The first hint of that is the headset’s Fresnel lenses, which iFixit’s Shahram Mokhtari writes in a blog post are “100% compatible” with those used by the Quest 2. The headset has the older headset’s IPD adjustment mechanism, as well; and it shares the same single LCD panel, rather than using one panel per eye, like the Meta Quest 3.

The Quest 3S was expected by many to simply be a budget version of the Quest 3, but it appears what Meta has done instead is co-opt in a bunch of (perfectly decent) components from the Meta Quest 2—in combination with a dash of the improvements from the Quest 3—to make a VR headset that sits somewhere between the two.

FixIt's Shahram Mokhtari took a peek inside the Meta Quest 3S, the cheaper (but not very) alternative to the Meta Quest 3.

The Meta Quest 3S has some of the best features of the Meta Quest 3, for $200 less. You’ll just need to accept the limited memory and lenses.