Your Quest 3 Just Got Unleashed

0:00Your Quest 3 just got unleashed. It may

0:02not have gotten any new hardware this

0:03week, has the same chip and the same

0:05panel, but it's a noticeably better

0:07headset than it was 7 days ago. Today, I

0:10am breaking down Horizon OS 2.7 and

0:12specifically two things inside of it

0:15that I think change what this headset

0:17actually is, not just what it can do.

0:19Now, before we get into either one of

0:21those, I want to frame this because I

0:23think that that is the real story here.

0:25For the last couple of years, the limits

0:27on this headset have been actual

0:28choices, not hardware limitations. The

0:31panel could always run faster than 120

0:33Hz and the controllers could always send

0:35game inputs. None of that needed a new

0:37chip or a new hardware, it just needed

0:39Meta to actually do it. And Meta has

0:41spent the last couple of years being

0:43careful, shipping the Quest 3 completely

0:45locked down and conservative, kind of

0:46like it's protecting it from itself,

0:48which kind of did make sense at launch.

0:50You don't really want people running the

0:51display in a mode that makes the headset

0:53feel worse in the end. But, 2.7 is the

0:56update where that completely changes.

0:58This feels like Meta looked and decided

1:00there's still room for it to grow, and

1:03that's not really how consumer hardware

1:05usually goes. Normally, the thing you

1:07bought is the thing you have. Before we

1:08get into the massive changes with the

1:10display, let's talk about gamepad mode.

1:12Now, the Touch Plus controllers have

1:13pretty much always spoken the same

1:15language, right? A language that was VR.

1:18It was If a game wanted your

1:20controllers, it had to be a VR game

1:21built for them. With the exception of

1:23some emulation where controller input

1:25did work, but anything else flat screen

1:26like Xbox Cloud Gaming or Steam Link or

1:29other emulators, you really needed to

1:31pack an actual gamepad, which meant the

1:33Quest was a VR device that could sort of

1:35do other things if you brought extra

1:36hardware. Well, that is totally changing

1:39because your controllers now emulate an

1:41actual Xbox gamepad at the system level.

1:44So, Xbox Cloud Gaming just works out of

1:47the box. Steam Link streaming a flat

1:49screen game off of your PC just works,

1:51and you're holding what the system sees

1:52as a controller. Now, the obvious

1:55problem, and I ran into this

1:56immediately, is that the Touch Plus

1:57doesn't actually physically have enough

1:59buttons. There's no D-pad, there's no

2:01bumpers where your fingers expect them

2:02to be, and there's no start and select

2:04buttons. And Meta's answer is actually

2:06pretty clever. The grip button and the

2:08thumb rest work like a shift button on a

2:10keyboard. You hold one down and every

2:12input on your controller turns into a

2:13second input. So, all those buttons that

2:16don't physically exist, they exist in

2:18combinations. It's a bit awkward at

2:20first, but when your hands get used to

2:21it, it actually is pretty intuitive.

2:23Now, here's why I think this might be

2:24the sleeper feature of the whole setup,

2:26and it's not really about buttons. It's

2:27about what's in your bag. Headset, two

2:30controllers, and done. That's a full

2:32gaming setup on a plane, in a hotel

2:34room, or at a friend's house. You're not

2:36packing a gamepad, and you're not

2:38charging a gamepad. The Quest 3 is no

2:40longer a VR accessory, it becomes a

2:42screen you wear to play basically

2:44anything. And this one works on both

2:46Quest 3 and Quest 3S, so nobody's

2:47getting left out, which I can't say

2:49about the next one. Because the next one

2:51is Quest 3 only, and it's the reason

2:52this whole update matters. Before we get

2:54into the rest of the video, a huge shout

2:56out to today's sponsor, Globular

2:58Cluster, and their brand new CM Q3 V2

3:01Comfort Mod for the Quest 3. One of the

3:03biggest problems with VR comfort is that

3:05rigid elite-style straps are great for

3:07active shooters, but basically unusable

3:09if you want to lay back on a couch or on

3:10a bed. The CMQ V2 fixes that with a

3:13magnetic hot-swap system. For active

3:16standing games, you've got a solid rigid

3:18setup, customizable padding, and support

3:21for three different battery

3:22configurations, including an Anker power

3:24bank bracket. Then, in about 5 seconds,

3:27you can pop the rigid bracket off and

3:29click on their soft silicone mesh band

3:31instead. It moves the dial over to the

3:33side, giving you a completely flat rear

3:36profile, so you can lay flat on a pillow

3:38with zero pressure on your skull. If you

3:40want to upgrade your Quest 3 comfort,

3:41check out the link down in the

3:42description for more about the Globular

3:44Cluster CM Q3 V2 Comfort Mod. Refresh

3:48rate on the Quest 3 has always been a

3:49fixed thing, 72, 90, and 120 in

3:52experimental, And that was the ceiling

3:54that you could reach. That was just what

3:55the headset could do. And we all just

3:57kind of accepted it as a hardware

3:58limitation. Well, that is changing, too,

4:01because that list doesn't end at 120

4:04anymore. Now, I want to explain why this

4:05matters, because the number itself is

4:07actually the least interesting part of

4:08this update. When you turn your head in

4:10the VR, the display has to redraw the

4:12whole world before your eyes stop

4:14moving. If it can't keep up, your brain

4:16reads that gap as smear. Edges can look

4:19soft second. Text goes fuzzy. And the

4:22thing is, you don't necessarily

4:23consciously notice any of that. You just

4:25feel a little worn out after 45 minutes,

4:27and you can't really say why. Higher

4:28refresh rates go straight after that.

