The Meta Quest 3 is a stubborn beast. It's been stuck close to its $499.99 MSRP pretty much since launch, save for a few small drops here and there. However, Walmart's pulled a discount out of the bag that changes everything this week - and it's all to spite Amazon.
You'll find the latest VR headset from the team at Oculus for just $429 (was $499.99) right now - a record-low price that we've only ever seen once before. That all comes a full week ahead of official Prime Day Meta Quest deals, and just a day after Amazon hosted the same offer. Bezos has run out of stock now, which leaves Walmart to pick up the pieces with this fantastic discount.
We've seen the Quest 3 offering free games and even gift cards to sweeten its deal in the past, but this is a significant saving on the original MSRP. You certainly don't see that every day, and we don't expect it to last either. With Amazon already running out of these 128GB devices just a day after first posting the offer, Walmart's own supplies will be taking a beating as we speak. If you're on the hunt for a new virtual reality experience this summer, we wouldn't wait too long to dive in.
Should you buy the Meta Quest 3?
It goes without saying, the Meta Quest 3 is the brand's best VR headset to date - and it's packed with loads of extra features over the older (but much cheaper) Quest 2. That means there's a decision to be made and - honestly - the biggest factor there is going to be mixed reality. This is a huge bonus for the Quest 3 system, pushing it beyond the traditional virtual reality experiences we celebrated before and opening the device up to far more uses. From learning the piano to room-scale AR games, there are plenty of apps taking advantage of this new feature.
If you're looking for a standalone VR headset and you want the best quality possible at a reasonable price, this is exactly where you need to be looking. After all, the Meta Quest 2 is getting harder and harder to find on the shelves and prices are actually going up on that older model.
Of course, there's also a PlayStation option. If you're a PS5 player then you have another headset at a similar price to consider; PSVR 2. From a hardware perspective, that's the better VR device. Its resolution is slightly higher, and the HDR OLED display panels running at 120Hz needs to be seen to be believed - it's the most technically impressive headset we've tested so far.
However, it's got a software problem. At the time of writing, there are far more games and apps available for the Quest 3 system, making it a far more approachable all-rounder. Yes, you've got a few PS5-dedicated games on Sony's system, but the pool is so much deeper over at the Meta store. The PSVR 2 will be getting PC support soon (with SteamVR), but we still don't know how the device will function when plugged into a gaming PC.
PS5 players who don't want to wait for new games on PSVR 2 should be jumping on this Meta Quest 3 deal - especially considering you don't need to tether to a separate system. However, if you're happy to sit on your cash for a little longer, Sony might have a trick up its sleeve worth waiting for.
We're also keeping you up to date on all upcoming Prime Day gaming deals including Prime Day Nintendo Switch deals and Prime Day PS5 deals.
