Meta Quest 3 ( FREE $30 Meta Cash ) - Meta Quest 3S ( FREE $30 Meta Cash )

If you're the proud new owner of the Meta Quest 3 or 3S. Then watch this video till the end because I'm going to show you how to adjust Quest's hardware & settings so you can get the most from it and the best possible experience.

And I'll also be showing you some hidden game-changing tricks that not everyone knows about. So you ready? So let’s jump into the MetaVerse…

How to check your up-to-date

Let's start with a couple of day-one tips to get you up and running at full speed & these are a bit boring but are super important. So let's do this quickly.

Put your Meta Quest headset on the main screen, point to it, and click on the bar showing the time, WiFi, and battery. This takes you to your quick settings. In the top right corner, you'll see the settings icon. This takes you to the full settings page.

Go to the system, General, and you'll see 'software update'. Check this to see if you have the latest update. It doesn't always happen instantly when new software comes out, so it's worth checking. Especially since Meta, at the time of this video, recently released a patch that improves the graphics.

Perfect Vision

Now, this is a tip that will instantly improve the picture quality even more. Go to your app store if you're on an iPhone and download the 'Eye Measure' app. If you're on an Android device, use the 'GlassesOn 'App. You can get a pretty accurate readout of the distance between your eyes. This is important information so write it down in a note… it might be worth noting your family's measurements, If you feel like being a kind person & allow them to use your Quest.

Now, you have the IPD intel. On the Meta Quest, adjust the lens distance to closely match your eye distance. And you'll see that distance current settings pop up briefly at the bottom as you adjust the back and forth.

Here's a little hack: if you're on the 3S, Let's say your eye distance is over or under one of the three presets if you slide the lens very gently. You can set them across halfway.

A good way to test if you've lined the headset up perfectly is to close one eye and check that everything looks clear. Then switch eyes and make sure that's clear, too. If it isn't, it could be because the vertical and horizontal positioning of the Quest on your head isn't perfectly lined up. So, just make the adjustments.

Keep it Secret

Now, this one should be a top priority for you if you plan to log into your personal Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp & maybe even more so if you've provided your bank details on the Quest store.

Go to quick settings, then to full settings. Passcode & security & create a passcode. I highly recommend this if you don't want just anyone to be able to snoop around on your social media and read your messages & spend your hard-earned money.

External Audio

Let's say you want to use speakers or your home theatre setup for the audio. This is also possible via Bluetooth. Go to quick settings / full settings and Bluetooth search and pair as usual. Obviously, just make sure your audio device is in pairing mode first.

But…, and this is a huge but. Seriously, you need to know that when watching movies and videos & gaming when paired over BT. Latency is not perfect & honestly, it can ruin the experience unless you're just listening to music. I am told Meta is working on a patch for this. For now, here are 4 solutions that I have tested and actually work.

Audio Fix 1

Grab a USB C to BT adapter. I got this one from Avantree for 20 quid on Amazon. It supports all the latest BT codecs, aptX, and even Aptx lossless, which supports higher-resolution audio. This is the best option for BT speakers and sound systems.

Audio Fix 2

Another option is to use headphones that support audio over USB C. For example, the Sonos Ace Headphones work well.

Audio Fix 3

Option three is to use earbuds or headphones that support Snapdragon Sound because the Quest uses a Snapdragon chipset. This also handles BT connectivity.

So, Snapdragon sound devices will give you virtually no lag when you watch movies.

Audio Fix 4

If you're a gamer, use a gaming headset with a USB-C WiFi dongle. I did try an Apple USB C to Analog adapter and wired headphones. It didn't work.

Window Scale

Alright, this is a quick tip & more of a need-to-know. So, using the navigation home screens. Some windows can be enlarged, and some cannot.

For example, the web browser can be maximised, and you can do this by grabbing one of the corners and dragging it outward. Other windows, like the settings page or horizon store, cannot be maximised.

Theatre mode

Now, here's a little bonus tip. Let's say you're watching videos or a movie in the browser. You should use theatre mode. Which is this icon with the arrows pointing outwards at the top of the window. Once enabled, you get a few more options available to you. You can curve the screen to have this kind of panoramic display using this button here.

Also, at the bottom of the page, you can use projection mode to enable the 3D mode if the content you're watching is 3D and even emulate VR using regular 2D content with the results are hit and miss, but you might find it fun to play with.

So here's an exciting new feature and a bonus tip for making it halfway through this video. This only works with Windows 11. There are 4 steps to get this working.

Jump into your settings, general, advanced features. Switch on pair to pc with Microsoft mixed reality link.

2. Scroll down and enable QR code scanning.

3.⁠ ⁠Download the Meta Link app to your PC. If you've already used it in the past. You need to go to devices and remove the device and start fresh.

4.⁠ ⁠Open the Microsoft store & Install Windows official mixed reality link software.

