The Biggest Thing We Didn’t See at Connect: Partner Headsets

During this year’s Meta Connect event, there were several exciting announcements, including the official introduction of Quest 3S and the prototype AR glasses, Orion. However, noticeably absent were the three partner headsets from Asus, Lenovo, and Xbox. Where could they be?

In April, Meta disclosed plans to open its Android-based XR operating system, Horizon OS, to third-party manufacturers for the first time. This marked a significant shift in Meta’s role as the sole creator of headsets for its XR platform.

Meta stated that while they would continue to produce Quest devices, this move was a major step towards becoming a more “open model” in contrast to Vision Pro, similar to Apple’s closed device ecosystem.

One of the major highlights of Connect this year was the introduction of Quest 3S, a $300 mixed reality headset aimed at bringing mixed reality to a wider audience. However, Meta made no mention of the three partner headsets or their release dates.

From a marketing perspective, it makes sense for Meta to focus on promoting Quest 3S at the moment, especially with the upcoming holiday season. Quest 3S is now the most affordable option in Meta’s lineup, offering a lower price point compared to the discounted Quest 3 models.

Quest 3S combines the lens and display of Quest 2 with the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset and full-color mixed reality capabilities of Quest 3. This allows users to access mixed reality games and upcoming Quest 3 titles like Batman: Arkham Shadow and Alien: Rogue Incursion.

It is likely that we will have to wait until next year for more information on the partner headsets, as Meta may want to focus on their own lineup before the holiday season. When these headsets are eventually unveiled, it will provide insight into how they will fit into Meta’s core lineup, which currently consists of Quest 3 and Quest 3S, following the discontinuation of Quest 2 and Quest Pro.