quest 3 charging dock

Quest 3 Accessories Revealed: Charging Dock, Deluxe Straps, Carrying Case & More

Connect 2023, Meta, Meta Quest 3, News, quest 3, quest 3 accessories, quest 3 carrying case, quest 3 charging dock, quest 3 facial interface, quest 3 straps, VR accessories / Ryan Harris / September 28, 2023

Meta announced at its annual developer conference today that Quest 3 is now available for pre-order starting at $500, shipping October 10th. The company also revealed a host of accessories which ought to help knock a few of those pesky paychecks from your bank account.

Note: Make sure to check out our detailed hands-on with Quest 3, diving into everything from comfort to clarity.

Here’s the full list of accessories announced today. You can find them all over at Meta’s website, and likely also through online retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Walmart.

Quest 3 Charging Dock [$130]

Quest 3 Charging Dock | Image courtesy Meta

Product description: Be ready to play and stay organized with an all-in-one wireless charging dock for the Meta Quest 3 headset and controllers. Includes rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for your controllers. The charging dock is also compatible with our other accessories including Elite Strap, Elite Strap with Battery, and Active Straps (sold separately).

Quest 3 Elite Strap [$70]

Quest 3 Elite Strap | Image courtesy Meta

Product description: Play in comfort with this adjustable, ergonomic head strap that easily adjusts to fit most head sizes with the turn of a dial. This lightweight strap takes pressure off your face and evenly distributes the weight for a more comfortable fit.

Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery [$130]

Quest 3 Elite Battery Strap | Image courtesy Meta

Product description: Play in comfort and get up to 2 hours additional VR game playtimewith this adjustable ergonomic head strap that features a built-in, lithium-ion battery. Easily adjusts to fit most head sizes while distributing the weight for a more comfortable fit. Charge your headset and head strap battery simultaneously with a single charging cable. *Battery life may vary based on headset usage, configurations, and settings.

Quest 3 Carrying Case [$70]

Quest 3 Carrying Case | Image courtesy Meta

Product description: Take your headset and accessories on the go with style and complete protection. Designed for your Meta Quest 3 headset, Touch Plus controllers,

charging cable, adapter, headstrap (standard or Elite) and Active Straps. This genuine Meta Quest accessory ensures a perfect fit, durability, and convenience anywhere you take your gear.

Quest 3 Silicone Facial Interface [$40]:

Quest 3 Silicon Facial Interface | Image courtesy Meta

Product description: Wipe away sweat and dirt easily and get right back to your next workout or gaming session. This soft, silicone facial interface provides a cleaner feel and comfortable fit on your face. Get a perfect fit and block out unwanted light from entering your Meta Quest 3.

Quest Active Straps for Touch Plus Controllers [$40]

Quest 3 Touch Plus Active Straps | Image courtesy Meta

Product description: Play with confidence and intensity with these premium, adjustable straps that give extra grip and stability for your Meta Quest Touch Plus Controllers. Designed to comfortably fit most hand sizes, Active Straps provide added stability and effortless grip while you play, navigate and gesture in VR.

Quest 3 Facial Interface & Head Strap [$50]:

Product description: Express yourself in bold color and stay comfortable in Meta Quest 3. The fabric facial interface provides breathable cushioning while blocking out unwanted light. Color-matched, flexible head strap fully adjusts to fit most head sizes for added support. Available in Elemental Blue and Blood Orange.

VR Prescription Lenses for Quest 3 [$50]

Quest 3 Prescription Inserts | Image courtesy Meta

Product description: Experience a seamless viewing experience without the hassle of glasses. Lightweight and easy to install, these lenses are custom made by Zenni for your exact prescription. Designed in collaboration with Meta, these prescription lenses provide a perfect fit and high-quality visual experience in your Meta Quest 3.

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Razer is also making wireless earbuds for Quest 3, named ‘Razer Hammerhead HyperSpeed Earbuds for Meta Quest 3’.

