Meta Quest 3 Teardown: What Are You Sacrificing for Savings?

The “year of virtual reality” shaped up to be “the run up to mixed reality” and today we’ve got Meta’s mid-range XR competitor on our teardown table: the Meta Quest 3. A key feature that was missing on the Quest Pro, the depth sensor or time of flight sensor, is front and center on the Quest 3. And by adopting the Quest Pro’s pancake lenses, the Quest 3 presents a substantially thinner profile when compared to the Quest 2, and yet manages to weigh 10g more than its predecessor.
Thanks to our partners on this teardown Creative Electron and Evident Scientific. Without them we couldn’t bring you these awesome X-Rays and Microscope shots.
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Chapters
00:00 The Meta Quest 3 Teardown
00:25 Meta Quest 3 X-Rays thanks to Creative Electron
00:50 Meta Quest 3 Head strap and faceplate removal
01:33 A close look at the Meta Quest 3’s new Lenses
01:53 Removing the Meta Quest 3’s Front Plate
02:31 The Meta Quest 3’s Time of Flight Depth Sensor
03:20 Removing the Meta Quest 3’s Mainboard
03:59 Removing the Meta Quest 3’s Battery
04:52 A close look at the Meta Quest 3’s New Displays
05:39 Taking apart the Meta Quest 3’s Controller
05:42 How to Remove the Meta Quest 3’s Controller Battery
06:15 The Meta Quest 3’s Controller IR emitters
06:29 A close look at the Meta Quest 3’s trigger and haptic motor
06:55 Final Thoughts and Repairability
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[@Xenon0000000000001]

The weight distribution is really important for the comfort of a VR headset, so it's not surprising that the battery is buried as close to the screen as possible.

[@Iisakkiik]

Of course, so they should put it in the back of the strap to help with wright distribution even more! That would also make it easily replaceable.

[@3randomtrippycolors215]

​@@Iisakkiikthat's what I'm wondering - would it be a good design choice to take the battery out of the headset and put a slightly larger battery in the elite battery headstrap? Then that would free up more space in headset for whatever makes most sense to upgrade there - of course if they did that, they would have to make the decision of including a form of the adjustable battery headstrap with the headset in packaging - which would increase the price of the headset, although it could be worth it for consumers if they didn't then have to buy the 120$ battery strap separately, which would then cause a potential loss on Meta's part - but I'm sure there's a way for them to balance this all out cost and design wise in the future as their production cost goes down, etc

[@MikAnimal]

@@3randomtrippycolors215but then you don’t have a paperweight in 3 years when the battery fails and they can’t have that

[@Cooe.]

This. The fact that it's significantly slimmer & denser is way, WAAAAAAAAY more important to overall comfort than the like ≈+10g of extra weight! Weight distribution matters DRAMATICALLY MORE with headset devices than raw weight! This is exactly why rear counterbalances like a rear mounted battery can help improve comfort despite making the whole headset notably heavier. 🤷

[@fayenotfaye]

@@Iisakkiik no because where would you put a second battery if so desired?

[@ImadMahdi]

Now that's how you make a great teardown video.

[@Lithium023]

Exactly not a drawn out 2hour bore fest, this was perfect and kept my interest the whole time👌

[@arthurwilliams3479]

not technical enough

[@ImadMahdi]

There is always room for improvement of course.@@arthurwilliams3479

[@No_one_cares_about_Ukraine]

Too much unsaid

[@orangehatmusic225]

Strap a hacker thief companies VR headset on your head while AI slaves manipulate and control you... What could possibly go wrong.

[@fearlessmangoose3118]

It's always fascinating to discover the inside of those devices. X-ray, clear close-up shots and microscope shots are amazing to look at !

[@orangehatmusic225]

Strap a hacker thief companies VR headset on your head while AI slaves manipulate and control you... What could possibly go wrong.

[@Zicolie]

@@orangehatmusic225is this a cyberpunk reference?!?! WAKE TF UP SAMURAI WE GOT A QUEST TO BURN 🔥🔥🔥🔥💯💯

[@orangehatmusic225]

@@Zicolie No it's a real life in fact reference. You just assume things that are real are fake and fake things are real.. cause they are using AI to brainwash you. No my fault you can't tell the difference between real and fiction.

