Do you have a Meta Quest 3 VR headset and hate the provided jockstrap and feel their overpriced Elite battery strap isn’t much better? Well, the king of VR head straps (BOBOVR) has had a M3 Pro out for a while but recently announced their heavily upgraded S3 Pro Super Strap. I just got my hands on it, and this article is about how awesome it is.

First, a little background. I ordered the older M3 Pro which wasn’t available on Amazon at the time (it is now, click here to order the old version), so I ordered it direct. It ships from China and takes weeks to arrive. By the time it arrived, the newer S3 Pro was announced so I ordered the S3 on Jan 23rd and returned the M3 without even trying it. At the time of this post, the S3 Pro is now back-ordered and it has not yet hit Amazon (I’ll update this post when it’s landed there). My S3 Pro arrived 14 days later (today), and this is my review.

The S3 Pro is absolutely amazing. I’ve tried numerous head straps including a few from Amazon that look like the BOBVR strap, as well as the Meta Elite battery strap (latest version without the battery issue). The S3 Pro blows them all out of the water. No question. It’s super comfortable, and super adjustable. With this said, there is no ultimate VR head strap for everyone. Some like this “halo” style strap, some don’t. You have to try them out yourself. This is probably the 5th head strap I’ve tried and nothing else compares.

The big upgrades to the S3 Pro over the M3 pro include a larger 10,000 mAh and higher 20W output battery to support the Quest 3, a built-in forehead fan (ventilation system), and upgraded design. It’s also $40 more ($50 vs $90). If you have a Quest 3, there’s no debating… you need to spring for the S3 Pro.

I use my Q3 mainly for VR fitness, so I was looking forward to the built in fan because — sweat. With the music up during a workout, you can definitely hear it when it’s > 50% power but it’s not a big deal. Obviously a sacrifice for keeping a little cooler. Is it effective though? Read on!

My typical Supernatural workouts (get a free guest pass here) are 45-60 minutes. For my first workout with the S3 Pro, I decided to go for a full 90 minutes. And since it was possible, I took off the AMVR facial interface I usually use (which does work fine with this strap BTW). For the record, no other head strap I’ve tried allowed me to comfortably wear the Quest 3 without the face gasket. My Quest 3 with the S3 Pro strap stayed put on my head just fine during the entire workout, with the lenses hovering in front of my face like magic.

Nothing touched my face at all which was incredible. Sure, it’s not as immersive — but for working out, who cares! I’d much rather sacrifice the immersion for more airflow to my face, and being able to see my VR mat and surroundings much easier (grabbing my water bottle, towel, etc.) I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to pull my Quest 3 entirely off my head just to find my hydroflask or grab a towel, accidentally hitting a button on the headset and causing the game to exit or do something else frustratingly wrong. It’s truly a game changer for working out and not interrupting your workout.

With a fully charged S3 Pro M100 battery, I started my 90 minute workout. I didn’t use the fan until I felt I needed it, probably 30 minutes in. I started at about 50% power at that point, until about an hour in. Then I cranked it up to 100%. Yes, the higher the speed the louder it gets just like any fan.

When I was all done with my 90 minute workout, the Quest 3’s internal battery was still at 100% as expected. I popped off the magnetically-attached B100 battery and plugged it into my fast charger and to my surprise it was more than 50% full. Incredible! There are 4 LEDs on the front you can see while charging. The 3rd one was blinking (indicating the charge level).

I don’t recall getting that good of battery life out of the Elite battery strap from Meta. Of course I think that has a smaller battery–so that makes sense.

Oh, and the fan was a huge success. Usually by the end of a 60 minute workout my Pilamor headband is drenched and sweat is starting to drip down my face. Between using the built-in fan and removing the facial interface for additional airflow, my headband got sweaty but didn’t start overflowing like before. I noticed a huge difference between the lack of facial interface and having the fan on. Once I try the S3 Pro with the facial interface on, I’ll update my post with results of fan effectiveness.

As for the new 10,000 mAh B100 battery, I would love to have a second one (although I don’t feel it’s really needed) as well as the charging stand for two batteries. They have this for the older M3 Pro batteries. I emailed BOBOVR and they told me to expect to see this in the first quarter of 2024.

Build quality is excellent, of both the strap and the battery. The way the battery magnetically snaps in place is so satisfying, and you don’t even need to look or pay attention. Just slap it on back there while you’re wearing the strap. The combo on-off-adjustment dial for the fan is also very intuitive. Just push it in briefly to turn it on or off, and adjust the fan speed by turning the dial up or down. It beeps when you’ve hit the max or min range. Also, the two black plastic pieces that come out over the top of your head can now be pulled out a bit for more headroom or removed entirely.

Does the Meta Quest 3 charging dock also charge the S3 Pro battery? Sadly, no. The only headset that I’ve found that includes a battery and is compatible with that charging dock is the Elite battery strap from Meta. That’s fine though… especially once BOBOVR releases their B100 charging dock. I’ll be one of the first to order it!

To order your BOBOVR S3 Pro Super Strap for your Quest 3, click here.

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Did you get the S3 Pro yet, or have any questions? Comment below!