Availability of Quest 2 direct from Meta seems to have dried up, as the company’s last-gen headset is now showing out of stock in nearly all regions—likely making way for what’s next.

Although you can probably find new Quest 2 headsets from the usual online retailers and stores, when Meta pulls the plug on direct availability on any headset, it typically means there’s something just around the corner.

At the time of this writing, the only region with availability direct from Meta is the UK, which still has the 128GB variant in stock, priced at £200.

Quest 2 (left), Quest 3 (right) | Based on images courtesy Meta

The chief rumor going around is the company’s next headset will replace Quest 2 as its cheaper, lower-end hardware next to its flagship headset, Quest 3.

Last month an official app listing seemingly revealed the name of the device in question: ‘Quest 3S’. Another rumor from credible leaker Luna even points to the full spec list of the supposed Quest 3S.

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Meta hasn’t confirmed as much, however the company is indeed planning to release a cheaper VR headset in 2024, making the next logical opportunity for launch sometime around its upcoming Connect developer conference, which is planned for September 25th-26th.

Initially released in late 2020, Meta has tinkered with Quest 2 variants and pricing over the years. Most recently, the company slashed the price of Quest 2’s 128 GB version to just $200, likely making it the headset’s final barnburner sale.

Meanwhile, Meta will soon be making a monumental shift in how it operates by releasing its XR operating system to third-party OEMs for the first time, which will see Quest-like devices from ASUS, Lenovo, and Xbox—all of which will have the same OS, content library, and Horizon Worlds social VR layer.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Naruto Uzumaki

    Lol what now they won t release quest lite until meta connect

  • watchman88

    Meta could also just release a new headset with upgrades to chips, lens etc and drop the price of Quest 3. Makes more sense to invest in next gen than cheaper of what they already have.

    • Andrey

      Um, no? Because Meta doesn't create any chips, they only buy it from Qualcomm, at least for now. And Qualcomm "just" released an XR2 Gen. 2 chip that was exclusive to Q3 for some time (half a year I think) and soon will appear in other non-Meta standalone headsets. Point is they won't release a better chip anytime soon thus Meta won't be able to use it in their headset. Earliest time we can see something "better" is 2025 when rumored Quest Pro 2 or whatever it will be called (created in collaboration with LG – again, I am not mistaken) will release with MAYBE something like XR2 Gen.2+ on board and more RAM compared to the original Quest 3, just like it was with original Quest Pro/Quest 2. Not to mention that I highly doubt that both Meta and Qualcomm will want to develop a whole new powerful chip for a headset that will be even more niche than others so almost noone will buy it.
      According to most recent rumors Meta sold about a million of Quest 3 after more than half a year after it's release. And there are still more than 10 (or 15? 20?) millions of Q2 out there that won't be able to run Batman Arkham Shadows and Alien something later this year. So it's only reasonable for them to release a Q3S for people who won't need AR functionality and who can tolerate frensel lenses and can't/don't want to spend 500$ on existing Q3, but still want to play those new shiny exclusive games. I will be pretty much surprised if they will lower Q3 price earlier than the second half of 2025, but Meta sometimes do Meta things, so who knows…
      Anyway, TL:DR – there won't be new more powerful headsets later than 2025 and Q3S – less cool feature-wise version of Q3 – will release sooner or later no matter what.

      • ViRGiN

        According to most recent rumors Meta sold about a million of Quest 3

        Wasn't that only the amount of people who completed the entire introductionary game?

        Quest 1, a first true 6dof standalone headset priced at $399 sold about a million before they phased it out for Quest 2.

        There is certainly way more than a million sold.
        And adjusted for inflation, it's price is about the same as todays Quest 3.

        • Andrey

          I really am not sure about those numbers cause I am obviously not working at Meta and not a VR analyst (ba-dum-tss!), so I don’t have any accurate information and you may be completely right. In any case, I was just trying to illustrate that Meta needs to release Q3 by comparing how much different the current numbers of user of the Q2 and Q3. They finally switch from crossplatform games to Q3 only this year, so just abandoning all those Q2 users without giving them a convenient oportunity to “move forward” (and instead releasing another Pro version that will cost even more and segregate users once again too) will be a pretty stupid thing to do.

          • ViRGiN

            not a VR analyst

            brooooooo

            have you seen his latest contribution to VR as a whole?
            the freaking vive tracker foot straps?
            transacademy collab?

            yeah, this is where everyone should get their news and opinions from

      • MeowMix

        According to most recent rumors Meta sold about a million of Quest 3 after more than half a year after it's release.

        we need to nip this in the butt now before this misinformation spreads any further

        The 1M figure is the floor for how many Quest3 units sold; the estimated is much higher. The 1 Million comes from Quest3 owners who have completed the First Encounters demo in its entirety and we added to the scoreboard (~10 min demo; must complete the entire demo to be added to the scoreboard). I'd be surprised if 50% of Quest3 owners have completed the First Encounters demo; many start it but don't complete the entire demo

        • Nip in the B-U-D ….
          That other thing might smart something awful!! lol
          []^ )

      • Christian Schildwaechter

        I agree except for AR/MR: VR enthusiasts cherished improved graphics and pancakes on Quest 3, but Meta mostly tried to sell its MR capabilities. They need MR to grow Quest beyond gaming, even if their current users don't really care.

        Extrapolating some numbers, we should be at ~10mn active Quest users and ~25mn Quest 2 sold. The 1mn Quest 3 from completed tutorials was for the minimum, but there are very likely at least 5x as many Quest 2 still in use. New customers seem fine with lower performance and Fresnel for a 60% discount, and Quest 2 (with grainy b/w passthrough unfitting for MR) still outselling Quest 3 causes problems for Meta by making urgently needed developer engagement with MR even less likely.

        So (cheap) color passthrough is the only feature I'm sure will make it into Quest 3s. With customers still fine with Quest 2's features at USD 200, expensive pancakes also requiring a much brighter display plus larger batteries are out. XR2 Gen 2 depends on retail price. Maybe at USD 300, but if they keep the USD 200 currently selling lots of Quest 2, that SoC would eat an unfeasible 50%+ of that.