[@Justin-op8us]

The engineering of the Quest 3 is impressive to say the least. You get such an insane amount of value out of the box, and the amount of work that must have been done to fit so much technology into such a modestly priced headset is crazy to think about.

[@StarLightFIlmProductions]

Fr when I first got mine, I was surprised how small it is, especially compared to my quest2 and my vary old quest 1

[@user-eb3hy5id2n]

@Justin-op8us, Zuckerberg, is a good attempt, but quest 3 is not impressive.

[@izzmann.]

This is awesome, so much technology densely packed in such a tiny package

[@toututu2993]

Vr is the most advance technology in the 21st century consumers' market. $2,000 or more flatscreen device is not as impressive is nothing but specs

[@SJkopa]

Looking at the Quest 3 disassembly video, it is not a mid-priced headset. This is a high-end product. Plus the price is good too.

[@FXV56]

Some say the price increase is bad but it had to be We're getting a lot more I wonder how the cheaper headset from meta will be when it comes out in 2024

[@TheAncientOneVI]

I would rather illegally drive on the highway underage than dismantle my meta quest 3, put it back together and have the fear of it breaking 😭😭😭

[@ussul6524]

Hate devices where it is pain to replace battery. Thank you for the teardown.

[@DLeonard716]

Fantastic teardown! Looking forward to all of the additional guides and walkthrough's that come to be during Quest 3's lifecycle. Thank you!

[@CVerse]

Always gotta give props to you guys for making quality products and guides for everything!

[@b08m4rt1n]

I was wanting to see a teardown, but my interest was in how the memory is handled. If the 128gb board is just the 512gb board with fewer chips, or if they actually used different capacity chips with the same number of chips.

[@mstrthief00]

Put the depth sensor on QP to see if it works

[@ThomasLeichardt]

Totally! Was thinking the same thing!

[@buttertoes224]

there’s no camera to attach the depth sensor component too. unless he makes it himself .

[@AliBaba-ll4gy]

Totally a must!

[@pismodude2]

This video is very well paced and informative, the editing and presenting is really on point 💫

[@Oivaras]

Excellent teardown review, as always. You guys are the best, keep it up.

[@TikkaQrow]

3:20 try sticking the sensor in the pro and sideloading the 3's firmware? I'm curious to see if the Pro can utilize it

[@AliBaba-ll4gy]

That be awesome

[@zeno8402]

I’d buy a broken quest 3 to get the depth sensor tbh Just got my quest pro and it’s pretty cool so far

[@RegBlack-cs2in]

Great, thanks! Really expected to see '6' at the end. Not so much of a glue there.

[@coinsagE46m3]

Great teardown, though you should mention that the Quest Pro does have local dimming which gives it a leg up against the Quest 3's LCD panels.

[@Cooe.]

Better in terms of black levels & contrast? Sure! But better across the board?... Yeah... No... 🤷 Those LCD displays on Quest Pro are ≈-33% lower resolution & -30% slower in refresh rate than Quest 3's (QP's = 1800x1920 @ 90Hz per eye vs Q3's = 2064x2208 @ 120Hz; w/ both being dual panel LCD), meaning that overall Quest 3 arguably still has the superior displays FOR GAMING. 🤷 (This is bc higher display resolutions & refresh rates are useful LITERALLY EVERYWHERE, whereas better black levels & contrast are only super noticeable in specific dark &/or high-contrast scenes/games.)

[@coolertuep]

@@Cooe.QPro also had the quantom dot pixel arrangement

[@RichBaxterMusic]

I still think the Pro is better for PCVR. Q3 sure is amazing and especially for standalone and a best for PC VR too but as a purest for PC, it's the Pro for me using OpenXR Toolkit to get the foveated eye rendering too. The colours and contrast are just better because of the QLED backlit panels. It's horses for courses. There's nothing wrong with the Q3.....aside from the fact you need to spend another £100 or so on accessories. If I didn't have the Pro, I'd have bought the Q3 definitely.

