Mark Zuckerberg says the Meta Quest 3 is a "better product" than Apple Vision Pro... period

DragonSlayer101

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In context: Apple's super-pricey Vision Pro mixed reality headset went on sale recently, and social media is already filled with viral videos of early adopters trying out the device on the beach, in the kitchen, and even while driving their Cybertruck. While most initial reviews seem to be positive, one person who is distinctly unimpressed by it is Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

In a video posted on Instagram, Zuck claimed that he found the Vision Pro rather underwhelming when he tried it out to see how it compares to the Meta Quest 3. Zuckerberg said he always expected the Quest 3 to offer better value but was surprised to find that it is "the better product, period."

While you'd expect the Meta boss to wax eloquent about his company's products, Zuck explained why he believes the Quest 3 to be better than the Vision Pro. For starters, he said that the former has a higher field-of-view and is 120 grams lighter than the latter, making it more comfortable to wear for longer periods of time.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Mark Zuckerberg (@zuck)

Zuckerberg also pointed out that the Quest 3 supports Xbox games, while the Vision Pro is yet to offer support for console titles. Despite the latter's higher-resolution display, Zuckerberg believes that the Quest 3 is better than Apple's headset "for the vast majority of things" that AR/VR headset owners typically use their devices for. According to him, the tradeoffs Apple made to get the high-res display far outweigh the positives.

Also read: Why some Apple Vision Pro early adopters are returning their headsets

Zuckerberg, however, admitted that he liked the Vision Pro's eye-tracking feature, and promised that it will return to future Quest headsets. He also reminded viewers that the feature originally debuted in the Quest Pro. Zuckerberg further highlighted that the Quest 3 has a better immersive content library than the Vision Pro, despite the latter now boasting more than 1,000 spatial apps and over 1.5 million compatible applications.

While the Vision Pro costs a whopping $3,500, the Meta Quest 3 starts at a much more modest $499.99 for the 128GB model. The massive price difference and support for Xbox titles make the Meta headset a much better bet for gamers right now, but it remains to be seen if that will change in the future when Apple releases a more wallet-friendly mixed-reality device.

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I have the Quest 3 and tried the Vision Pro. I'm thankful that Apple entered this space to innovate and produce competition, but I was underwelmed by the Vision Pro. I agree the Quest 3 is the better product, independant of price. The immersive visuals on the Vision Pro were great, but my biggest disaapointment other than the lack of immersive content, was probably the passthrough cameras that I thought would be better on such an expensive product.
 
Honestly, I've been deeply skeptical of VR since basically forever, but the Quest 2 for $250 is giving me pause. Its finally at a price where I can buy it for laughs and giggles and not feel deep regret if it just doesn't work for me.

Quest 3 for $500 is less of a "just buy it" price, but apparently it does have substantial upgrades over Q2 that might make it worth it and elevate that first time VR experience.

Meta is throwing a lot of money behind VR and while it likely won't amount to much in the long run, I don't mind riding the coat tails and getting a chance to experience decent VR for much cheaper than the competition is offering.
 
Honestly, I've been deeply skeptical of VR since basically forever, but the Quest 2 for $250 is giving me pause. Its finally at a price where I can buy it for laughs and giggles and not feel deep regret if it just doesn't work for me.

Quest 3 for $500 is less of a "just buy it" price, but apparently it does have substantial upgrades over Q2 that might make it worth it and elevate that first time VR experience.

Meta is throwing a lot of money behind VR and while it likely won't amount to much in the long run, I don't mind riding the coat tails and getting a chance to experience decent VR for much cheaper than the competition is offering.
Very fair observations. I held off on the Quest until the day before they announced a price hike a couple years ago. I bought the Quest 2. I would recommend starting there at the $250 price point if you're unsure. I thought it was fantastic at first, especially using SteamLink to stream some more graphically intensive games to the Quest 2. There are some great games to play natively, and using the Quest 2 as a display for simulations (think F1 racing or Microsoft Flight Simulator) is incredible. That's if you enjoy playing those. Then my interest fell off a cliff. It sat unused for months and months. I eventually did pick it back up and now use it almost exclusively to watch movies/Netflix/stream Plex from time to time.
 
Honestly, I've been deeply skeptical of VR since basically forever, but the Quest 2 for $250 is giving me pause. Its finally at a price where I can buy it for laughs and giggles and not feel deep regret if it just doesn't work for me.

Quest 3 for $500 is less of a "just buy it" price, but apparently it does have substantial upgrades over Q2 that might make it worth it and elevate that first time VR experience.

Meta is throwing a lot of money behind VR and while it likely won't amount to much in the long run, I don't mind riding the coat tails and getting a chance to experience decent VR for much cheaper than the competition is offering.

I got the original Oculus Rift CV for $350 and really enjoyed it. It's definitely been passed up in terms of specs, though I'd argue that's mostly in visual fidelity. They're great as long as you know what you're getting into and not expecting it to be some transformative peripheral for most things. VR specific games are fun when well designed, though I think it has a ways to go in terms of PVP shooters. It's a great immersion tool for sims and really adds another layer of enjoyment to them when combined with the wheel or HOTAS.
 
I am no fan of VR/AR. In my opinion, Apple’s Vision Pro is bound to fail given that it’s an unproven product from them, and the price basically ensures that most won’t be trying it out. Worst part is if Apple drops the ball on app support due to whatever reasons, buyers will be left with an expensive and useless proprietary white elephant.
 
"but it remains to be seen if that will change in the future when Apple releases a more wallet-friendly mixed-reality device." - err, Apple?
 
The fact the Vision Pro only lets you use a single monitor from a computer is really, really weak. Why can't I run 2, 3 or more displays in a virtual space out of a single computer? That would make it an absolute gamechanger for anyone who likes to work whilst travelling etc. (or just doesn't want to have large monitors sitting around in their house). It effectively lets you get rid of a whole room from your house. Huge.
 
He didn't just say "my product is better than your product". He gave reasons people can agree are accurate.
Find me any salesperson that doesn't give you reasons why their product is "clearly" better than someone else's. Doesn't mean it's true. They're biased by design and have an agenda to make their product look better than it might actually be. You can't trust what they say. You have to look to independent 3rd parties for that.
 
Anyone still skeptical of VR just try GT 7 on the PS5 with VR2.

Agree, but we still use the now 7-year-old Samsung HMD Odyssey+ and I can say racing games on VR as a whole is really impressive. And if you have access to VR for PC, also check out city builders with VR. A game like Cities Skylines on VR (Cities VR) is honestly spectacular.
 
The fact the Vision Pro only lets you use a single monitor from a computer is really, really weak. Why can't I run 2, 3 or more displays in a virtual space out of a single computer? That would make it an absolute gamechanger for anyone who likes to work whilst travelling etc. (or just doesn't want to have large monitors sitting around in their house). It effectively lets you get rid of a whole room from your house. Huge.
Especially given that Oculus Rift was doing that many years ago. I used to have pinned windows for streaming shows and articles I was reading at the same time while I was doing long range cargo hauling in Elite Dangerous.

Find me any salesperson that doesn't give you reasons why their product is "clearly" better than someone else's. Doesn't mean it's true. They're biased by design and have an agenda to make their product look better than it might actually be. You can't trust what they say. You have to look to independent 3rd parties for that.
Depends on if the person is offering subjective or objective differences. Much of what he mentions is something you can confirm by comparing the hardware. You can find plenty of online reviews of the Quest 3 with objective examples of why it's better. Whatever the Vision Pro does better isn't going to be enough to justify that price for anyone other than an Apple fanboy or someone with money to set on fire.
 
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