Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery evaluation: Overrated and damaged

I examined the dearer Quest 3 Elite belt with battery. It was flawed from the beginning.

The thought is nice: a cushty head strap with a battery hooked up to the again of the pinnacle that doubles the Quest 3’s battery life. And that is what the Quest 3 Elite battery strap guarantees.

Nevertheless, I can presently solely advise in opposition to buying this costly accent for Quest 3.

Listed below are my causes.

Quest 3 Elite Belt with Battery: Idea

The Elite Strap for Quest 3 is similar because the Elite Strap for Quest 2, the one distinction is that the Quest 2 Elite Strap doesn’t match Quest 3 as a result of match.

The large benefit of the Elite belt is the again of the scarf, which consists of a large, delicate, oval elastic loop, which because of its elasticity adapts completely to completely different head shapes. To me, this is likely one of the most comfy designs ever made for a VR headset.

Quest 3 with elite belt with battery. | Photograph: Meta

The Elite Band with Battery provides a 2,330 mAh battery that just about doubles the Quest 3’s customary runtime of about two hours. A brief USB-C cable connects the extra battery to the Quest 3.

As soon as related, I get a message on the Quest 3 about prolonged battery life, and a “cap” seems above the battery indicator within the Quest 3 Additional Battery menu. Once I hover the Contact-Plus controller over the battery, it exhibits the remaining capability of the Quest 3 and the additional battery.

Wow idea.

Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery: How It Works (Not!)

In apply, this didn’t work from the start. Though the message concerning the additional battery confirmed up, the indicator was lacking and after 2 hours I obtained a message saying I needed to cost the Quest 3.

After charging the Elite Strap and Quest 3’s battery individually (not through the charging dock), it abruptly labored. I loved 4 hours of gameplay, at the very least a number of instances.

However then I finished. Now, after I join the Elite Strap to the battery, I get a message that additional battery life is accessible, however there isn’t a indicator and no charging.

Even after a number of charging makes an attempt, the issue persists: the battery not works.

My colleague Joseph has the identical drawback, and the Reddit and Meta boards are full of comparable experiences. In a survey performed by Twitter/X, RoadToVR discovered that 43 p.c of individuals had points with this addon.

Quest 3 Elite Belt with Battery: Again or Not?

Some customers changed the Elite strap with the battery a number of instances earlier than it lastly labored. Meta seems to pay attention to the problem, however we’ve but to obtain a response to our inquiry via their German company. Nevertheless, Meta assist for RoadToVR responded as follows:

“Whereas we usually provide an RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) for faulty items, changing the strap might not essentially clear up the problem. We’re conscious of an rising challenge the place the headset doesn’t acknowledge the Meta Quest 3 Elite strap with battery or fails to cost. Our engineering workforce is working We’re actively engaged on discovering an answer to this challenge. As soon as we discover a answer, we’ll contact you with an replace.

So you possibly can both watch for such an replace, if an answer is discovered, or request a refund, which needs to be simple through Amazon — in spite of everything, this factor is damaged. If the system has a serious drawback and a revised model is launched, it’s also possible to change it underneath authorized guarantee.

Substitute Quest 3 Elite strap with battery

I switched to the common (additionally costly) Elite Strap (Amazon) and prolonged the battery lifetime of my Quest 3 with an influence financial institution. I put on it in a jockstrap (Amazon) on my again and join it to the XR headset utilizing the Quest 3’s USB-C charging cable.

The cable matches between the oval rubber loop and the white plastic body of the Elite band, so the cable runs alongside the again with out being noticeable or annoying.

With this straightforward and cheap setup, the Quest 3’s battery life may be dramatically elevated with out sacrificing consolation. | Picture: combined

My energy financial institution has a capability of 20,000 mAh (Amazon Germany) and an output of 65W through USB-C (far more than the 17.9W of the Elite Strap battery). As a result of excessive output, the Quest 3 fees quicker than it may be drained utilizing it. The ability financial institution supplies at the very least 6 hours of further runtime (I have not examined the complete runtime but) — far more than the Elite Strap’s battery supplies.

I extremely suggest you strive it with an analogous energy financial institution (though the 65W output is just not wanted): it’s less expensive, the voltage is just barely increased (strap mode, cable connection), and it’s also possible to use the ability financial institution for different functions.

Third-party head straps are additionally out there, however we have not examined any but, so we won’t suggest any right now.

Purchase the Quest 3 Elite strap with battery

The Elite Belt with Battery is presently not out there within the Meta Quest Retailer or on Amazon.

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