[@TheSpookyOficial]

Personally, buying quest pro seems more interesting to me for pcvr

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

When you see the two of them in person and do a side by side, you will be torn. In games and the VR home environment, the QPro panels will leave you feeling mixed about it, but in Video playback and UI interfacing, the Q3 panels will easily trounce the Pro's even in your most subjective of moods. The QPro doesn't win.

[@alphapano]

Excellent teardown review, as always. You guys are the best! ❤

[@VioletKitty]

It’s great that you used the video’s script for the captions, and even making captions at all puts you above the vast majority of creators! That said, it would be great if an editor took a pass at correcting them before publishing, as it can be confusing when the speaker deviates from the script. It’s not too bad for me since I can hear them, but for someone who’s hard of hearing it’s an accessibility issue. Like I said, having captions at all is more than most do, but a bit more attention to detail would be great.

[@mitchgeek]

Thanks Ifixit for keeping big corporations honest when it comes to repairability.

[@pwarrow8858]

Was literally looking for this teardown on the website an hour ago. Letsss gooo.

[@JoshuaLotion]

Was waiting for this since the quest launched. Great vid!

[@Fiztex553]

4 out of 10? That's actually great for a compact VR device. I would take 50 screws over plastic latches or glue any day. And controllers alone are with great repairability and are robust as a brick (we all remember Index controllers reliability and fragileness).

[@matthewtrow5698]

Did you manage to put it back together again? - I'm just amazed at the complexity involved in tearing this down. 4/10 repairability for pro's. For mere mortals, probably best never attempt it. 😆

[@Theeslickness]

Great tear down! While the battery is difficult to remove, I still believe it is worth relocating to the rear. I'm guessing it is ~85g, which is enough to justify the relocation. I think weight is the most important part of modern headsets. Assuming you have an upgraded head strap.

[@YoungMoneyFuture]

excellent thorough review! thank you

[@mikeman230]

There should be a battery door so you could just slide out battery. They could sell spares so you could swap it if you don’t want to wait for a charge

[@VipVoltage]

Nice video! Thx for sharing this information and the inside view! Verry interesting to watch

[@noxious_nights]

You should see what happens if you connect the time of flight sensor up to the Pro. Probably nothing, but it's worth a shot, right?

[@obsolete4735]

Thank you, awesome video!

[@FurryTrash_]

this is a fantastic teardown! in-depth knowledge, testing, comparison, the microscope on the displays was great knowledge, i can see those lines on the quest 2 so i would probably also see them on q3. please keep up with this high-quality style of video! thank you!

[@ItDaBiz]

Are the analogue sticks hall effect now? The Quest 2 rivalled the switch when it came to stick drift

[@tomasdanielnieto5398]

Finally a good tear down video! Unlike that awful 2 hours vertically filmed like it was a KZbin short tear down.

[@AdrienMitchell69]

Really excellent video! A question: is there a reason you don't use w powered bit drive? That was a lot of screws! Are you worried about stripping the heads?

[@just1ofgod]

Thanks guys great video.

[@SoulMist17]

Another great video!

[@Gamen4Bros]

What a beautiful device & video

[@sherkhansher1981]

Coming from a Quest Pro, I returned my Quest 3 after using for an hour. LCD panels took me back to Reverb G2 days of muted colors & no blacks compared to QPro. A bump in a resolution wasn’t significant enough to make the compromise. Vibrant colors on a Pro is hard to downgrade from. I did not care about other quest 3 features & primarily use it with PC connected via link cable.

[@B3VR]

Wow I have reverb g2 and then got the quest 3 and elite strap I’m happy with it but never have tried quest pro I would think there same lcd displays?

[@sherkhansher1981]

@@B3VR qPro has a Quantum Dot LCD panel w/ local dimming vs plain LCD on Q3

[@TheExtraTerrestrial]

Very cool video, thanks! It's interesting to see what makes that thing tick. I just wish they would've focused more on ergonomics and comfort. I loved it, but had to return it because it just wasn't fun to wear.

[@Verociity]

Would it be possible to use extended cables to mount the battery on the back of a hard strap? I found the weight distribution far better on the Pico4 vs Q3.

