It's been just over two years now since soon-to-depart CTO John Carmack told a Meta Connect audience about his vision for a super low-end VR headset that came in at $250 and 250 grams. "We're not building that headset today, but I keep trying," Carmack said at the time with some exasperation.

The Quest 3S was expected by many to simply be a budget version of the Quest 3, but it appears what Meta has done instead is co-opt in a bunch of (perfectly decent) components from the Meta Quest 2—in combination with a dash of the improvements from the Quest 3—to make a VR headset that sits somewhere between the two.

The first hint of that is the headset’s Fresnel lenses, which iFixit’s Shahram Mokhtari writes in a blog post are “100% compatible” with those used by the Quest 2. The headset has the older headset’s IPD adjustment mechanism, as well; and it shares the same single LCD panel, rather than using one panel per eye, like the Meta Quest 3.

Meta's Quest 3S blends Quest 2 hardware with Quest 3 performance, offering an affordable yet powerful VR experience.

It’s fair to say, then, that thanks to the newly-released Meta Quest 3S – coming in hot with the same amount of storage space wrapped neatly in a baseline $299.99 price – mixed-reality gaming is finally approachable to everyone who might have been in the market to upgrade from the Quest 2.

Meta 's latest virtual reality headset, the Quest 3S, has been revealed to be a more powerful version of the previous model, the Quest 2. This was discovered by iFixit in its latest teardown video. The first indication of this similarity is the use of Fresnel lenses in the new model, which are "100% compatible" with those used by its predecessor.

IFixit has taken apart Meta's new VR goggles and comes to the conclusion: The Quest 3S is an updated Quest 2, but that's not a big disadvantage.

If you crave peace and limited distractions, consider investing in the Meta Quest 3S to achieve fitness goals in the privacy of your home.

The Meta Quest 3S contains many of the Quest 3’s signature features, including color passthrough, speedy performance, a compact design, and a robust app library — all for $299. Though it’s not as comfortable to wear and its battery life isn't the best, its low starting price makes it an enticing product for those curious about VR.

FixIt's Shahram Mokhtari took a peek inside the Meta Quest 3S, the cheaper (but not very) alternative to the Meta Quest 3.

The Meta Quest 3S has some of the best features of the Meta Quest 3, for $200 less. You’ll just need to accept the limited memory and lenses.