Why You Can Trust CNET Meta Quest 2 Headset Price Dropping to $299 as Quest 3 Looms
Meta's existing VR headset is returning to its old price, with a promised surprise performance bump in a coming software update.
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The Quest 2 is back to $299, as the Quest 3 is around the corner.
The best current VR headset, the Quest 2, is getting a price drop down to $299 on June 4. But its replacement, the Quest 3, is arriving in the fall.
Meta announced the news this morning alongside details of the company's upcoming improved Quest 3 VR headset, which will start at $499 and have a smaller size, a faster processor, improved controllers and added color cameras that can add better mixed reality experiences to VR games and apps.
The new $299 price is for the version with 128GB of storage, while the 256GB storage option is getting a price cut to $349.
All indications suggest the Quest 3 will be worth waiting for, but Meta also announced an interesting performance update coming to the Quest 2 and Quest Pro. It promises to add up to a 26% CPU speed improvement and 19% GPU improvement to the Quest 2, and an 11% improvement to the Quest Pro. The Quest 2 already has a lot of great games and apps, all of which are expected to also run on the Quest 3.
It's surprising that Meta would find a way to unlock more performance out of the Quest 2 this late in its life cycle, but Meta has had Quest 2 updates in the past that have improved a number of hardware and software features.