[@Joric78]

Good to confirm they are using 64Gbit 441 ball LPDDR5X for the RAM. Despite the lower capacity, that's an upgrade from the LPDDR5 on the Quest Pro and the LPDDR4X on the Quest 2. Anyone catch the UFS solution? If it was shown I must have missed it.

[@Loundsify]

I'd assume it's UFS 3

[@Loundsify]

Oh wow so it has less memory bandwidth than a Steamdeck?

[@Joric78]

@@Loundsify I swear I posted it already as a reply to my comment, but looking at the reverse side of the main board it's UFS 3.1. Same as the Quest Pro, although a step up from the UFS 2.1 in the Quest 2.

[@Joric78]

@@Loundsify Yeah, 64GB/s vs 88GB/s. Quest 3 is still mobile phone class hardware, whereas the Steam Deck is essentially a Mini-PC. I'd love for them to step up to laptop class hardware and move the processing, battery etc off the headset, but of course that'd be a completely different class of headset (though I'm sure they could significantly undercut Apple's $3500).

[@kuromiLayfe]

great teardown … time to wait for nano-oled display mods for it , unless meta releases an oled version down the line

[@hussain-x]

I was really hoping replacing headset battery would've been a bit easier so I could've used the headset with impunity. Now I have to be careful and try not to: charge to 100%, play to 0%, fast charging it so I can hop into VR quickly, use VR/MR to relax and do mundane things in it. Basically, had battery been easily replaceable, I'd be using it a lot, a helluva lot. At least 5x more total hours used. Now I gotta make sure I use it when I can get the most out of it instead of using it willy nilly causing unnecessary battery degradation.

[@_Sigfried_]

A version with clear or "fumé" plastic instead of the white would look incredible, gotta love those matte-black intricate PCBs...

[@Frickolas]

At 6:50 we can see that the joystick used bears suspicious resemblance to those found in Joycons. I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing widespread joystick drift on these controllers in a few months.

[@Glider324]

Thanks for the heads up.

[@ten10_ten10]

I'm very surprised there hasn't been a 3rd party hall effect replacement joystick for the Quest 2/3 yet when we have them for basically every other device and controller

[@Netryon]

There is this old type of light projectors, which can be found in your faculty not only at Manifest Ben rooftop. My bigest problem was dismatling laptops which don't have easy motherboard access, which meant everything must be taken apart.1:21 this possibly is some engine crack, so just an easy welding. 3:38 wi-fi connectors might seem to be unusual if you are used to those cable TV coaxial connectors. This is very modular, but is it possible to find parts and the matching drivers. No more plying with this laptop keyboard connectors if don't have to clean cpu fan asus. Probably not getting anything like this unless it's some educational language learning purpose.

[@bensplace]

Wonder if you could mount the depth sensor in the pro and if it would support it being its the same software.

[@SlightlyWetFart]

Great video but you didn't mention or show the storage. Where is it situated and is it upgradeable?

[@johnsaunders6510]

Probably not but I do wonder if it's possible to replace the LCD with OLED panels at some point.

[@Snack.Dragon]

Of course possible with some drivers

[@KaruiKagetsu]

is it possible to frankenstein the quest 3 and the quest pro? like putting the eye tracking lenses from the quest pro to the quest 3?

[@Dratio]

Could you tell whether the displays had a diffusion layer on them? Some are speculating it's the cause for the "mura" effect people are seeing

[@lifelogic4908]

Now this is a damn good review omg

[@NeuesGehalt]

I love watching those vids

[@plav032]

I totally missed the internal storage in there... I'm assuming its on the main board? Its also probably not a reasonable expectation to buy the lower end model and upgrade the storage, just the price increase doesn't justify the increase in storage.

[@robertmiles9942]

I'm fine with this. I replaced the battery in my Quest 2 and I tore down and rebuilt the thumbsticks in both controllers to definitively fix the drift, and I'm confident I can do these operations to the Q3 even easier. Are these jobs for the average end user? No, but I'm covered.

[@listentowater]

Love to see a video that talks about the meta quest 3 storage. ... where is it on the main board ?...what chip does it have?

