Preface
Apple's launched their Vision Pro fairly recently, and Meta's release of the Quest 3 being a massive improvement over their Quest 2, enthusiasts have definitely put both on their heads and gave them a whirl waaaaaay ahead than I did. I have physically used both Quest 2 & Quest 3, whereas I've yet to try a Vision Pro in person (yes, due to the hefty price tag, oof), so I'm forming a personal take (as a developer) on the Quest 3 vs Vision Pro face-off based on other reviewers' feel and Apple's official video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX9qSaGXFyg). I'm also adding on to Mashable's (https://sea.mashable.com/tech/31016/apple-vision-pro-vs-meta-quest-3-how-much-does-3500-really-get-you) review since it mostly captures the key comparison points between both headsets.
I know this isn't going to be an absolutely fair review; will revise this post definitely when I get to put on the Vision Pro on my own head and give it a spin!
Design & Comfort
Comparisons
Weight
Most sentiment points to the Vision Pro's weight being an issue
The need to plug the battery pack to the Vision Pro and hold it with you feels like added weight and inconvenience
Quest 3 is, on an absolute level, comfortably light enough on my head
Straps & Fitting
The default straps for Quest 3 is not great - you'll need to tighten the head straps sufficiently in order for Quest 3's proximity sensor to register your head's presence, otherwise you'll get a flickering tug-of-war with the headset
I also wear glasses and it's quite annoying to have it constantly snagged within the headset when I try to pull it off my face. Not sure how the Vision Pro will fare for users who need glasses.
Charging
Vision Pro requires a battery pack - doesn't feel convenient
Quest 3 just needs a USB-C cable for charging - less of a problem if you have a real-long cable (of at least 3~5 meters long)
My Verdict
Well, weight's a significant factor when you need to put on the headset for prolonged periods of time, so Quest 3 generally wins
Strap's not much of a problem for either since you can just customize it
For those who wear glasses - consider getting those with thinner lenses :')
Tracking
Comparisons
Vision Pro is stated to support eye and hand tracking; I think the availability of eye-tracking is impressive & also important, especially as an alternative option when hand tracking fails
Quest 3's hand-tracking is pretty good, but
Hands detection is sometimes buggy; you might need to reboot the headset at least once
Your virtual hand(s) might not be totally non-existent when your real hands are not significantly within the headset's field of view, resulting in weird phantom hand-grabs happening
It works best mostly under synthetic light; sometimes with a little bit of sunlight leaking into my room from the window, the headset complains
My Verdict
Vision Pro probably wins here just because of the availability of the eye-tracking, but I feel that Quest 3 doesn't really pale if you use controllers rather than their hand-tracking.
Graphics
Comparisons
From the trailer video, the Vision Pro's graphics look better
Quest 3's graphics isn't bad but also isn't exactly the best - the rendering of my surroundings are still somewhat blurry but at least their color passthrough is a massive improvement from their Quest 2's black-and-white passthrough
My Verdict
The Vision Pro wins here, but Quest 3's graphics doesn't really suck so it's not a major win.
Features
Comparisons
Quest 3's features are more vast and/or complete; you can go on the full VR-AR spectrum with a comprehensive range of useful features, such as Scene Understanding & Spatial Anchors, Locomotion, Interactions, etc., together with their pretty comprehensive developer SDKs.
Vision Pro's use cases for now mostly support MR to AR usage and appears to involve a couple of screen-based features (e.g. watching videos, playing games or opening apps on virtual screens); their SDKs might still require a lot of work, since its a brand new technology framework.
My Verdict
The Quest 3 wins pretty much.
Conclusion
Some of you might be asking "What about the price?" Nah, it's pointless for now since it's pretty much comparing apples with oranges at this stage. All I can say for now is that given the current state of the Vision Pro, it definitely does not justify its current price tag.
All in all, the Quest 3 is still dominating the scene with its degree of establishment over all these years, and they aren't relenting in the competition either as they continue to push out new features and fixes. That being said, the Vision Pro does look promising for starters, and I'm actually excited to see whether it can eventually pose a threat to the Quest 3!
GeeCue @ TDP
Comments