Meta Connect just ended, and the biggest announcement of the night for me was easily the debut of Meta’s VR Glasses — even if they were leaked ahead of schedule by Meta’s own prescription tutorial.
Ahead of their official reveal, I got to spend 30 minutes with the new tech, experiencing a wide range of demos that might have convinced me this isn’t merely Meta’s best VR headset yet — it could be the best VR headset I’ve used yet.
The only downside is we’ll be waiting a little longer to wear it. The headset isn’t due to launch until “Spring 2027” (March, April or May), but at least we know it’ll cost just $1,299 when it does land (price elsewhere TBC).
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Slimmer than ever
Let’s start with the design.
Slimmer and lighter than anything that has come before (the actual headset part you wear is down to just around 100g); this headset looks like a pair of glasses. They even swap the headstrap for glasses stems to stay on your head.
The bulk of the weight is instead housed in a puck you carry in your pocket — a lot like the puck used by the Apple Vision Pro or Samsung Galaxy XR. The big difference here is Meta’s isn’t just a battery pack, it also houses all of the headset’s compute. It’s tethered to the headset via an optical cable, but this wire never got in the way while I used the headset — whether I was up and moving, playing a game like Beat Saber Flux, or sitting being productive with multitasking across multiple windows.
The headset can support controllers; however, it doesn’t come with any in the box. Instead, you’ll need to rely on hand controls: either reaching out and grabbing, or the look and pinch controls popularized by Apple’s Vision Pro and Samsung’s Galaxy XR.
Lastly, I should note that, despite being called glasses, this is a headset. They have an opaque front cover that only appears to be see-through to the wearer because of passthrough. This live video feed of the real world isn’t yet perfect (it’s still a little grainy and there’s a slight delay), though it seems at least as good as the competition based on my experience so far.
They do support pescription inserts too. They connect magnetically to the display lenses and don’t disrupt the slimness of the headset at all based on my experience.
The device is just so supremely comfortable to wear. My demo was only around 30 minutes, but at one-fifth the weight of a Meta Quest 3 or Samsung Galaxy XR, the difference is immediately noticeable — this is a headset I don’t see myself needing to take off, even after multiple days of working with it on.
Plus, it’s so portable you can easily take this everywhere in whatever bag you have on hand. No dedicated carry case required. I can’t wait to travel with this thing.
An all-round powerhouse
While this can be used for all existing Meta Quest 3-compatible apps (though you will need controllers for those that don’t support hand tracking, either as a new paid add-on or by commandeering your Quest’s handsets), where this headset truly shines is static experiences: productivity and entertainment.
We know VR headsets are excellent for multitasking. You can arrange virtual project app windows around you, and even bring your PC screen into XR to create the perfect setup. Meta’s headset boasts two useful additional features.
First, you aren’t limited to the number of displays your physical setup has when you connect it to your headset. Each laptop or PC can be extended to up to three virtual monitors, a tool that some previous iterations of virtual desktop apps haven’t been able to offer (You could open multiple VR app windows, but only as many connected device windows as you had physical monitors).
Secondly, Meta’s headset can turn any surface into a keyboard. It just scans the surface in front of you — be it a cafe table, a seat tray on a plane, or a bench at the park — and then virtually projects a keyboard and trackpad you can type and swipe on. It works seamlessly. In my demo, I was able to type as swiftly and accurately as I could on a physical accessory, and in terms of portability, this is yet another win for Meta’s VR Glasses.
Moving on to entertainment, it seems Disney Plus’ Apple exclusivity has ended as the app and its library of 3D films are hitting Meta’s new headset. Because it’s an app, you can download content to watch on the go, which includes brand new immersive watching experiences.
While it was still just a demo, I got to experience watching a clip of Avengers: Endgame that extended beyond the screen in a souped-up version of Philips Ambilight.
It’s the scene where Thor is forging his new axe, I was sitting in that same forge. The room lit up and reacted as events unfolded in the film, ending with lightning flying out of the screen as Stormbreaker helped Thor return to full strength. It was a bit gimmicky, but also fun — not something I’d want for every movie, but an experience I’d want when returning to a big tentpole.
All of this content, be it immersive movies, a VR game, or a work document, looks beautiful on the 5K micro-OLED screen. It boasts a 37 pixel-per-degree resolution, which is around the PPD that its rivals, the Apple Vision Pro and Samsung Galaxy XR, boast (Samsung and Apple haven’t revealed these figures, but they have been estimated during product teardowns).
This is significantly better than the Quest 3’s mere 25PPD, and it meets the standard of being able to deliver the IMAX Enhanced Format — with superb audio and visuals. I got a taste of this in my demo, and I’m keen to experience more.
I need this yesterday
I’m about to jet set to LA for a press trip, and I so desperately wish I could be taking the Meta VR Glasses with me for the flight — both for getting work done and for immersing myself in a movie on a big screen rather than the back of the chair in front of me.
Alas, the VR specs aren’t due to land until 2027, though we know how much they’ll cost: $1,299. Much less than a Vision Pro, or a Galaxy XR, and cheaper than the highest price Xreal has said its Aura glasses — the closest thing I’ve tried to the Meta VR Glasses — could be.
At the time of writing, Meta hasn’t revealed too much in the way of specs (I’m writing this up based on a pre-Connect briefing). The Meta VR Glasses can run any Quest 3 app and can multitask across six windows at once, so it must be at least somewhat capable. I expect it boasts at least 12GB of RAM and the latest Snapdragon XR chipset.
I’m just impressed Meta can commit to such a relatively low price, especially months in advance. There are so many unknowns over trade and RAM demand that we’ve seen companies not reveal prices until as close to the last second as possible. Meta has bucked a trend here, but I expect it would only do so if 100% confident the cost won’t budge — if it doesn’t, I’ll be very, very happy.
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At the time of writing Meta hasn’t revealed too much in the way of specs (I’m writing this up based on a pre-Connect briefing). The Meta VR Glasses can run any Quest 3 app, and can multitask across six windows at once so it must be at least somewhat capable — so I expect it boasts at least 12GB of RAM, and the latest Snapdragon XR chipset.
I’m just impressed Meta can commit to such a relatively low price, especially months in advance. There’s so many unknowns over trade and RAM demand that we’ve seen companies not reveal prices until as close to the last second as possible. Meta has bucked a trend here, but I expect it would only do so if 100% confident the cost won’t budge — if it doesn’t I’ll be very, very happy.