[@Shaker1978]

I'm curious, if you managed to re-assemnble the whole thing or at least have planned it, to the extend that it's usable again :)

[@xcliinton]

At least they are consistent with which component uses which screws. Having 3-4 different screws in the same device is my biggest annoyance.

[@ellonysman]

I think a lot of us will do good here because we just can't afford those high end vr sets. However your review does make me worry if only a 4/10😮✅

[@spyro440]

Burrying a battery this deep into a device should be illegal. Every customer should be able to replace it within 5 minutes. I really hope for some regulations here. Besides: Did I miss it or did IFixIt not check the control sticks? Are they using hall sensors?

[@somentertainment]

5:45 finally the controllers! Thats the main trigger for me! My doubt: The new controller use the same joystick? Thats the most damageable separate part in my opinion.

[@israelpa123456789]

Why it hasn't a opened exaustor for the heat?

[@Dougie085]

Are the controller joysticks still potentiometer based?

[@pandarok941]

Where exactly is the microphone located? Your breakdown said it's connected to the faceplate and I don't see where the hole would be for it. I am just looking at photos online since I don't have mine yet. I have read about the issues with popping. I would like to see if/how I can add a pop filter until a software update fixes the issue (as some have suggested it will)

[@carloscervantes836]

If I remove the battery, will the Quest 3 still work connected to a PowerBank/Wall/PC?

[@therealcrow6933]

The controllers seem a fair bit easier to repair than the quest 2 co trollers... I had to fix one of them, and the absence of the ring is sure to make dismantling the controller a whole lot less stressful

[@ate810]

Are the lenses made of a material that allows me to use zeiss alcohol wipes? Or should I stick to microfiber

[@justindressler5992]

Hi I have a request for you, if you still have the quest in pieces. Could try and power up the quest without the internal battery connected preferably by USB battery pack. I'm thinking it might be nice to remove the battery and make it lighter. They connect external pack and attach to belt clip

[@goof3209]

what happens if you just... put the depth sensor in the quest pro?

[@Mogalize]

Is the battery software locked? Might be a pain, but at least it seems to be doable. Thanks a bunch for the video!

[@tywang5794]

so does it mean you can mod quest 3 depth sensor into quest pro, would it be possible for them to be recognized or they could never bother to left it out in their firmware side as well?

[@Diogenes76]

It is cool that it has a hall effect trigger, but does anyone know if the sticks are hall effect as well?

[@Glider324]

Good question. The video seems to show they are not

[@rattslayer]

4 feels a bit harsh, but i wish it was easier to replace the battery

[@Omabatfartsbruh]

that's probably why it has the low score, since it's no better at battery replacement than the quest 2

[@rattslayer]

@@Omabatfartsbruh yea, but the fact its all just screws, and not glued, means it is at least moderatly replaceable.

[@Marpurrsa]

@@rattslayer its difficult, not impossible, thats the big part i wouldnt be suprised if the vision pro's teardown is like swimming trough a glue factory

[@artemisDev]

@@Marpurrsa i bet vision pro has a self destruction module when chassis intrusion is detected for the safely of the user.

[@mcgritty8842]

Ahhh, yea, because you should based decisions on internal batteries for your vr headset. Never thought I’d see the day

[@yumri4]

The only parts i feel like i could replace even with an iFixIt Pro kit are the foam that goes against the head. the headband, and the battery though the battery seems like it would be a pain to replace when it is needed to replace.

[@rcbif101]

How do you breeze right by the thumbsticks? They were a big issue on the Q2. What's inside of these? How are they constructed? Are they the same?

[@OwnGrid]

"no improvement in design" must have made the enormous team who worked it on feel some type of way, and surely coming from VR expert its something to take seriously

[@ZZZXYZ]

Wait, a lens cover is guarding the lenses. Will this make it safe to clean with some cleaning products?

[@temmie157]

At 5 minutes and 24 seconds, I noticed a lot of scratches on the screen. Is this caused during the disassembly process or is it inherent?

[@kopparsulfat]

You were generous with the score.

