Following the Meta Quest 2 promoting out in all places, Meta has discovered itself missing an inexpensive VR headset choice for individuals who need to attempt VR however aren’t able to commit $499.99 / £479.99 / AU$799.99 to purchasing a Meta Quest 3 outright. Its new ‘Play Now, Pay Later’ scheme may appear to be an answer, however a little bit of digging has revealed that it’s really not nearly as good a deal as Meta says.
For eligible US-based clients you’ll be able to choose up a 128GB Meta Quest 3 headset, a 24-month subscription to Meta Quest+, and a 24-month Meta Guarantee Plus for $24.99 monthly. For $34.99 monthly you may get the 512GB mannequin as a substitute – with both choice coming with 0% APR financing by means of Affirm.
Meta says that people who find themselves permitted for the scheme will “find yourself spending lower than you’ll should you bought every merchandise individually.” That is true for the 128GB Meta Quest 3 bundle – you’ll pay $599.76 as a substitute of $659.96. Nevertheless, it’s unfaithful for the 512GB bundle as you’ll pay $839.76 as a substitute of simply $819.96 should you go for the Play Now, Pay Later choice.
We’ve reached out to Meta for readability, and it did not instantly reply, however I’ve a fairly good guess primarily based on how the checkout web page calculates the saving the bundles give you.
Whenever you buy both Play Now Pay Later bundle, the shop says a 24-month Meta Quest+ subscription – which for context is principally a VR recreation model of Netflix that permits you to take pleasure in a rotating library of software program at no further price for so long as you’re subscribed, in addition to a few extra video games which might be added to your library completely (although you’ll be able to solely play them whereas subscribed) – will price $191.76. That is right should you pay $7.99 a month for Meta Quest+.
However Meta additionally sells year-long Meta Quest+ subscriptions at $59.99, or simply $119.98 for 2 years should you purchase them back-to-back. Whenever you use this value for calculating the bundles’ values you get the $659.96 and $819.96 we offered above as a substitute of the $891.74 complete Meta says the bundle would price you with out its financial savings.
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Since you’re locked right into a two-year deal by the Play Now Pay Later scheme we predict it is fairer to make use of the price of the 2 year-long subscriptions to Quest+ as a substitute of 24 one-month subscriptions.
Hopefully Meta will alter the worth of its Play Now Pay Later scheme, however even when it does keep in mind to be cautious with these types of offers. Whilst you may have the ability to afford the month-to-month value now, who is aware of if it is possible for you to to in a yr – as a result of even should you can’t afford it you’ll be anticipated to pay.
Moreover, whereas the bundle may prevent cash should you purchased all of its contents, should you solely wished the headset by itself then you definitely’ll be paying extra total. What’s extra, with a budget-friendly Meta Quest 3S seemingly on the horizon following two leaks by Meta itself, you would discover the most affordable choice is to attend and see if it’s introduced at Meta Join in September.
