Should you buy the Vive XR Elite? Or wait for the Meta Quest 3?
Which upcoming VR headset should you look forward to?
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Vive XR Elite vs Meta Quest 3. Yes its weird to compare two VR gaming headsets that haven’t been released yet, but it’s worth thinking about ahead of time. It’s also worth giving yourself the additional time to do the research, so you can be at the top of your game when it comes to hitting the big red ‘buy’ button.
VR has undergone quite a transformation over the last few years. What was a laughable concept from the likes of Lawnmower Man, was brought into the public eye by people like Palmer Luckey.
After the explosive success of the Oculus Rift, VR became viewed as a technology with a lot of potential for gaming, enterprise use, and even medical applications.
In the years since the origin of VR, we’ve seen many companies try their hands at VR headsets. Though few have seen the same level of success found by Oculus and HTC. Oculus’ success even caught the attention of Meta, who purchased the VR company, absorbing it and renaming any following headset ‘Meta Quest’.
Meta Quest 2
Display tech
RGB LCD
FOV (Field of view)
89 degrees
Resolution (per-eye)
1832 x 1920
Refresh rate
120Hz
Weight
503g
When it comes to standalone VR headsets, the incumbent Meta Quest 2 rules the roost, providing an affordable and impressive VR gaming experience for the masses.
NOW READ: HTC Vive Pro 2 vs Vive XR Elite: Whats the difference?
However, when the Meta Quest Pro was announced, a lot of people took issue with the $1500 price, as it didn’t seem to line up with the Quest 2’s accessibility.
Meta Quest Pro VR headset
Chipset
Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+
Storage
256GB
RAM
12GB
Display resolution
1832 x 1920 per-eye
Battery Life
1-2 hours
Weight
1.59lbs/0.72kg
Of course, we then realized that the Quest Pro was aimed more a Business/enterprise users and not so much at gaming. So the price made sense, but the lack of a true follow-up to Quest 2 did not.
Shortly after this, we learned that Meta was in fact working on a true follow-up to the Quest 2, a properly gaming-focused, more affordable Meta Quest 3.
Vive XR Elite vs Meta Quest 3: Which one to wait for?
When CES 2023 rolled around, the focus shifted to HTC’s Vive XR Elite. This VR gaming headset seems like it will be perfectly placed between the Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro in terms of performance.
HTC Vive XR Elite VR headset
Chipset
Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2
Storage
128GB
RAM
12GB
Display resolution
1920 x 1920 per-eye
Battery Life
Up to 2 hours, comes with a hot-swappable 26.6Wh Battery
Weight
1.37lbs/0.62kg
The Vive XR Elite’s price also seems well-positioned. Costing $1,099/£1,299/€1,449, it undercuts the Quest Pro’s price tag by some $400. The Vive XR Elite also seems like it will outperform the now-aging Meta Quest 2, but that remains to be seen.
So, should you pre order the Vive XR Elite now? Or wait for the Meta Quest 3? Both Meta and HTC have inarguable experience in delivering outstanding VR gaming experiences, however, there are some understandable misgivings surrounding the concept of the Metaverse, and HTC has no such controversy to speak of.
With the Vive XR Elite release date just around the corner, it might be tempting to hedge your bets and pre order it right now. We urge you to wait, however, as rumors put the Meta Quest 3 release date around Q3 2023.
Additionally, Mark Zuckerberg, in an interview with Stratechery, states that the eventual Meta Quest 3 will be “in the price range of $300, $400, or $500, that zone.”. So, our advice is to hang fire, and wait until either reviews come in for the Vive XR Elite, or we hear more about the Meta Quest 3. Even when those things happen, we really can’t tell which will be better, however, given Meta’s success with the Quest lineup, and the promise of a lower price, we feel like the Meta Quest 3 might be the better option.
