Even on a Budget, It Still Left Me Queasy

I’ve had my trusty Quest 2 at home for quite a while now, but as someone who’s been mostly tinkering with a foldable Android device recently, it hasn’t seen much action. However, my recent hands-on experience with the Meta Quest 3S at Meta Connect got me thinking about whether I should rekindle my relationship with virtual—or rather, mixed reality headsets. If only they didn’t make my stomach churn.

Now, you can check out options on Best Buy and Amazon, but let’s dive into the details. Meta’s latest release, the Quest 3S, kicks off at $300, making it slightly more wallet-friendly than the typical Quest 3. It shares the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 platform, but the trade-off is a dip in resolution and a narrower field of view. Even so, the visuals are still a step up from its predecessors. Meta appears to be targeting users like myself—those who haven’t reached for their VR headsets in ages and might be tempted by some modern updates. Notably, it offers a full-color mixed reality passthrough, letting me switch with ease during my demo.

At the start of my time with the Quest 3S, I felt a wave of nostalgia—it was fun to dive back into this world. By the end, though, I was reminded why these headsets gather dust in my corner. The queasiness took hold. Perhaps it was the empty stomach or the stifling heat that accentuated it, but around the 32-minute mark, I had to gently bow out and resurface to reality for a breath of fresh air.

What pushed me over the edge was Horizon World’s Music Valley Experience. Here, Sabrina Carpenter, who I remember from her Disney Channel days, was singing in the distance. As you inch closer to her virtual “stage,” it begins to feel oddly intrusive, almost like you’re encroaching on a real person’s space. The proximity felt a bit much for me.

Adding to the surreal experience, another avatar, full of enthusiasm, started dancing with me in this digital realm. This friendly guide led me to a floating alien spaceship that dispensed music notes. Grabbing them using the joystick’s claw-like mechanism proved challenging, and, at this stage, the queasiness in my stomach was hard to ignore.

Despite all this, there were elements of the Quest 3S that I quite enjoyed. I caught the opening of a Celine Dion special on Amazon Prime—it sounded fantastic. I found myself lounging in a field of daisies through an 8K 3D YouTube video, a genuinely relaxing experience. There were attempts to rearrange windows, albeit messily, and a flirtation with playing an Xbox game, although the demo controller was uncooperative. Advancing to Just Dance proved to be my final straw.

The intense queasiness reached its peak with Horizon Worlds, especially lacking a horizon to steady myself, like one might seek on a seasick boat ride. It’s surprising to find such sensations while being firmly planted on a chair. Perhaps sitting will be my go-to approach for my next headset venture. Meta has managed to pull down the Quest’s sticker price, yet the challenge remains: finding a solution for those of us with sensitive stomachs venturing into the mixed reality frontier.

The Meta Quest 3S is available starting at $300 for the 128GB model, with the 256GB version priced up to $400. Preorders are open, with the official release slated for October 15. You can catch additional deals and options on Best Buy and Amazon.