Why the Meta Quest 3S is the ultimate 2024 holiday present

A 98-inch TCL TV is $1,598 (on sale for almost 50% off). It weighs 120 pounds and takes up a full wall. An XBox Series X is $399 (on sale). A set of AirPods 4 is $168 (also on sale). The popular Batman Arkham Shadow game is $49.

All told, we're talking about $2,213. That's kind of an amazing price for that level of entertainment. But it's still a lot of cash, especially if you want to give it all as a gift.

Also: Best Black Friday deals 2024: 100+ sales live now featuring some of the lowest prices ever

What if I told you that you could give the functional equivalent of this experience in a box not much bigger than a milk carton, for the low, low price of $299.99?

You can. It's called the Quest 3S, and that price comparison above is why I'm calling this headset the ultimate 2024 holiday present.

The Quest 3S is Meta's newest, super-affordable mixed-reality headset. We've done a couple of deep dives into the Quest 3S, so if you want to learn a lot more, read these articles:

Fundamentally, the Quest 3S headset is a display users wear over their eyes. It's the successor to the super-popular Quest 2, which did not have mixed reality capabilities.

Mixed reality is the ability to see the real world along with the images generated in the headset. This is a great approach for many applications, but where it really shines is in making sure the user doesn't crash into walls or fall over tables.

In full VR mode, the Quest 3S can present images around you. There's a very cool Quest VR experience called Ocean Rift where you feel like you're in the ocean. You haven't lived until you see a nearly real-life shark land on your lap.

Also: Netflix is now Meta Quest 3's killer app, thanks to these two new modes

You can also watch Netflix and most other streaming services on the Quest 3S; the experience is astounding. I have the slightly more expensive Quest 3. It has slightly better visuals, but not by much. When I watched the gorgeously animated Star Trek: Prodigy on the headset, I found it breathtaking.

I scaled up the video as large as I could, and it was bigger than the size of my room. The screen was way larger than the space available to me, feeling as if it was more than two stories tall. If you're going to watch TV, this is the way to do it.

While the experience of watching TV on the Quest devices is astounding, it can also be a bit isolating. Unlike a real 98-inch TV screen, the Quest 3S can't provide a shared TV-watching experience with your couchmates. This difference could be a plus or a minus depending on your living situation and shared interest in content.

The Quest 3S also has audio output, providing a very nice enhanced stereo experience, so you don't need to buy AirPods to get great audio.

The Quest is also a great gaming machine. I just did a quick survey on Steam, the PC game platform, and the Quest models were absolutely dominant among VR headsets. The Quest 3S was too new for that survey, but the headset is probably going to be even more popular because of its price-performance proposition.

Also: Meta Quest absolutely dominates Steam VR - just look

There are some great games on the Meta Horizon store for the Quest models. In fact, if you give the Quest 3S as a gift this season, it comes with the $49 Triple-A game Batman Arkham Shadow for free, so that's a great place to start.

For those considering gifting the Quest 3S, starting today, Meta is offering a 40% discount on select titles in the app store. You can type the promo code "BFCM24" at checkout to apply the offer.

A note about parental monitoring

I think the Quest 3S is a great gift for a teenager… but I'm not a parent. A child's use of the Quest 3S does present some parental monitoring challenges. 

With a TV, you can take a quick look at what your kid is watching by just glancing at the TV. With a headset, that's not quite as easy to do. This separation could be a plus if you're not interested in watching the same things your teen is watching but you'd all like to enjoy the togetherness of being in the same room.

Also: Your Meta Quest 3 is getting a free Windows PC upgrade - and it could change how you work

There used to be a feature that allowed you to use Chromecast to cast what was visible on the headset to a TV. As ZDNET's Artie Beaty reports, that feature is no longer available.

You can, however, set up the Quest 3S to cast to a phone or a computer, so there is a way for you to occasionally glance over at what they're watching. Details on how to do that are on this support page on the Meta site.

Beyond monitoring, you will probably want to have a quality parental discussion with your child about what's right and wrong when using a headset. Again, I'm not a parent, so I can't tell you exactly what to say. But you know, because you know your child.

Bottom line

There's also the Quest 3. It's a slightly better model, but it's also two hundred dollars more expensive. You get more storage and different video technology, but most people will choose the less expensive Quest 3S, which will do a fine job.

Also: Who's afraid of VR? I was - until I tried Meta Quest 3

What do you think? Are you planning on giving a Quest 3S to a favorite person this holiday season? Do you already have a Quest 2 or Quest 3? Let us know in the comments below.

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