Meta officially launched the Quest 3 headset at Meta Connect yesterday (September 27). My colleague Tony Polanco had a hands-on with the Quest 3 before Connect (see his early Quest 3 review here), but I was at Meta's headquarters in Menlo Park, CA for the event and wanted to see for myself.

After spending a demo session with the Meta Quest 3, my reaction was much like the reality of the new headset being handed out. On the one hand, there is no doubt that Meta has moved forward with Quest 3. And the full color RGB pass-through is quite impressive.

Unfortunately, however, I left the demo without thinking about how groundbreaking Quest 3 was. In the end, there are three good reasons to buy the Meta Quest 3 and one great reason to skip this mixed reality headset, which will be available on October 10 starting at $499.

Frankly, we can't say enough good things about the Meta Quest 3's new Touch Plus controller. I went into the test expecting a slight upgrade, but after using it, I can't wait to use the Quest 2 controller in the future. The Touch Plus controller is truly amazing.

And it all comes down to how the controller feels in your hand. Yes, the lack of tracking rings is a good thing, and it probably allowed Meta to design the Touch Plus controller with fewer physical constraints. The haptic feedback is good, but not shocking. In some experiences, haptic feedback did not add much to the experience.

However, the controller literally fits perfectly in the hand. The ergonomics are perfect. Shocking as it may be, the Touch Plus controller is my favorite aspect of the Quest 3 so far.

I was only able to try one mixed reality game: First Encounters. In that game, I had to fight a bunch of bouncy little aliens. It was fun.

But what really impressed me was the quality of the pass-through and AR holographic overlays. The overlay looked as good as what I typically see in VR, but I admit that the cartoonish aesthetic of the game helped this. Video passthrough was also excellent, with only a slight judder in hand.

Again, I did not experience mixed reality for an extended period of time, so it is difficult to determine that Quest 3 worked well. However, at least in my first experience, I was impressed with the results.

Speaking of mixed reality, after spending some time in it, I realized that this is the future. Virtual reality will never go away completely. The best VR games still have much to offer. But the ability to take in your surroundings through a pass-through is truly revolutionary to experience. And strangely enough, it feels more comfortable.

Thus, if you want to be an early adopter of mixed reality, you will need to get the Meta Quest 3 or wait for the Apple Vision Pro. is much more attractive.

Remember that long-winded conversation we had earlier about how great mixed reality is? Herein lies the problem. More precisely, it is not yet good enough.

Let me give you an example: at the Quest 3 demo, I was able to try out quite a few games, but from what I could tell, only two of them used mixed reality. One of them didn't work for even me, but I'm going to be generous and consider that a glitch and not blame the VR headset.

However, there are not many options. I'll give this a negative: what Meta showed off at the keynote pushed many mixed reality experiences to the forefront. Indeed, it was clear that Meta was aiming directly at the Apple Vision Pro and its "spatial computer" moniker. The problem, however, is that I have yet to experience much of them.

I am hopeful that when I am able to review the Quest 3, my concerns will be addressed and I will be able to recommend this headset wholeheartedly. For now, however, there is not enough mixed reality content to make me think, "I have to buy this." For this reason, I would honestly hold off on purchasing the Quest 3 until it is more fully featured.