pressing issue where again Q3 is a step in the right direction.

PieInSky

Vrsumo2017 Are the God rays noticeable while watching vr videos?

The resolution is incredible. However, for watching films it's a significant downgrade from OLED at any level. It's like watching films through a cloud. It's as distracting as screendoor effect for watching films that have a lot of darks.

Quest 3 is much better than Quest 2, but it's only marginally better than GearVR at certain tasks.

Vrsumo2017

I'm use to God rays cuz gear vr had sum, but in vrp I never noticed it, the screen door with a s10+ was hardly noticeable, you had to actually look at it to notice it, but switching to a q2 after a gear vr holy shit I was pissed cuz q2 had the sweet spot and lense ring and that shit was noticeable while watching vrp, it took me time to get use to coming off the gear vr, but it's also just more noticeable if you look at it. 🤷‍♂️

I still miss my gear vr sometimes, vrp was just so simpler back then. 😔

Snap it and fap it

These days, lots of adjustments 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️

MajesticHD

Vrsumo2017 how's the fov? Comparing GearVR with Q2 / Q3. I am still using GearVR and now I don’t know what to do? I propably wait for pico 5 to compare...but meta store / software is way better than pico

Vrsumo2017

MajesticHD Comparing GearVR with Q2

Bout the same

boboweb

I would say Q2 is the best for the money but overall Quest 3 is the best right now calculating PT vids ...

justsomedude101

Eye of the beholder, I guess. As a user, I own a Quest 2 and a Quest Pro and have zero regrets buying the Quest 3.

So far I find it to be superior to the other Quest options in just about every way: comfort, FOV, clarity, ease-of-use, etc. I haven't noticed any screen door effect as of yet, which it sounds like a few folks here have.

I do still wish it had a wider FOV, but since a Pimax 8kx with it's ultra-wide FOV is my other go-to headset I think this will pretty much always be the case with standalones.

Vrsumo2017

justsomedude101 I haven't noticed any screen door effect as of yet

It's probably there but you probably have to really rally look at it to notice it

I don't notice any SD on the Pico 4 with its pancake lense 🤷‍♂️

PieInSky

justsomedude101 I haven't noticed any screen door effect as of yet,

But have you noticed washed darks... VR180 content is incredibly clear, but classic cinema and regular 2D films are unwatchable. My eyes hurt after using the device for more than 45 min. Have you used a device like Quest 1 with OLED panels?

justsomedude101

Vrsumo2017 It's probably there but you probably have to really rally look at it to notice it

No way, you can't trick me into looking for them. Once I spot them I'll never un-see them 😝

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