The Meta Quest 3 might get my favorite Quest Pro feature

Date:
Wed, 16 Aug 2023 11:08:23 +0000

Description:
The Meta Quest 3 is apparently getting a charging dock my favorite Meta
Quest Pro feature.

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The Meta Quest 3 is reportedly getting a charging dock, as per a US
regulatory filing, meaning its stealing yet another great feature from Metas best VR headset.

With this charging dock which sounds exactly like the one that came with the Meta Quest Pro you wouldnt need to plug the headset into a USB-C charging cable. Instead, youd just set it down on the base when youre finished using it, and itll recharge via contact charging (metal pins on the base line up with contact points on the headset, and the charge is passed through this connection).

Interestingly, while the base will use contact charging for the headset, it will apparently use 2.5W wireless charging for the controllers (by smartphone standards this is low, but for much simpler controllers we expect charging will be speedy enough). This is a minor upgrade over the Quest Pros base, as wireless charging requires you to be a lot less precise with how you place
the controllers on the base.

Its because of this wireless charging change that we know about the base this far in advance of the Meta Quest 3's September 27 official announcement at Meta Connect 2023 it was listed with the US Federal Communication Agency (FCC), which is tasked with certifying all products with electromagnetic emissions. If the base only used contact charging Meta wouldnt need to get
FCC certification for it , and it would have been kept under wraps for a little longer. A must-have Quest 3 accessory

Charging docks are not all that exciting Id say the Quest Pro's was the most mundane upgrade that headset offered over its predecessors. At the same time, its also the best improvement by a country mile because of how much it improves the gadgets usability. The Quest Pro and its controllers on the charging dock (Image credit: Meta)

I cant tell you the number of times Ive strapped on my Quest 2 only to discover that the battery is completely dry because I forgot to plug it in when I last stopped using it. In the roughly eight months Ive had a Quest Pro Ive never had the same issue, and thats entirely thanks to the charging dock when Im done, I just put the headset back in its place and it instantly
starts recharging.

The controller charging is handy too. Sure, the Quest 2 handsets batteries need changing infrequently, but the less I have to think about whether I have AA batteries at the home the better. Whats more, the base is a significantly simpler solution for charging controllers than what other VR brands have used
when I was testing the HTC Vive XR Elite I found that it didnt come with a helpful charging base, but with separate charging cables for each controller and the headset, necessitating the use of three plug sockets for charging instead of one.

The only question that remains is if the base will be included in the Quest
3s box or sold as an add-on. Given Metas open desire to keep the Quest 3 relatively budget friendly with a streamlined suite of features we can see a world in which it sells the charging dock separately. Equally, $499 / 499 / AU$829 is a decent chunk of change, and we hope Meta wouldnt nickel and dime us by forcing us to pay extra for charging accessories that improve the experience significantly.

Well just have to wait and see what it announces at Meta Connect 2023.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/virtual-reality-augmented-reality/the-meta -quest-3-might-get-my-favorite-quest-pro-feature


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