[@panchi128]

@ifixit how much lighter is the headset without the battery? And can the quest 3 run as expected without the battery being installed?

[@Glider324]

That is a great question. I think there might be firmware barriers.

[@bananakuma]

How does temperature equate to heat transfer location? It’s the opposite

[@tobyblitz6344]

I didn't see you point out where the storage was. I want to know if I can rip it out and replace it with a better one

[@topcat807]

Is it possible to upgrade the cameras

[@martinsamuelsson2322]

Is that a joycon joystick in the controller?

[@gurthang667]

No mention of the IR sensor on the bottom of the controller handle?

[@Privat846]

Is it possible to run the quest 3 with removed battery and only extern batterypack to reduce the weight even more , like on the apple vision pro ?

[@alexderpyracc4053]

Nice to know it still has the same drifting thumbsticks

[@boogaardy3810]

What do the motors and white plastic augers do? Are those for the initial eye calibration?

[@timd8561]

How do you get 19.44Wh for the Quest 3 battery? Looking at the screenshot of the battery in this video the labelling looks like it''s a 3.87V 4879mAh battery. It is a bit blurry though so have I just read the numbers wrong?

[@davidgriffin79]

4:00 Which means the battery, just Like the Quest 2, is virtually impossible to replace (assuming you can get a replacement) and once it dies (which will be outside the warranty period of course) it's game over and will more than likely coincide with the release of the Quest 4. I've purchased this purely because my Quest 2 battery's on the way out, not because I want the "latest and greatest". 4:12 Should have watched the rest of the vid, so it's "replaceable", an improvement on the Quest 2 at least.

[@Glider324]

Same here.

[@SJkopa]

Wow!!, so elaborate😮😮

[@YukoVR]

What is the battery weight ? It would be neat to have someone trying a battery less (or tiny battery) quest 3 Mod for PCVR or even autonomous while plugged

[@Theeslickness]

An educated guess puts it around 87.5g, considering the Q2's being 63g. I'd say that's heavy enough to justify removing the battery (and maybe even that plate) to relocate the battery.

[@keef78]

Here's hoping the pro 2 will have micro oled panels.

[@eliezerortizlevante1122]

Basically you can add the Depth Sensor on a Quest Pro any time

[@takashy87]

Seeing how difficult it is to get to the battery I'm actually wondering if that EU law about requiring user replicable batteries in the future would apply to this or only phones and handhelds / laptops 🤔

[@adversHandle]

😂 oooh thats a good question

[@TheKain202]

It is replaceable. It's just buried deep withing the headset to keep the weight as close as possible to your face. With a proper screwdriver and due diligence anyone can replace it. In case of phones, more of then than not the whole just isn't meant to be disassembled AT ALL in order to reduce the side profile to the absolute minimum permitted by the internals. And as a side tangent - to be frank, i'm not too hot about this ridiculous resolution to make phone batteries replaceable. Most of us do not buy flagships for 1000€+++, we buy mid range phones for 200€ and don't expect to hang on to them for a decade. So most of us eye a new one long before the battery has a chance to actually fail. This whole replaceable battery will mean we can kiss being splashproof bye bye, and welcome back thick side-profiles and tacky plastic clip-on backplates.

[@zetapal]

Any way you could replace the fresnel lenses in a G2 with the pancakes in the Q3 ? It would be a cool mod and you'd have the perfect PCVR headset.

[@icebird76]

Why is the Q2 the perfect headset over the Q3 if it had pancake?

[@zetapal]

@@icebird76 G2 ... inexpensive, with Display Port, inside out tracking, good audio solution

[@Kate-lz7jq]

Why dont they store all heavy components like cpu/battery into a seperate package to wear on your belt, would solve heat and weight issue and allows easy battery swaps

[@FD-ze1xg]

Hi! sorry where do i find hd? Thanks for the video!

[@StrangeThoughts7]

I was thinking about replacing the lenses with glass lenses so they are more scratch resistant, would this be possible? After soo many times of cleaning them no matter what i use the lenses get really foggy from micro scratches makes it unbearable to play on.

[@flamehel6737]

Do you know what the physical dimensions of the LCD screens are?