5.⁠ ⁠A QR code will pop up on your PC.

6.⁠ ⁠Now put the Quest on and fire up the Remote desktop app. If you've previously paired to the PC. Hit the three dots remove the PC and start from scratch. This is important because the Quest needs to install software. Which isn't easy to find manually.

7.⁠ ⁠Now add a new computer and it will download the necessary software to the Quest now you just follow the steps to scan and link the Quest.

Once this is up and running. Whenever you look at your keyboard you'll see the option to quickly link to you PC and the Quest will act as the display and even bring the audio with it. And you can have Three screens and resize them and place them as you want & theatre mode is available here also.

I can see this being incredibly useful if you mainly work on a small but powerful laptop as long as it meets the spec requirements. You can create an incredible multiscreen workstation almost anywhere… as long as you have WiFi.

Unlock & Lock-In

Alright, so when you boot up the Quest, you have the three floating windows & they are locked together. Here's how to snap them out of the locked position so they can be moved individually and how to snap them back into place.

To unlink a window from the other two. Just grab it at the side and bring it away from the fixed spot, and you'll see a light grey window position behind where it was fixed previously.

You can now move this window around and in your space and resize it & it will stay there. And you can do the same thing with the other two. And you can have up to 7 windows open at once.

Now, to lock it back into the universal menu positions, grab it and drag it back until you see the light grey frame turn dark grey. And there you go, and it's locked back in.

How to customise the taskbar / universal menu

Ok, here's something you should definitely do once you figure out what you will use the most on the Quest. So, the taskbar is aka the universal menu. 5 apps can be permanently docked here. And you can choose what some of them are.

To unpin an app. You must open the 'all apps' page to find the app you want to unpin. Hover over it, hit the three dots and unpin it. Now, you have space to pin a preferred app of your choice. Find that app, hover over it, hit the three dots and pin it.

Quicker Typing

So saving time is important & here are a couple of easy ways to do that. Go to settings / virtual keyboard and enable swipe typing. Now you can hold the trigger down on the first letter of the word you're spelling and swipe between the letters of the word and it will figure it out for you.

Free games

Now, let me show you how to find official free games and game trials. Open the horizon store. Using the search bar, type in the game you want to play. You can also test out your new swipe typing skills here. When the games pop up, at the top of the page, you can select this filter button for apps and games.

Now, you should see the free filter pop-up. You will have all the free games and game trials you can play right now. Another way to do this is to use the Meta Horizon app on your phone. Use the search bar, and you should also see the FREE filter here.

Quick Mixed Reality

Ok, you made it to the end. And I've saved some quick-fire tips for you. If you've got the Quest 3S, the mixed reality button might be the only way to enter mixed reality. But there are two other options. You can tap the mix reality button here. And just like on the Quest 3. You can double-tap the headset itself.

How to recenter view

This is very basic but very important. If you become disoriented and need to recenter, for some reason. Just hold the meta button to get everything lined up again.

How to record

How did I capture all the clips from inside the headset? It's pretty easy to open the camera app. Here, you can start recordings, snap photos and go live. But before you do any of this, check out this next one first.

There are also shortcuts to take snap photos and start recordings. Hold the meta button down first, then tap the trigger once. This snaps a picture. To record, do the same thing but keep the trigger held down, and you'll see a red dot indicating that you are, in fact, recording.

Better Quality

Go to settings/camera / turn stabilisation up / change aspect ratio to 1920 X 1080 if you want a standard 16:9 aspect ratio. Change your frame rates to 60FPS & Bitrate to 20Mbps.

Office Chair Technique

Here's a tip if you're limited to a small play area. Sitting in an office chair is a great way to play some games. And if you are sitting down, you should definitely do this. Go to settings accessibility/mobility and enable 'adjust height'. This will bring everything more in line so you're not constantly looking up.

Also, there's a fun setting here where you can show your avatar arms instead of just your hands.

Longer Battery Life

And another little bonus tip for you is in regards to battery life. So the runtime on the headset itself is pretty good, but it can be better if you plug in an external battery pack so you can get small ones. Or you could do what I did and get a head strap that allows you to add an additional battery on the back. This one here is the Bobo VR head strap.

There are a couple of versions of this. You can add a magnetic battery to the back, which pretty much doubles the runtime on the headset, and then you can also buy additional batteries.

If you do want to check out this particular headset, I'll leave some Amazon links so you can check out the latest prices. And of course, Meta does have their own official one of these as well, so you can look at that as well. Now, I did make a list of more than 30 tips and tricks for the quest, and there is new stuff in the pipeline like meta AI and voice commands and all this kind of stuff.

I was going to show you how easy it is to cast what you're seeing inside the Quest on the big screen. So that other people won't get jealous when you're playing. But I made an entire video about that, Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com