Additionally, the company is still hawking its $80 Quest Link Cable, which has been confirmed to work with Quest 3.

Like Quest 2, Quest 3 can also optionally swap out their standard Touch controllers for Quest Touch Pro Controllers, priced at an eye-watering $300. This includes more accurate inside-out tracking that doesn’t require line of sight, as with all other Touch controllers from generations past.

Connect 2023 kicks off today, taking place September 27th and 28th at Meta’s Menlo Park headquarters. There’s been a ton of news already, so make sure to follow along with Connect for all of the latest XR stuff from Meta.

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Meta Appears to be Readying a Quest 3 Charging Dock to Streamline Usage

Meta, Meta Quest 3, News, quest 3, quest 3 charging dock, quest 3 dock, VR accessories / Blake Jones / August 15, 2023

A new charging dock from Meta, apparently for Quest 3, has been revealed through regulatory certification. As with Quest Pro’s dock, the goal of the new dock is certainty to streamline headset usage by encouraging users to keep it charged and always up-to-date.

Friction in VR—all of the clunk associated with putting a thing on your head, fitting it, then, going through menus to get to the software you want to use—is a tough challenge the industry has been slowly chipping away at over many years.

One major piece of that friction comes with keeping headsets charged and up-to-date. It’s an all-too-common occurrence for someone to forget to plug in their headset after a session and then realize the battery is dead the next time they have the urge to use it. Worse still, if it’s been a while since they plugged the headset in, it’s likely to need updates to both the core software and specific apps before it’s ready to go.

This is a clear issue, and one that Meta has attempted to address with an official charging dock, first sold alongside the Quest Pro headset. The dock charges both the headset and controllers, making sure everything is juiced and keeping the headset powered on and updated (well, when the auto updates actually work).

It would seem the company was happy with the benefits to retention brought by the Quest Pro dock, as a new charging dock—almost certainly for Quest 3—has been revealed by regulatory certification through the US Federal Communication Agency.

The FCC is tasked with certifying products with electromagnetic emissions to be safe and compatible with regulations. Products utilizing radio, WiFi, infrared, etc. need certification before they can be distributed for sale. Certification by the FCC marks one step closer to the launch of consumer electronics product.

The documentation reveals that the dock includes “wireless charging function for left and right controllers,” apparently up to 2.5 watts. That’s pretty slow compared to what we see from wireless charging on modern smartphones, but may be more than adequate for the Quest 3 controllers which don’t need as much power as a smartphone or the headset itself. The actual Quest 3 headset will continue to charge via direct contact as we can see by the pins revealed on the underside of the headset.

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Wireless charging is an interesting change from the Quest Pro dock which exclusively relies on direct-contact charging. One reason for this change is likely that the current method of docking the Quest Pro controllers is quite awkward—sometimes leading to the controllers not charging when it looks like they should be. The headset itself is much easier to place in the proper location.

The Quest Pro controllers must be angled somewhat awkwardly to make proper correct contact with the dock for charging | Photo by Road to VR

A Quest 3 dock with wireless controller charging could create more tolerance for mispositioned controllers, leaving less room for user-error.

One big question is whether or not the dock will be included with Quest 3.

Considering Meta’s goal to keep the sticker price of the mainline Quest headsets low, we’d guess it will be made available as an optional accessory. But there’s a chance that Meta deems the dock important enough to the overall user experience that they opt to include it right in the box.

If it did come in the box, this would be the first time the company included rechargeable controllers in its consumer line of VR headsets. All prior consumer headset controllers from Meta have required AA batteries, though it’s always been easy enough to add recharging to the controllers through inexpensive rechargeable AA batteries.

The Quest 3 dock will unfortunately almost certainly not be compatible with Quest 2 controllers because the newer headset is using a new controller which the company calls Touch Plus.

The new controller does away with the tracking ring that has always been present on the company’s consumer VR controllers, and will likely include the hardware necessary for wireless charging.

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