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In a recent iFixit video, the Meta Quest 3 went through some surgical procedures. This video shows fans how much larger the battery on this new VR headset is in comparison with its predecessor. From the video, it is clear that the battery takes up the majority of the space in the visor, which is the part of the headset that sits in front of the user’s eyes.
Meta says that the visor on the Quest 3 is about 40% smaller than that on its predecessor. The company also did well to increase the battery life on the headset. The battery capacity on the Quest 2 is 14Wh and the Quest 3 packs a 19.44Wh battery capacity which is larger.
Despite this increase in battery capacity, the size of the visor that holds the battery didn’t see any increase, instead, a reduction in size. However, users will get to feel this increase in battery capacity in the weight of the new headset. Here’s the reason behind the increase in battery capacity yet reduced visor size on the Meta Quest 3.
Changes to the internal components on the Meta Quest 3 explain its slim profile during teardown
During the teardown, the folks at iFixit aimed to understand how repairable this new headset is as well as its performance. While this headset doesn’t have a repair manual, iFixit was able to work around getting it open and revealing its parts. After the teardown, the new Meta Quest 3 got a repairability score of 4/10 meaning fixing a broken one will be difficult.
To access the battery, the faceplate is taken off, and doing so is easy since only clips hold it down. The faceplate holds the antenna bracket, press connector, microphone, and the new time of flight sensor. Accessing the battery still requires taking out the heat sink system as well as the mainboard which holds the Snapdragon 8 XR2 Gen 2.
Finally, one can see the battery after taking out all the components in the previous paragraphs. The battery takes up a lot of space in the new Meta Quest 2 headset. Despite its size, the headset manages to be smaller than the competition thanks to the upgraded LCD lens panels.
This new LCD lens panel design doesn’t require much gap like on the Meta Quest 2. With this improvement, the Quest 3 can save more space to house its larger battery while not increasing in size. Despite the size reduction, the larger battery still makes the Quest 3 heavier than its predecessor.
Other VR headsets from the competition take different approaches to storing the battery. Most, including the Quest Pro, keep the battery on the rear strap padding to balance the weight on the user’s head. Apple, for its part, aims to remove the battery from the head entirely by making it a carry-on accessory.