Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company’s mixed-reality headset beats Vision Pro in almost every way, despite the fact that it costs far less than Apple’s device. In a short video posted Tuesday on Instagram, Zuckerberg called the Meta Quest headset the “better product, period.”
While he praised the Vision Pro’s high-resolution displays, he said he thinks Apple made a lot of compromises on its $3,499 headset.
Zuckerberg: Meta Quest vs. Vision Pro is no contest
Meta entered the AR/VR field several years ago. The company sank billions of dollars into building the metaverse, with little to show for its efforts. But when Apple released Vision Pro earlier this month, the high-end headset brought loads of mainstream attention to mixed reality. Some people even started wearing Vision Pro in public.
In the video, Zuckerberg said he always expected the Quest 3 to be a better value for most consumers. That’s not surprising since the Quest starts at just $499.99. But after using Apple’s headset, Zuckerberg said he thinks the Quest “is better for the vast majority of things that people use mixed reality for.”
Zuckerberg called Quest “a lot more comfortable,” thanks in large part to the fact that it weighs 120 grams less than the Apple headset, which has been dinged for its weight. (Meta says the Quest 3 weighs 515 grams. Apple pegs the Vision Pro’s weight between 600 and 650 grams.)
Additionally, the Quest’s lack of a wired battery pack means more freedom of movement for users, especially when playing games. He also praised the hand controllers used with Meta’s headset and the array of content available to users.
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Meta Quest vs. Vision Pro: Which display is better?
Additionally, Zuckerberg highlighted the Quest’s wider field of view, which offers a more immersive experience. He said he appreciated the Vision Pro’s high-resolution displays, but also pointed out motion blur when moving around when wearing Apple’s headset.
Further, he praised the Vision Pro’s eye tracking and revealed that Meta will bring the feature back in a future Quest headset.
Zuckerberg’s video was shot using the Quest 3’s mixed-reality video passthrough mode, with surprisingly impressive quality.
Meta sinks billions of dollars into its AR efforts
In some aspects, Meta’s Quest 3 is better than the Vision Pro. However, the company has been around in the mixed-reality field longer and has more experience with consumer AR/VR hardware. A report recently suggested that Vision Pro’s ideal form is at least four generations away.
Despite its status as a first-gen product, the Vision Pro boasts superior hardware to all its rivals. Plus, Apple presumably can entice many more developers to hop onto the AR/VR bandwagon. These factors will play a key role in the long run, giving Apple’s AR headset a key advantage over its rivals.
