Leaked Quest 3S Images Reveal Battery Size & Missing Port

The photos show the headset from the front, top, bottom, back, and both sides. The complete review confirms that it is the first headphone from Meta without a 3.5mm headphone jack. This seems to have appeared in previously posted photos, but these photos confirm it.

It means that in order to get high quality and unique sound without compromising latency, Quest 3S owners should buy USB-C audio solutions, preventing charging while playing.

It’s a situation not unique to the Meta though; The Pico 4 and 4 Ultra don’t have headphone jacks, and neither does the Apple Vision Pro. In fact, special low-latency audio on the Vision Pro is only possible through Apple’s AirPods Pro 2.

One of the new Quest 3S images also shows the headset’s regulatory logo, revealing a battery capacity rated at 16.74Wh. That puts it between the Quest 2 and the Quest 3. But don’t expect it to have significantly more battery life than the Quest 2 or less than the Quest 3.

The higher color resolution means the Quest 3S has to draw more power than the Quest 2, but since the fresnel lenses are more efficient than the pancake lenses, they don’t need to run the display panel like the Quest 3. All things considered, we’re expecting the Quest 3S to have the same battery life as the Quest 2 and Quest 3.

Another leaked image suggests the Quest 3S will come with an 18W charger, similar to the Quest 3, and another shows a hand controller that appears to be similar to the Quest 3’s Touch Plus controllers.

This leak comes less than two weeks before Meta Connect, the company’s annual conference where it is expected to launch the Quest 3S.

Quest 3S: Meta’s Leaky Next headset

This is far from the first time we’ve seen leaked images of the Quest 3S, although the headset has yet to be announced by Meta.

The design of the headphones first appeared in a secret presentation from Meta’s “System Design Research Study” in March, although at the time many dismissed this as a hoax.

The Quest 3S appeared in the background in a video presented by Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth in June, and Bosworth even responded at the time with a mock confirmation.

Back in July, the VR headset manufacturer shared what appeared to be the first clear image of the Quest 3S, and last week an official rendering of the headset was found in the Meta Quest Link PC files as the Chinese launched selling head-to-head materials, complete with vivid images.

Quest 3S ‘Action Button’ Described On Official Meta Page

The official Meta support pages now refer to the Quest 3S, and one describes it as having a new button to toggle navigation.

Yesterday the official Meta support pages started referencing the Quest 3S, and one pointed out that it has a new button to change the navigation. These pages have been updated to remove these references.

Quest 3S: What exactly?

Various leaks and reports, including Meta’s hardware roadmap leaking to 2023, have revealed the Quest 3S is a cheaper version of the Quest 3 designed to replace the Quest 2 in the Meta lineup.

The Quest 3S will reportedly feature the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset and color transition capabilities as the Quest 3, but use the front fresnel lens and single panel of the Quest 2 for a price between $ 300 and $400.

XR2 Gen 2: Quest 3’s new GPU more than twice as powerful

Quest 3 is the first headset to feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset, with up to 2.5x more GPU performance and 8x AI performance. More details here:

Effectively, the Quest 3S should be cheaper than the Quest 3 with a larger design, a weaker screen, and a lower resolution. A lower quality device, but with the same content, features, and capabilities. It should allow more people to enjoy Quest 3 VR graphics, and greatly expand the detection room of the mixed reality market.