4:30Every frame sits in front of your eye

4:32for less time. So, there's less time for

4:34it to smear. The world stops sliding

4:36around when you look, and it's And it's

4:38not really more frames, it's just the

4:39headset feeling more like looking

4:41through a window and less like a screen

4:42strapped to your face. So, here's where

4:45this actually stands right now. 144 Hz

4:47is the number that you can actually use

4:49today. Virtual Desktop supports it.

4:51Quest Game Optimizer actually now

4:53supports it, too. And more apps are

4:54starting to pick it up. And coming from

4:5690, it's not just a subtle difference.

4:58It's a big comfort jump. The system

5:00itself will actually go higher than

5:01that, with Meta's ceiling being being at

5:04207. And then there's 240, which

5:07technically exists, too. Now, I want to

5:09be straight with you about this one,

5:10though. 240 needs developer mode, it

5:12needs command line access, and it needs

5:14display scaling turned on. Which means

5:17that the headset renders at a lower

5:19resolution, and it stretches it back up.

5:21So, you're trading sharpness and

5:23resolution for frames. And past

5:25somewhere around 144, the return

5:27actually starts working against you.

5:29Perceived blur can actually go up, not

5:31down. And fine text and thin geometry

5:33can actually get worse. Now, I haven't

5:35dug deep enough into the display side to

5:36tell you exactly where every single

5:38person's line is, and it's probably a

5:40little different for everyone. But, I

5:41can tell you that it's not a setting

5:43that I would want to be using all the

5:45the

5:45So, the way I'd put it is 144-Hz is the

5:47sweet spot. 207 is that flex, and then

5:50240 is more like a science experiment.

5:52And the fact that we're sitting here

5:53arguing about 240 on a headset that

5:55shipped at 90 is kind of insane. One

5:58catch though is that the 3S keeps its

6:00120-Hz cap. It's a different panel, and

6:02this one really is physical, not a

6:04choice. Now, there's one more piece of

6:06this that actually kind of surprised me,

6:08and it's the most no limits part of this

6:10update. Refresh rates on the Quest have

6:12always been a menu. You've got a list.

6:15You can do 72, 90, or 120, and you just

6:18kind of pick from that list. That was

6:19the whole deal. Well, on Quest 3, that's

6:22not how it works anymore. According to

6:24Meta's own developer documentation, the

6:26display hardware will accept any whole

6:29number between 72 and 207. Now, why does

6:33that matter to you and not just

6:34developers? Because it means that a game

6:35can tune itself to whatever refresh rate

6:37it can actually hold steady to, instead

6:39of dropping all the way down to the next

6:41number on a list when it can't quite

6:43keep up. That's smoother frame pacing on

6:45the games that are working hardest. And

6:48that leads me into one thing I want you

6:49to know before you go turning all of

6:51this on. Meta is telling developers not

6:53to require these rates. Apps have to

6:56fall back gracefully if the headset says

6:58no. So, if you switch everything on and

7:01your favorite game is still sitting at

7:0290, it's not broken and you didn't do

7:04anything wrong. That's just the app not

7:06asking for more yet. Give it a little

7:08time, and the apps will come. And in the

7:10meantime, you can use Quest Game

7:12Optimizer to change the overall hertz on

7:15your Quest 3. And refresh rate isn't the

7:17only thing that moved in 2.7. 96 and

7:19100-Hz got added as normal options. Now,

7:22that might sound boring and not flashy,

7:24but it's really not. If you watch movies

7:27or you run emulators, 24 frames divided

7:29perfectly into into 96, and 100 lines up

7:32with PAL content. Remote Desktop is also

7:35now called a virtual display, and it

7:36absorbed HDMI link. So, PC mirroring,

7:40console mirroring, wired input, all of

7:42that is just one application now. And

7:44there's also a new display size setting

7:46under display and brightness. It scales

7:47the whole interface, not just the text.

7:50So, if you've ever leaned in to read a

7:51menu or you've handed the headset to

7:53someone who did, this one's going to

7:54matter more than it actually sounds

7:55like. Now, none of those are headline

7:57features, but together they tell a

7:58story. Because look at the pattern.

8:01Faster display, controllers that work

8:03outside of VR, mirroring consolidation,

8:05interface scaling, it's not a company

8:07tidying up a project before it moves on

8:09to the next actually a company that's

8:10still building on the existing platform.

8:13So, the moral of the story is that the

8:14Quest 3 you own is not the Quest 3 that

8:16you bought. Its ceiling has moved twice

8:18in a single update, and the limits we

8:20all assumed were burned into the

8:22hardware turned out to be lines someone

8:23drew, and now they're actively redrawing

8:25them. And for me, all that does is make

8:27me want to see how much further this

8:29goes, both on the Quest 3 and on

8:31whatever comes next. What are your

8:33thoughts though? I'm curious to see what

8:34you think. What are your thoughts on the

8:35gamepad mode? Have you used it yet? What

8:37are your thoughts on the refresh rate?

8:39Does it make a big difference for you?

8:40Let me know what you think down in the

8:41comments. Thank you so much for

8:42watching. Don't forget to subscribe for

8:44more videos, and as always, happy

8:45questing.