Apple Vision Pro User Tries Meta Quest 3 For The First Time

We may earn compensation from reviewed products. Learn about our editorial policies.

This post is sponsored by MOFT. Get a hold of the brand new MOFT Creator Kit here (use code MarkEllis10 for 10% off!).

A couple of weeks ago, I visited fellow tech YouTuber, Pete Matheson.

Remember when you were a kid and you wanted to borrow your mate’s coolest toy? It was a bit like that.

We wanted to swap VR headsets. Although I had no intention of leaving my Vision Pro with him. Obviously.

Instead – and, to make it clear, Pete didn’t suggest that I should leave Apple’s monumentally expensive headset with him – we agreed to spend a couple of hours diving into each other’s virtual worlds.

In return for some time inside visionOS, I’d get to try out Pete’s Meta Quest 3. I needed to; I’ve been nudged to check out Meta’s headset on multiple occasions by my Eight or Sixteen podcast co-host, Rob – and plenty of YouTube comments have suggested I should do so whenever I cover Vision Pro over there.

I genuinely had no idea what to expect, and I was surprised by what happened next.

Answering the perennial question

I get asked a lot of the same questions by people who venture into the comments sections of my YouTube videos.

What’s that phone case you’re using?

Why aren’t you still using that Hinomi chair you raved about two years ago (fun fact: I use it every day)?

Which MacBook should I buy?

Is <insert name of smartphone I’ve not used before> better than <insert name of another smartphone I’ve not used before>?

However, over the last couple of months, another question has reared its head on multiple occasions.

Am I still using Vision Pro?

The answer is yes. As I’ve noted previously on these digital pages, Vision Pro remains a regular tool for my work. It’s not in use every day, and I rarely spend more than an hour in visionOS, but I do use it when it makes sense to do so.

My use falls into two categories: distraction-free writing, and video editing when I’m sat at the breakfast bar in our kitchen. As you may have guessed, that means I only ever really use it in tandem with my MacBook Pro, by extending the laptop’s display into the wonderfully immersive world of visionOS.

I need to do more with it – when time allows, and when audience interest returns, but for now, Pete’s Meta Quest 3 has provided a fascinating insight into what else is possible with mixed reality headsets.

A brief venture into Meta Quest 3

We were a little pushed for time during my trip down south to Pete’s studio. This was entirely my fault; I’d decided to go camping later that day for a video. I still have no idea why I made that decision, and yes, I can confirm that camping remains a vastly unsatisfactory and immeasurably cold experience in the UK.

This meant that I needed to gain a quick but insightful experience of what the Meta Quest 3 is capable of. It’s worth remembering that this headset is $3000 USD cheaper than Apple Vision Pro. This immediately makes it very interesting indeed.

When it comes to the hardware, Meta Quest 3 instantly feels like more of a budget option, compared to Vision Pro. Which it should, given that colossal price difference. It’s not cheap feeling, though – it’s just more reliant on plastic and far lighter.

This brings me onto the all-important comfort factor. A few months into Vision Pro ownership, I can confirm that it remains very heavy. You are, essentially, wearing a MacBook on your face, complete with a significant amount of glass and the supporting metal structure for all of those gubbins. By comparison, the Meta Quest 3 headset felt beautifully stable and lightweight on my face. It felt like I could wear it for a very long time indeed.

Once powered up, two things hit me, immediately. Firstly, the pass-through on Meta Quest 3 (the image you see of the real world, which is fed into your eyes via cameras on the exterior of the device) is on par with Vision Pro. The latter is possibly slightly better, but the difference is almost imperceptible. Secondly, the image quality on the Meta Quest 3 is noticeably less impressive. Which it’s going to be. Remember that price difference.

The best analogy I can think of is that Vision Pro is your beefed-up Playstation, while the Meta Quest 3 is the family- and budget-friendly Nintendo.

So, what about the experience of using the thing? It was, not to put too fine a point on it, absolutely wonderful – instantly. Pete suggested that I should first try out a game which filled his studio with miniature monsters I needed to shoot with a futuristic bubble gun. That was a lot of fun (how could it not be?), but it became even more enjoyable when I realised I could also blast away parts of the walls and ceiling in his studio to reveal a colourful universe beyond.

Then, I played some table tennis. Thanks to the controllers, haptic feedback, and the speediness of the just-get-it-done graphics, it was an incredibly realistic experience. I could have played it for hours.

Lastly, I tested out a virtual working environment, in which I could throw the display from Pete’s laptop in front of me and resize and move it, just as I can in visionOS. Only, this time, I could add multiple displays, and chat with other people who were working in the same virtual space. Although a little weird at first, I can see why some people would find this a useful substitute if they’re unable (or unwilling) to venture outside.

My key takeaway after that brief immersion into the world of Meta Quest 3? It was fun. There was little faff. It was very comfortable. The graphics were perfectly acceptable for the price. I tried stuff which felt as though it could stick.

But the overriding feeling is that it was a huge amount of fun.

Wrapping up

Vision Pro is mind-blowingly impressive. It knocks your socks off within minutes of your eyes meeting those tiny 4K displays. You’ll gasp, reach out, step back to avoid the dinosaur, and shout, “I’m on the moon!”.

However, since trying that Meta Quest 3 headset, I can’t help but think that there’s something missing from Vision Pro. It’s the ‘f’ word.

Vision Pro isn’t fun.

It’s typical Apple. Beautifully executed. Cautious with what it delivers. It thinks it knows what its users should want and need (and no, that doesn’t include two handheld controllers, thank you very much). It’s capable of some very useful feats, and has the potential to make our lives easier and more productive.

But you can’t shoot bits of your living room ceiling away, can you?

This isn’t a criticism of Apple’s headset, and, indeed, I’d imagine they’ve never had the slightest interest in making a Meta Quest clone. Vision Pro is its own thing; it is, resolutely, spatial computing. I just wish it was a bit more fun.

Maybe I need to explore it more, eh?

I’d like to thank Pete, once again, for hosting me at his lovely studio, and for giving me the opportunity to try out the Meta Quest 3. You can – and should – check out his YouTube channel, here.

Before you go